Cheap Ammo Is As Cheap Ammo Does!

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bulltaco

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I purchased a used Walther P-38 this afternoon. The dealer sold me a box of 50 rds Magtech 115 grn FMC and I went to Dick's and bought five boxes of Remington green and white box UMC 115 grn FMC. I got home and went below my pond to shoot the P-38. I ran right through the Magtechs no problem. First shot of the Remington UMC and I get a failure to feed on the reload. Had to clear jams throughout the second box. Quit after 100 rounds and went inside and cleaned the Walther. I regularly buy the UMC at Dick's because it's always on sale. I am beginning to suspect that cheap ammo is not the way to go for the Walther. I had a similar experience with UMC 45 hardball with my new Kimber Custom II. Can anybody on this message board offer any insight about my experience today?
 
First shot of the Remington UMC and I get a failure to feed on the reload. Had to clear jams throughout the second box....I had a similar experience with UMC 45 hardball with my new Kimber Custom II.

A couple of weeks ago with my Springfield Loaded, with the same ammunition, I had a few FTEs in 100 rounds...but I've put Remington UMC through it before and it ran fine. I would say it may have just been a bad batch of ammunition, but then from my experience that's what it seemed to be. I put more UMC through it last week and it ran like it should. More to come tomorrow...
 
I never had a jam with 9mm Remington.


Does anyone have chronograph data on Remington FMJ 115gr compared to Winchester FMJ 115gr?
 
Your post title says it all. Your experience, however, pales in comparison to the complete case-head separation I had using UltraMax .40 in my Sig 229. I've learned to just suck it up and pay for decent ammo.


Terminate With Extreme Prejudice
The crap-tacular ammo to which I refer:

Ultramax-1.gif


Hey, it was given to me... Maybe that should have been clue??
 
What A Difference A Day (& A Good Cleaning) Make!

After a good cleaning with Break Free (CLP) I went back out for another 100 rds of UMC 115 grn MC. This time I ran through two boxes with no malfunctions in the Walther P38. So maybe for some plinking and target shooting the cheap ammo has it's place. I do know that I want a premium brand of ammo for hunting and self-defense. A well maintained weapon also.
 
I've never had a problem with UMC.

I prefer UMC over WWB, because I think that WWB is really dirty in comparison.

When I think of "cheap" ammo, I think of A-MERC (do a search on A-MERC, interesting reading), or the gun-show special re-loads.
 
After a good cleaning with Break Free (CLP) I went back out for another 100 rds of UMC 115 grn MC. This time I ran through two boxes with no malfunctions in the Walther P38. So maybe for some plinking and target shooting the cheap ammo has it's place. I do know that I want a premium brand of ammo for hunting and self-defense. A well maintained weapon also.

Yeah, I think you nailed it.

Actually, it seems a lot of folks who post here about a problems with various brands of ammunition haven't cleaned/lubed their guns before shooting.

Congrats- enjoy your Walther! :)
 
Its been my experience that Remington UMC is loaded a little light in th power department. It does not reliably cycle a weapon manufactured in europe due to heavier springs in them. Fiocchi seems to do better.
 
bulltaco said:
I went to Dick's and bought five boxes of Remington green and white box UMC 115 grn FMC. I got home and went below my pond to shoot the P-38. I ran right through the Magtechs no problem. First shot of the Remington UMC and I get a failure to feed on the reload. Had to clear jams throughout the second box. Quit after 100 rounds and went inside and cleaned the Walther. I regularly buy the UMC at Dick's because it's always on sale. I am beginning to suspect that cheap ammo is not the way to go for the Walther.
yeah, right now i'm kind of annoyed that my local walmart stopped stocking non-shotgun ammo so no more 9mm winchester value pack and at the same time there's a new Dick's across the street that sells UMC and no winchester at all. something like coke versus pepsi exclusivity contracts.

anyway UMC isn't horrible, it's just dirty and inconsistant. I think i need to buy my ammo online from now on. I just don't like my local options.

Seven High said:
Its been my experience that Remington UMC is loaded a little light in th power department. It does not reliably cycle a weapon manufactured in europe due to heavier springs in them. Fiocchi seems to do better.
yeah or Sellier and Belloit
 
never had a problem with UMC on all my HK/Glock/Beretta, in all caliber, 9, 40 and 45. so definitely not the ammo there.
I think it's just your gun.
 
Never had any problems with any of the "cheap" ammo. WWB, Rem-UMC, Blazer, Wolf, American Eagle.....

Blazer and 1911's (or any gun with tight tolerences) don't mix. The only ammo that ever choked up my Kimber was Blazer. It seemed like 2 out of 10 rounds failed to feed due to the bullet being seated to deeply. I never had that problem with WWB or UMC. FWIW UMC and WWB are the only ammo I spend money on. The exception being surplus rifle ammo and defensive ammo.
 
My son has shot several Thousand rounds of Remington UMC 9mm ammo through his Taurus PT111 Pro without a problem.

I don't like Ulrtamax reloads because they don't use smokeless powder. It gets into your lungs and the gun gets really dirt too. It is accurate though, at least the .38 Sp is.
 
I have never had a problem with Remington UMC, American Eagle, or Winchester W.B. The W.W.B is dirty. My favorit is CCI Blazer in all cal.'s. For me it is the most accurate in my guns, also is it just me or is it loaded hotter than the others ?:confused:
 
I have shot tons of the green/white box Remington 9mm and never had a problem.

Then again...I have ONLY shot it in a Glock, so of course it didnt have any problems. :evil:
 
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