Recommendation for Gun Smith

[PogoManiac7]

Hey everybody,

I'm young and apparently young people make stupid mistakes that they end up regretting.

I bought a bunch of "once-fired police range brass reloads" because they were very affordable. So I payed the price today for cutting corners then.

I had a massive failure about halfway through a magazine, I guess its called an out of battery or kaboom. I'm not sure which. Basically the bolt "gear" heads sheared off and remained in the gun while still holding some of the brass. The rest of the bolt exploded backward effectively ripping most of the bolt face off.

Oh, and in case you haven't ever seen a magpul pmag magazine break, the window of the pmag shattered outward with the extra pressure from the explosion. (imagine my suprise to see smoke pouring out of my mag window).

So as far as I can tell upon initial inspection is that the only parts broken were the bolt itself and the pmag. (don't really care about the pmag they are cheap).

I could just pry out all the exploded crap out of my gun, buy a new bolt and try and shoot it again. But for some reason, common sense tells me that when a gun explodes on you and you are fortunate enough to come away uninjured, it would be a good idea to have a professional checkout said gun before continued use.

Do any of you guys know a good gunsmith who could preform the surgery on my baby?

I live in Colorado Springs, so in town would be preferable.

(I'm 99% sure its the ammo's fault, because I shot the gun all christmas break with zero issues with good ammo. I shoot it with the crap ammo, insta failure.)

Needless to say I've learned my lesson the hard way with regards to sub par ammo.

[KevDen2005]

If you are shooting the "Police Reloads" out of those orange boxes I know exactly what you are talking about. I happened to be present and witness that ammo explode inside of Colt Commando and a DPMS M4, on two separate occasions. Luckily neither weapons was mine and luckily no one was injured.I think you are right that it never hurts to have a professional look at it, however I don't know anyone in the Springs area. I have used TJ's Gun Smithing in Aurora a few times and have been very happy with the work he does. Once you get to know your weapon a little more you can pretty much fix everything on it yourself.

Just remember you do get what you pay for...

[Birddog1911]

You guys need to write out a public service anouncement on this ammo, so no one else becomes a victim of this stuff. Orange box, is that HSM?

[KevDen2005]

Orange box, is that HSM?


Yes, HSM comes in an orange box. And usually the price is good that you can't resist buying it. To be honest I actually have fired about 50 rounds of it through my AR-15. But after having witnessed two different explosions and being told by numerous people that it is crap ammunition and it makes rifles explode has convinced me to pay a little extra for ammunition.

I have attached a picture of what the ammunition looks like in the box. Like I said in a previous post...pictures make everything easier to understand.

[jtav]

Hey everybody,
Oh, and in case you haven't ever seen a magpul pmag magazine break, the window of the pmag shattered outward with the extra pressure from the explosion. (imagine my suprise to see smoke pouring out of my mag window).

I was under the impression that the window couldn't blow out because it was molded as one piece. Do you have any pics?

[GreenScoutII]

Wow! That is good to know!

I have shot about 200 rounds of the HSM .223 without any issues....YET....

Your post is making me nervous now.....

[sniper7]

wow glad you are alright. glad i dont own any of that ammo and im glad your gun should be okay!

[Irving]

I've got a couple boxes of HSM, but they are pistol rounds (9mm and 40 s&w). I started to get failure to feeds after I bought that ammo. Turns out I was using different ammo and wrongly blamed the reloads though. One day I'll shoot those two boxes and give a report here if they do anything funky.

[CareyH]

I guess I got lucky on the stuff I got. I purchased 2 cases about 2 yrs ago and shot it all with no problem. Maybe they have let there quality control go.

[PogoManiac7]

I'll get some pics up later. (of course I forget my camera when it matters).

The pmag window didn't exactly blow out as much as it was the weakest point and the pressure shattered that point.

[Circuits]

Do any of you guys know a good gunsmith who could preform the surgery on my baby?

I live in Colorado Springs, so in town would be preferable.


Glad you're OK. I'm an AR specialist smith here in the springs, and Earl Hickman over at Hickman rifles works on them, as well. Let me know by email or PM, or give Earl a call (he's in the phone book).

[Birddog1911]

To the more seasoned out there: Would you recommend pulling the bullets and reloading it with a safe powder load? I've only got one box of this stuff, but I'd rather not risk blowing my rifle up, and having to turn around and make them pay for a new one.

[MuzzleFlash]

I'm wondering how your hammer was able to engage the firing pin with the bolt far enough back to be unlocked - assuming that's what happened.

I've had OOB experiences with a 9mm Uzi SMG (open bolt) and that was a wake-up. Glad I'm not left eye dominant.

[MichiganMilitia]

After a side conversation with Pogo, I am under the impression that he bought the stuff from a gun show a few months ago at The Phil Long Expo Center. It just came in a bulk pack of 500 in a cardboard box hand labeled "Once-fired reloads".

I will continue to get my ammo from Classic Arms (www.classicarms.us)