Blazer Brass Ammunition will not be allowed for any
Defensive Courses of Fire (or any students with ported firearms) due to jacket separation issues
Any other brand of ammunition that meets SAAMI specifications will be allowed; however at this time I can no longer allow the Blazer Brass ammunition to be used for the below courses, or fired from any weapon with a ported barrel / slide. The above photo was taken during a Couple's Private Basic Pistol Course in 2014; the husband was using 124 gr Blazer Brass 9mm ammunition out of a brand new pistol. The target you see above has 15 bullet holes in a tight group around the 3/4" blue dot, and numerous smaller shrapnel holes from a jacket that separated as it exited the muzzle. The jacket strikes span from edge to edge horizontally, and nearly edge to edge vertically. I have sent this photo & corresponded with two separate Blazer Brass representatives, as well as their QA/Tech Services Manager, and all have assured me that (1) this will not damage the firearm; (2) this is due to the thin copper plating used to jacket the lead core, a design that they use to keep costs down to pass along to the consumer; (3) this will occur with some firearms; (4) and that Blazer Brass ammo is INTENDED for use by the "casual shooter", and NOT INTENDED for use by Law Enforcement since officers may conduct record fire, and the extra holes may be problematic in scoring their targets.
I assure you that I am more concerned with your safety than with the scoring of your targets (although scoring with multiple shrapnel holes would be a pain..), and since we may conduct firing from alternate firing positions where parts of your anatomy may be forward of the muzzle (kneeling; side prone; supine (lying on your back); retention position) or firing around a barricade / cover where shrapnel from the jacket separation may result in injury to you or damage to the apparatus, I can no longer allow Blazer Brass ammunition during any of the following courses(*):
It should also be noted that there are other ammunition manufacturers that utilize the thin copper plating, and have the same "NOT FOR L.E. USE" and "NOT FOR USE IN PORTED FIREARMS" warnings that are found on the Blazer Brass box. However, at this time I have not seen any evidence of those particular brands experiencing jacket separation out of the muzzle in non-ported firearms, and they will continue to be allowed until they prove to have this same issue. After this incident, I found three other on-line references to Blazer Brass ammunition suffering from jacket separation (whereas I generally take anything posted to a blog with a heavy dose of salt, the initial response I received from Blazer was nearly verbatim to one of those posted, which adds to its veracity). If Blazer choses to address this issue I will certainly re-evaluate their Blazer Brass line of ammunition for future classes, and if any other brands of ammunition prove to be problematic they will be included here as well.
(*) In Risk Management, the Probability that a hazard will occur is balanced with the Severity of the likely injury to determine the risk involved, then Controls are added to help mitigate either the likelihood that it will occur, or to lessen the severity if it does. Since Blazer has stopped responding to my e-mails on this topic, I have no data to determine Probability nor Severity, thus a proper Risk Assessment cannot be done.
For example,
I assure you that I am more concerned with your safety than with the scoring of your targets (although scoring with multiple shrapnel holes would be a pain..), and since we may conduct firing from alternate firing positions where parts of your anatomy may be forward of the muzzle (kneeling; side prone; supine (lying on your back); retention position) or firing around a barricade / cover where shrapnel from the jacket separation may result in injury to you or damage to the apparatus, I can no longer allow Blazer Brass ammunition during any of the following courses(*):
- School Safety Course (Active Shooter Response for Educators)
- Methods of Concealed Carry & Employment
- 3-Day Comprehensive Defensive Pistol Course
- NRA's Personal Protection in the Home Course
- Individualized Training Sessions focused on defensive handgun techniques
It should also be noted that there are other ammunition manufacturers that utilize the thin copper plating, and have the same "NOT FOR L.E. USE" and "NOT FOR USE IN PORTED FIREARMS" warnings that are found on the Blazer Brass box. However, at this time I have not seen any evidence of those particular brands experiencing jacket separation out of the muzzle in non-ported firearms, and they will continue to be allowed until they prove to have this same issue. After this incident, I found three other on-line references to Blazer Brass ammunition suffering from jacket separation (whereas I generally take anything posted to a blog with a heavy dose of salt, the initial response I received from Blazer was nearly verbatim to one of those posted, which adds to its veracity). If Blazer choses to address this issue I will certainly re-evaluate their Blazer Brass line of ammunition for future classes, and if any other brands of ammunition prove to be problematic they will be included here as well.
(*) In Risk Management, the Probability that a hazard will occur is balanced with the Severity of the likely injury to determine the risk involved, then Controls are added to help mitigate either the likelihood that it will occur, or to lessen the severity if it does. Since Blazer has stopped responding to my e-mails on this topic, I have no data to determine Probability nor Severity, thus a proper Risk Assessment cannot be done.
For example,
- I have no data regarding the angular spread of the jacket fragments as they exit the muzzle to determine how significant the risk is of serious bodily injury (at 3 yards the copper fragments spread at least 32" vertically IN THIS INCIDENT based only on observed hits on paper spreading approx. 2' below the point of aim, and 1' above the point of aim before leaving paper)
- I have no data regarding the velocity of the copper fragments at various distances from the muzzle (in this incident, parts of the copper jacket were embedded in the corrugated plastic target backer, and some penetrated through)
- I have no data from Blazer regarding the rate of occurrence or propensity for "certain firearms" to determine the Probability rate of this happening
- I have no data from Blazer of the total number of reported incidents with Blazer Brass having jacket separation, or "skiving material" as they initially called it
- And I have no data regarding previously reported injuries or property damage related to this issue.