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Problem with Sig 9mm ammo

3K views 17 replies 5 participants last post by  Grandpas50AE 
#1 ·
I originally posted this in the Dan Wesson section. Probably should have started in this section.

Upon receiving my 9mm DW Valkyrie Commander I ran 200 rounds of 115 grain Sig Elite Performance FMJ ammo thru it. It ran well and I was impressed with how clean it was.

Since then I have been using 115 grain Winchester White Box FMJ. 3500 rounds with nary a problem. I know, I know - junk ammo but this gun just eats the stuff up. No issues with 124 grain Federal HST either.

Today I decided to try the Sig 115 grain Elite Performance again. The first round fired but the case got stuck tight in the chamber. Could not get the case out with a wooden dowl at the range so came home, field stripped, forced the case out with a brass rod and hammer then cleaned the barrel. Checked extractor tension - ok. Then did the plunk test. The Winchester White Box and Federal HST slid right in with a satisfying "plunk". The Sig round (tried several) would only go in 3/4 of the way before getting stuck.

I have shot "inexpensive" brass cased factory 230 grain FMJ ball out of my .45 1911's for 25 years. Many different brands. Never experienced this problem. Only started shooting a 9mm 1911 two years ago.

Any thoughts? Bad batch?
 
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#2 ·
That stinks. I would definitely contact them and get a replacement/refund. If you have a caliper, it would be interesting to see where they measure to.
I would have expected the WWB to pull that stunt. Goes to show that they all can unless you pay for premium.
 
#4 ·
I believe that L-Tech Enterprises makes the stuff for Sig. They’ve been making good ammo for quite awhile. You may want to reach out to them directly. I’m sure they would like to know if they have an issue going on. The difference between them and Win/Rem is that they may actually give a rats rear! Good luck....
 
#5 ·
OP here with an update.

I emailed Sig on Dec 4th explaining the problem and included every number I could find on the ammo box. They emailed me back on Dec 6th and offered to send me a new box. No response as to why I might be having an issue (I guess I wouldn't really expect one) but excellent customer service nonetheless.

Anyway, I will post the result once I receive the new box.
 
#6 ·
Wise choice to contact them, and good response by them to rectify your concerns. Most makers of ammo, when a problem arises, will take care of the customer and research the lot #(s) of the ammo that issues are reported to them and see if they can find a problem with the lot/batch to determine if they need to issue a recall on it, or handle it on a case-by-case basis. If they find a prevalent or increased number of reports on a particular lot/batch or series of lots/batches, they almost always issue a recall, especially if it is a safety issue.
 
#8 ·
OP here with another update.

As mentioned in post #5 Sig responded to my email promptly and I received the replacement ammunition from them yesterday Dec. 13th. Unfortunately it failed the "plunk" test as well. I suppose my DW Valkyrie could have a tight chamber but the fact that it eats up cheap Walmart Winchester White Box and Federal HST leaves me puzzled.

Regardless, Sig's response is commendable. They have done all they can. I let them know that the new ammo would not chamber so they could have it on record.
 
#11 ·
The rest of the story:

I wrote off the box of Sig ammo (see post #8) and gave it to one of the employees at my range who has not yet run it through his gun. Running low on WWB I ordered a 1000 rounds of 115 grain Magtech FMJ. It too would not pass the "plunk" test. Hmm I thought, Nitro is right - something's amiss.

Grabbed a round of the WWB, HST and Magtech and headed to the LGS on a Sunday. They busted out the caliper and the WWB & HST had the same diameter and case length. The Magtech was slightly greater in diameter but had the same case length as the WWB and HST. (Sorry, don't remember the numbers.)

Emailed Dan Wesson Sunday night and got a reply Monday morning stating to send the barrel back. Shipped it off Priority Mail on Tuesday the 7th and received it back Thursday the 16th with a note saying the chamber was reamed and honed and the hood was polished.

Result: no more "plunk funk". All rounds are chambering nicely and I expect no problems but will update after my next range session if there are.

Thanks for everyone's input.
 
#12 ·
Please do respond with updated results after the next range session with the new barrel. There are a lot of members that read these threads and learn from them. And let us know if the Sig ammo will now function in it as well if you can get a few rounds of that to test out.
 
#14 ·
Had a DW Valkyrie (9mm - commander - officer-height) that had a tight chamber. Reloads needed extra resizing. Polished the chamber with hand held Q-tip and polishing compound - and issue went away. I believe that essentially no metal was removed, but that some junk was the issue. Since, when doing serious cleaning for someone, I slightly polish chamber and see that regular cleaning does not always get the chamber clean.
 
#16 ·
Per Grandpa's request:

Ran 50 rounds of the 115 grain Magtech FMJ through the newly reamed and honed barrel. No problems. Looks like I'm good to go.

The employee at the range had shot up all the Sig in his Glock. He had no issues, as I would expect.
 
#18 ·
Thanks for the update b-b. Occasionally this stuff happens, and the maker has to rectify the error; most of the time patience pays a nice dividend when finished in that you wind up with a darn nice gun that will serve you for a long time without issue. Well done to see it through to the end. If you do run into a buddy at the range that has some of the Sig ammo, let us know how it performed in that corrected barrel.
 
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