FOUR GUNS DESTROYED WHILE USING THIS AMMO (ZSR 7.62x51- LOT 15) 

Thanks for letting folks know, Galactic! KIR Ammo has made the personal decision to recall the product ourselves, while we hear back from ZSR. They have not taken responsibility as a manufacturer to recall the ammo yet or openly address the problem we're dealing with. To make things easier for our customers, we - KIR Ammo are issuing a full refund on the ammo purchase only, whether you've shot some rounds or not. We feel this is the right thing to do when an ammo Lot has such dangerous potential consequences for the public at large.

ZSR is based out of Turkey, so unfortunately this kinda fits the bill. There are some good companies in Turkey, but for the most part they're synonymous with "bad QC". The only thing I'd expect from these guys is to pop up a few months later under a different name with the same issues.

Your honesty and integrity is without question regarding this matter. The due diligence is greatly appreciated. You are helping keep the community safe. Thank you!!!

Thank you for the info! Hopefully this videos saves some guns from destruction

Thank you for being diligent about this issue. I had purchased 500 rounds of this lot from True Shot Gun Club and have already fired about ~160 rounds through my SA-58. This ammo seemed a bit off to me in comparison to the last lot of ZSR I had purchased, almost seeming under pressured to me. I had to completely close the gas block to keep the weapon functioning properly in comparison to the last lot where I could open it up some to get a much smoother recoil. I'll be contacting True Shot over the weekend to seek a refund and will update once I have answers from them in case anyone else has purchased this ammo from them. Stay safe, people!

I think that ZSR will soon see what a poor customer service can do to business in no time.

That's no way for a Socom 16 to end it's days. So sad, but glad no one has been injured, so far. Keep us up to date.

I have 3 boxes of lot 15 from KIR. I broke down a little over 30 of them and weighed the charges. Ranged from 41.3 - 42.5gr. Average was ~42.0 I measured the length with dial calipers, 2.83 - 2.90" Measured the bullet diameter, .308" Ran the empty cases through a Lyman case gauge, all passed. Powder is ball, looks like H335 or BL-C(2) type. If you hold the round bullet side down and give it a few shakes you can feel the powder move. I was able to determine *some* fuller ones by feel. I did not have any that were compressed. This is the extent of my findings so far. Guess I could get a pick and probe the inside of the cases for cracks/abnormalities.

Luckily I bought mine from kIR ammo and they sent me an email before I was able to shoot the ammo and I sent them 200 rounds back this morning for a full refund. They will get my business from now on.

I assume I am not the only one who weeps at the sight of a needlessly damaged 308?

Thanks for your informative post. A lot of people out there think “it will never happen to me.”But it does happen, and to have this many incidents occur, with the same lot number is no coincidence. Yes, you are saving lives.

Yers ago I was a military special agent liaison officer to the Turkish Police. At the Turkish National Police ranges I observered many calibers of Turkish made service ammo destroy Turkish G3 rifles, MP 5s, .380, 9 mm, and .45. One Turkish factory for 8 mm Mauser was built by the German government prior to WW 1. On a tour of the National Arms factory I saw shell cases advance down wood tracks where powder was dropped into the cases. No two cases had the same amount of a powder charge. This did not seem to concern the workers. The floor was dark with dropped powder. A few weeks later that factory outside of Ankara blew up. I recall another factor near Istanbul had exploded during my tour of duty. Turkish Police mistrusted their ammo but seemed resigned to any accident being the Will of Allah. When I got back to the US I told everyone at the USAF Special Ops School and FLETC in GA to beware of surplus Turkish ammo. Later CZ and HK firms built new weapons plants in Turkey that make fine weapons. I was told that newer ammo plants have been built but the working culture in the older plants (1970s and 1980s) was not up to US quality control standards. The 1930s to 1950s 8 mm was substandard. This was brought into the US in the 1990s when stockpiles of Turkish Mausers were imported to the US. One unit in 1978 joked that their 1888 Mausers which were 2nd line of defense weapons, were called "controlled misfire devices" when using these older rounds.

Awesome video Galactic! We appreciate you getting our stories out there and helping build awareness around this negligent batch of ammo.

KIR ammo just earned my business.

So, neat to see that I made it on this big screen as I'm actually in this video! Was right there when the PTR blew and sad I didn't take a video shooting it like I intended. A very big shame all around here. That ZSR M80 has seen many thousands of rounds through our guns, mostly his PTR's. 4-5k probably. It's historically very well grouping and reliable ammo. Regardless, they need to be held liable for releasing bad ammo. We are very lucky no one was injured in our case. But sadly, the PTR Pistol that was severely damaged had a lot of work put into it and will not be easy to replace. The fire control group was peeled back like a banana, mag well and mag blown out receiver is warped and unseen other damages for sure. Thank you for covering this man.

This unfortunate series of videos speaks very highly of your character, and your high regard for safety within the community. I will be following your story and as you report on others. I hope somebody and/or the appropriate group(s) involved will be held accountable! At this point, ammunition importers and resellers have a responsibility and liability to remove this ammo from their shops and inform those who purchased of the potential for danger IF it is in fact the ammo (it is). Thank you for your diligence, and take care.

It would be really interesting to pull the bullets from some unfired rounds and weigh the powder to see how much and the consistency of charge weights.

Poor customer service is NOT at all acceptable!!! I hate so much about the gun/ammo community - as there is WAY TOO MUCH GREED!!!

This is a wild development for this story, FOUR!

Two Thumbs way up for KIR Ammo. They have great prices, shipping, good customer service, and out of Texas. There really is no excuse for ZSR ignoring this or Turkish ammo being spotty. They have been SAAMI and NATO spec since at least the 1970s. The Ottomans invented the bombard and they have been making 7.92 Mauser ammo long before NATO. ZSR has a sophisticated plant that you can see on their website.

Thanks

First off I'm glad you didnt have to include information for injuries. Second thanks for getting the word out. My bet is the company folds to avoid lawsuits, reorgs then returns to operation here in the US under a new name with repackaged ammo. Someone needs to start pulling this shit apart to see where the problem is coming from.

Thanks for sharing your experience and time. So glad no one was hurt. I was at the range one day, years ago when a guy's Glock 17 blew up in his hand, from a compressed load, (his own reloads) and from then on, I have been more vigilant in my own reloading. Fortunately, the gentleman at the range was not badly hurt, his Glock, however, was a goner.

Sorry to hear about your experience (as well as the others), and thank you for giving everyone a heads up about this bad batch of ammo. The truth is any company can produce a bad batch but that doesn't make this situation any better. I hope your video's save a few people from going through what you have.

I know you aren't placing any blame on Springfield Armory or ZSR but I think with 4 other incidents like this and only 1 commonality amoung them I'd be pushing ZSR to make it right or at the very least buy back their ammo for your costs. If that fails and your not willing to shoot them (100% reasonable & completely understandable) you've still got 483rds of the stuff. I'd go through them and see if they appear to be uniform is weight & length. If you have some heavy or underweight rounds pull those apart and weight their contents. It could be a double charge causing excessive pressure. or out of spec bullets that are increasing the dwell time and boosting pressure but still clearing the bore. It's odd for sure but I'd document it on camera and if you find something have ZSR own up or post up your findings. If you weigh them first you may not need to pull as many apart to find an anomaly.

As an M1A/M14 owner I want to say thank you for sharing this vital information.

Thanks for the heads up!! I am sharing this with everybody I know who drives a .308.

Well, I am a slow learner! I have had Nosler Trophy Grade .308 Winchester 165 grain partition bullets in this factory ammunition basically blow up twice in two different rifles. In the first incident, the case split in the web. I had a brand new Steyr Scout. On the fifth shot, smoke went everywhere. The now black case had a big split in the case web. It should have been a thick strong area but it split. Contacted Nosler and they paid to ship the entire 14 boxes back. It was the pandemic and it took over a year to get a replacement. I finally agreed to receiving Accubond 165 gr ammunition instead of the partitions. While I was waiting for over a year I found 6 boxes of Nosler Trophy Grade 165 grain partition for sale so I bought them. Zeroed them in another Steyr Pro-Hunter. Went hunting and right as it was getting late afternoon a handful of does followed by a huge buck walked in front of me. The buck stopped at about 30 yards. I aimed and pulled the trigger. All I heard was a click. I thought I forgot to chamber a round. Just as I am reaching for the bolt handle. It boomed! Have heard of hang fires but in over 50 years of centerfire rifle shooting never had one. I racked the bolt and just sat there. When the rifle fired I was no longer on target or even close. In a few moments the buck came back. I took careful aim and fired. Smoke came out everywhere! I couldn't open the bolt. It was stuck. Dropped the magazine and put left hand into the hole and right hand on the bolt. Got it open. The 3 bullets left in the magazine were smoked. The primer disappeared. The rifle bolt had a black ring around the firing pin hole. The magazine was full of primer pieces. The inside the synthetic stock was blackened. Once again sent the ammunition back to Nosler. This time got a direct replacement in a couple of months. I am not gonna ever shoot it. The accubond ammunition they sent earlier groups 3"-5" at 100 yards out of 3 different Steyr rifles. Using Federal Premium 168gr Berger Hybrid Hunter ammunition all 3 will group below 1 inch at 200 yards for 3 shots. When I had recovered enough to stand up, l looked and I had killed the buck. Took my rifle to Steyr and they repaired it. I was interesting that the primers in both of these groups of ammunition loaded by Nosler were silver colored instead of brass colored. They did send me new ammunition but I will never shoot it. They had no comments regarding the poor accuracy of the accubond ammunition. I have learned my lesson about Nosler ammunition. I still love the performance of their Partition bullets. I will just load them myself...

It is not uncommon for a bad lot# of ammo from any company to make it to the shelf. A while ago I had some bad Tula steel case 7.62x51 where the base of the steel case was not thick enough. The result was that the angled area of the extractor groove in the case head would blow out and make a roughly 3/16" hole in the case. This ammo was not over pressured just a weak case and there was no damage to the gun. Tula immediately refunded me my money for all the ammo I purchased with that lot # and directed me to destroy any unused ammo I still had. Also something to note, ammunition is sold as is from retailers as it has always been and should be. You can't expect a retailer to take the responsibility and liability for explosive devices that they have no control over the manufacturing of.

Not your fault. You purchased the gun and ammo in good faith using American currency. You did everything right. Now it is time for the ammo company to step up and do the right thing. I appreciate you trying to remain neutral. But they screwed up and someone is going to get seriously hurt. This needs to come to the front!

Thx. for the update.

I have a lot ZSR Small Pistol Primers and a box or two of 9MM. Will definitely run those rounds through a case gauge and maybe individually weigh each round. Overkill probably. But it's peace of mind. I think ammo companies workers have been worked to the bone during the Stupid19 era and have been working on auto pilot. It's a challenge to keep from being absent minded in that mode. Making ammo REQUIRES an attentive mindset. A lot of experienced reloaders out there suggest incorporating a rule that you don't reload if your mind isn't in it 100%. Just step away from the bench and do it another night when your mind is focused. Ammo plant workers can't just step away like that.

Glad that word of this is getting around. I would say the ammo could be the issue as three different makes of guns have been hit so far. Thanks for documenting this!

Would love to see some examination/analysis on the unused ammo you still have remaining! Very curious how much powder was used in each

I got a case of ZSR 9mm to use at the range a while back. It has been the worst ammo by far I have ever run. I have a box of 50 left currently, and with every box there was at least 5 rounds that were struck by the firing pin and never went off. Out of 950 rounds I'm at about 80 rounds that were struck and did not fire. This was all done with 6 different firearms that function flawlessly with other ammo.

This is exactly why I have been reloading ammo since 1976 and never buy commercial loaded ammo.

Thanks for heads up, will pass on to everyone i know who shoots.

Thanx for the heads up. Glad no one got hurt!

Oooo.. I like that Mos Eisley sign in the back, there. Great coverage, as always.

I appreciate all your work letting us know. I buy ammo in that caliber but have never heard of it. I will steer clear. Ptr91 owner here

First, thank you for notifying others about the problem with ZSR Ammo. Hopefully, they will replace your rifle. Otherwise, you need to get together with the other guys and sue in on action. I don't see how a court would not hold CSR liable. FOUR RIFLES BLOWN UP WITH THE LAME LOT OF AMMO! Again, I am glad that no one seems to have been injured.

Thank you for this......reloading my own for this reason.

Any company can put out bad product but this is one time I am glad that I am *semi* picky on what kind of ammo I purchase. I buy cheap ammo but its usually only made by companies I am familiar with over a period of years. About the only imported ammo I buy is PMC, Belom, Igman, Magtech, S&B and a few others.

We all are searching for cheap ammo. We don't expect this. Thank you for this info..

Nice job getting the word out about this bad ammo. I hope none of you that this happened to are seriously hurt. Next step, Get a good attorney & sue the hell out of the maker of ZSR ammo. I wish you good luck & that you get every dollar you deserve.

Thank you for sharing this! So far I haven’t bought any ZSR ammo, and now I know to avoid it…at least for now. Hopefully they’ll straighten things out.

Thanks for the update. Way to handle the situation. Its hard to get just facts anymore.

thank you very much for doing these videos. I almost bought a case of these because of the price, and would have considered purchasing again going forward. Very appreciative that you have posted your experience, so others don't have to walk the same path.

Shit situation. Glad you are not injured. Thankyou for the update and info. Clearly an ammo issue this needs to get out and these rounds need to get mopped up before it kills someone.

So sorry it happened to you and the others! Thank you for spreading the word.

I do not shoot all that much...but greatly appreciate your candor, and fortrightousnes.....for just being aware may prevent an incident...

Springfield Armory's customer service is FANTASTIC in my experience. Which is 30 years FULL-TIME in the gun business.

I've done business with battle hawk once and with their response to you I'm done with them. Thank you for your videos and updates. I'd hat to see my aero .308 get blown apart.

Thanks for your video. I will be passing this valuable information on to everyone I know who shoots.

Thanks big time. Not buying any of that crap. Those were wicked blow ups. Glad that no one got hurt.

I was looking for some 7.62x51 for my FR8. ZSR still being sold by target sports. I like target sports. Super fast shipping. Passing on the ZSR thanks to you! Hope they compensate you for your loss and I’m glad you are ok

That same ammo is also being sold under the name of SAR. I purchased some 600-rounds from Zinc Point. Now I am afraid to shoot it, as I would be expecting a catastrophic failure with every trigger pull. Yes, I know, different lots, but also made in same factory. They just put a different name on it. If I get really desperate in time of war, I might use it then. Would really hate to destroy my AR-10, or even worse, my FN SCAR 17S.

Because of the availability and price of their ammo, I stocked up on 9mm, 556, and 308. I must say accuracy and reliability with it is outstanding. Although the M193 is on the low end of velocity. I have M80 batches 002 and 012. A few hundreds rounds fired so far. I will be paying close attention to this situation and ZSR's response

Wow, there are some very lucky people out there. Glad nobody was injured by they're weapons exploding.

I also reached out to ZSR about my issue with LOT 16 of the same ammo, and nothing but crickets.

I was using zsr to get a rough zero while sighing in my ruger American. 2 round ejector, extractor, and one locking lug all failed. Not sure which lot number it came from. Discarded the box beforehand, but it's pretty obvious what's going on

Three insanely strong actions. Delayed roller blowback and two piston driven actions; one being milled and the other stamped. It's very hard to blow any of these apart, especially the Springfield.

Thanks for the info. I didn't think the rifle was the problem.

The ruptured cases really look like out of battery or unsupported case failure. It doesn't look overcharged as much as it was the incorrect powder used as in a much faster burn rate powder than intended. Some ammo manufacturers may use faster powders with lower charge weights to save money on powder. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this.

Good warning. I had something similar happen decades ago with a Detonics stainless MkV I once owned. Improperly loaded ,45acp commercial round. A stunning experience. Took a minute to notice the blood coming from my nose, LoL. Just a concussive nose bleed like a punch, I was lucky. The steel inserts in my Pachmyer grips no doubt saved my fingers when the magazine blew out and the sides bulged out. Fingers were numb for a few minutes. Barrel split and the slide came apart too. Metal pieces bouncing all over the range. Got everyone's attention for sure. Several witnesses so the ammo maker and I did a settlement so I won't say who, but yes, such things happen. Glad no one was hurt by this..

With some powders, undercharging (allowing too much airspace inside the cartridge) will cause tremendous overpressure. W296/H110 is a good example. It’s not so much a situation of overcharged cases, but rather cost-cutting from fly by night loaders undercharging with cheap unpredictable third world powders. Chemistry is real. I’ve blown up two AR’s myself working up reduced charge loads for .300 Blackout, mistakenly using incorrect powders with too much airspace.

I want to thank you for putting this out there, I have the M1A scout squad and I am looking for bulk 7.62x51, I will stick with Federal.

Thanks for putting this out. I hope everybody can get their guns replaced.

I've got a lot of ZSR 7.62x51 lot 056.Sar21 d030-001 lot 056. They haven't made my rifle explode, but it continually jams, stove pipes and will not run more than 1-2 rounds before issues. I would stay away from ZSR at all costs. I'll be deconstructing all of it and reloading it properly, hopefully the brass is still worthwhile.

It's definitely the ammo. WOW what quality ammo.

its a miracle no one has been seriously injured or killed from this batch of ammo! those pictures are crazy

I'm a Marine Infantry Veteran of 22 years. 1. The CIA had an operation in Vietnam of locating ENEMY ammo dumps and stealing and replacing Ammo in the original containers with sabotage ammo. 2. You have two conclusions due to case capacity. a. Deliberate sabotage b. Pistol powder getting into the manufacturing process. Both options are terrifying. As a note: two ways to disarming a citizen 1. Charge him with a felony 2. Destroy his Firearm (accidentally)

Thanks for the update. I for 1 will not buy any zsr going forward. Their lack of response is inexcusable.

This is one reason why I handload my own Ammo. I use a Dillon progressive for handgun Ammo and 5.56, but I load all other rifle Ammo on a single stage press & I verify the "recipe" in at least 2 diff reloading manuals plus I verify the power charge in EVERY case before I seat bullets. I sure hope you get some action from ZSR, but it sounds like they aren't being very responsive. May be a good time to retain legal counsel, you seem to have an open & shut case against ZSR, IMHO. Glad you weren't hurt.

Im glad people are not getting hurt seriously. After the 2nd fail if I was the ammo maker I would be running ads trying to get all the ammo back , If I was the seller of the ammo I would be reaching out wanting the ammo back, I would send replacement ammo and then battle the ZSR

Thanks for the update on that issue, I have bought 500rd of that from True Shot Gun Club in January but didn't have time to try it out yet. All my boxes says Lot 15, I'm afraid to even use it now after all those incidents.

I was running some ZSR recently and when I fired something felt off Im glad I listened to my gut and checked the chamber as I had a squib from the ammo. Ive used my rifle enough i know the impulse well and it just had one like a .22 instead of the .223 but it kicked just enough to feed the next round and close but when closing it felt super hard. I checked the chamber and the round came out with the bullet short in the case and looking there was a squib in the barrel. Now it kicked back enough to cycle the gun but not push the round far past the chamber. Along with having issues with the ammo in freezing temperatures. Its annoying because zsr used to be really good for the price. Now i double checked with a basic set i winchester 62 greentip and it didnt have the issues in the cold.

Thank you for putting this out there! I have shared this.

I'm linked to the firearms industry and have a wealth of knowledge from them. Almost all of it is priprietary and not shared. There is an additional things that can make ammo dangerous and one inparticular that all those that gave their opinion as to what caused this ammo to blow up missed. That is the cartridge case itself may have not been properly make. That is when they for the case from the "coin" it may have not been done correctly and the case was not of the proper hardness. In other words the case was "soft". Even at normal pressures a soft case can let go. In looking at the various pictures I'm seeing that the cases let go in different areas. This sure leans toward a case that doesn't have the correct hardness. If there is a positive to this whole incidednt its that none of the shooters have been seriously injured. That's wonderful! Better to have to get a new gun rather then lose an eye, an arm, or your life.

Thanks for sharing

Glad Springfield is in contact with you. Even though it doesn't seem to be a design flaw on their part, maybe they'll do you a solid and replace it. There's another YT video out there where a guy had his Glock explode using ZincPoint ammo and even though the issue wasn't on Glock, they still fixed it for him. Hopefully Springfield has equally accommodating customer service.

There are also several lots of Norma Tactical 308 147 grain ammo that have been recalled. I reached out to Norma on their website and all they need is proof of purchase. They are paying for shipping both ways. You can't blame the retailer for bad ammo. The manufacturer should make it right.

The saga continues

One 0f the many reasons I've reloaded over 43 years. Papa

This had me checking my supply. I bought a couple thousand rds more than a year ago. Not really sure. But it was all lot 057. Quite a relief...but....who knows about the quality control of other batches.

Best of luck. Hopefully ZSR pays the price.

Thanks for the heads up I always buy American marksman. It’s all Lake City brass 76 2 x 51.

Most people buy budget or whatever is available. Usually poor performance is expected, not destroyed guns, and or injuries.

I love how creepy the ring light makes his eyes look

Appreciate the update and heads up to all shooters.

I would be very surprised if ZSR makes anyone impacted by defective ammunition whole again. They are probably drawing up a new logo and branding as we type.

I don't have a dog in the fight 😂😂😂thanks for letting us know

KIR Ammo is a beast

I saw that the powder was not uniform grains. It had small spheres and large spheres as it was ball powder. No machine can fill cases with two differant powders with precision. Some cases will have more of small balls and some with more large balls leading to too much or too little pressure. Worth looking into.

I like your presentation of what happened. Thanks for sharing valuable information.

I hope ZSR is in no way related to ZQI ammo, is it? I have a case of ZQI in 5.56. I have shot 60 rounds of it with no problems.

Honestly...might be worth contacting your attorney and having them send a letter to ZSR. Word is spreading and that is good, but someone is likely to get hurt. Not to mention the thousands in ruined weapons. ZSR needs to issue a recall and make this right with customers who have had damaged weapons.

That's why its imperative to wear eye protection always

As a gunsmith, I have always recommended against buying foreign ammunition.

Someone at ZSR must have screwed up and loaded this batch with faster burning pistol powder or some such shit. That can definitely blow up a rifle.