23 replies to this topic

[angryhunter]

Shooting my new 92F today. Had some old remanufactered ammo that I had purchased at a now gone local gunshop years ago. About 100 rounds into it...POOF! and got a face full of gunpowder explosion. The pin holding the trigger in was blown out the right side and the slide was jammed. My eyeball was hanging from its tendons and blood was pouring all over the place........okay, all was true except for the eyeball and blood part. :)Analysis: Finally got the stuck shell out. It was blown out just above the base and from the striations didn't look like it had chambered completely before firing. Almost looked corroded at the point of failure. The 92F...got it to the workbench, inspected all parts, tapped the pin back in to anchor the trigger and all seems well during the dry firing tests. Haven't taken out to fire it live yet.Just thought I'd share in case others have had the same experience.

[ShooterJohn]

The gun should not have fired if the round did not chamber completely. I'm betting the case was bad and reloaded when it shouldn't have been. I've seen that before.You had me going for a moment with the eyeball hanging.

[angryhunter]

I don't know, I think I have seen partially chambered rounds fire before. I believe it can happen.The moral of the story is that the Beretta handled a catastrophic failure quite well. Had the exact same thing happen a few years ago while firing a Camp 9 and it blew the stock to smithereens along with mangling the receiver.

[Steve C]

I don't have a 92, so i have to ask... Can the trigger be pulled with the slide out of battery? I didn't think that was possible with normal guns we usually have (I know there are a few specialized exceptions).

[Shoot-it]

I think the moral of this story is not to shoot other peoples reloads. I have a box of357 reloads for the that I bought at a yard sale and I am not going to shoot it do to all the kabooms I hear about. I am glad your eye's are ok.

[fakawee]

I saw on our local news tonight that an employee at one of our local gun ranges was injured while trying to clear a jam in a pistol for a customer. The round went off, slide taking a chunk of his thumb off and the round hitting the roof. Thank God he was pointing the pistol in downrange even if a little high!

[Browning Goddess]

My first thought is to be THANKFUL you didnt loose your eyeball or worse!.. I would be leary shooting again. I dont have a 92F, but do have another Berretta..I have been lucky that we have had no issues, but I dont shoot reloads, never have and never will. Just too risky especially if someone else did the reload.Well, I will say, Im glad you are okay. Things cool have went really bad.

[angryhunter]

They were those "remanufactered factory rounds". I can't remember the company but in the 90's they were very popular for cheap plinking ammo.

[Fjold]

If it looks like the case was corroded it probably was. On just about all semiautomatic pistols the bottom of the chamber is relieved for the feedramp. This is the weak point and when a case blows it bulges there and starts the split.

[jim d]

If it was me I would be sending the gun back to the factory as you said it came apart. Let them go over the gun to insure there is nothing wrong with it.

[angryhunter]

It looked as if the trigger pin was just knocked out. No bent or broken metal anywhere.

[keale73]

I used to shoot IPSC and there was always some brave person willing to fire a round that was found on the range! For those that don't know IPSC shooters load very HOT to make the compensator on the gun work correctly, if you try shooting one of those out of a stock gun you could end up in the "stupid hurts" category! Good rule of thumb- Don't buy or shoot reloads that you haven't loaded yourself.

[angryhunter]

Keale, good rule of thumb. However, I figured I could trust "factory reloads". I bought the stuff before I started reloading myself. Now, I think I have a few hundred 9mm rounds to pull. It is worth the effort what with the price of bullets these days.

[homemade]

I worked as an armorer and range master for the navy.Started out with 45's then they switched to the 9mm.The berettas were ok but the first ones had a flaw in the design of the locking blocks after apx 2000 rounds the locking blocks would start cracking and jam the weapon.It was so bad I would carry a handfull of the extra blocks in my pocket when going to the range.They fixed the problem later by radiousing the corners but in the navy it took a long time to phase out the old ones.And I will only shoot someone elses reloads if I know the persons practices when reloading IE watching them for a while or knowing them a long time.I feel the same way about going shooting with someone picky about who im around when things go boom.

[angryhunter]

I fixed the Beretta fairly easily. The trigger bar was blown out about 1/4", causing the trigger spring to slip off the trigger bar. At first I just pushed the trigger bar back in and the gun functioned except for the trigger didn't reset. I looked again and that is when I saw that the spring had slipped off. Fixed that little issue and the the gun functions flawlessly now. I am putting a vote in for GOOD design on the Beretta. A catastrophic case failure and no major damage? Pretty good I'd say.

[Mr Del]

As several people have stated here, and I will repeat..... That gun should NOT HAVE FIRED when out of battery. You can *dry fire* that gun untill the cows come home. Dry firing does not check that function of safety. We are really just trying to help you.

[angryhunter]

Mr. Del. I don't know for certain whether the gun was in or out of battery. All I know is that the casing failed.

[RonB]

I used to shoot IPSC and there was always some brave person willing to fire a round that was found on the range! For those that don't know IPSC shooters load very HOT to make the compensator on the gun work correctly, if you try shooting one of those out of a stock gun you could end up in the "stupid hurts" category! Good rule of thumb- Don't buy or shoot reloads that you haven't loaded yourself.

Good Rule to follow.I wont reload for anyone and I won't shoot anyone elses reloads.I taught a friend to reload and we still load some together but, we are double checking each other and I taught him to use a powder that if he double charges, it will overflow the case. I also inspect each case before I/we start.He has proved to pretty cautious but, I have 20 years into this hobby and he has just one year in. "OOPS" isn't going to suffice when an accident cost you life,limb, appendage and or your career that you might not be able to perform any longer.Ron

[angryhunter]

I think we are confusing factory remanufactered with handloads.

[Shoot-it]

I think your right but that's how it gos on forums they never go as planned .

[harry carey]

remanufactured ammo is absolutely the WORST. how old is that brass??? when i worked in a range and a rupture occured i would ask... IS THAT AMERC OR R-P ??? it was always one or the other. we lost two S&W revolvers with remanufactured ammo, they put the wrong powder in the machine.

[zippy1970]

IMO send the gun to Beretta . Just because .... I can't think of the name ,3d , was it redish box w/ white lettering ??? some people will never shoot remanufactured . i dont , just me . but i will never shoot anothers reloads without knowing them either . but have the pistol looked at .

[sdaly]

My wife had the same experience with using reloads in one of my Glocks several years ago. I couldn't find the offending brass to inspect, so my best guess was either that it didn't go full battery (which, it shouldn't have fired), or the brass may have torn apart around the base just after firing. Any case, my wife got a face full of gun powder and it shook her up but she was fine. And it blew apart the extractor of my Glock, but it was an easy repair to just replace the extractor.

[Moonclip]

The berettas were ok but the first ones had a flaw in the design of the locking blocks after apx 2000 rounds the locking blocks would start cracking and jam the weapon.It was so bad I would carry a handfull of the extra blocks in my pocket when going to the range.They fixed the problem later by radiousing the corners but in the navy it took a long time to phase out the old ones.And I will only shoot someone elses reloads if I know the persons practices when reloading IE watching them for a while or knowing them a long time.I feel the same way about going shooting with someone picky about who im around when things go boom.

I had similar experiences running an indoor range with the rental Beretta 92fs pistols, never tried the newer locking blocks though. The locking blocks,slides,barrels,frames,all cracked at some point with high round counts with remanufactured ammo. The other guns in the case were usually much more durable, especially the Rugers.I also saw a Taurus PT92 have a failure with a customers gun and the remanufatured range ammo from a commercial reloader. They paid to have fixed the customers gun though. I'm not sure how durable Taurus Beretta clones are as I have not shot mine too much. The Beretta 92 design is very reliable but seems not as durable as other guns with high round counts. As for poor quality ammo and/or firing out of battery I have had it happen here and there. In 9x19 I was using some Olympic ammo from Greece in a Llama IX-B and had the same problem as the op but with less damage,kind of funny as most of the other 20 or so 9x19 firearms I own did not have a problem with this ammo.I've also had it happen with some .32acp FN flat nosed ammo in a Bernardelli mod USA, I felt a gunpowder blast on my stomach and the slide locked up with brass exploded in chamber, it was quite scary.Also had it happen with poor quality Armscor .22lr ammo, it is quite unpleasant when the cases give way!