PSA, RIA and ammo manufacturer sued for exploding ammo

[The Heretic]

Palmetto State Armory part of lawsuit after ammunition 'suddenly and violently exploded'

An Arizona man is suing Palmetto State Armory after ammo allegedly exploded while being loaded in a shotgun purchased from the armory, resulting in injuries.

www.postandcourier.com

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[chanman2188]

Slam fires are pretty dangerous and I understand how the plaintiff wants to sue. Suing RIA and the ammo manufacturer makes sense, but it seems difficult to prove that PSA negligently/purposefully failed to disclose issues with the ammo.

 

[raftman]

Agreed, I don't see how PSA could possibly bear any of the liability. Gives the impression the plaintiff is fishing, but maybe it's a common practice to sue everyone involved no matter how tangentially, in hopes of catching something.

Also pretty telling the last few paragraph of the article provided a bunch of irrelevant info about PSA's unrelated controversies and connections to the Republican Party.

 

[RVTECH]

The lawsuit alleges Howell's injuries were due to a manufacturing defect of either the ammunition or shotgun from before he purchased the products.

While slam fires can be dangerous would it be reasonable to believe IF a slam fire happened with a shotgun shell loaded to normal pressure it would cause this amount of damage and injury?

Just a guess but this seems more a case of an overloaded round that exploded when chambered normally and then discharged.

I realize the guy 'said' it happened while chambering the round but who knows for sure.

 

[The Heretic]

Slam fires are pretty dangerous and I understand how the plaintiff wants to sue. Suing RIA and the ammo manufacturer makes sense, but it seems difficult to prove that PSA negligently/purposefully failed to disclose issues with the ammo.

As I understand it, the ammo did not came from PSA - he bought it somewhere else.

PSA can probably defend itself fine - especially since there is probably no known fault with the shotgun. Also, RIA is probably okay too - if they got good lawyers. If RIA is off the hook, PSA is probably too.

The ammo had been recalled, so the seller and the manufacturer are the ones who will wind up paying.

Lawyers typically name everybody involved, whether they are at fault or not, in the hopes that the deep pockets involved will pay to make the suit go away. PSA is the least likely of those named to do that.

 

[quneur]

RIA would be liable if the firing pin went off when its not suppose to. The store who sold the ammo may also be liable if they knew about the voluntary recall. They should never sell anything under recall voluntary or otherwise.

 

[Yarome]

As I understand it, the ammo did not came from PSA - he bought it somewhere else.

PSA can probably defend itself fine - especially since there is probably no known fault with the shotgun. Also, RIA is probably okay too - if they got good lawyers. If RIA is off the hook, PSA is probably too.

The ammo had been recalled, so the seller and the manufacturer are the ones who will wind up paying.

Lawyers typically name everybody involved, whether they are at fault or not, in the hopes that the deep pockets involved will pay to make the suit go away. PSA is the least likely of those named to do that.

Yeah. It seems pretty clear it's the ammo MFG's problem. Supposedly admitting that they are aware of one other case where shells in the tube went off.

If it was a RIA issue it would be happening with shells from other MFG's as well.

How the heck though? High seated undersized primers (or oversized primer pocket) with defective primer anvils? How could you even make that happen?

 

[The Heretic]

Yeah. It seems pretty clear it's the ammo MFG's problem. Supposedly admitting that they are aware of one other case where shells in the tube went off.

That said, there was a recall, so if the ammo was in the recall (could be a different lot), then the seller would share some liability for selling ammo that was recalled - I would think.

 

[The Heretic]

They should never sell anything under recall voluntary or otherwise.

Especially ammo.

 

[Flopsweat]

The plaintiff doesn't know for sure if it was the gun or the ammo, but it sure wasn't his fault, according to him. Sounds like he really wants some money.

 

[The Heretic]

The plaintiff doesn't know for sure if it was the gun or the ammo, but it sure wasn't his fault, according to him. Sounds like he really wants some money.

If I was suffering the way he says he is, then I would too. At the very least, I would want the ammo manufacturer/seller to pay my medical bills and if the gun was damaged, replace it too or reimburse the cost.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

1) He bought ammo from tactical shot, a company that tried to steal over $1200 from me and lies on their website when they say everything is in stock. Took 2 weeks of calling to even get them to get the product in which they say is in stock then ship. This is one of the worst retailers out there imo. Expecting them to pull recalled ammo is not realistic cuz they are unprofessional to say the least.

2) He used ammo that had previously exploded 2 other shotguns (black water)

3) what the hell does palmetto have to do with any of this? He's chasing $ from people that are not responsible.

4) unlikely it's RIA's fault due to the ammo exploding other shotguns, not impossible, but unlikely. All imo

 

[RustyShcklford]

I wish we had PSA stores in the PNW I'd be there every day

 

[RVTECH]

Like is often said when any news story is posted, 'we don't have enough information at this time etc' and that goes for this one as well.

That being said I believe one of two things happened:

It was in fact an overloaded round that exploded when discharged.

OR

The guy did something completely stupid and caused this entirely himself.

when he "racked the slide to move a round into the chamber with the intent of loading a 6th round ... the ammunition suddenly and violently exploded in the shotgun."

This isn't indicative of anything specific as to what caused this.