Trying to understand ammo; what's a good deal?

[Just Andrew]

What's everyone's thoughts on reloads? Remans?

[Fuel Fire Desire]

What's everyone's thoughts on reloads? Remans?

I used to shoot them all the time. I'm into oddball calibers, and up until just a couple years ago 10mm and .357sig were outrageous for new factory. I bought a lot of Georgia Arms reman ammo. In the thousands I bought I never had an issue. BUT, it just takes that one double charged round to cause a kaboom.

I wouldn't worry about it too much if you buy from one of the big reman companies. But I'd be weary of the $9 ziplock bag of .45 sold at the range from a mystery source. Also keep in mind that most warranties are voided if a kaboom happens with reloaded ammunition.


In the tens of thousands of rounds I've shot in my entire life, I've only ever had one kaboom. And it was with a new manufacture steel case .308.


If new 10mm hadn't of dropped under the $0.40 mark in the past year or two, I'd probably still be buying from Georgia Arms.

[AxlMyk]

What's everyone's thoughts on reloads? Remans?

Last year I shot +10k 9mm. Darn right I reload. I prefer to know exactly what I'm shooting. Some have had problems with commercial reloads. Not all brands, just some of them. There are a few threads about them around the site.

[Just Andrew]

In the tens of thousands of rounds I've shot in my entire life, I've only ever had one kaboom. And it was with a new manufacture steel case .308.

How bad was the fallout?

[Fuel Fire Desire]

How bad was the fallout?

It was in a FAL, and they're tough SOB's. it's designed to vent all escaped gasses down and out the magazine to keep it from blowing back into the operators face...which is exactly what it did. It blew the magazine apart and shot the remaining 15 rounds everywhere.

It was a partial case head separation with Tula. The case split right above the rim, in the angled portion of the brass where the extractor sits. It's a known issue on the FALfiles with Tula and FAL's.

This was from the same lot of ammo. I should have known better, as they felt "hotter" than normal, and threw a lot more flash than I've seen this gun throw before. I had two fail to extracts followed by the kaboom in about 25 rounds. I should have stopped after I noticed things seemed odd.

[joepistol]

Some good advice here on the subject.
Ol',Joe provided a good explanation of plated vs FMJ bullets.
.I'd have just said plated bullets have a thinner coating over the lead core than FMJ.

Another option for hand loaders that wasn't mentioned is coated bullets, ie..Falcoated bullets or Bayou Bullets..cast bullets w/a polymer coating.

Used to shoot mostly hard cast bullets, but have switched to coated..read up on this is you are going to hand load.

I wouldn't advise shooting hand loads or reloads, unless you load them yourself.
Factory reloads may be cheaper, but if you blow up a pistol or rifle, good luck getting the manufacturer to cover the cost of repair or replacement.
Read on this site.. it does happen.
I've handloaded for about 40 yrs. & shoot my own loaded ammo in all my firearms (rifles, pistols, & shotguns)
Have not blown up a firearm yet, but I take steps to load carefully.