Ammo not for NAA - Anyone have problems?

[TwoGunJayne]

Good day;

We've talked before about the warning stickers on some boxes of BVH (Bitterroot Valley Hills) ammunition in .22 magnum.

There have been some thoughts that Armscor .22 magnum is in the same category.

Do we have any more entries in the "not for NAA ammo, have had problems" category?

I'll start.

.22 NAA Short vs. Aguila high velocity short ammo.

My NAA Short-only frame ties up with Aguila high velocity short ammo and will not finish a cylinder before the cheap, thin brass swells at the case head and prevents cylinder advance, never had any similar problems with any American-made fodder. It really looks like something's wrong with that Aguila short high-v ammo, I think it has a touch of case setback, as well. I think it's too hot for the thin cheap brass they're using. The priming compound stinks of urea nitrate, and this indicates low-quality priming compound. I'm not trying to be gross, but you make that stuff with cooked urine and modified battery acid.. and it's not entirely stable in long storage. I'd rather have an azide or styphnate primer.

No CCI, Winchester, Federal, or Remington round (American made) has ever tied up this pistol such that the cylinder won't advance. I think I even ran a box or two of Eley match short through it and zero problems. It looks like the Aguila ammo is the culprit, the only short ammo I have located and tried that has issues (so far.) The ammo is fine in bolt action rifles (possibly stickier extraction) and revolvers with higher-mass cylinders (ejection slightly more difficult than other ammo.)

Anyone else have problems with an NAA Short and Aguila high velocity short ammo?

[TwoGunJayne]

I thwacked myself in the chest with a return-to-sender.

The target was one of those 8" neon green rubber "self healing" gongs on that fencing wire stand that you stick into the ground.

The ammo was CCI CB cap .22 short, the gun was an NAA Short-only at about 15 paces. I was wearing ears and eyes and am grateful it wasn't a face or neck hit. I was happy to be managing to pop the thing, things were good... then WHACK! Most of the energy was already spent and there was barely any there to start, but it got my attention.

The weakest loads for the NAA short push less than 4-7 ft lbs on a good day. A ricochet eats into that, as some energy is absorbed in the impact.

I isolated it to the ammo choices. High v was likely to penetrate. Standard was often captured by the rubber, but still safe. Cap loads, quiet loads, and clipped colibri "short caps" have a tendency to bounce one once and a while from the rubbery surface. I started standing a foot or two to the side from dead on parallel.

I don't feel this issue is as likely with the 3-dimensional targets that were intended to tumble, but a phenomenon of the lightest possible load for the smallest production firearm in North America. I don't think they were intended for rubber targets. 

This issue did not reoccur with high or standard velocity, just the weakest of the weak loads.

The energy level was below that of brusing. It was more of a "WTH moment."

Lessons learned. Stay safe! Eyes and ears on, all the gear, all the time... even with .22s. It could have been my eye and I don't want to dress like a pirate, matey.

Yaarrgh! 

[Dinadan]

I have not shot the Aguila HV Shorts. I have a couple of boxes, just have not got around to shooting it.

I had a return-to-sender a couple of years ago, though it missed me. I was plinking with one of my Minis, shooting CCI target shorts. I was picking spots on a dead oak for a target. That was really hard wood, and the shorts would just penetrate enough to stick in place, half the bullet sticking out of the wood. One of my targets was a piece that had partly split off the trunk: apparently when the bullet hit, the wood flexed and rebounded just right to send that bullet whizzing through the leaves next to my head. Live and learn: since then I do not shoot anything that looks like it might flex. 

[I]

I was shooting in wet, sandy mud. A bit of a corrugated steel drainage conduit stuck from the mud. It seemed like a natural thing to try a few rounds.

I heard a whine of a bullet ricochet near my head. I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and not to fire back at the richochet-hazard target.

Thinking carefullly, the wavy nature of the steel conduit would induce a glacis-plate effect and a ricochet a good percentage of the time.

I've seen thinner backstop plates to bounce incoming bullets to a little pile in the ground.