What is the minimum item count for pistol case acceptance?

Answer: Nine here, and sealing, wall and drop cannot be dropped. A small lot may cut the sample, never the list.

Does one critical defect reject the whole lot?

Answer: Yes. The acceptance number for critical defects is zero, so the lot is sorted or returned.

Is pressure decay more reliable than immersion?

Answer: Yes, it records the pressure lost, reflecting gasket margin. Immersion only shows water entry.

Should latch force above the upper limit fail?

Answer: Yes. Above 90 N it is functional: hard to open one-handed, and the catch seat cracks.

How long are acceptance records kept?

Answer: Sheets 3 years, samples 12 months, reports 5 years.

Pistol Case Acceptance Standards: Items and Verdicts

Quick answer: List every inspection item, fix a measurable limit for each, draw enough samples for the batch, then file the verdict with its records. Miss an item and no sampling recovers it; leave a limit vague and two inspectors disagree.

The Inspection Item List
Verdict Limits for Appearance and Dimensions
Sampling Plans Mapped to Batch Size
Functional Verdicts for Sealing and Latches
Decision Rules and Records
FAQ

1. The Inspection Item List

Inspection items for a pistol case fall into three groups: visible, measurable, testable. Visible covers appearance and marking, measurable covers cavity size and wall thickness, testable covers sealing, latch force, drop and salt spray. Miss one group and a failure mode goes unwatched.

Item	Method	Limit
Appearance	visual, 500 lx	no cracks, no through scratches
Cavity size	calipers, three points	inside drawing tolerance
Wall thickness	ultrasonic, five points	90% of nominal or more
Sealing	30 kPa held 60 s	drop of 2 kPa or less
Latch force	push-pull gauge, every unit	60–90 N
Hinge play	feeler gauge	0.5 mm axial or less
Corner drop	1 kg ball from 1 m	no cracks, no whitening
Salt spray	neutral, 48 h	no red rust
Marking	visual plus tape pull	matches batch code

Sealing, wall thickness and drop carry the weight; failure in any stops the lot. The list also fixes measuring points: cavity at both ends and the middle, wall at four corners plus the base centre.

2. Verdict Limits for Appearance and Dimensions

A limit for a pistol case has to be a repeatable action: a 0.2 mm feeler at the rim, no deeper than 5 mm, is executable by anyone.

Pistol Case: a closed olive case on a dark background, arched top handle, two front latches, ribbed corners

Sink marks are judged by position: one in the gasket groove breaks sealing and counts as major, a shallow sink on a side wall as minor. Scratches exposing substrate are major; colour is read at ΔE 1.5 or less.

Dimensions are judged against the tolerance band only: over the upper limit foam sits loose, under the lower it will not fit, so both ends fail. If outer size misses but stacking is unaffected, a concession is allowed.

3. Sampling Plans Mapped to Batch Size

Sampling follows an adjustment scheme at general level II, normal severity, single sampling, applied to the pistol case lot as a whole.

Lot size	Sample	Critical Ac/Re	Major Ac/Re	Minor Ac/Re
151–280	32	0/1	1/2	3/4
281–500	50	0/1	1/2	5/6
501–1200	80	0/1	2/3	5/6
1201–3200	125	0/1	3/4	7/8

Draw samples across the lot, not from the top pallet. Units from one mould on one shift hide every other mould, so stratify by mould number. Never replace failed units with extra ones, since that inflates the pass rate.

4. Functional Verdicts for Sealing and Latches

Judge sealing by pressure decay: latch the case, charge to 30 kPa, hold 60 s, accept 2 kPa or less. Immersion leaves no gasket margin number.

Pistol Case: a closed olive case on a dark surface, ribbed lid, latches at both ends, side handle and pressure valve

Test latch force on every unit, 60–90 N. Below 60 N the latch may pop open in transit; above 90 N it is too tight for one hand and the catch seat cracks. A spread wider than 20 N in one lot points to drift; double the sample.

Hinge and corner are judged together. Axial play over 0.5 mm lets the lid rock and loads the gasket unevenly; a corner that whitens after a 1 kg ball drops 1 m fails drop performance. Both are functional defects.

5. Decision Rules and Records

Rules for a pistol case run by defect class in three tiers, with no conversion.

Class	Rule	Action
Critical	one unit rejects the lot	100% sort or return
Major	Ac 2, Re 3	reject, switch to tightened
Minor	Ac 5, Re 6	concession with written approval

Keep three records: inspection sheet 3 years, two retained units 12 months, third-party reports 5 years. Two lots with a major defect move a pistol case programme to tightened inspection; five clean lots restore normal.

Conclusion

A pistol case acceptance standard turns “acceptable” into measurable items, three decision rules and one traceable record set. A workable pistol case acceptance standard lets anyone reproduce the verdict.

This article discusses only the container (case body) side of specifications and design intent, and does not cover any handling, loading or use of the contents.