This Should Be Interesting

5861 Views 15 Replies 3 Participants Last post by robhic, Apr 24, 2013

robhic

Discussion Starter · Apr 7, 2013

I took my Thunder 380 CC and relubed it yesterday. I just had the new wood grips made for it so I wanted to do a quick clean before taking it out to shoot this week. I got some Polycase 380 ammo with non-metallic casings just to try. I loaded some up and inserted the mag into the gun to see how these little polymer cased bullets mated with the feed ramp.

As I inserted the mag, the slide closed automatically! OK, so I'll test it out manually and see if they eject properly. NOPE! That sucker stuck! At this point, I don't know why the slide won't pull back but I have a gun with one in the chamber!!! The loaded chamber indicator is sticking out and I have no reason to believe the bullet didn't get pushed into the chamber properly. I'd guess it should shoot all right but I am a bit hesitant to play around with a polymer-cased bullet.

I'm gonna try and pull that baby again and see if I can't get it free. Also curious as to why the slide is stuck so tight! WISH ME LUCK.

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Tony1990

· #2 · Apr 8, 2013

Not sure what kind of Polycase 380 ammo with non-metallic casings you are talking about... Is this a new type of ammo or am I behind in my bullets?????
Please make sure the safety is on before trying anything, be carefull.

robhic

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 8, 2013

Polycase bullets came to my attention last year. They are available only in .380 for now. It's a Hornady XTP HP bullet @90gr with polymer casing instead of brass or other metal. Looks to be a pretty good round. You can get them in colors and the ones I ordered (didn't get a color choice) are black with that bright brass XTP bullet. PolyCase Ammunition | The Ammo of the Future has Arrived

As far as the jammed gun, I pulled and pulled and finally found a tiny space between the top of the barrel at the chamber end and the slide. I was able to get a small screwdriver in and twist. It opened a bit more and I finally opened the slide, the bullet popped out and I am a happy guy! I couldn't find any marks or abrasions or nothin' to indicate what had caused the jam. I plan to go shoot Wednesday and see how that non-metal ammo performs.

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Tony1990

· #4 · Apr 8, 2013

Thanks. Let me know how you make out. I think I will check out those Polycase ammo.

robhic

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 8, 2013

Tony1990 said:
Thanks. Let me know how you make out. I think I will check out those Polycase ammo.

Will do. Polycase bullets aren't a bargain, I'm not sure how good they are and they aren't some special purpose round. I just got them for the novelty AND because they look like they should perform well. We'll see.

robhic

Discussion Starter · #6 · Apr 10, 2013

Went out and shot 24 Polycase rounds today. First round -- forgot to rack the slide and got the dreaded 'click'. Racked by hand and the bullet fell into the pistol -- in 2 pieces! Bullet and casing. Don't know if round was bad or just racking the slide separated it. Hmm, so I took the 2 pieces as a souvenier and shot the 7 other rounds in the 8 round magazine. Not bad. Reasonably hot and no further problems. Twenty four of the 25 rounds in the box (of 25) weren't bad. If they were cheaper, I'd use them frequently. But as I can see really NO advantage in shooting them, I think my Polycase days are over. Not to discourage others from trying Polycase, I just can't justify the $26 a box of 25 price. Almost $1 a round for plastic ammo is not a real plus in my book.

So, IMO, Polycase is good ammo, but not for the price. When I can get name brand stuff for $12-18 a box of 50, Polycase doesn't make the cut.

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Tony1990

· #7 · Apr 10, 2013

Thanks for the info on the Polycase ammo. Guess I won't try it myself, not because of the price but I don't trust bullets that fall apart....

robhic

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 13, 2013

An update on Polycase. I priced them at a supplier listed on their website and prices were a bit better. $22 for a box of 50 JRN isn't quite so bad. The JHP were more expensive but the RN bullets might be something I'd think about. Especially with ALL ammo in such short supply....

i really think the separated round I got was a fluke and not so much the ammo. I don't expect the polymer case to be as tight a bond as metal so a FTFeed and a sharp rack of the slide to clear could've done it. There wasn't a mark on the primer so the firing pin never contacted the round. Just sayin'.

Tony1990

· #9 · Apr 13, 2013

You may be right. what was the suppliers web site since I would spring for a box at $22 plus shipping just to try something new and different.

robhic

Discussion Starter · #10 · Apr 13, 2013

The Polycase website is http://www.polycaseammo.com/ and the store was in Ohio where I saw the pricing Ohio Ammunition LLC ? Welcome

The website is kinda "iffy" right now and I am waiting for them to straighten it out.

Tony1990

· #11 · Apr 20, 2013

robhic said:
The Polycase website is http://www.polycaseammo.com/ and the store was in Ohio where I saw the pricing Ohio Ammunition LLC ? Welcome

The website is kinda "iffy" right now and I am waiting for them to straighten it out.

Thinks I will hold off for a while since $39.90 for a box of 50 is a little too high for ammo.

robhic

Discussion Starter · #12 · Apr 20, 2013

That's weird. Last time I looked they had 50 round boxes for about $22.00 IIRC. $20 for 25 is a bit high and is what I paid just because I wanted to try it. When I saw the 50 for $22 I thought I'd get that but it now looks like either I was mistaken or they stopped offering it for that price. I also seem to remember the lower priced 50 rd boxes were RN ammo and not HP. Maybe they are just out of the RN.

$20 for 25 ain't gonna happen again

() here, and I am certainly not gonna buy 1000 rounds! Oh well.

Tony1990

· #13 · Apr 21, 2013

robhic said:
That's weird. Last time I looked they had 50 round boxes for about $22.00 IIRC. $20 for 25 is a bit high and is what I paid just because I wanted to try it. When I saw the 50 for $22 I thought I'd get that but it now looks like either I was mistaken or they stopped offering it for that price. I also seem to remember the lower priced 50 rd boxes were RN ammo and not HP. Maybe they are just out of the RN.

$20 for 25 ain't gonna happen again () here, and I am certainly not gonna buy 1000 rounds! Oh well.

The picture on the box of Ammo show 50 rounds but the price was for 25 rounds. You had to click on price box and a drop down menu would show the correct price.
No nice at all. .............

bersastud

· #14 · Apr 22, 2013

i not a lover of plastic guns No way I going to shoot plastic case bullets

robhic

Discussion Starter · #15 · Apr 22, 2013

bersastud said:
i not a lover of plastic guns No way I going to shoot plastic case bullets

They were more expensive than I would like. I only got them out of curiosity. But you might be surprised at the Polycase ammo performance. It was pretty good stuff. I still can't figure how or IF the plastic casing has any advantage but during this dark period of ammo shortage the "plastic bullets" aren't such a bad choice if nothing else is available.

robhic

Discussion Starter · #16 · Apr 24, 2013

Just for informational purposes, I emailed the shop in Ohio that advertised the Polycase ammo. I asked about the 50 round RN ammo and he replied that they were out and that it did exist. Target ammo (RN) would be in stock in 45 days or so. So at least I'm not crazy! I thought they had bigger boxes of cheaper priced stuff so in about a month or so I plan to look at the Polycase ammo again. If I can get 50 rounds for $20+ I think I will get some. Unless I can find some cheap brass ammo before I die of old age!!!

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