Ed's comment about mismarked ammunition deserves further discussion. I have a box of 00 buck 12ga high brass Winchester shells, came to me straight from Winchester. Only thing is, the box is marked "Winchester AA Light Target Load"--and it was one of a flat of AA's, the only difference being all the other boxes really DID have the proper contents. (I called Winchester and told them they might want to check that particular lot.)
I fired one round out of a double from a brand new box of Winchester AA Light Target Loads a few years back and couldn't open the gun. I finally put it across my knee and,while pointed downrange, applied pressure to the barrels and stock and managed to get it open. The fired shell had a pierced primer and clearly showed signs of high pressure. I had pictures of this at one time but can no longer find them. I didn't use the other shells and,after I sent the pictures to Winchester, they sent UPS to my home and picked up the pierced shell and the others. I never did hear anything back from Winchester nor did I have any other problems with this gun.
Have had exactly the same experience with Westley Richards (Wolfgang Romey) and A-Square factory nitro-express ammunition in very expensive double rifles. I'll never pull the trigger on either brand again. Again though, the liability for such belongs solely to the cartridge manufacturer, and doesn't reflect on the gunmaker or proof house in any way.
