1.) DParker - 02/24/2014

I've put well over 1K rounds of various cheap range ammo (including Winchester White Box, Prvi Parizan, some very low-powered handloads, et al) through my M&P9 without any problems. But my son and I hit the range on Saturday with some of the 500 rounds of 115 gr. Blazer Brass rounds I recently bought and they failed miserably for me. My son's Walther PPQ digested 100 rounds of them without a single problem, but in my M&P they resulted in a FTF roughly every 5th round or so, and the slide failed to lock back at the end of 7 out of 10 empty mags (and I used 3 different mags, loading 10 rounds at a time). Just to make sure it wasn't something I was doing wrong on that day I switched over to some Winchester White Box I still had in the bottom of my range bag and ran a couple of mags worth without any failures of any kind.

Anyone else ever try Blazer Brass and experience similar issues, or try it and have it work perfectly? I did a web search and found kind of a mixed bag of results on some other sites, so was just curious if anyone here had any feedback.

2.) crookedeye - 02/24/2014

I havn''t used any blazer brass..

3.) JimP - 02/24/2014

I've shot 3-400 rounds through my Glock 34 with no problems. But not ammo bought in the last 6 months. Have they cheapened it up due to demand?

4.) Floyd - 02/24/2014

Jimp, I'll take the cheap stuff for the PPQ and shoot steel all day long.

Also, howd you make the leap for blazer cheapening their ammo because of demand? Did you read something somewhere?

5.) Deerminator - 02/24/2014

I didn't know there was Blazer brass I though it was all AL.

6.) DParker - 02/24/2014

[QUOTE=JimP;17099]I've shot 3-400 rounds through my Glock 34 with no problems. But not ammo bought in the last 6 months. Have they cheapened it up due to demand?[/QUOTE]

Beats me. Like I said, from what I've seen in other forums the reported experiences seem to be a real mixed bag, with many (perhaps even most) saying they have no problems with it...and a significant number of others voicing complaints like mine. And a lot of the latter go back a couple of years.

[QUOTE=Deerminator;17103]I didn't know there was Blazer brass I though it was all AL.[/QUOTE]

Nope.

[URL="http://www.blazer-ammo.com/blazer_brass.aspx"]http://www.blazer-ammo.com/blazer_brass.aspx[/URL]

My reloading proclivities demand that I only buy brass-cased, boxer-primed ammo. It's more economical for me in the long run vs. the short-term savings on steel/aluminum ammo. In fact, with CCI Blazer there is little-to-no price difference between their brass and aluminum cased 9mm rounds.

On the bright side, my son just inherited 300 rounds of free 9mm.

7.) Floyd - 02/24/2014

Ah, to live in such a world..... free, free I say. But, atlas, it's not to be.

8.) bluecat - 02/24/2014

Were you limp wristing it? Not that there is anything wrong with that.

9.) DParker - 02/24/2014

[QUOTE=bluecat;17109]Were you limp wristing it? Not that there is anything wrong with that.[/QUOTE]

LOL! That was actually my first suspicion, because I wasn't focusing all that closely on my grip at first and assumed that I was being sloppy about it for some reason. But even after paying closer attention...and even over-gripping...the problem continued.

10.) bluecat - 02/24/2014

I'm sure you already thought of this, but did your son shoot your setup with the same results?

11.) Ohbuckhunter - 02/24/2014

I've put 1000s of blazer brass through some of my pistols. I've never had any problem at all.

12.) crookedeye - 02/24/2014

thats what i'v been trying to tell him..

13.) Ohbuckhunter - 02/24/2014

When we going golfing slick.

14.) crookedeye - 02/24/2014

one of these days..

15.) DParker - 02/25/2014

[QUOTE=bluecat;17121]I'm sure you already thought of this, but did your son shoot your setup with the same results?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I handed it to him with 6 rounds left in the mag and, while he didn't have a FTF the slide failed to lock back after the last round.

16.) Deerminator - 02/25/2014

Limp handed maybe?

17.) BULLZ-i - 02/25/2014

DP, DIDNT THE M&P HAVE A RECALL?

WHAT WAS YOUR ISSUE? STOVE PIPES? YOUR EXPLANATION FOR FTF IS... FAIL TO FEED OR FAIL TO FIRE? DBL FEEDS? COULD THAT AMMO HAVE CAME IN CONTACT WITH MOISTURE? DONT SOUND LIKE A LIMP WRIST PROBLEM IN THIS CASE SINCE YOU SWAPPED OUT AMMO AND IT RAN FINE. PRIMER STRIKES LOOK STRONG AND DEEP?

I'M THINKING MOISTURE TO THE PRIMERS OR POWDER.

18.) DParker - 02/25/2014

Sorry, I was too quick with the ambiguous acronym. I meant failure to feed. No ignition or extraction problems, and the feed problem was always the same: The round was pushed only about halfway up the feed ramp and the slide was unable to return to battery. Between that and the frequent failure of the slide to lock open after the last round I would automatically assume that the rounds were just too underpowered to cycle the action completely. But the the fact that the gun reliably feeds the low power handloads I put through it made me think I was being weak with my grip for some reason. But that didn't pan out either.

On further review I'm begining to think that the plinking handload recipe I use isn't quite as anemic as I thought, and it's actually just a little more stout than the Blazer load, and my M&P's main spring is maybe a little stiffer than most. (I know about the recall you mentioned, and mine wasn't included in it.) I think the slide is also a little heavier than the PPQ's, though I haven't weighed them yet.

19.) BULLZ-i - 02/25/2014

WELL BEING A CHEAPER BRAND OF AMMO, MAYBE THEIR TOLERANCES AIN'T AS UP TO PAR AS OTHERS. ANY CHANCE THAT THESE LOADS MAY HAVE BEEN 1 TIME SHOT MANUFACTURER RELOADS? ALSO SOMETIMES MANUFACTURERS HAVE A COUPLE/THREE DIFFERENT RECIPES OF COMPONENTS DUE TO WHAT IS AVAILABLE AT THE TIME, AND WE KNOW THERE HAVE BEEN ISSUES ON THAT ROLLER COASTER.

EITHER I WOULD STAY AWAY FROM THE BLAZER AND NOT WASTE $$$ OR I WOULD GIVE ANOTHER COMPLETELY DIFF BATCH OR 50 A GO AND SEE IF YOU HAVE THE SAME ISSUES. THEN AFTER THAT YOU CAN DECIDE YOU SPEND YOUR MONEY ONE SOMETHING DIFF.

ANOTHER QUICK ITEM... WAS YOUR GUN DIRTY??? OR SEEMED DIRTIER THAN USUAL AFTER YOUR SESSION?

20.) DParker - 02/25/2014

The gun was relatively clean, and there's no indication that Blazer uses once-fired brass...not that I think that would matter.

But yeah, I think I'm just going to skip them. Besides, I have enough brass and the weather is about right now for getting out in the garage and cranking out some more reloads anyway.