Risk of reloads bought from gun store employee

[moxee]

Some stores are breaking up bulk factory ammo into small amounts so they have something for the new gun owners to shoot.

 

[Member 52301]

Some stores are breaking up bulk factory ammo into small amounts so they have something for the new gun owners to shoot.

That may be true in your area and here too, now, since MOST stores including a large, specific one that I talked to are SAVING AMMO FOR NEWBIES and WHOEVER BUYS THEIR FIREARMS. THEY NEED TO FEED THEIR GUNS. I can UNDERSTAND that totally.

In this story... the friend told the OP that the CLERK in the gun store said that they were 'reloads'.

I have ONLY known about RF ammunition being sold as NEW FACTORY AMMO in past times. This was witnessed and seen by a few friends in NW MT when they were in one store in the panhandle of Idaho several years ago.

There was a BIG bulk box of 22lr with the BRAND NAME, TYPE and GRAIN on the BULK BOX. If a customer was asking about RF, the OWNER or clerk in the store SHOWED the customer the box and if the customer wanted some 22lr ammo, the owner or clerk took a PLASTIC sandwich bag out and FILLED IT UP with fresh 22lr ammo IN FRONT of the customer. So the customer saw this done, it was COUNTED IN FRONT of the customer and he KNEW what he was getting. My close friend in NW MT said that he ONLY saw it done with RF ammo and saw ZERO signs when it came to CF ammo.

I have never seen a BIG box of FRESH FACTORY LOADED CF ammo broken up into a smaller amount sold in little bags. Maybe you have seen this done or heard about it but I have not seen it done nor has my husband.

Recently and for over 1 YEAR, he has seen where stores are ONLY letting a customer BUY ONLY 1 BOX OF FACTORY AMMO out here in CF or in RF and you are ONLY ALLOWED 1 BOX PERIOD or ONLY 1 BOX PER CALIBER OF ONLY UP TO 50 ROUNDS TOTAL. FIFTY ROUNDS TOTAL! He saw this recently again and was shocked to even see some ammo in the one store. LOL

SO IF YOU SEE 2 TWENTY ROUND BOXES OF RIFLE AMMO - YOU GET TO BUY 40 ROUNDS (TWO BOXES!) AND NOT '60' BECAUSE YOUR LIMIT IN ONE STORE IS ONLY 50 ROUNDS.

He has seen all kinds of STUFF while observing the craziness out here even though he is NOT buying it and most of the time - there is ZERO - JACK SQUAT OUT THERE no matter what time of day that you take the TOUR of the local stores!

Take care.

Cate

 

[Normanator]

This should be reported to the store owner. At minimum, the employee is risking an insurance claim if someone ka-booms their gun. At worst, they are repackaging ammo and selling it, which is against the law as well- its called reverse passing off, and violates trademark laws.
They are also essentially stealing from the shop owner, especially if they are reselling factory reloads they picked up at work, or otherwise cutting the shop out of a sale.
A local shop near me here lost its FFL a few months back for selling factory ammo repackaged in plastic bags in groups of 10. Reverse passing off...
Best of luck to your friend

 

[devnull69]

thx everyone for the replies. At best, store employee was trying to be helpful. When i posted question, i wanted to be neutral in tone but my original reaction when friend told me was close to @Catherine1 . It literally came in ziploc bag and seemed sketchy as hell. I joked that buying cocaine was probably easier and less sketchy.

Fwiw, friend bought pack of 223 from store. Now i'm going to look over packaging and all the rounds to make sure they are consistent and new....

The store has 5 star reviews here. Should i post review? Is that fair?

 

[Member 52301]

This should be reported to the store owner. At minimum, the employee is risking an insurance claim if someone ka-booms their gun. At worst, they are repackaging ammo and selling it, which is against the law as well- its called reverse passing off, and violates trademark laws.
They are also essentially stealing from the shop owner, especially if they are reselling factory reloads they picked up at work, or otherwise cutting the shop out of a sale.
A local shop near me here lost its FFL a few months back for selling factory ammo repackaged in plastic bags in groups of 10. Reverse passing off...
Best of luck to your friend

Hello,

Can you tell me in an open forum or in a private message what STORE lost it's FFL repacking FACTORY AMMO in smaller bags?

Was it in Polson, Ronan, Kalispell or where?

Thanks and take care.

Cate

 

[WAYNO]

Playing the devils advocate here...

I've bought many bulk commercial reloads over the years, many in nothing more than plastic bags, but still including the manufacturer, lot, etc.

Knowing the manufacturer that I trust, the loads that I trust, and helping someone by putting a handful in a plastic bag, AND, a newbie not knowing the right questions to ask, I wouldn't automatically lynch the seller if I didn't know the full story.

 

[RVTECH]

Some stores are breaking up bulk factory ammo into small amounts so they have something for the new gun owners to shoot.

I could be wrong, and only basing this on what I was once 'told' and that was it is NOT legal for a store to break up a 'basic' box/package size of ANYTHING into smaller amounts - which is why varying box quantities were originally offered.

Would you buy a half pound of powder repackaged in a ziplock?

And yes, I am aware of how some bulk/surplus powders were packaged and sold in yesteryears but that is now a thing of the past.

Regardless of the legality the average person would not know whether the repackaged rounds are in fact home reloads, commercial or factory new ammo which makes this even more dangerous.

 

[thorborg]

To paraphrase another member here from a recent similar thread: would you eat a sandwich made by some random stranger? Is it safe?

Who knows? It might be the tastiest thing you ever ate, made by a true gourmet, or you might die of food poisoning. It's not worth the risk to me.

Makes me wonder what part of living is worth the risk to you?
In my working years, I ate a ton of food from food trucks. Some of the best tongue tacos I've ever had. Patronizing them along with many others allowed several to eventually open their own store. Ate fat preserved pork nearly rancid from the bottom of a three month old crock when some farms still had yet to get electricity. Shared who knows how old game food kept alive by reheating every day and adding a little more when found with squatters on the back trails of Canada. Ate smoked monkey meat from the streets of Manilla and a sort of lobster thermidor from a tent in Olongapo, drank hand squeezed (literally) orange juice and ate bananas hand cut and sun dried on rocks near Singapore. Shared food with indigenous folks living in dirt floor huts of Brazil.
All were strangers to me.
The only time I got sick was from some shrimp I ate at the Oyster Bar restaurant, Portland in 1971. A certified establishment no less.
I'm over seventy, Apparently an anomaly it would seem, still alive, and would eagerly do it all over again If God would give me the chance.

 

[Bam]

The only reloads I trust are my own and even then, I QC my work every step of the process including disassembling random rounds to measure power.

I have had problems with reloads even from reputable companies, so never again.

 

[Catfishmoon]

If the reloads were manufactured by an established, well known company like Precision One or Lakeshore Ammunition and came in the original packaging, I would have no issue with shooting the reloads... Something in a unmarked baggie would be different.

9mm 115gr FMJ (REMANUFACTURED) - Precision ONe Ammunition

9mm 115gr FMJ *REMANUFACTURED* 1182 FPS Packaged in a 50, 250, 500, or 1000 round box. **All remanufactured ammo is 100% fully reconditioned in house back to S.A.A.M.I. specs** ** All our products and components are proudly manufactured in the USA. It is important to us to be that way**

precisiononeammunition.com

Lakeshore Ammunition

Lakeshore Ammunition sells high-quality, new & Reman ammunition. Affordable, reliable, ball, hollow point ammo. We ship fast. FMJ (full metal jacket) brass. All of our reloaded brass is cleaned thoroughly. Every single round is visually inspected and polished, not once, but twice by professionals.

lakeshoreammunition.com

 

[Idaho44]

Reloads are meant to be dis-assembled and used for the components ONLY! Questionable powder should become fertilizer.

 

[RVTECH]

I almost hate to admit it but in my 'younger days' I have shot some reloads from time to time in hand me down ammo, some mixed in with factory etc. and I am counting my blessings I never had a problem but not any more!

Heck I recently pulled a bunch of old .30-30 ammo that 'looked' like reloads but I wasn't going to chance it.

 

[PORSCHE928S4]

NERP ! UNLEES MY DAD RELOADED THEM !!!!!

 

[CRBMoA]

I am too old to play Russian Roulette.

 

[CRBMoA]

NERP ! UNLEES MY DAD RELOADED THEM !!!!!

My Dad turns 88 on Friday - HIS reloads are out, too!

 

[trevi]

This does not make sense to me.

I have NOT read the entire thread yet but I will after I am through posting to you.

First of all, your friend went to a GUN STORE and an employee there SELLS him a 'bag' of reloaded ammo.

Was the ammo made by a LICENSED and RESPONSIBLE FFL MAN who makes ammunition legally?

If that was NOT the case, how the heck can an EMPLOYEE IN A GUN STORE sell a BAG of 'reloaded ammo' like that? This does not add up to me at all.

Is the gun store OWNER aware of what his employee is doing?!

A person can NOT legally make ammo and SELL IT unless they are licensed and so forth.

A person can make ammunition for himself or his family if he decides to do this but he can NOT SELL it unless he is checked out and has approval by .gov.

Plus he has to be up to industry standards just like ammunition factories have to be checked out.

Plus how would your friend even KNOW who the heck made it and IF it was made properly, safely and up to factory's type specifications?

Disclaimer: I do not reload. I never did reload. My late husband did not reload.

My MT husband reloads for himself and has since the early 70's. He reloads safely and is accurate. I have shot some of his reloaded ammo in the past too. I shot a LOT of factory ammo too. I only shoot RF - 22lr and 22wmr ammunition now. NO CF firearms at all.

Old Lady Cate
PS: I know several FFL people. Some of them are my friends too. Some sell firearms, etc. AND some of them are LEGAL - licensed and approved to make ammunition too.

This^^^^

 

[Knobgoblin]

I am too old to play Russian Roulette.

Nobody's too old for the greatest game ever played.
JK

 

[RVTECH]

how the heck can an EMPLOYEE IN A GUN STORE sell a BAG of 'reloaded ammo' like that?

Pretty dang easily - Seller and buyer walk to an area where no one is around, seller hands the bag to the buyer and the buyer hands money to the seller.

Unless I missed a different meaning to the question this is how it 'can' be done.

 

[trevi]

I like re-manufactured ammo from places like Defender ammo and Carolina Ammunition, they are good and consistent when ammo was plentiful and cheaper.

As for reloads, only ever had a problem with one GB retailer, ST Auctions, I won several super low bids on 1000 round bulk 9mm's and of the 4 - 1000 round bulks, I may have suffered poor bullet seating, bad/ hard primer, reversed bullet seating, low charges in the amount of maybe 50 total. I would still buy if the price is right. They are still in business and they are licensed.

GunBroker.com - Error

 

[Lasers]

Personally, if they were .223 rounds, I'd ponder it a bit, but ultimately I'd probably break them down and reload them again myself.

9mm though? I wouldn't even consider shooting.

It's a lot easier to overcharge a 9mm to dangerous levels than it is a 223.... some of these 88gr nosler rounds I can barely get fit the normal amount of powder in the case/