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integrity and customer service still exist!

neeley205

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 18, 2010
194
4
46
Birmingham, Alabama
im a fairly new register to the forum but ive been reading on it for a while. About 6 weeks ago i purchased a SPR A5 from a local shop here in birmingham ive been a regular customer with since theyve opened. Approximately 4 weeks ago, i purchased 160rds of "factory reload" ammo in LC brass for practice ammo since some local shooters had mentioned they are getting pretty good results with it including the shop owner.

Cut to 4 weeks later, until today ive been shooting other ammo ive had laying around mostly FGMM. But since i have a local match tomorrow morning i decide to save the federal i have left for the match since my rifle loves it and shoot 100rds of the LC shells for practice. Load mag, chamber, squeeze. . .BOOM. literally. Magazine explodes out of the bottom pieces and extra rounds go flying, my arm has pretty liberal powder burn below the elbow and a couple little metal fragments in it just for fun. extractor is folded and the claw was pushed completely out of the chamber. AKA, rifle is fucked. damn, pack up my gear and head over to the shop to let them know so the can tell anyone else they know that bought from that batch of ammo. No point bitching about my rifle, i knew it was a reload, im aware of the risks, im not going to pretend im an unknowing idiot to get something out of it.

After walking in and telling the owner he asked if he could see the rifle. I pulled it out and handed it to him and he noticed my arm and completely blown out action at the same time. "is your arm from this too? Thats fucking ridiculous." Pointed at a SPR A5 they had on the wall and said "give this man that rifle, swap the bipod and his scope and boresight it for him." He took the 99rds i had put on the counter away and slapped 100rds of 168FGMM down. I asked him about the price difference and he said "Fuck him, hes going to pay for all of this shit, and if he wont I will and he will lose my buisnesss forever."
Thats it, zero hesitation, zero BS. He didnt have to do it. it was a reload, i would have had to call the ammo company and there was no way i could "prove" i didnt reload it a double charge it myself. Hell, the reason i bought it was to plink then have good LC brass to reload afterwords. And FN would have probably told me to shove it for the same reasons.

But thats it. The shop is Hoover Tactical Firearms in Al. I have no connection with this shop other than being a customer and appreciate dealing with a stand up guy. Too often now days when intergity vs. profit meet, profit usually wins unless there is a chance of litigation. I have to admit, it put a little bit of sun on an otherwise shitty day.

Im not going to name the ammo producer, as i believe this was a fluke and they otherwise have a good track record. i dont want to be responsible for a "dont shoot _______'s stuff, it will blow you up" rumor, because i genuinely dont believe thats true. so please dont ask.
 
Re: integrity and customer service still exist!

nice. glad your ok. i was reloading the same brass and i started at 42g of varget and worked up, i noticed that as i approached the max of 46g it would be hard to double with that powder. i may be able to get enough for pressure and a sticky bolt and may get 47g if i tap it down. thats the only powder i have ever used, but i can totally see getting enough in there to cause damages as my bolt did stick at 45g once and the bolt face had a ring on it until it was trued. sweet deal on the service, glad your ok
 
Re: integrity and customer service still exist!

yeah, part of the reason he wanted to take back all of the ammo and try to track the rest down is he thinks they may have loaded a batch with the wrong powder. he said he doesnt believe they can overcharge a round that badly with the stuff they normally use in their .308 rounds. he said it would have been hot and possibly bound up my bolt, but not blown it up like that.

i hope mine was the only one and no one gets seriously hurt. i kinda cringe at the though that i almost picked up my .308 AR instead. i can only imagine what it would have done to an aluminum reciever. i might be missing a finger or two.
 
Re: integrity and customer service still exist!

I woulda swapped your FN out for a Hi-Point, and replaced the one round.


Maybe give you a Band-Aid so that you'd quit bitching about your arm.
 
Re: integrity and customer service still exist!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: JRose</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I woulda swapped your FN out for a Hi-Point, and replaced the one round.


Maybe give you a Band-Aid so that you'd quit bitching about your arm. </div></div>

This is why we get along so well you shit stabber. Get out of work and come shoot the match this morning. Come on dude. . . Priorities. ; )

Eric and I will think about you while were shooting, and your home watching gay animal porn.
 
Re: integrity and customer service still exist!

I saw your rifle up there at Hoover Tactical this morning, thats ridiculous. But what happened was that some of that batch was loaded with mixed powder that had 50 BMG powder in it. Unfortunately yours isnt the first one to go "boom", guy that had some of the same ammo had a FAL go boom.

Glad you are alright and Peyton took care of you.
 
Re: integrity and customer service still exist!

yeah, kinda figured. well, i hope no one ends up gettting hurt. i hope that shit gets out of circulation. all the date stamps on those rounds are mixed, so theres no way to track them down. . . .bad juju. i should have taken pics of that action to post. im glad i hadnt had the chance to have any of the work done to it that im planning. (still paying JRose off, glad for it now)

at least now i know the answer to the question: can my FN action hold together during massive overpressure without sheering a lug and blowing half of my face off?. . . .yes it can.

would i like to have found out by some other way than having it explode 8" from my face. . . .probably.
 
Re: integrity and customer service still exist!

OK... Please don't take this the wrong way but... What the Fuck are you thinking!? It is your duty and responsibility to let everyone in the WORLD know where this ammo was made! This kind of "mistake" cannot be just brushed over! Someone else is going to get hurt or worse... KILLED! And not letting everyone know where these reloads came from puts you right in line with those responsible! I would not want to be in your shoes if something else happens and you could have stopped it!!! We've already read of 2 blown up rifles and that apparently there was some "mixed" powder? Anyone who reads this must now throw away ANY reloaded ammo they have that they didn't reload themselves! If it were me, I would not only post the maker here but on EVERY other shooting forum I could find!

Sorry to sound so Over-the-top about this but the ramifications are staggering to me...
 
Re: integrity and customer service still exist!

Glad to hear your local gun store made the situation turn out ok. I'd like to know what company did this since it's obviously not a fluke and someone could get hurt. Fuck that company, if they loaded the wrong powder then the public should know. If they lose business, boo hoo hoo, that's what you get for having poor QC.
 
Re: integrity and customer service still exist!

AYeah, I agree with you guys. I was actually coming back here to update this post with the company name. Unfortunately I do not have any lot #s . When I made the OP I was unaware that they had mixed a whole batch, or at least partial batch with the wrong powder. That is unexcusable. I had already informed the local guys I knew could have had the ammo the moment it happened. Even before I made it back to the shop, so its not like I was trying to keep it a secret. The company is a company here in AL called Summit. As far as I know it was only a small batch of .308. If I had any, I would contact summit and whoever I bought it from and of course DO NOT FIRE IT. The rounds are in LC brass, but as I said before, the date stamps are mixed. There's no way to know your batch unless you have the origional package.

The shop took care of me, but as far as I'm concerned my weapons will never see summit ammo again, and neither will anyone I'm in contact with. Be safe out there.
 
Re: integrity and customer service still exist!

One of the lessons to be taken from this post is for anyone that is thinking about getting into commercial reloading and why they NEED that back breaking million dollar insurance policy.

Glad you are alright.
 
Re: integrity and customer service still exist!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: chris112</div><div class="ubbcode-body">One of the lessons to be taken from this post is for anyone that is thinking about getting into commercial reloading and why they NEED that back breaking million dollar insurance policy.

Glad you are alright. </div></div>

I thought it was required to have the Insurance to even get the Ammo Production license. It would only make sense (I guess nothing with the ATF does so scratch that). Does Summit even have a Class 6 or whatever the FFL is for this? If not they are playing with fire there also.