Bad batch of CCI 9mm ammo?

[MVS]

Some of you may have already seen this when I posted it on the Rangemaster Instructor Forum. I went out yesterday with 10 magazines loaded with 10 rounds each to do a specific drill 5 times. The ammo I loaded was from a recent purchase of CCI/Speer 9mm 115 grain. Almost immediately I started having failure to extract type malfunctions. Tried a different gun, same thing, and another, same thing. Unloaded a couple of the mags and loaded the ammo into new Gen5 mags. Same thing. Then I loaded up some of my usual preferred Match/range ammo AE 147 grain and they ran just fine.

Unfortunately I have 3 cases of this stuff. Don't know yet if it is all bad. I am going to take some of the rounds to a guy at work and have him chrono them. Shooting the 147 AE right after the Blazer felt like +P+ vs. powder puff loads. It sucks bad enough having to spend so much more on ammo, then to have it be junk on top of it. I will be contacting CCI/Speer but in the present climate I am not expecting much.

Since someone will probably ask, guns used were;
Gen5 G45 with SRO, bone stock
Gen5 G19 with 507k, 3.5 connector, otherwise stock
Gen4 G17 with upgraded irons and 3.5 connector.

[blues]

Some of you may have already seen this when I posted it on the Rangemaster Instructor Forum. I went out yesterday with 10 magazines loaded with 10 rounds each to do a specific drill 5 times. The ammo I loaded was from a recent purchase of CCI/Speer 9mm 115 grain. Almost immediately I started having failure to extract type malfunctions. Tried a different gun, same thing, and another, same thing. Unloaded a couple of the mags and loaded the ammo into new Gen5 mags. Same thing. Then I loaded up some of my usual preferred Match/range ammo AE 147 grain and they ran just fine.

Unfortunately I have 3 cases of this stuff. Don't know yet if it is all bad. I am going to take some of the rounds to a guy at work and have him chrono them. Shooting the 147 AE right after the Blazer felt like +P+ vs. powder puff loads. It sucks bad enough having to spend so much more on ammo, then to have it be junk on top of it. I will be contacting CCI/Speer but in the present climate I am not expecting much.

Since someone will probably ask, guns used were;
Gen5 G45 with SRO, bone stock
Gen5 G19 with 507k, 3.5 connector, otherwise stock
Gen4 G17 with upgraded irons and 3.5 connector.

I'm sure it's unrelated given the time, but I had sent a Gen2 Glock 19 back to the mother ship for some service and warranty updates a couple, three years back. (The frame was replaced with a Gen3.)

When it was returned I had the same sorts of failures with the gun with Blazer 115gr 9mm FMJ. I called Glock and asked them what they did to my gun which had been completely reliable previously. Naturally, they recommended trying different ammo.

Next day I tried several other varieties of ammo from 115 gr to 124 gr and 147 gr all without issue. I was never much of a Blazer fan before the incident, less so now.

[MVS]

I'm sure it's unrelated given the time, but I had sent a Gen2 Glock 19 back to the mother ship for some service and warranty updates a couple, three years back. (The frame was replaced with a Gen3.)

When it was returned I had the same sorts of failures with the gun with Blazer 115gr 9mm FMJ. I called Glock and asked them what they did to my gun which had been completely reliable previously. Naturally, they recommended trying different ammo.

Next day I tried several other varieties of ammo from 115 gr to 124 gr and 147 gr all without issue. I was never much of a Blazer fan before the incident, less so now.

Same here, normally I wouldn't buy it, but it was what was available at a decent price.

[JBP55]

I try to stay with American Eagle which is made by Federal.
If AE is not available I purchase Lawman which is made by Speer.
I do not buy Blazer which is made by CCI.

[Lester Polfus]

I bought a case of that stuff a few years a go. I have, shall we say "a few" Gen 3 Glock 19s. They are all bone stock except for skateboard tape and night sights. Over the course of 1K rounds, I experienced about a dozen failures to extract from multiple guns and magazines. For two of those Glock 19s, this was the only failure I've ever seen from that particular gun.

That's a much lower failure rate than you experienced, but I'd be inclined to point the finger at the ammo. Those guns have run S&B, GECO, etc without very few hiccups.

I think I remember looking at some of the cases and the extracted groove seemed both shallow and inconsistent, but I've slept a few times since then.

[JSGlock34]

I had similar experience with the Blazer 115 grain 'Black Friday' Bulk Pack cases that CCI put out two years ago. A few duds, inconsistent loading, etc. I try to avoid Blazer when possible. Current conditions are challenging though.

[Oldherkpilot]

Some of you may have already seen this when I posted it on the Rangemaster Instructor Forum. I went out yesterday with 10 magazines loaded with 10 rounds each to do a specific drill 5 times. The ammo I loaded was from a recent purchase of CCI/Speer 9mm 115 grain. Almost immediately I started having failure to extract type malfunctions. Tried a different gun, same thing, and another, same thing. Unloaded a couple of the mags and loaded the ammo into new Gen5 mags. Same thing. Then I loaded up some of my usual preferred Match/range ammo AE 147 grain and they ran just fine.

Unfortunately I have 3 cases of this stuff. Don't know yet if it is all bad. I am going to take some of the rounds to a guy at work and have him chrono them. Shooting the 147 AE right after the Blazer felt like +P+ vs. powder puff loads. It sucks bad enough having to spend so much more on ammo, then to have it be junk on top of it. I will be contacting CCI/Speer but in the present climate I am not expecting much.

Since someone will probably ask, guns used were;
Gen5 G45 with SRO, bone stock
Gen5 G19 with 507k, 3.5 connector, otherwise stock
Gen4 G17 with upgraded irons and 3.5 connector.

Was the Blazer ammo brass cased or aluminum cased? I have had several instances where aluminum cased cartridges (both CCI and Federal in both 9mm and .40) won't extract properly while brass worked as advertised. This has occurred in CZ, Glock and HK pistols. It has certainly put me off aluminum. The CZ had quite a few miles on it, so I replaced the extractor and spring and had no further incidents. The Glock and HK were both relatively new pistols.

[RJ]

I snagged a couple cases of BB CCI 124 recently. It was what I could find in brass from a brand I’d heard of. I’ve used it previously with no issues, but that was a few years ago. The one box I’ve tried so far seems to function ok in a G34 and a G48. I’d prefer Federal AE but you get what you can get these days.

[rd62]

I've had good luck with Blazer Brass in my Gen 3 Glocks putting several cases of it through my guns over the last few years and a G19 in particular. This includes a couple of classes. No issues really.

I haven't really tried the aluminum cased stuff just the brass. I switched to AE and Lawman earlier this year though to try and get velocities and accuracy closer to my carry ammo.

[Wayne Dobbs]

Given the geopolitical realities of today, I'd say you're stuck with that ammo. If CCI even answered your call/email I'd be shocked and replacing it would be a near miracle. I'm certain that subpar ammo will become the order of the day, as manufacturers try to produce ammo much faster than their QC programs can perform.