I've been putting off telling this to the forum, but I'm going to share my experience with all of you now.
A month ago, my wife and I were out plinking with our 9mm handguns. We were shooting the reloaded stuff that you can buy at gunshows. I don't know if the company is called "Miwall" or "Wholesale Ammo", but alot of you have probably seen them and I think they come from Cali. Anyway, we switched guns, so I could shoot my wife's Walther P99 9mm.
I was pretty intently blasting away at some bottles when on the 4th shot out of the mag, an awfully loud and strangely accentuated "BOOM!" was heard when I pulled the trigger. I felt a hot blast in my face that momentarily blinded me. When I refocused on the gun, the Walther looked intact and in battery. Smoke was pouring out from the gap between the frame and slide around the entire rear half of the pistol. I said, "What the F??!!", not realizing yet what just had occured.
I was pretty determined to blast that last bottle, and it was still standing, so I went ahead and blasted it and a couple of cans with the remaining rounds in the mag. The wheels in my head finally became unstuck and started turning. I searched the ground, and found the offending case. Sure enough, the brass had a hole in it with the brass peeled back toward the case mouth. It was about 6mm long and ran along the bottom of the main case wall, (sorry, I don't know all the terminology-don't reload yet) just before the beveled area that allows the extractor to grip the case.
Anyway, the pistol appeared unharmed, and has eaten about 500 rounds since then. At the last gun show, I took the failed case to show the folks that sold me the ammo. They apologized profusely, and told me that it was the first case failure they had heard of in 10 years with their ammo. They went on to say they had sophisticated machinery that reliably sorts out "bad" brass. They apologized again, said it was bad business and it won't happen again, and gave me a free box of ammo. I know, it sounds measly, but no harm, no foul, and I accepted liability when I bought the reloads in the first place.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share the experience with all of you. I didn't post this to prove I can be a major blockhead at times, I thought it might be of interest to Walther owners. It also goes to show that it CAN happen to 9mm handguns, and it doesn't only happen to Glocks.
P.S. I also learned that (A), that extra cost for the S & B doesn't seem like so much anymore, and (B), the lenses fogging up isn't a good excuse to take off your eye protection.
P.S.S. If this makes any difference, I was in the high Arizona country (6,500 ft elev, 82 degrees F) and the ammo was kept in the air conditioned car prior to shooting.
P.S.S.S. I guess it's pretty cool that the Walther never skipped a beat. After 1500 rounds, it has never had a failure. Well, at least not counting CASE failures.
A month ago, my wife and I were out plinking with our 9mm handguns. We were shooting the reloaded stuff that you can buy at gunshows. I don't know if the company is called "Miwall" or "Wholesale Ammo", but alot of you have probably seen them and I think they come from Cali. Anyway, we switched guns, so I could shoot my wife's Walther P99 9mm.
I was pretty intently blasting away at some bottles when on the 4th shot out of the mag, an awfully loud and strangely accentuated "BOOM!" was heard when I pulled the trigger. I felt a hot blast in my face that momentarily blinded me. When I refocused on the gun, the Walther looked intact and in battery. Smoke was pouring out from the gap between the frame and slide around the entire rear half of the pistol. I said, "What the F??!!", not realizing yet what just had occured.
I was pretty determined to blast that last bottle, and it was still standing, so I went ahead and blasted it and a couple of cans with the remaining rounds in the mag. The wheels in my head finally became unstuck and started turning. I searched the ground, and found the offending case. Sure enough, the brass had a hole in it with the brass peeled back toward the case mouth. It was about 6mm long and ran along the bottom of the main case wall, (sorry, I don't know all the terminology-don't reload yet) just before the beveled area that allows the extractor to grip the case.
Anyway, the pistol appeared unharmed, and has eaten about 500 rounds since then. At the last gun show, I took the failed case to show the folks that sold me the ammo. They apologized profusely, and told me that it was the first case failure they had heard of in 10 years with their ammo. They went on to say they had sophisticated machinery that reliably sorts out "bad" brass. They apologized again, said it was bad business and it won't happen again, and gave me a free box of ammo. I know, it sounds measly, but no harm, no foul, and I accepted liability when I bought the reloads in the first place.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share the experience with all of you. I didn't post this to prove I can be a major blockhead at times, I thought it might be of interest to Walther owners. It also goes to show that it CAN happen to 9mm handguns, and it doesn't only happen to Glocks.
P.S. I also learned that (A), that extra cost for the S & B doesn't seem like so much anymore, and (B), the lenses fogging up isn't a good excuse to take off your eye protection.
P.S.S. If this makes any difference, I was in the high Arizona country (6,500 ft elev, 82 degrees F) and the ammo was kept in the air conditioned car prior to shooting.
P.S.S.S. I guess it's pretty cool that the Walther never skipped a beat. After 1500 rounds, it has never had a failure. Well, at least not counting CASE failures.