Is this factory ammo a problem?

[jd950]

An officer brought this to me on the range a few days ago. He was issued new ammo after needing to use some of his, and several of the rounds look off, including the one below. One round looks as though it is seated a bit lopsided and several looked like this. WW 124 +p.

Looking for opinions on whether this is a problem from those more expert than me. My issue stuff looks "normal" and not look like this. These were pulled from a full factory box, so more or less "fresh" despite the oxidation. My concern is the fit of the bullet in the case. If it were a reloaded round I wonder about he case resizing. Personally, I am not comfortable with them and told him I would be inclined to turn them back in, but would make inquiry here before ruffling any feathers.

[Jim Watson]

I LIKE seeing the "coke bottle" effect on reloads, it says there is little chance of bullet setback. And sometimes it will be a bit off center, although my Hornady sliding sleeve seating die has pretty much eliminated that.

But I have not seen it on factory loads, this one looks of poor quality.
I would try to get it replaced. If they won't do it, I would cull out the oddballs and use them for practice.

[WDR]

Probably fine to shoot if will pass a case gauge or "plunk test" in his pistols chamber. I have not seen that with 9mm factory ammo before, but my reloads sometimes come out with a bit of "coke bottle" shape like that. I have seen Gold Dot .38 ammo, and Ranger Bonded .38 where you can see where the bullet is seated to on the outside of the brass, but nothing as dramatic as that picture.

That said, I'd be inclined to put any rounds looking like that into the "practice only" pile, just on principle.

[Borderland]

Some of my reloads look like that using range brass. Fine with me. It chambers and shoots. Never seen that on any factory ammo, but I don't buy that very often.

[Duelist]

I have seen some factory loads like that. They worked just fine.

[jd950]

Thanks. Practice pile is not really an option since the ammo is issued and not allowed to be used for any but official purposes (ignoring the fact it is just WW 124 +p that can be purchased many places).

I checked lot numbers and it was made in 2020.

[GyroF-16]

Thanks. Practice pile is not really an option since the ammo is issued and not allowed to be used for any but official purposes (ignoring the fact it is just WW 124 +p that can be purchased many places).

I checked lot numbers and it was made in 2020.

The manufacture date may explain a lot. I’m betting QC standards were lowered to get more out the door.
Rounds like that probably would have been culled before 2020 and currently.
I’d bet it’d work, but for a “duty round”, I’d rather not carry it.
That said, as mentioned above- if it passes the “plunk test” in the duty gun, it will almost certainly chamber and extract fine.