I am DONE with factory ammo

[Koda]

All the 150gr ones are disassembled, annealed and drying.

Hopefully it wasnt the brass that was the bad part.

 

[TTSX]

Bottom of the barrel cheap ammo? Ill have you know that I have tried about all the other manufactures ammos in my rifles and have found mostly that the Core-Lokts are the most consistent in the 30-30.

The tech at Remington figured I got a bad batch since I purchased them all at once.

Where that hell to you get the nerve to tell me to "Get out of here with that nonsense" ?
I have OCD so that can be good or bad for reloading depending on how you look at it and I was appalled at the rediculas varience in charge weights so I put this thread out more for me.

If that was just in fun, then I apologize but reading someone's words and not knowing the person, it can be taken in many ways.

50% of the time, I'm serious all the time

 

[echo1]

Strange anomaly to be so consistent with the area of failure. So the Rem guy said "My bad"? PAX

 

[Wombat of Doom]

Funny you mention it, because in reading the thread, the only split cases I readily recall from factory loaded ammo was old 7.62x25㎜ Tokarev fodder. I'm guessing the production facilities and working conditions in the Communist Bloc wasn't exactly topnotch.

I mean technically that's second world… Romanian? I had a bunch of split cases from those.

 

[red44dog44]

Yeah. I haven't bought factory ammo in over a decade.

 

[bionic knees]

I have never seen a split case on once fired brass, only started seeing splits on brass that had been reloaded at least 3 times, usually 4 or more.

 

[kmk1012]

I have never seen a split case on once fired brass, only started seeing splits on brass that had been reloaded at least 3 times, usually 4 or more.

I bought some high dollar SigSauer 300blk subsonics when I first got my 30 cal can. Five boxes of 20 rounds=100 rounds total. More than 40 of them split and Sig did not want anything to do with me. I fired them out of three different guns with equal across the board results so not a faulty chamber. Coincidentally, I bought 1500 once fired matching headstamp Sig 308 cases and they have been the best brass I've ever used in a bottleneck cartridge.

 

[gmerkt]

Cartridge brass is relatively thin. Under tension and over time, it will embrittle. Hence when embrittled brass is fired, it will crack. In my experience, RP brass is more apt to experience this than other brands. I haven't had trouble with it as relatively new, unfired ammo. My embrittlement issues came about within the reloading experience. PMC us another brand that has done this on me.

I will say, ammo that is six or seven years old I wouldn't expect embrittlement to have set in yet as a matter of course. It could be some deviation in the metallurgy caused it to fail prematurely. I have seen old, unfired ammo that became brittle with tension and age crack at the mouth before ever being fired. Old meaning 40 or more years.

I've taken this as kind of a lesson. That is, I don't always pre-load rifle ammo and stack it away. The most labor intensive chore is cartridge case preparation. I like to get that all done, then store the ready brass. Then there are the relatively easy chores of priming, charging, and bullet seating left to finish shortly before use. That way, my brass doesn't sit there under neck tension for long periods of time.

Annealing case mouths will prolong the life of your brass for reloading. Some factory ammo shows evidence of annealing. Remington is one that I used to notice this feature on. Not a distinct coloration such as we often seen on military ammo. The mouth and the shoulder were a slightly rich, golden color; not downright yellow like the rest. And, Remington brass in my experience has always been made with the thinnest material. So if they've eliminated annealing somewhere along the line, maybe the result is a greater propensity to cracking on first firing. Or not, maybe this is just random information.

Yes, if I was ever going to have problems with bullet tension on, for example, .45 ACP, it was by using RP brass cases. They had the thinnest mouth walls. So I saved them for cast bullets only, which were .001 greater diameter.

Also be aware that RP primers are the smallest in diameter of any made in the US for reloaders. Fired brass, depending on the intensity of the charge, can cause the primer pockets to enlarge. In which case you're going to want to use the largest primer you can find. Which isn't RP.

Re. variations in charge weights as shown in the OP. I think this is pretty normal for factory ammo to the extent shown in the samples. I can replicate those variations using some stick powders through my RCBS powder thrower. I have to weigh every charge to do better. But some people have told me that by themselves, charge deviations at those levels are less significant to accuracy than other issues. I can't deny or confirm that viewpoint. I do try to get every step as uniform as possible in the event each one is vital.

 

[P7M13]

I have had brand new Federal in .223 and 338 Win Mag split on the first firing.
I haven't purchased any Core-Lokt in ages, but 15 years ago, I found it consistent and accurate in my 308 and 7 Mag.

 

[TTSX]

"my hand loads are the best ammo that's ever been made!! Everything factory is junk and everything loaded by anyone who isn't me is a pipe bomb!!"

- every gun guy on the Internet who read a loading manual once

 

[kmk1012]

"my hand loads are the best ammo that's ever been made!! Everything factory is junk and everything loaded by anyone who isn't me is a pipe bomb!!"

- every gun guy on the Internet who read a loading manual once

Not all true but some truth in it. I've been reloading for 20 years and still learning. Just when I think I can try a new trick and expect a for certain outcome I realize that I need to learn far more than I thought I knew. Your statement says all, but I'd adjust it to "almost all" because I know a hell of a lot of other loaders who cannot hit the broadside of a barn with reloads and blame the gun, not you John (good friend who lurks around here and teaches me to load still to this day).

 

[1911Fanatic]

Yeah. I haven't bought factory ammo in over a decade.

That's all I use because all I have is handguns. When I was competing I reloaded for my handguns though. I was throwing hundreds of rounds down range every week. But I got rid of my reloading equipment a long time ago when I stopped competing. Definitely worth it for rifles though. JMO.

 

[Derk]

don't buy from carp ammo makers?

 

[Knobgoblin]