Many times the steel Russian ammo is a little on the weak side and dirty. This causes problems sometimes.Yeah, just seems like some guns don't like it one bit while others do fine.
There is nothing wrong with the guns, it's ammunition when the problem immediately clears up when changing back. My guns are extremely well maintained.
What guns? You just said your wife's .380 and a .45 won't cycle monarch brass (Privi Partizan). Could be a Jimenez or Taurus .
My wife's .380 hates the stuff and so does my .45 as well as some of my .308 rifles. I haven't had much luck with the ammo so I never buy the stuff. Come to think of it, the only Monarch ammo that did work for me was the 9mm out of my Baby Eagle.
There ya go. Guns that don't like Monarch that I have experienced so far:
1. Springfield M1A
2. Armalite AR-10
3. Sig 716
4. Remington R1 Enhanced