American Eagle ammo. Dirty? Used?

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12Pump

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I have an AR15, but haven't really done any real shooting yet because the biggest challenge for me is getting ammo for it that costs reasonably.

My first ammo was from Scheels. It's called Ultramax remanufactured ammo. It initially cost $22 for 50 before the price went up to $25, and then to $30. It was surprisingly shiny for being used brass. Online reports that it can be dangerously unpredictable makes me nervous about using it, so I've been looking around for "factory new" stuff. So I was surprised yesterday to find American Eagle 5.56 ammo at $7.50 for 20. I also was delighted to find that AE is made by Federal, the top manufacturer of ammo in the country.

So, imagine my surprise when I open a box of it today and find that the brass casings are so dirty that they look just like the brass casings I used to find laying around on the ground at the range--used, stuck in the dirt for a few days, maybe some corrosion on them. Even if a person wanted to pick it up and reload it, they'd at least clean them first. Apparently, Federal doesn't clean whatever brass they use. It looks like it was fired at least once before, and then simply reloaded without so much as a cleaning, and then put in a box and sold as "new". I can even take a damp tissue and wipe the case with it and the dark grime comes off on the tissue! How they can sell this as new is beyond me! Should I put enough faith in it to load it in my rifle and actually pull the trigger?

If this is what the top manufacturer can get away with selling as new ammo, then I fear for the gun industry.

Has anyone here bought this ammo and gotten ammo that looks like as I described? Did it work well in your gun?
 
USGI 5.56 Nato military is often tarnished or "dirty" looking. Manufacturers often skip the polishing step to save costs. The Federal might be surplus repackaged in commercial boxes. No big deal. If it really bothers you, polish it up.

M
 
It's fine. Shoot it up. You don't need to put a fresh coat of wax on your car for it to run nicely everytime you go to the grocery store... terrible analogy, but whatever.

It kinda stinks too, but it's cheap range ammo. Don't worry too much.
 
No big deal.

Reloaded / remanufactured ammo is tumble polished to make it shiny.

Military ammo is left unpolished, with the multi colored case annealing still showing.

It serves several purposes.
It is cheaper to not final polish it.
It is less likely to reflect light and make you a target in combat.
It proves the cases were properly annealed and won't suffer split case necks in storage.

Don't worry about it.

Rc
 
Given what I've read about Ultramax, I don't care HOW "shiny" it is, I won't be shooting it. That said, I've shot hundreds of rounds of the AE ammo through my AR and wouldn't hesitate to put the several hundred I have on hand down the barrel either.
 
shoot it.
to bad sg makes you pay shipping. makes it 300.00 per K.
but it is still one of the best offers going. I would buy it.
 
This is the ammo that my department uses as our training ammo. Shoots great. Never had a problem with it. Probably have close to 8000 rounds of it through my two duty guns I have had.
 
You need to shop a bit harder for ammo. TONS of 5.56/.223 out there now and while not the cheapest it's ever been there are some great deals to be had. Buying 5.56/.223 in boxes of 20 is not really the best way to go. Thing minimum 500 or so, bulk. Even 62gr deals.

If the stuff you have is physically dirty, I would complain, wipe it off and shoot it. May be you can get a free box if you gripe nicely.
 
I bought a 100 pack of 115 grain 9mm at wallys a few months ago. I shot it through my G19 and it was the crappiest ammo I've ever seen. Sparks flying everywhere and the charges seems different in each round.

I'd rather shoot Tula than every use AE again.... Atleast in 9mm
 
I'll try not to worry too much about it then, based on what you guys have said about your experiences. The thing is, there is nothing on the box indicating that it's "used" brass, so I thought I was buying new ammo. It's sold as if it were new, but they don't even clean the dirty residue off from it's previous use, and then stick it back in a box and sell it as new--hard to believe a company like Federal does this!

Also, I took a photo of a couple of the rounds. One of them has 4 cut marks around the primer. The other one doesn't. It looks like this primer could pop out when fired. Just another example of how low of quality this stuff appears. It's just hard to be confident in it when it's advertised as new, sold as dirty, and looks like this:



SDC12281_zps968806ed.jpg
 
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I believe AE is indeed new-manufactured ammo, not reloads. The case finish is from the manufacturing process, not from having been previously fired.

For cheap practice, I shoot Tula steel-case FMJ for closer range targets, and brass-case American Eagle or PMC for a little further out. Never a single malfunction with any of the above. I also bought some Wolf Gold recently (also brass-case) but haven't tried it yet.
 
12Pump said:
I'll try not to worry too much about it then, based on what you guys have said about your experiences. The thing is, there is nothing on the box indicating that it's "used" brass, so I thought I was buying new ammo. It's sold as if it were new, but they don't even clean the dirty residue off from it's previous use, and then stick it back in a box and sell it as new--hard to believe a company like Federal does this!

Also, I took a photo of a couple of the rounds. One of them has 4 cut marks around the primer. The other one doesn't. It looks like this primer could pop out when fired. Just another example of how low of quality this stuff appears. It's just hard to be confident in it when it's advertised as new, sold as dirty, and looks like this:



SDC12281_zps968806ed.jpg
Click to expand...


You need to read the responses above. One member clearly mentions while the cases look "used" but are actually new.
 
You need to read the responses above. One member clearly mentions while the cases look "used" but are actually new.
Click to expand...

I just saw that now from BenEzra. I'm glad to hear that too. I had thought that the residue on the outside of the case looks just like the used casings that can be found laying around on the ground at an outdoor range, and that the residue was from being fired. With the AE ammo I bought, the case is dirty, but the bullet is clean. Hmmmm.
 
In the same 20 round box some have crimped primers and some don't?

That is odd. Both will work fine and it doesn't look so dirty to me.
Click to expand...

That's correct about the crimped primer. I guess that's what it is, anyway. It just looks like there are 4 little cut indentions around the primer of that one round. I'm actually not familiar with primer crimping. I'm not a reloader.

As for the dirty cases, I didn't take a picture that showed the cases very well. The pic I have above is mainly to show how the primer on one of the cartridges looked different from the other ones.
 
The same company that owns Federal (ATK) also manages the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant on behalf of the US government.

The American Eagle 5.56 ammunition is loaded at Lake City right along with the ammo they ship to the US military, using the same components.

In 2012 or so, Lake City went to a new style of primer crimping which leaves the four marks around the primer.
 
In the same 20 round box some have crimped primers and some don't?

That is odd.
Click to expand...

Yeah, very odd. What it makes me wonder is if these rounds can even be trusted to belong to the same LOT# on the box. I mean, aren't lot numbers supposed to mean that all the rounds of that lot were made at the same time and in the same way? So how can one round have a crimped primer and the rest don't, and are not only of the same lot#, but are even in the same box? It seems to be a further indication that Federal (and maybe the ammo industry in general) just doesn't care about quality standards anymore.
 
Or somehow this ammo was not "new" to start with, like replaced or returned or something crazy like that.
Click to expand...

It was in sealed boxes of 20. I have 3 boxes, and only opened 1 so far. Haven't shot any and won't until this summer.

When I picked them out at the store, there was a cardboard shipping box on the counter with rows of 20 count boxes inside. It looked like it was a shipment of 500 rounds total. I asked the guy how much each box was and he said, "7.50", which was a surprise to me since I had never locally seen 20 count boxes for anything under $10, and that was for off-brands or steel-cased. Usually, 20 count boxes go for $20 and up here. Even remanufactured stuff (Ultramax) is $30 for 50. So I guess when it's 7.50 for 20, the quality has to be pretty low. What I have now is dirty cases, mixed manufacturing standards for primers and a few more dollars in my pocket than if I'd bought something else.
 
Maybe when I get home I'll try taking more pictures. My computer at home isn't exactly behaving itself so I can only hope to be able to upload the pics after I take them right away.
 
It's good quality ammo, just shoot it and stop worrying. Both primers are crimped, just using different methods. It will get dirty when you shoot it anyway. I've shot a ton of dirty looking Lake City 5.56 through my issued rifles.
 
Where do you live where 7.50 boxes of 20 is considered cheap? I can get the steel cased Russian stuff for around 5.50 dollars a box and sometimes cheaper. I just picked up a 1000 round case of brass cased 223 for 300 shipped.
 
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