"Junk" Shotgun Shells?

[Bubbajms]

(Hopefully you can see the picture above..)

Went to blow up some clays this weekend with a buddy who is looking into his first firearm. For a little variety from the pump guns he's tried before, I brought out my Mossberg 9200. He bought some fancy-pants "tracking wad" shells (actually hit a clay this time!) and we ran the box through with no trouble.

The shell above stopped our day. I have never had much luck with the really low brass stuff, as the ejector will rip a hole in the brass, leaving the spent shell in the barrel for a fun little FTE. The ejector didn't seem to like this Winchester stuff, and when I got home to a large rod to get the old round out it looks like it pushed out the back of the brass some too.

Any ideas? Stick with full-on brass, not this steel/aluminum/whatever stuff? Once I got it cleared we hit a nearby field and took out another dozen shells of better ammo with no trouble..

 

[Tactically Fat]

Is this "WWB?"

I've heard stories of pump guns not liking the aluminum-cased stuff - sticking in the chamber / failures to extract / eject, etc.

My 870 seems to not mind it - even with a gummed-up-beyond-imagination extractor.

 

[Cerberus]

Winchester Universal shells? If so, there is a long history of them being problematic.

 

[ChooterMcGavin1973]

I would assume the force on the ejector pulling back is just too much for that thin metal cap and it's bending just enough to let the ejector slip off. After not ejecting, does it then 'double feed'? I've ways had a pump action shotgun and never had any issues like this.

 

[Leo]

I have not had any experience with the semi auto mossbergs other than selling a few or sending them back for warranty. That shell may have had too much power, making the extractor start to pull when there was still pressure holding the hull tight in the chamber. My opinion is that shell pressure being high was more a factor than the rim material or the height of the metal. I have seen semi auto rifles pull the rim off of regular brass cases due to pressure/timing problems.

As far as "brass" shells, if you carry a magnet, you will find that many of the shells that look like brass is just brass plated soft steel.

Were the shells high velocity like 1390fps? I would think keeping to 1200 fps and under will be more in tune to the design of the gas system.

 

[Bubbajms]

These weren't anything special - I think they were probably the same type as the "Universal" but weren't marked that way (probably due to the bad marketing of the name)

They certainly weren't anything high-end. I'm going to give them a try in my pump and see if they run any better there..

 

[kjf48197]

Those cheap hundred packs are good for an over and under but I have had trouble with them in my 870 and will never put them in anther auto loader. The bases expand and they will not extract. I reload so a good box of shells pays for itself after 8 or 10 times through the reloader.

 

[Drail]

My experience has been that if you buy cheap discount steel rimmed shells you need to polish the chamber pretty smooth or they will stick and be hard to extract. It's not hard to do - the factories just don't bother any more. It used to be that even the cheaper shells were solid brass but now they are all steel junk ammo. They expand but won't contract back like brass does. We call them "single shot" shells.

 

[PGRChaplain]

As stated before some of the shells are steel that has been "Brass Washed". Brass expands and contracts when fired, Steel expands and stays expanded. Same with alumninum, no contraction. The Ammo Mfg's do all they can to save a few pennies, at our expense. Cheap Ammo is Cheap for a reason.

 

[Cerberus]

Shotgun hulls have largely been brass plated steel for a good many years now. They load and fire just fine in every shotgun I own, which is 6 of them. And they also reload just fine. Those Universal shells by Winchester are the only kind I have found that can cause problems, and even then it's not all the time.

I try to by at the minimum Remington Gun Club or Federal Target loads now.

 

[chezuki]

My 870 doesn't like any of the "silvery" colored cheapo loads.

 

[Tactically Fat]

My 870 doesn't like any of the "silvery" colored cheapo loads.

Have you thought about taking a 12ga bronze bore brush attached to a drill and kind of "polishing" the chamber a tad?