Posting this from another site.

Original Post: http://www.txwaterfowler.com/forum/foru ... -metal-psa

Posted by: "GD07"

Ever since the Heavy Metal shells came out I have been a firm believer in the performance and lethal capabilities of the #6 loads. This past week while I was off we made a run out to the bay front to whack a couple of limits and I was finishing up the last box from last years surplus of #4s. I had already shot a few shells at other groups of birds and then it happened. I pull up, fire a shot, rack another shell, pull the trigger and nothing happens for a split second. I then hear a fizzle and a thud followed by a flash out the side of the gun and powder blown back in my face. It seems that this particular shell had some major shizzle going on with it. It almost acted as though it was wet, but these shells were in my bag at B&C and then went straight into the house when I got home. If they had any moisture it was only from the moisture in the air last season. All of the other shells from the box were in the same condition and they all shot perfectly fine. I did remove the barrel to inspect it after this shot which is something you should absolutely do if you ever have a shot not sound quite right, and I found the wad was stuck at the end of the barrel right before where the barrel transitions to the Kicks choke.

My initial thoughts when I started using these shells is they are absolutely lethal on birds. My thoughts now are they are absolutely lethal on birds 99% of the time, and potentially lethal to humans the other 1%.

I did almost piss myself, but I held it back although I did let a little wet fart out when this happened.

The risk compared to reward is an easy decision maker for me. I will not be using Heavy Metal anymore. I was damn lucky neither my buddy to my right nor myself were hurt.


This is the outcome...

Having read the posts on the original website it seems like this is operator error and not the fault of Hevi Metal. GD07 admitted that the shells had gotten wet and he had to brush the oxidation off of the brass, that is poor decision making at it's finest, but it is typical to blame the manufacturer for the problem instead of being accountable for his bad choice.

X2

Had this very same thing happen on some federal cheapies

Had a similar thing happen with a Drylock a few years back. Jammed the action on my Nova. Sent the gun and shell back to Benelli just like it was with the wad still in the barrel. Winchester said shell got wet. Only thing I can think is maybe the shell made it through a few wet hunts without ever making it in the gun then sat for a summer. I now am really careful about using old shells first a chunking any I am worried about.

My cousin had that happen with a federal load in a 870, scared the hell outta me.

Glad your ok man....That coulda turned out bad.