Eley shotgun cartridge problem

Sparks

Noted this on a UK forum, thought it should be reprinted here just in case:

'Duff' Eley cartridges
Had a sobering experience whilst shooting the other day.
Out with my 20 bore semi-auto introducing a couple of friends to clay shooting using Eley CT 28g fibre wads, the first shot of a pair sounded flat and the cartridge failed to eject. I stopped the shooter firing again and on removing the barrel was astonished to see the wad was stuck firm halfway up the barrel. I've never had a faulty cartridge before, or met anyone who has, so thought it a rare occurance and after clearing the barrel- a bugger of a job, we resumed shooting only to have it happen again with a cartridge from a different box.
On returning the cartridges to the shop for exchange (for a different make!) I learned that there had indeed been bad batch and Eley were aware of the problem.
The sobering part was the later realisation of the consequences of firing the second shot through a blocked barrel. Also that though aparently aware of the problem, to my knowlege Eley have not posted warnings in the shooting press or recalled the faulty batch from dealers.
Anyone else had similar problems?

Rovi

Haven't noticed it with Eley shotgun cartridges, but I've noticed it for years with their .22LR bullets (I know, I know, "cartridges" It's an Irish usage thing.)

I know the target people appear to hold Eley target ammo in high regard, but I've had plenty of problems with their hunting offerings, particularly the blue-box high-velocity stuff.

In an Anschutz 525 (semi-auto) I've had failures to feed, failures to eject, failures to fire, and 'duds' (rounds that fire, but sound and feel 'wrong', and 'fail to eject').
I know the 525 is considered a 'fussy' auto-loader, but these problems are almost unheard of with pretty much every other brand of ammo I've fed it.

I haven't put Eley through the 525 for a few years now, so perhaps things have changed, but I'll be continuing my 'Anything but Eley' purchasing policy for the foreseeable future.

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civdef

There was a memorable batch of Nike cartridges in the late '90s that had the interesting quirk where the plastic part of the case separated from the brass head during firing, travelled up the barrel with the wad and shot till it melted to the barrel becoming well and truly stuck - requiring solvent to get it out.

Rovi

civdef wrote:

There was a memorable batch of Nike cartridges in the late '90s that had the interesting quirk where the plastic part of the case separated from the brass head during firing, travelled up the barrel with the wad and shot till it melted to the barrel becoming well and truly stuck - requiring solvent to get it out.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Hmmmmmmmmm..................................... there's 'cheap' and there's 'crap', isn't there?
And they're not always the same thing!

I suppose that'd be one of the safer 'duds' though.
You'd kinda hope that the shooter would notice something was wrong when they ejected the brass bit and nothing else!

Much more dangerous is the one where the projectile doesn't make it out the end and the complete spent cartridge ejects normally, to be replaced by a fresh live one

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Sparks

Rovi wrote:

I know the target people appear to hold Eley target ammo in high regard

No we don't!
Eley target stuff was the best around and then they moved factories and brought out this EPS stuff. EPS is grand - when there's no wind. But we've been seeing horrible results in wind for whatever reason. And having seen the batch-testing groups on the same rifle between Eley and RWS ammo, I'm not buying Eley again for quite a while. Larger groups would be one thing, but flyers in a bench-test, that's just not on for the price of the ammo.

Rovi

Sparks wrote:

No we don't!

Ah, so I'm not alone then.

Sparks wrote:

Eley target stuff was the best around and then they moved factories and brought out this EPS stuff.

Is that the 'bullet with a titty', as I've heard it described???

Sparks wrote:

But we've been seeing horrible results in wind for whatever reason.

I've found a feed of curry and Guinness to be a major cause of this

Sparks wrote:

And having seen the batch-testing groups on the same rifle between Eley and RWS ammo, I'm not buying Eley again for quite a while. Larger groups would be one thing, but flyers in a bench-test, that's just not on for the price of the ammo.

Yep, flyers and general weirdness was much more common than I'd want in the hunting ammo, I can see it being a major PITA in target stuff.


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Sparks

Rovi wrote:

Ah, so I'm not alone then.
Is that the 'bullet with a titty', as I've heard it described???

Well, that's a new description for me, but I guess it could be described thusly.
It's this stuff:

I've found a feed of curry and Guinness to be a major cause of this

Don't laugh, we had some Lapua batch through here a few years ago, and the stench off it was enough to make you wish it was just the aftereffects of excessive curry abuse!

Yep, flyers and general weirdness was much more common than I'd want in the hunting ammo, I can see it being a major PITA in target stuff.

Well beyond that, if it was hunting you'd just miss the rabbit and have to get it on the next shot - in target shooting, accuracy is the one sole reason you buy the ammo at all, if you're getting fliers because of the ammo, there's no point in buying it!