12 ga. Rubber Ball Ammo Scam

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  • BE Mike

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    18   0   0
    Jul 23, 2008
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    New Albany
    A while back, when my buddy and I were at a gun show, he decided to buy some 12 ga. shotgun shells which had one rubber ball. They were $2.00 ea. as he remembered. Yesterday we went shooting and he wanted to try these out. It turned out that none of them had powder and the wad and rubber ball stuck in his barrel and he had to push them out. He ended up trying a few more to see if maybe the one round was bad. They all were bad! I guess, even after all of these years, I'm naive enough to think that gun folks are a cut above and not just a bunch of carnival cheats. Anyway, be forewarned if you come upon one of these vendors at a local gun show.
     

    bobjones223

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    Mar 3, 2011
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    Noblesville, IN
    A while back, when my buddy and I were at a gun show, he decided to buy some 12 ga. shotgun shells which had one rubber ball. They were $2.00 ea. as he remembered. Yesterday we went shooting and he wanted to try these out. It turned out that none of them had powder and the wad and rubber ball stuck in his barrel and he had to push them out. He ended up trying a few more to see if maybe the one round was bad. They all were bad! I guess, even after all of these years, I'm naive enough to think that gun folks are a cut above and not just a bunch of carnival cheats. Anyway, be forewarned if you come upon one of these vendors at a local gun show.

    Honestly I would have to chalk it up to poor quality control than "carnival cheats".

    Out of that entire shell you are talking about the powder is probably the cheapest component in the round. I can't see someone building these and saving a couple cents of powder and earning a bad name and NO ONE buying anymore. Just my :twocents:
     

    BE Mike

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    Jul 23, 2008
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    Honestly I would have to chalk it up to poor quality control than "carnival cheats".

    Out of that entire shell you are talking about the powder is probably the cheapest component in the round. I can't see someone building these and saving a couple cents of powder and earning a bad name and NO ONE buying anymore. Just my :twocents:
    I don't think it had anything to do with saving a few cents on powder. Having reloaded for over 40 years, I am completely versed on the cost of reloading components. I think it was incompetence. Anyone who sells shotgun shells at $2.00 a pop (and that's all they did) and didn't test them, is a cheat, IMHO. Advertising a faulty product as performing to a standard and not having it perform could led to criminal negligence. If someone less aware had tried to fire a factory shotgun round with that thing stuck in a barrel, extreme damage and/ or injury would have been likely. IIRC, the seller said that he loaded them.
     

    AmmoManAaron

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    Feb 20, 2015
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    I-get-around
    By your description, I've got a pretty good idea of who loaded them. Please name names.

    In contrast, the Fiocchi rubber ball riot ammo should work fine if your friend is willing to try them. I have a source if he is interested.
     

    BE Mike

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    Jul 23, 2008
    7,536
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    By your description, I've got a pretty good idea of who loaded them. Please name names.

    In contrast, the Fiocchi rubber ball riot ammo should work fine if your friend is willing to try them. I have a source if he is interested.
    I'd have no qualms about naming names, but we didn't get the name of the dude who was hawking these things. They were in white hulls. My buddy has learned his lesson. He'll be buying name brand stuff in the future. Fortunately he has a lot of experience with firearms and checked the barrel after it looked like the first one was a dud. He's just out ten bucks or so. Thanks for the offer. I'll ask my buddy the next time I see him if he wants to buy any shotgun shells with rubber balls, but it might be putting my life in jeopardy.

     
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