Why I will never buy commercial reloads again

[jtriron]

.40 Caliber from a reloader in Tx. City, at the range today

Can't seem to attach the pic. but a .40 split at the rim.. seems no damage to the gun or me. But WILL NOT use this vendor ever again.

 

[robin303]

That happens even with my reloads that are mid range.

 

[codygjohnson]

Well the rumor goes: 40 S&W should never be reloaded to factory pressures as the cases most likely were fired in unsupported Glock barrels. The cases tend to stretch/weaken in the webbing making it a good spot for a blowout. Not sure if I believe it or not, but 40 S&W hits some crazy pressures as it is.

 

[jfrey]

There are a lot of stories floating around on the net about .40's. Glocks, and reloads. Just another reason I don't shoot anybodies loads except my own. Supposedly if you reload .40 brass to reduced pressures for plinking rounds you shouldn't have too much pressure. Sometimes "shouldn't" is an iffy word.

 

[TexasRedneck]

It can happen with ANYONE's reloads. Don't blame the reloader - blame the cheapskate that won't buy factory loads!

Just messin' with ya - it happens, not much you can really blame the reloader for - you can bet he doesn't want 'em to split either!

 

[robin303]

My favorite reload of a 40 S&W is Clays 3.8 with a 155 RN. Great for plinking. Took me 6 differant powders and a year to find this magic load.

 

[Texasjack]

If you don't know the number of times the brass has been fired, then you are certainly at risk for case failures. Typically a "commercial" reloader is using brass collected from a range only using new ammo (military, for example), but that isn't always true. If they reloaded some old cases left at the range, that could be the problem. You should complain to them, if for no other reason than to let them check their equipment to make sure they don't have a bad lot of powder or that the measure isn't off.

You don't have to load .40 light; you just have to do a quality job with reloading - same as with all cartridges.

Longshot works great in .40; you can easily match Win. W/B with minimum loads.

 

[Pappy]

I will never use someone else's reloads!!!! I shoot my own first and then factory.
The reloader may have been stoned, careless, etc., you get the idea...

 

[OLDVET]

As you can see most people recommend shooting your own reloads. Years ago I had a part-time job selling guns at a large sporting goods store here in Dallas. The store chain closed their stores many years ago. We had a customer return a Smith & Wesson revolver that had the back strap peeled back from the barrel. His story was he was shooting a friend's reloads when it happened. We assumed the shells must have been over charged in order to do the kind of damage the gun received. The buyer was not a happy camper when the store refused to take the gun back. When I first got started reloading 45 acp shells, I tried to keep track of the times I had reloaded my cases. As most of you know this is impossible when you shoot at a public range. A custom gun smith I know told me to reload the cases till they split and then throw them away. Occassionally I will find that a case has split during the bullet seating operation. I reload on a Dillion Square Deal B press. I shoot them anyway. I do not recommend this as usual behavior, but I have yet to have any problems. This is done with a Springfield 1911 pistol not a polymer frame gun such as a Glock.

 

[1968]

where did you buy this ammo at?

 

[Mikewood]

Yep, factory can split a rim. Its not good but it's not bad. That's why we Dave safety factors and overpressure specs.
I reload. New brass is 100% power. After the first few loads i throttle it back to 75-90% power. If the primer pockets get loose or I get 10 reloads out of brass I leave it at the range. Most ranges sell it for scrap. Some sell it to hand loaders. If you were to load one of my 44 mags to full power after I had used it to reload 10 times you might get a split rim or a boom.

 

[WadeP]

.Can't seem to attach the pic. but a .40 split at the rim.. seems no damage to the gun or me. But WILL NOT use this vendor ever again.

Post a pic, please. If you want, email it do me and I'll post if for you because I'm confused; where did the case split?

A split case mouth - at the open end where the bullet seats - is no big deal and might not be the manufacturer's fault. I've seen factory name brand ammo split so this wouldn't concern me at all and wouldn't affect my opinion of the manufacturer. I'd just chunk that case in the trash and carry on.

If it's really a split rim, as in the back end of the round blowing out or the case head separating, is dangerous and the manufacturer would probably appreciate your feedback. I know I would if it was my ammo.

 

[Pappy]

Post a pic, please. If you want, email it do me and I'll post if for you because I'm confused; where did the case split?

A split case mouth - at the open end where the bullet seats - is no big deal and might not be the manufacturer's fault. I've seen factory name brand ammo split so this wouldn't concern me at all and wouldn't affect my opinion of the manufacturer. I'd just chunk that case in the trash and carry on.

If it's really a split rim, as in the back end of the round blowing out or the case head separating, is dangerous and the manufacturer would probably appreciate your feedback. I know I would if it was my ammo.

Thanks for giving the correct terminology for the posters. I couldn't figure out what end of the case they were talking about.

 

[TrinityIXP]

It is tough to track your brass at a public range, and even tougher to track the number of times a particular case has been relaoded, but I came up with a relatively simple solution.

After I finish reloading a batch of ammo, I put each round in MTM ammo box headstamp facing up and grab a colored Sharpie felt tip pen and run a stripe down each headstamp/across the primer. The colored stripe differentiates your brass from someone elses at the range and depending on the color system you come up with, can tell you how many times a particular case has been loaded. Personally, green means first reload, red means second reload, blue means third reload, black means fourth relad, etc. You can make secondary horizontal stripes or cross hairs for further reload counts, etc. Write down your marking scheme and stick to it. Just make sure to tumble similarly marked brass together because the markings will come off and you won't be able to tell the brass apart if you mixed different colored brass together in the same cleaning batch. You will also have to bag/store brass with similar reload counts together for future reloads/record keeping.

So far I have used this method on 3,000 .45 ACP reloads and have noticed no negative impact on performance/accuracy.

 

[OLDVET]

Ahh, the .45 ACP round. I too reload this particular round. When I first got started loading the .45 ACP, I tried to keep track of how many times each shell case was fired. That soon became a nightmare, so I quit keeping track. Before reloading any brass I inspect the brass for any apparent distress. I then reload it using a fairly mid-range load. I once asked a custom 1911 gunsmith I know how many times a person could reload a .45 case before it needs to be thrown away. He said "load it until it split and then throw it away". Since then I have done just that. Some of my cases have been reloaded over 100 times. It seems the general rule is to not reload .40 ammo. The chamber pressure of a .40 is approximately twice what a normal .45 load generates. Throw in the unsupported barrels of some pistols and reloading .40 ammo is risky. Can it be done, sure. Would I do it, probably not.

 

[woolleyworm]

I'm with Wade and Pappy, we need to find out just where it split at. Mouth split or Head seperation? Email the pic to one of us and we can post it for you if you can't get it to attach.

 

[shortround]

Back when the SAXET gun show held their show at the Air Port Convention Center on Broadway, I bought some "newly manufactured" .357 Sig Ammo from a vendor.

Since this ammo was not factory loaded, I checked it on my reloading scale. The results were interesting: Variations in weight up to eight grains.

I pulled the bullets, poured the powder, and weighed them. The brass and bullets weighed consistently within +/- one grain, while the propellant varied by seven grains.

Even worse, although I could not determine the propellant used, it was WAY below the recommended loads listed in my reloading manuals.

I got lazy, bought some "good" ammo to save time at the bench, and that ammo was totally outside of published safe data.

Do not trust ammo sold in a clear plastic bag!

Be well.

 

[jfrey]

I'm like OLDVET, if I don't load it myself, I don't shoot it unless it is factory.

 

[JBnTx]

.....

I put each round in MTM ammo box headstamp facing up and grab a colored Sharpie felt tip pen and run a stripe down each headstamp/across the primer. The colored stripe differentiates your brass from someone elses at the range and depending on the color system you come up with, can tell you how many times a particular case has been loaded.....

Thank You for that tip.
You just solved the biggest problem I have determining which brass is mine.

Thank You

 

[tmd11111]

Well the rumor goes: 40 S&W should never be reloaded to factory pressures as the cases most likely were fired in unsupported Glock barrels. The cases tend to stretch/weaken in the webbing making it a good spot for a blowout. Not sure if I believe it or not, but 40 S&W hits some crazy pressures as it is.

SAMMI pressure for 40 S&W is the same as 9mm....