The bullet has been pushed down into the shell. Safety issues?

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gilgland

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Hi, this may be a completely dumb question but I would rather know that be unsafe. My room mate and I have a rule with our firearms that when we are in the house the guns are not chambered. We had an accidental discharge because one was chambered and a guest picked up my pistol when we were out of the room and did not know it was chambered and shot a hole in the floor. I live in a bad neighborhood so I carry after dark when I go out. This means I have to chamber every time I leave the house and dechamber when I come back.

Now for my question...I have noticed that on the first bullet in the mag the projectile has been pushed down deeper into the shell than it was originally, I assume from the constant, almost daily cambering and unloading. Will this cause the round to harm my gun or myself if I fire it? It seats just fine into the barrel and chambers and extracts just fine but I don't want the thing to blow up inside the gun if I have to use it. Also, what might be causing it to be pushed down like that? Is this normal wear and tear or is my gun feeding poorly?

I took some pictures of the round in question and another from the same box as well as the bullet in my gun and the gun empty:

http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn2/Gilgland/Bullet%20Problem/

Any answers would be greatly appreciated.
 
I've shot quite a few that had small amounts of push back. Nothing that was that bad. If fired it will likely cause undue pressure to your gun. I would not fire it like that.

It is caused by being pushed against the feed ramp over and over, no problem with the gun, its quite common.

Easiest solution is to dispose of that round safely. And be sure to change around the bullet you load so you don't' repeatedly load the same round over and over. Take all the rounds out and change around the one you use each time you chamber a round.

Best solution is to invest in a small gun safe that you can put the gun in with one in the chamber. They make them that are small and use a finger pad buttons for the code. That way no unauthorized person could get to your gun, and it's still available quickly if you need it. http://www.gunvault.com/

Harder solution would be to get a bullet puller and pull the bullet to the proper place in the cases then fire it at the next range session. I wouldn't carry for self defense after you've reset the bullet to it's proper depth. I'm sure it'd be fine but I only trust my life to untampered factory ammo.
 
This will raise the pressure of the cartridge. Will it be an unsafe level?
Why take a chance.
 
Catastrophic Failure of Semiautomatic Handguns
The following bulletin was received from the New Jersey State Police - Officer Safety Division Continuous reloading an chambering of the same round may cause catastrophic failure in semiautomatic handguns.

The Security Force at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, recently reported on the catastrophic failure of a semiautomatic handgun when it was fired. The internal explosion caused the frame to break while the slide and barrel separated from the weapon and traveled down range. No one was injured in the incident. An investigation revealed that security personnel were repeatedly charging the same round of ammunition into the chamber.

Technical personnel at Glock Inc. advise that repeated chambering of the same round may cause the bullet to move deeper in the casing, further compacting the propellant. When a normal cartridge is fired, the firing pin hits the primer, igniting the propellant. When the propellant burns, the gas pressure drives the bullet out of the case and down the barrel. However, if the propellant has been compacted, the pressure may increase beyond the gun's specifications, causing the weapon to break apart. Sigarms Inc's peronnel confirm that reloading the same round five or six times will cause problems, noting that reloading the same round even once will void their warranty. Both manufacturers stress that the problem is not with the gun, but with chambering the same round repeatedly. The NJ Regional Operations Intelligence Center urges all law enforement officers not to chamber the same round when loading their weapons.

For example, when you clean your weapon, most of us drop the magazine and then pull the slide back thereby ejecting the round in the barrel. After cleaning the weapon many of us will return the same round to the barrel that we initially extracted. Each time the slide slams forward on that same round it seats the bullet deeper into the cartridge. Apparently, by seating the bullet deeper into the cartridge, it creates greater pressure when the round is intentionally detonated by a firing pin strike and is causing some weapons to explode.
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This is a common issue law enforcement deals with. Rotate the round you chamber. Better yet, just keep it chambered... trigger locked if you can't trust the people in your house?
 
Dont take a chance. I would not take a chance. I do a lot of hunting and shooting. I would not take the chance here.
 
Having the powder space shortened will decrease the volume, so simple physics will tell you that you're increasing pressure. These rounds shouldn't be shot. A little more crimp would be nice, but if they're factory loads, you may have to discard those and begin a habit of rotating out that first cartridge.
 
It could cause a blowback or barrel expansion ruining your firearm or posibly harming yourself. I would just dispose of it and use another round for the beginning of the clip.
 
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