Spent shell caseing sent with new pistol

I recently bought a new pistol at a gun show here in Texas.
Ruger Vaquero in .45 Colt
The new gun had a fired cartrage sealed in a small envolope
What is this spent case for ? Is it a proof load from the factory ?
Is the bullet now on file with the pistol's serial number in some federal vault ?
The only thing written on the package was the weapon's serial number .

My best guess would be you hit the nail on the head with your own response. Haven't bought a new firearm in a long time so this would be strange to me also.

If I were you I'd take it back. Just to be on the safe side.

Perfectly normal. My Glock came with one. I believe my old USPc did too.

its just the spent shell from the safety test that they do before they send it out to you. they always test fire guns before they ship them.

I would rather email the company and find out first...Id bet this spent round is the cartridge left from the gun after proof firing it....
probably build them and shoot each one....its advertising id bet
If it were federal they would never send half the identifying pieces to you!
theyd keep both.....

reply to post by granpabobby


Your State law requires that a round be fired from your gun so it can be "marked" for any future forensics if the authorities think your pistol was used in a crime...


Or, in other words they are 'tagging' your pistol..

re-hone the barrel and change the firing pin. You're probably looking at a case of firearm fingerprinting;
Promising Strategies to Reduce Gun Violence, Section IV: Strategies To Interrupt Sources of Illegal Guns, July 21, 2000 The info is a little out of date;

In addition to recording the markings from guns used in crimes, the system is designed to record markings from the test firing of every new gun. Currently, manufacturer participation is voluntary and only Glock USA, is contributing information to the database. If the database does eventually contain the majority of firearms in the US, it would be possible for the police to start the trace process with nothing more than a bullet or a casing left at a crime scene.

Oh dear Lord noooooo

They are not "fingerprinting" your firearm.

Every handgun I have bought has a spent shell. There should be a piece of paper in there that explains the weapon was fired before it was able to leave the factory. This is a safety / functions check. Nothing more.

My Walther P99, the first gun I ever bought about 10ish years ago, had the same thing. Every gun I have purchased since then has also had the spent shell.

OP is this your first firearm purchase?

Most states do not require the casing be included but because some do most all firearms now come with the casing. My understanding is that it is for forensic dna.

The vaquero is one of my favorite SA revolvers. I have a super blackhawk that is my sidearm of choice when I hunt. I used to shoot SASS and that is where my vaquero love came from. Ruger revolvers... taking it up a notch.

reply to post by Acid_Burn2009


For the record several states do indeed have a "Ballistic Imaging" database. New York (called CoBIS), Maryland (MD-IBIS), and California (CBIS) already have a gun "fingerprint" database, collected from the manufacturer for each new gun sale. Glock voluntarily collects the information even if the state where the sale took place doesn't require it. Whether it would ever be feasible to solve crimes this way is really up to debate.

Straight from the Glock Web site FAQ:

Why did I get two fired brass casings with my Glock?

Some states now require that firearms manufacturers provide fired casings with every new handgun. The brass will be collected by the dealer and given to the state to be entered into an information database. If you are not in one of these states the dealer usually gives just gives them to the customer.

fire 500+ rounds through the gun and the bullet they have on file will be next to useless.

Or you can get a Fire Lapping kit and use it and the test bullets will be of no use at all to the government
www.lasc.us...

Its a wonder they sent you the casing as it has its own set of marking that can be used to identify a casing found at a crime scene.

Add to that the only thing you can find out if you analyze a bullet from a Glock is that it was fired from *a* glock, not a specific glock. Glock firearms have rifling unique to Glock firearms.

The casing, thats a different story. Make sure you pick up your brass at the crime scene.

They all come with fired casings whether or not the state of purchase requires them or not.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

All three of my Glocks came with these. They are QA shots, Nothing more.

MidwayUSA sells bore lapping rounds that would do the trick of altering the lands and grooves inside the barrel. On a Ruger SA revolver I highly recommend having the cylinders re-honed by a gunsmith. If you have a "wild" round on a tight paper group it is likely caused by a cylinder that left the factory a little rough. It will also affect the way the casing burns to re-hone. You can also have the smith file the front sight if you're a little low.

The ballistic fingerprinting is pretty screwy, I hope I don't ever read about someone being mistakenly accused of a crime because of it. There is a mountain of things that can be done even inadvertently that could affect the round during the cycle of action, rounds can have manufacturing defects, a barrel could have been squibbed too hard, and more.

Oh and aftermarket glock barrels do not always have polygonal rifling and some other manufacturers also use the polygonal rifling now as well.

If you're so concerned about it, get a gun with polygonal rifling.

I recently purchased a Smith and Wesson .22 auto pistol. It did not come with a spent shell.

Add me to the list of handgun purchasers that found spent casings in the box. Glock, Kimber and Sig.

My S&W came with a spent shell casing. Its to let you know the gun fired successfully, and that everything operated as it should. Nothing sinister. I gave mine to a friend who reloads along with all the rest of the brass after a range session. I don't reload, so its worthless to me.

Besides, he reloads my brass, and I pay a lot less per round, than I would at the store!

Most rimfires do not come with a casing. The cartridge is a horrible candidate for forensic analysis. The only round that would have significant matter remaining after being spent would be SSS aguila at 60gr (don't put this in a M&P22 or 15-22 its not made for that rifling).