# A little help from the experts please........



## Capt Rick Hiott (Aug 22, 2010)

Just bought a new in box Ruger LCP 380 from a dealer here in Charleston,SC. (I have NOT shot the gun yet) Got home and read the book, then opened the little folder and looked at the spent shell that they shoot at the factory.
Check out the size of the crack in this brass. I'm no expert,,,but is this something I should be concerned about? Its a Federal shell. 
I called Ruger and left a msg today around 12:00 noon,,,they just called and told me to send the same pic. Ill let you know what they say.......

Comments??????


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## TedDeBearFrmHell (Jul 1, 2011)

split brass happens.... 

its either bad brass or bad barrel. 

if this were my gun, i would check the barrel for any obvious signs of a defect.... altho it could be a wonky barrel that doesnt correctly support the case. 

in my opinion, the more likely of the two is bad brass. i have seen new cases split in guns that have never had it happen before and after.... also seen surplus ammo split every 5 or 6 rounds. 

hard to tell based on just one case, fired by another person. 

i am sure the customer service guys will have you take it to a local gunsmith to have it checked out... 

again, if it were me, based where the split is, i would be shooting instead of worrying (checking the spent brass of course)


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## denner (Jun 3, 2011)

That's one pretty rough looking piece of brass, they probably shoot bulk ammo at the factory. I'd follow TB's advice and inspect the chamber and barrel for any noticable issue, other than that I'd take it out and shoot it while checking the fired brass. If you had a blown out case near the rim(i.e. chamber support issue), I'd be a little more concerned but it doesn't look to be in your case.


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## Capt Rick Hiott (Aug 22, 2010)

Thanks guys. I think Ill let it set until I here from Ruger. Ill let you know what they say.


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## TedDeBearFrmHell (Jul 1, 2011)

Capt Rick Hiott said:


> Thanks guys. I think Ill let it set until I here from Ruger. Ill let you know what they say.


give you $25 for it right now.... i aint skeered!


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## berettabone (Jan 23, 2012)

One reason why I have never used Federal ammo in ANY of my firearms, along with Tula, Wolf, etc......not saying that it's the problem, but odds are......


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## TedDeBearFrmHell (Jul 1, 2011)

berettabone said:


> One reason why I have never used Federal ammo in ANY of my firearms, along with Tula, Wolf, etc......not saying that it's the problem, but odds are......


wow! using one split case as an example of an entire companies product quality doesnt seem right.... heII i had a bad marriage but i didnt swear off women....

federal has been awarded over $51 MILLION dollars in contacts to supply the navy and dept of homeland security with ammo...


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## berettabone (Jan 23, 2012)

Good for them.......


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## MLB (Oct 4, 2006)

TedDeBearFrmHell said:


> federal has been awarded over $51 MILLION dollars in contacts to supply the navy and dept of homeland security with ammo...


... and everyone knows the low bidder is usually the highest quality.

Kidding aside, I'm actually with Ted on this one. Inspect the chamber and fire away if it looks good. Check especially that the round fits rather snugly. It should slide in and out easily enough, but shouldn't rattle around in there. There is a chance that it's oversized, and still look good to the eye. That might cause similar case cracking. I'd be much more concerned with a blowout lower towards the rim though.


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## TedDeBearFrmHell (Jul 1, 2011)

MLB said:


> ... and everyone knows the low bidder is usually the highest quality....


i didnt say they had the highest quality... i do expect that they will supply quality ammo for that price. anyone who sells to the government in bulk can afford to take less profit on the individual item because of the huge quantities involved, more profit!

if everything produced for the government (by the lowest bidder) was crap, we wouldnt have thousands of surplus stores selling the items to us.

the lowest price at the most exacting specs....

i once heard that the government spec for fruit cake was 35 pages long.... for something that no one has ever eaten.... altho it may be used as a weapons system!

i know you were just kidding, but i did anticipate a comment like this....


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## chessail77 (Mar 15, 2011)

I have been using Federal for years with no problems, I have seen cracked or split cases from several manufacturers. It appears that the location of the crack does not indicate a barrel problem but why chance it until you hear from Ruger as they may want to check it out to be certain .......seems the person doing the test fire should have caught that......JJ


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## denner (Jun 3, 2011)

To the contrary government contract ammo and/or any law enforcement ammo is held under the strictest scrutiny and quality control, (i.e. the best of the best), regardless of the bid, besides HST and their Bonded lines have performed exceptionally in ballistic tests conducted by LE's. The case shown above is not top shelf nickle plated ammo. Many times i've purchased rejected ammo from law enforcement contracts that a round or two out of 500 showed a cosmetic blemish or such, but was 100% in functuality, and other than a minor blemish on a round or two, law enforcement rejected the ammo due to quality control. Federal nickle plated HST and bonded is some of the best ammo known to man, albeit the case above looks like a reload, or very old, or just a bad case. You would think the guy testing the pistol at the factory would have known if he had a case rupture due to an unsupported chamber, or the round not fully seated when fired, generally those hickups catch your attention. In any regard i don't know how that case got by Ruger, was the case damaged in transport, did it happen when Ruger fired the pistol and still he shipped the casing off in that condition?


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## Capt Rick Hiott (Aug 22, 2010)

,,,,,,come on guys,,,,no need to get in a pissin match. I know there is a lot of "Ego's" on here,,,,,but lets chill with this one.

Ill let you know what they say...............


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