Ammo arrived wet, green. What to do?

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nebraska_farmer

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Hi Everyone,

I ordered some really cheap 9mm reloads from what I thought was Freedom Munitions, but was actually a copy cat website (appears some guy is running this operation from his garage). He was a few weeks late shipping my order, I had to request updates a few times but finally received half my ammo, which appears to be in good condition.

Then today I received the other half. The box was wet (I don't know if Fedex is responsible, if it was wet when it left his shop, or if he did it intentionally - the email exchange referenced above was not pleasant, he did not like me inquiring about shipment information :confused:).

OrVZQ8F.png

He is not answering my calls and I don't know what to do.

I'm assuming this is not safe to shoot (correct me if I'm wrong), but is there a way I can clean it to make it safe? If not, what should I do with it and how should it be disposed?

Looking for advise from you guys, as I said he is no longer communicating with me, he had a very abrasive personality. Should I attempt to get my money back via Visa, Fedex, or ?

Very frustrating this happened, but I just want to make sure I take the high road with this situation, thanks guys.
 
Yeah I'd call the bank and do what I have to to get the money back that's just not ok
 
It doesn't look that bad to me.

Primers and powder should be fine as long as the cartridge was not immersed in water for a period of time. Brass is just tarnished and will clean up if you run them in a tumbler.

Big ammo companies run loaded rounds in a tumbler after they are made to give them a spic and span bright finish. You can do the same with these rounds. Run them in a tumbler for 15 minutes or so.

Unless you have failures to fire I would shoot them.
 
Go to fedex.com and file a damage claim. Also, read the tips & instructions. They will want shipping info, proof of purchase to establish a value, pictures of the package and contents. I'm hoping they will have a way to turn up the heat on this sob.

Also, water doesn't usually corrode brass that much in the time it takes to ship. But don't tell that to fedex.

I would also let Freedom Munitions know about this guy. They might be of help.

I would not do anything to the ammo until this is settled.
 
You might check it by sense of smell. Ammonia will corrode brass; that may be used beer...
 
There is no way in hell I'd shoot ammo loaded/reloaded by someone I thought was a scammer, much less ammo that looked like it had been salvaged from the bottom of a lake.

But maybe I'm more fond of my eyes and fingers than you.
 
Water will do that in time. If it was safe to begin with, it would probable be fine after tumbling clean, but I wouldn't fool with it.

Call Fed-Ex. Call Freedom Munitions.
 
A couple of not so smart, not so High Road responses have been deleted. Don't do it again.
 
If I couldn't get satisfaction from Fed-Ex or my credit card company, I'd just toss them in my wobbler and clean off the green fuzz. More than likely the corrosion is just "surface rust"...

Kinda funny looking corrosion though; uneven/splotchy and some on the jacketed bullets as well. I believe if it was just water the green fuzz would more even and perhaps not be the same on the bullets...
 
I was given a pile of .45 that had been in a flood and they looked just about like those. I pulled the bullets and the powder seemed dry and unaffected. Since I did not know the reloader who made the bullets there was no way I was letting anyone try to fire them. Recycle the brass and projectiles. Consider it a tough lesson learned.
 
You said that it appeared that some guy is running the operation out of his garage. Did you saying that because the way the ammo looks, or did you learn that he is really doing that through emails? This would be my main concern in deciding to shoot the ammo or not. Also curious about the copy cat web site.
 
I would start, as suggested, with FedEx. Generally neither FedEx or UPS will pick up a package that is wet when it ships so my guess is that FedEx left the package out in the rain. I doubt it left the shipper as wet.

You mention the first half of the order was received in good condition. Since I was not privy to any communication between you and the seller I won't comment other than my thoughts that FedEx would be my first choice to contact. Since this is in Handloading & Reloading I assume you reload? I would just clean the brass, as suggested, by a short tumbling cycle. Heck, you could likely place the stuff in a container with some dish washing liquid and tumble it around a little, then rinse and dry.

Ron
 
Contact VISA and tell the you did not get what you ordered. Explain that you have tried numerous times to contact the seller but he has avoided you. You would like your money back and the seller to arrange a pick up of the item. They will immediately give you a refund.

Now the ball is in the sellers park, see if he will pick it up. If not his loss.
This is no way for him to do business. Do this right away before he closes down his processing agreement with VISA.
 
bukijin said:
I thought it was a rule to never shoot someone else's reloads. Life is too short
Click to expand...
I agree, it looks like some of those rounds have a lot of crimp. Almost like a roll crimp on a revolver load. Could be the lighting of the photo. I wouldn't shoot them.
 
I thought it was a rule to never shoot someone else's reloads
Click to expand...

The technical term for commercial reloads is "remanufactured ammunition". I guess its somewhere between an unknown reload and factory ammo. You'd hope that anyone who sells reloaded ammo knows what they are doing, but in this case it seems the maker is pretty shady. Buyer beware!

I have shot a bunch of .357 reman's. It wasn't the greatest but filled a niche before I started reloading for that caliber.

Laphroaig
 
There are not many reloads I would shoot that didn't come from one of my presses and the ones in your photo would become part of that group.
 
I had ammo that looked like that after The Incident (including house fire.)
Some of it cleaned up and shot, some of it didn't.

I don't know whether you can best recover from the vendor, the shipper, or the credit card, but that stuff is not merchantable.
 
Might be worth pulling a couple of random bullets and seeing what they look like inside. You still might have gotten your bargain.
 
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