Palmetto State Armory customer files lawsuit, alleges ammunition ‘suddenly, violently exploded’
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) -An Arizona man has filed a lawsuit against several companies, including Palmetto State Armory, after claiming his ammunition “suddenly and violently exploded” in his shotgun while he was loading it.
The lawsuit stated in 2021 that Jeffrey Howell bought 10 boxes of Blackwater Ammunition Heavy Hitter 12-gauge 3/4 inch Sabot Slugs five round packs on a website called www.Tacticalshit.com. On March 2022, Howell also bought a Rock Island Armory pump-action shotgun from the Palmetto State Armory website.
Howell claims that in May 2022, he carefully loaded five rounds of ammunition into the tubular magazine of the shotgun and racked the slide to move a round into the chamber. The lawsuit claims it was then when the ammunition exploded in the shotgun.
The lawsuit states Howell suffered “abrasions and degloving of the right arm, multiple lacerations to both shoulders, clavicles, check as well as the left wrist, chest and scalp,” as a result of the explosion. Furthermore, the man claims he was bleeding from multiple areas, and “several metallic fragments were embedded in his body.”
It is alleged that Howell suffered permanent hearing damage which had a “severe impact” on his life, and was treated for a shotgun blast to the chest.
On or about June 18, Blackwater Worldwide, the company who provided www.Tacticalshit.com with the ammunition, issued a recall for the Heavy Hitter 12-gauge Sabot slug shotgun, saying there were two reports of injuries related to the ammunition. They said the Heavy Hitter ammo could detonate in the magazine tube of a tube-fed shotgun, according to the lawsuit.
Howell alleges the companies in the lawsuit were responsible for selling products with manufacturing and design defects, were grossly negligent and did not provide adequate warnings. He is seeking general, compensatory and special damages, as well as as punitive damages.
This is the second lawsuit filed against Palmetto State Armory within the span of a month, with the former centering on allegations from a former employee accusing the company of racial discrimination, retaliation and defamation.
WIS News 10 reached out to Palmetto State Armory regarding the lawsuit, and they provided the following statement:
“We have not been served with any complaint related to this lawsuit. Nothing provided to us about this alleged incident, however, suggests any basis for liability on the part of Palmetto State Armory. We did not manufacture or sell the allegedly defective ammunition and we did not manufacture the firearm. Any claims against us are frivolous and we will vigorously defend against them.”
Other parties listed in the lawsuit, including Blackwater Worldwide and www.Tacticalshit.com, were contacted but have not provided a response.
You can read the whole lawsuit below:
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