Personally, I would never buy reloads. I’ll shoot my own, but that’s about it. This is why. Looks to me like someone got rifle powder mixed up with pistol powder. He’s lucky to not be seriously injured.
11 thoughts on “Careful With Those Reloads”
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And, of course, he’s thinking someone owes him a new Garand.
I say learned an important lesson and it only cost him $100 per finger he gets to keep. Can you put a price on opposable thumbs?
Without knowing any more than reading the first page and the last page (page 7) of that forum, I can’t say he doesn’t have a case. I can’t say he does, either – not until someone goes over the remnants of the firearm to get some type of scientific evidence that it was one thing or the other. Hell, if the firearm was defective, SAI should step up – absent any problems with the reloads (or, void warranty on reloads). If it was the ammunition; likewise. If you’re selling reloads, you should have some good insurance to back it up.
I read all seven pages, and it does look like he has a pretty good case. It is almost certainly the ammo that caused the kB!, and it looks like either the shop owner or a friend of the shop owner were the ones manufacturing the ammo, possibly without a license to do so.
It’s worth noticing that the shop owner is the one who told him it was safe to fire in his new Garand as well.
Was it ignorant to use reloaded ammo of unknown origin in a Garand? Yes. But the shop owner – who really should have known better – preyed on that ignorance, and nearly caused serious injury to someone because of it.
Protip: Don’t buy reloads from other people.
Ouch,yeah gotta be careful who you buy them from,me I get mine from Georgia Arms, who also supplies many LEO agencies around the state. That is the only reason I get them from their, seeing they have to maintain a reputation and are load only to factory specs.
Otherwise, I just keep away from them for the reason you pointed out.
I think hes got more problems than he knows. Thats not a S. A. Inc receiver. Its a USGI Springfield with a late WW2 or Korean serial # and appears to be refinished. If he bought it as a SA INC., it was mis-represented. If it was sold as “new” a replacement barrel could easily have been left short chambered, causing some extreme pressures when fired with similar results.
Joe, the serial on that Garand is in the 7 million range. The highest USGI assigned Garand serial number is 6,099,905.
At a certain point, “unconscionability” as a legal matter comes into play, as mentioned implicitly above. Limiting recoverable damages to the cost of the ammo seems like it would fit the bill there, especially if the store owner had said that they were okay. It was dumb to use reloads, but not so dumb that a reasonable person wouldn’t do it.
Unless some failure in the gun itself can be found, the (re-)manufacturer is probably in the clear. The reloader and/or shop owner may have a problem on their hands, though.
If I were the guy, I’d either get a lawyer’s opinion or do some research on his state’s and the seller’s state’s laws on unconscionability and proceed from there (which would probably mean contacting a lawyer).
IANAL. This should not be seen as legal advice.
Also, let me point out that not only is he out a grand, he’s out a Garand.
Bad pun of the day :)
Yowch. That is what has stopped me buying reloads at gun shows (tempting prices, but I like my thumbs where they are and how they work now).