A cautionary tale . . .

[Dick]

Stopped by the range yesterday to run a few mags through my new (new to me that is) Sig 229 in .40 S&W and got into a conversation with the guy next to me who was doing the same with his new (to him) Colt Officer's Model 1911. He had some factory hardball and some JHP reloads that a friend had given him to try out and was having trouble getting the JHPs to feed, so we talked a bit about polishing the feed ramp, etc., He eventually decided he was happy just running hardball through the gun so ended up giving me the 49 remaining reloads in the box with the assurance that the guy who loaded them "knew what he was doing."

Well, having not recently fallen off the proverbial turnip truck I wasn't about to just shoot anything I didn't know the provenance of, so upon getting home I pulled a couple bullets and weighed the charges and found that they were 260 gr. heads over 4.9 gr. of a very fine-grained powder. Now, of course I don't trust myself to ID a powder (except the obvious Red Dot and similar "tagged" ones) by sight, but a few minutes spent with a reloading manual showed that it was most likely 700-X (4.9 gr max charge) or perhaps a slightly less-than-max charge of Bullseye, and knowing a bit about the relative burn rates of powders, I figured they're most likely safe loads. So I'm thinking that maybe I'll shoot them up, and while I'm deciding if I want to do that or simply pull the bullets and reuse bullets and cases, I notice what appears to be a big scratch on one case. Upon closer inspection, it's actually a split that runs damn near from the case mouth to the case head (!), and after I look at a few more, something on toward half of them have similar split cases! Now I know that the .45 ACP is a pretty low-pressure cartridge, but that's just wrong.

So, a reminder to all who may encounter similar benefactors - if it's not an obvious factory load, or if you didn't reload them yourself, or if you don't know for absolutely, positively sure who did reload them (and of course also trust that person), then it's usually best to pass, assuming you value your weapon and the hand that holds it, that is.

 

[Rockrivr1]

At every gun show there is the guy selling many boxes of his reloads at much better prices then factory costs. I've been tempted to buy a box to try out, but haven't due to the reason you've stated. Basically, never shoot someone elses reloads.

I'm about to start reloading myself, so I'll get a good idea of the actual meaning of this in very short order.

 

[Jay G]

At every gun show there is the guy selling many boxes of his reloads at much better prices then factory costs. I've been tempted to buy a box to try out, but haven't due to the reason you've stated. Basically, never shoot someone elses reloads.

I'm about to start reloading myself, so I'll get a good idea of the actual meaning of this in very short order.

If the guy in question is M&M Reloads out of NH they're excellent. I've bought & shot lots of their .357 Magnum, and the worst thing I can say is they're a little under-powered... Oh, and I also bought & shot some of their .44 Special, too. Also good stuff.

(If not, consider this a free plug for M&M...)

 

[Lugnut]

Good advice. I actually was at the range one day and picked up a bunch of my brass and probably a few pieces of someone elses'. One case went thru the deprimmer and sizer die- and it just felt funny. Upon inspection it was split from the mouth about half way down. Needless to say I was quite surprised... the case didn't look beat up either. It was a 9mm Winchester case.

 

[Rockrivr1]

If the guy in question is M&M Reloads out of NH they're excellent. I've bought & shot lots of their .357 Magnum, and the worst thing I can say is they're a little under-powered... Oh, and I also bought & shot some of their .44 Special, too. Also good stuff.

(If not, consider this a free plug for M&M...)

I believe that is the guy I'm talking about. Maybe I'll give him a shot.

 

[drgrant]

As far as reloads go, unless theres a name and a phone number on the
box, I have a policy of never touching them, the only other exception
being if I know the person who made them personally. There are as many
good reloaders out there as there are people who are total jackoffs that
have no business assembling cartridges.

-Mike

 

[drgrant]

If the guy in question is M&M Reloads out of NH they're excellent. I've bought & shot lots of their .357 Magnum, and the worst thing I can say is they're a little under-powered... Oh, and I also bought & shot some of their .44 Special, too. Also good stuff.

(If not, consider this a free plug for M&M...)

Yeah, if it's M+M, he's definitely a commercial grade reloader and he doesn't
normally use crap components. If anything his loads are a bit on the
anemic side though... but more than adequate for plinking or practice. If you
shoot a sport that requires a PF measurement, I'd definitely chrono the stuff
before using it for competition Every now and then, even from him, you will find
something marginal, so I'd still visually inspect the ammo or case gauge it before
use. I'd have to say though, that his QC is halfway decent and such occurences
are rare, but it still doesnt hurt to inspect what you have. I've never seen his
ammo damage a gun though. Worst I've seen is a rare jam here and there from
the guys that run it at the pin shoots... but I've never had a jam from it, either.

-Mike

 

[Nickle]

It's OK to use reloads (really remanufactured ammo) made by a reloader that's "in the business", or in other words has a Type 06 FFL. If the reloader doesn't have that Type 06 FFL, and is selling ammo he made, he is in violation of Federal Law.

I can vouch for M&M being the "real deal". They are legit, as are others, including my father's business (Farnsworth Ammo).

 

[dwarven1]

At the Marlboro show in the spring, there was a guy who had boxes of ammo that seemed to be made up of random rounds he'd shoved into the box. Prices were cheap, and at the same time I felt that the cost would be too high... I passed.

 

[matt]

DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!

 

[Jay G]

Mike,

That's an excellent point - I am in no way, shape, or form anything that could even vaguely be described as a competitive shooter. I train, plink, and occasionally will attempt to do something other than put random holes in paper...

I liked the .357 Magnum M&M has because it's "gentle" in my 360PD. Now, granted, any Magnum is punishing in a 12 ounce J-frame, but comparing factory ammo to the reloads is like night & day - IOW, I can shoot a couple or three cylinders' worth of M&M .357 Magnum vs. one factory...


Basically, I'd prefer to shoot the .357s through any gun chambered for it than a .38 special if only for the ease of cleaning. M&M's reloads fit the bill perfectly in that regard.

Yeah, if it's M+M, he's definitely a commercial grade reloader and he doesn't
normally use crap components. If anything his loads are a bit on the
anemic side though... but more than adequate for plinking or practice. If you
shoot a sport that requires a PF measurement, I'd definitely chrono the stuff
before using it for competition Every now and then, even from him, you will find
something marginal, so I'd still visually inspect the ammo or case gauge it before
use. I'd have to say though, that his QC is halfway decent and such occurences
are rare, but it still doesnt hurt to inspect what you have. I've never seen his
ammo damage a gun though. Worst I've seen is a rare jam here and there from
the guys that run it at the pin shoots... but I've never had a jam from it, either.

-Mike