Commercial Reloads and Smaller commercial ammunition manufac
Posted: 26 Feb 2020 16:20
In General...
I am extremely leery of remanufactured rifle ammunition. During my own reloading I have found many rifle casings which I think are ripe for either case head separation or otherwise thinning the case wall to the point that a burn through might be imminent. I don’t see how a commercial reloader can take the time to check the casings to detect that sort of problem. I purchased a lot of equipment and components from a coworker who used to shoot competition. I probably discarded a couple hundred .308 cases I got from him because the case wall inside the case had a groove in it near the case head. There was no way to know that was happening from the outside of the case.
My introduction to commercial reloads was several outlets in the Atlanta area in the mid to late 1980s that were selling 'Master' branded reloads. I'm not certain how long they lasted but I bought a box or two and went back to 'factory'. In .45 ACP they were soft lead electro plated bullets showing some dinging up from handling packaged loose in a 2"x2.5"x3.5" box with a inner paper tray. The powder charges seemed a bit light, there was quite a bit of powder fouling and I never felt like the bullets were properly crimped.
About the same time frame there was a company that was producing reloaded ammunition and selling it commercially through some of the big box sporting goods stores. I THINK the company was 3-D ammunition and at some point they overstamped their loads on the case head with 3 D so that it was rather deeply engraved over the manufacturer’s markings. I think I bought one box of this and it was pretty good but as I didn’t like the engraved headstamp and I was already collecting brass although I had not started reloading my own I didn’t continue to buy it.
Friends of mine would occasionally buy range reloads but my experiences with ‘Master’ brand had somewhat soured me on them. This was compounded when a friend of mine was letting me shoot his Browning High Power. I had not shot one before mostly I had shot a lot of .45 ACP through my 1911 and .22LR through a Ruger MK II. He brought the gun out of his safe and bought a couple boxes of range reloads. The gun was sluggish having to be assisted to feed the rounds and they felt anemic, like they weren’t coming out of the gun with much force. I was not too impressed with 9mm for a year or two until I fired a couple Sigs with factory ammo. The BHP in question had been put up with some RIG lubricant that was more heavy anti corrosion grease than lubricant so the combination of old heavy grease and light range loads lead to a jam-o-matic.
Georgia Arms started up when I was in college. Their loads were consistent and several friends of mine in college used their ammo without any problems. Their .308 rifle stuff back then was excellent. I have bought quite a bit of their first run ammo and trust it pretty well. Their 10mm seems to be reasonable but maybe a little mild.
I noticed Alabama Arms at some of the gunshows a year or two after I noticed Georgia Arms. I never used their product. What I saw of their stuff did not look as nice as GA Arms.
Black Hills Ammunition has had an excellent reputation. I have not heard of any problems with them. I have had excellent results out of their first run factory rifle ammunition. I have not tried any of their remanufactured ammo. I have a friend who would use Black Hills exclusively if he could get all the calibers he shoots from them.
I have heard that Ammo Bros have been hit or miss in the SoCal area. I have seen them at the gunshows but I have not purchased any of their product.
LAX ammunition has a good reputation. I have bought both major factory ammunition from them as well as their own product. When buying LAX branded ammo I have mostly purchased their first run ammunition but I have picked up a case or two of 9mm reloads over the years. I have not had any issues with their ammo. I don’t buy remanufactured rifle ammunition.
Ammo Valley is an outfit I found a few years ago. I have purchased several thousand rounds from them in first run ammo in at least 3 or 4 calibers and a few thousand remanufactured rounds mostly in 9mm. I have shot about half the ammo I bought from them with no issues. I did a search before buying from them and the only complaints I saw from anyone was 1 guy complained the reloaded rounds were a little dirty. I have not complaints about them so far everything has worked fine. I have not found the rounds to leave crap on my hands and I did not see any more fouling on the gun than with normal factory ammo.
I am slightly leery of remanufactured handgun ammunition. Georgia Arms, Black Hills, Ammo Valley and maybe LAX ammunition have my respect and I may use their remanufactured product but I'd buy their first run product by choice if available even if it is a few dollars more.
I have not mentioned Buffalo Bore, Garrett, Cor-bon or any of the boutique manufacturers. I don't have any problems with them but I don't have much experience with them either. I do know one of the outfits that used to make oddball caliber loads has closed up shop. I had found them when looking for some obsolete ammunition for older guns. A friend of mine was using them for some of the specialty .45 colt loads they were making and hasn't found anyone making a comparable product as it seems everyone is either making powderpuff loads or making .45 Colt Magnum loads.
Almost every gunshow has small volume remanufactured ammunition sellers. Many are selling plastic bags of ammunition. A few are selling branded boxed ammuntion. I do not buy anything from these people. Those two high school kids selling boxes of their own reloads may be doing everything right. Same thing for that older guy with the plastic bags of his reloads arrayed around him. On the other hand I've seen enough go wrong with factory ammunition over the years from the big three that I'm not exactly up for trusting some person who is unlikely to be around if there is a problem with their product.
I am extremely leery of remanufactured rifle ammunition. During my own reloading I have found many rifle casings which I think are ripe for either case head separation or otherwise thinning the case wall to the point that a burn through might be imminent. I don’t see how a commercial reloader can take the time to check the casings to detect that sort of problem. I purchased a lot of equipment and components from a coworker who used to shoot competition. I probably discarded a couple hundred .308 cases I got from him because the case wall inside the case had a groove in it near the case head. There was no way to know that was happening from the outside of the case.
My introduction to commercial reloads was several outlets in the Atlanta area in the mid to late 1980s that were selling 'Master' branded reloads. I'm not certain how long they lasted but I bought a box or two and went back to 'factory'. In .45 ACP they were soft lead electro plated bullets showing some dinging up from handling packaged loose in a 2"x2.5"x3.5" box with a inner paper tray. The powder charges seemed a bit light, there was quite a bit of powder fouling and I never felt like the bullets were properly crimped.
About the same time frame there was a company that was producing reloaded ammunition and selling it commercially through some of the big box sporting goods stores. I THINK the company was 3-D ammunition and at some point they overstamped their loads on the case head with 3 D so that it was rather deeply engraved over the manufacturer’s markings. I think I bought one box of this and it was pretty good but as I didn’t like the engraved headstamp and I was already collecting brass although I had not started reloading my own I didn’t continue to buy it.
Friends of mine would occasionally buy range reloads but my experiences with ‘Master’ brand had somewhat soured me on them. This was compounded when a friend of mine was letting me shoot his Browning High Power. I had not shot one before mostly I had shot a lot of .45 ACP through my 1911 and .22LR through a Ruger MK II. He brought the gun out of his safe and bought a couple boxes of range reloads. The gun was sluggish having to be assisted to feed the rounds and they felt anemic, like they weren’t coming out of the gun with much force. I was not too impressed with 9mm for a year or two until I fired a couple Sigs with factory ammo. The BHP in question had been put up with some RIG lubricant that was more heavy anti corrosion grease than lubricant so the combination of old heavy grease and light range loads lead to a jam-o-matic.
Georgia Arms started up when I was in college. Their loads were consistent and several friends of mine in college used their ammo without any problems. Their .308 rifle stuff back then was excellent. I have bought quite a bit of their first run ammo and trust it pretty well. Their 10mm seems to be reasonable but maybe a little mild.
I noticed Alabama Arms at some of the gunshows a year or two after I noticed Georgia Arms. I never used their product. What I saw of their stuff did not look as nice as GA Arms.
Black Hills Ammunition has had an excellent reputation. I have not heard of any problems with them. I have had excellent results out of their first run factory rifle ammunition. I have not tried any of their remanufactured ammo. I have a friend who would use Black Hills exclusively if he could get all the calibers he shoots from them.
I have heard that Ammo Bros have been hit or miss in the SoCal area. I have seen them at the gunshows but I have not purchased any of their product.
LAX ammunition has a good reputation. I have bought both major factory ammunition from them as well as their own product. When buying LAX branded ammo I have mostly purchased their first run ammunition but I have picked up a case or two of 9mm reloads over the years. I have not had any issues with their ammo. I don’t buy remanufactured rifle ammunition.
Ammo Valley is an outfit I found a few years ago. I have purchased several thousand rounds from them in first run ammo in at least 3 or 4 calibers and a few thousand remanufactured rounds mostly in 9mm. I have shot about half the ammo I bought from them with no issues. I did a search before buying from them and the only complaints I saw from anyone was 1 guy complained the reloaded rounds were a little dirty. I have not complaints about them so far everything has worked fine. I have not found the rounds to leave crap on my hands and I did not see any more fouling on the gun than with normal factory ammo.
I am slightly leery of remanufactured handgun ammunition. Georgia Arms, Black Hills, Ammo Valley and maybe LAX ammunition have my respect and I may use their remanufactured product but I'd buy their first run product by choice if available even if it is a few dollars more.
I have not mentioned Buffalo Bore, Garrett, Cor-bon or any of the boutique manufacturers. I don't have any problems with them but I don't have much experience with them either. I do know one of the outfits that used to make oddball caliber loads has closed up shop. I had found them when looking for some obsolete ammunition for older guns. A friend of mine was using them for some of the specialty .45 colt loads they were making and hasn't found anyone making a comparable product as it seems everyone is either making powderpuff loads or making .45 Colt Magnum loads.
Almost every gunshow has small volume remanufactured ammunition sellers. Many are selling plastic bags of ammunition. A few are selling branded boxed ammuntion. I do not buy anything from these people. Those two high school kids selling boxes of their own reloads may be doing everything right. Same thing for that older guy with the plastic bags of his reloads arrayed around him. On the other hand I've seen enough go wrong with factory ammunition over the years from the big three that I'm not exactly up for trusting some person who is unlikely to be around if there is a problem with their product.