Corbon PowerBall review

[kw5kw]

Don't purchase it!

My S&W 686 .357 Magnum literally jammed after just two round fired. It's the very first time I've ever seen a revolver jam.

The range master at the range that I was at--On Target south of Burleson--said that he's seen this ammo twice, both with the same results, once in a Semi-automatic and then mine.

I'll be returning it to the place of purchase tomorrow.

Russ

[Skiprr]

Hope you can return it, Russ.

FWIW, it's no longer my cartridge of choice in any of my guns, but I've shot a couple hundred rounds of Pow'RBall in varrying calibers (in auto-loaders, not revolvers) without mishap. Everybody's mileage may vary.

[Texian]

Don't purchase it!

My S&W 686 .357 Magnum literally jammed after just two round fired. It's the very first time I've ever seen a revolver jam.

The range master at the range that I was at--On Target south of Burleson--said that he's seen this ammo twice, both with the same results, once in a Semi-automatic and then mine.

I'll be returning it to the place of purchase tomorrow.

Russ

Although I have owned a S&W Model 10 for almost 40yrs, I am no revolver expert. Enlighten me and any others reading this how this ammo "jammed" your revolver. It has always been my belief (and experience) that very few things (none in my case) can "jam" a revolver; e.g. squib round, mechanical problems with revolver. Isn't this why they say 6 for sure?

[kw5kw]

My feelings exactly; that's why I like my wheel guns.

What happened, after two rounds, and at 7 yards those two rounds had less than .125" separating them, my cylinder simply refused to rotate any longer.

We had to get a mallet and "gently" persuade the cylinder to open, then we examined the spent brass. The primer, in both cases, was no longer flush with the cartridge base, this protrusion of the primer was just enough to keep the cylinder from rotating, essentially locking the weapon. It might not happen in a different model or brand if there was slightly more clearance in between the frame and the cylinder.

I just know they will no longer be a part of my cache.

Just another reason to try the ammo with the gun before you need to use it for real.

Russ

[Kalrog]

Just another reason to try the ammo with the gun before you need to use it for real.

Best lesson of the day.

[htxred]

bit off topic, but a a few way back i posted on 1911forum about using pow'rball and they pretty much flamed me to death picking at me with the way i spelled pow'rball, saying blah blah i should of just spelled it out rather then trying to use an apostrophe....

funny thing is, when i linked to the website and it was indeed spelled "pow'rball" on the damn box, they decided to just lock the thread. buncha farts.

but when i had my dan wesson CBOB chambered in 10mm, i loaded it with pow'rballs, im seeing alot more people using it too lately, people are drifting away from federal hst...

[Keith B]

I would contact the manufacturer and confront them about it. They need to know and it would be interesting to see how they respond to the problem. If you still have the cases, they may want to see them.

My feelings exactly; that's why I like my wheel guns.

What happened, after two rounds, and at 7 yards those two rounds had less than .125" separating them, my cylinder simply refused to rotate any longer.

We had to get a mallet and "gently" persuade the cylinder to open, then we examined the spent brass. The primer, in both cases, was no longer flush with the cartridge base, this protrusion of the primer was just enough to keep the cylinder from rotating, essentially locking the weapon. It might not happen in a different model or brand if there was slightly more clearance in between the frame and the cylinder.

I just know they will no longer be a part of my cache.

Just another reason to try the ammo with the gun before you need to use it for real.

Russ

[Right2Carry]

bit off topic, but a a few way back i posted on 1911forum about using pow'rball and they pretty much flamed me to death picking at me with the way i spelled pow'rball, saying blah blah i should of just spelled it out rather then trying to use an apostrophe....

funny thing is, when i linked to the website and it was indeed spelled "pow'rball" on the darn box, they decided to just lock the thread. buncha farts.

but when i had my dan wesson CBOB chambered in 10mm, i loaded it with pow'rballs, im seeing alot more people using it too lately, people are drifting away from federal hst...

What reason are people giving for drifting away from Federal HST?

[G.C.Montgomery]

Although I have owned a S&W Model 10 for almost 40yrs, I am no revolver expert. Enlighten me and any others reading this how this ammo "jammed" your revolver. It has always been my belief (and experience) that very few things (none in my case) can "jam" a revolver; e.g. squib round, mechanical problems with revolver. Isn't this why they say 6 for sure?

The easy way for ammo to “jam� a revolver is improper or insufficient crimp on bullets in the case. If the bullets are not securely crimped, they back out under recoil and can back out far enough to impede rotation of the cylinder. If this happens, your fight with that weapon is over.

In general, PowR'Ball uses a fairly conventional bullet. The difference is the addition of a ball in the bullet cavity to support reliable feeding in autoloaders and (in theory) to cause mechanically driven expansion of the bullet as the ball is pressed against the internal surfaces of the bullet cavity by tissue through which the bullet is travelling. I'll use PowR'Ball in an autoloader that doesn't reliably feed my preferred hollowpoint ammunition. The bullet design offers no advantage in revolvers IMHO.

[G.C.Montgomery]

My feelings exactly; that's why I like my wheel guns.

What happened, after two rounds, and at 7 yards those two rounds had less than .125" separating them, my cylinder simply refused to rotate any longer.

We had to get a mallet and "gently" persuade the cylinder to open, then we examined the spent brass. The primer, in both cases, was no longer flush with the cartridge base, this protrusion of the primer was just enough to keep the cylinder from rotating, essentially locking the weapon. It might not happen in a different model or brand if there was slightly more clearance in between the frame and the cylinder.

I just know they will no longer be a part of my cache.

Just another reason to try the ammo with the gun before you need to use it for real.

Russ

That's pretty unusual but, primers can back out. Sometimes, this is and indicator of excessive pressure. Not sure additional clearance would help if excessive pressure was the cause. It could also be something unique to that lot of ammunition.

[KD5NRH]

The bullet design offers no advantage in revolvers IMHO.

The design may not, but it's the lightest effective bullet I've found in a full .357 factory load. I keep a speed strip of them with my carry gun, and load them up when I expect to be in dense crowds for less danger of shoot-through.

Of course, I prefer to avoid dense crowds for that and other tactical reasons, and a few personal ones.

[kw5kw]

I took the ammo back to the place of purchase and they looked at it and gave me my money back!

I'm happy because now I don't have a buck a shot tied up in something I will never use.

Russ

[Texian]

The easy way for ammo to “jam� a revolver is improper or insufficient crimp on bullets in the case. If the bullets are not securely crimped, they back out under recoil and can back out far enough to impeded rotation of the cylinder. If this happens, your fight with that weapon is over.

In general, PowR'Ball uses a fairly conventional bullet. The difference is the addition of a ball in the bullet cavity to support reliable feeding in autoloaders and (in theory) to cause mechanically driven expansion of the bullet as the ball is pressed against the internal surfaces of the bullet cavity by tissue through which the bullet is travelling. I'll use PowR'Ball in an autoloader that doesn't reliably feed my preferred hollowpoint ammunition. The bullet design offers no advantage in revolvers IMHO.

Thanks. I don't shoot my revolver very often (and that would be with inexpensive ammo) but it is good to know what sort of problems can crop up. My EDC is my Sig P226. So far no failures of any kind for it, but I am committed to learn and practice how to deal with them if/when they occur.