Beware: S&B ammo

elwarpo

elwarpo

Still Learning...
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 15, 2011
859
462
North of Houston, TX
#1
Bought some S&B 9mm and out of 1 box I had 5 no ignitions and a squib. The no ignitions were solid primer strikes and I have fired thousands of rounds from the same gun before and several hundred afterwards with no issue. The squib stuck in the barrel is the bigger issue. I called and emailed S&B twice with no response, very poor customer service. Here is a pic of the ammo and primer strikes. I know some will say how they have never had an issue with S&B, well up till now, neither did I.
 

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#3
This somewhat common knowledge, at least the FTF. A lot of people actually like the FTF as it's a good way to work random immediate action drills.

The squib however is very alarming and a damn good thing you caught it.
 
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#9
@308pirate Please post your carrier of choice as well as your account information.
@elwarpo Send those few rounds to me. I'll box them up with the few rounds of 300BO that I have. Anyone else have S&B ammo they want to get rid of? I'll send elwarpo's and mine to you, and you can box your's up with that. We'll keep this box bouncing around until there is enough to send to 308pirate. It'll be cheaper that way.:cool:
 
#10
I bought some S&B tokarev ammo, The primers were odd, some were fine some were flat like they bottomed out before they were fully seated and the priming ram flattened them and many primers had multiple little dents on them.
Sent a email with pictures to S&B, nothing. Seems quality control is somewhat lacking.




IMAG1371.jpg
 
#12
Why aren't you taking this up with S&B? Your one box far from represents their product as a whole, and they need to know about it.
I've shot S&B ammo on and off for 20 yrs, it has always worked as it should. I have some older 223 brass that has held up better than even lake city.
I bought a couple sig mpx's and messed with muzzle hop with diff brakes and timing of them. I chrono'd a ass ton of bulk 9mm ammo over a Labradar, S&B 9mm ammo had better numbers than some of my bulk 223 reloads, it was impressive for handgun ammo.
I ended up running diff brand, slightly hotter ammo for gas capture, but right now you can buy 1K of it for 163 and I'd shoot it in a heartbeat.
 
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#13
Milo 2.5 said:
Why aren't you taking this up with S&B? Your one box far from represents their product as a whole, and they need to know about it.
I've shot S&B ammo on and off for 20 yrs, it has always worked as it should. I have some older 223 brass that has held up better than even lake city.
I bought a couple sig mpx's and messed with muzzle hop with diff brakes and timing of them. I chrono'd a ass ton of bulk 9mm ammo over a Labradar, S&B 9mm ammo had better numbers than some of my bulk 223 reloads, it was impressive for handgun ammo.
I ended up running diff brand, slightly hotter ammo for gas capture, but right now you can buy 1K of it for 163 and I'd shoot it in a heartbeat.
Click to expand...

That is the issue, I have tried to contact S&B.
Dec 16 send them an email on their website, get an automated response with a phone number. Call and leave a voice message, 2 more follow up emails... all without a response. Been about a month now. I waited and do not like bashing companies without seeing how they will try to make it right. Well a month later and no answer, time to take it online.
 
#14
elwarpo said:
That is the issue, I have tried to contact S&B.
Dec 16 send them an email on their website, get an automated response with a phone number. Call and leave a voice message, 2 more follow up emails... all without a response. Been about a month now. I waited and do not like bashing companies without seeing how they will try to make it right. Well a month later and no answer, time to take it online.
Click to expand...
Right, because we are going to help you get to the bottom of this.
 
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#15
Which Sellier&Bellot cartridges are you talking about. They produce about 8 different ones in 9mm. Do you have a lot number?
Did you try with some different ammunition after the problems?

It has been a while since I bought S&B cartridges, even 9mm: I mainly shoot recycled.
 
#17
perttime said:
Which Sellier&Bellot cartridges are you talking about. They produce about 8 different ones in 9mm. Do you have a lot number?
Did you try with some different ammunition after the problems?

It has been a while since I bought S&B cartridges, even 9mm: I mainly shoot recycled.
Click to expand...

115 grain 9mm in the gold and black box. Lot number is in the picture (purposely taken that way)
 
#19
I've used S&B as my go to pistol range ammunition for over a decade & can't off the top of my head remember any ammunition failures.
I've mostly used the older Red/Green box but have also used some of the newer Black/Gold boxes.
 
#20
elwarpo said:
companies are sensitive to negative feedback, I also wanted people to know about bad customer service.
Click to expand...
Whatever, by the looks of the rds that did not fire, your firing pin not even remotely centered up. I'd try firing them again or in a different gun, most likely go off. Or pull a couple bullets and check for powder.
 
#21
elwarpo said:
Bought some S&B 9mm and out of 1 box I had 5 no ignitions and a squib. The no ignitions were solid primer strikes and I have fired thousands of rounds from the same gun before and several hundred afterwards with no issue. The squib stuck in the barrel is the bigger issue. I called and emailed S&B twice with no response, very poor customer service. Here is a pic of the ammo and primer strikes. I know some will say how they have never had an issue with S&B, well up till now, neither did I.
Click to expand...

By the looks of those primer strikes I would be looking more at your pistol then the ammo. Those look terrible.
 
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#22
^^^ This. Those primer strikes are really really light. I see a fair number of unfired rounds left in pistol bays with light primer strikes. Before I got smart (realizing that I had no idea whether such rounds are safe to fire), I'd pick them up and shoot them - all discharged just fine.
 
#23
W54/XM-388 said:
I've used S&B as my go to pistol range ammunition for over a decade & can't off the top of my head remember any ammunition failures.
I've mostly used the older Red/Green box but have also used some of the newer Black/Gold boxes.
Click to expand...

I too have used the red and green box S&B for forever and a day and I've had no issues that I can remember. Shit I have 500 rounds stashed for a rainy day lol.
 
#24
I would like to see some primer depth measurements. Before and after.
Ammo stored under who knows what conditions for who knows how long have been known to 'relax' the primer.
Then when fired the primer cup is seated again.
 
#25
S&b isn’t bad ammo tight primer pockets sure but I’ve only had one or two rounds that went bad one the primer didn’t work and the other split the side wall of the case half way up the body. This was out of thounds of pistol/rifle hundreds.
 
#27
The off center nature of your primer strike makes it a lighter strike effectively. You aren’t straight on the cup so it can impact ignition.

Make sure your gun is going into battery. Clean the barrel interfaces and the chamber thoroughly and tey again.
 
#28
Ok, pulled out the calipers, case length and overall length of the 5 rounds are good, but the primers are all inset (recessed) .0025" to .0045" I have tried to take a good pic of the primer hits. I agree they are not centered, but why would another lot of S&B work, but this lot didn't. Here is the best pics I could take, the primer hits look deeper in person than in these pictures. I went htrough a bunch of older brass and see similar strikes, I will try them in another gun and see what happens.
 

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#31
elwarpo said:
Heard from Magtech today, will see how things go...

Going to head to the range in the next couple of days and try them in my Glock and P229 and see if the fire on a second strike.
Click to expand...
I've had some of my own reloads go off in the same gun, at the second try. The problem with those was that the primer was not seated quite deep enough. The first strike seated the primer and the second time fired them.

As others have mentioned, your strikes being off center and elongated made me think that there could be something not-quite-right with the pistol too.
 
#32
perttime said:
I've had some of my own reloads go off in the same gun, at the second try. The problem with those was that the primer was not seated quite deep enough. The first strike seated the primer and the second time fired them.

As others have mentioned, your strikes being off center and elongated made me think that there could be something not-quite-right with the pistol too.
Click to expand...

Going to contact CZ to see if this is abnormal for one of their guns.
 
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