"Independence" .357 ammo......????

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fjlee

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One of the local gun stores in Colorado has some .357 ammo called "Independence". I've not heard of that name, and a GOOGLE search of the ID# "F25M1" turned up nothing.

THis is a loading of 158 grain JSP. No velocity listed. Price was $14 for box of 50. The cases appeared to be brass....with an almost "phony" shiny quality to them.

I wonder if the cases are truly brass, and if they are reusable?

Anyone know anything about this ammo? Clean/dirty burn? Erratic velocities? Erratic accuracy? 100% reliable ignition?

FJ Lee Denver CO
 
They are brass. I've had good luck out of all my plinking ammo. Some have reported issues, but I still buy it without hesitation.
 
Hi fjlee,

A friend of mine who shoots .357 a lot doesn't care for Independence ammo; says it is dirty and accuracy is erratic. On the other hand, I've found it to be as good as any other cheap ammo in 45ACP. The cases are brass and reload just fine in either caliber.

--Bill
 
I too just found a good deal on Independence ammo $12 for 50 158 grn jsp. and bought 500 more rounds of .357 magnum.

I have shot 500 rounds of this .357 magnum ammo before and find it a cleaner round than WWB.

Independence ammo is made in Lewiston ID and is made by Federal. I heard the initial problems were when the ammo was made in Brazil. It has since moved to the USA and I have not heard of any more problems with it. In fact a guy at a local gun store here uses the .45 acp to shoot his national matches at Camp Perry and he says he reloads the brass.

I collect the brass to sell later and others tell me it is fine brass to reload.

Now, I also heard that Blount Inc. (CCI/Speer) bought Federal or they merged into one company. Most Federal brand ammo is made in Anoka MN and CCI Speer has a plant in Lewiston ID. The Independence boxes sometimes say made by Federal. But, they are made in Lweiston ID and not Anoka. Therefore, I think the rumor about Federal and Speer/CCI merging or, one buying the other, is true.

So far I have had very good luck with Independence ammo.
 
I have shot over 500 rounds of Independence .357 Magnum ammo and have had no problems. I shot the 158 gr LFN stuff and it's POA=POI. It's also a full Magnum load, not a light load like you get with Aluminum Blazers. The price is right and it shoots well, what's not to like? I have 6 boxes sitting in the ammo box right now just wanting to be fired!! LOL
 
I bought a box of .357 Mag from Sportsman's Warehouse and it functioned fine in my Model 28.

Federal and Speer/CCI are both owned by ATK- No rumors needed.

Hunter
 
Fine stuff,i use it as practice ammo in my
S&W 65-3 when i don't have time to do
any reloading.As a bonus The brass seems
to work just fine for reloading.
 
If it makes any difference, the NRA-HQ range sells Independance. I've put about 700 rounds through my various .40 S&W guns with exactly 1 failure to fire (dud primer I think). I've also fired about 150 rounds through a .357 wheelgun with no issues.

It is pretty dirty so expect to clean your gun afterwards.
 
Well.....the concensus seems to be that the Independence 158 grain .357 ammo is good "bang for the buck".

I'll probably buy some.........

Whew.....I _REALLY_ wish they made that in a 125 grain version, too.

FJ Lee
 
Sportsman Warehouse up until about 3 months ago was selling Independence ammo (.357mag) for 9.95 a box of 50. I was an Independence shooting fool!

Have used a good 600 to 700 rounds of the 158gr .357magnums without a hitch. Good stuff and as pointed out, full magnum, not watered down. That said I currently have 200 rounds of Blazer....:uhoh: , cuz that was the cheap buy my last time to the big city.

Did pick up several boxes of Independence .38special 130gr ball. It works just fine too. Last price check on Indy ammo around here saw the .357 going for 12.95 per 50, and the .38's up to 9.95. :mad:

Aguila is another plinker I use that is full power. It's a bit dirtier, but who cares when you clean after every trip.
 
I would buy Independence before MagTech or Remington. It is cleaner, comparable, and although not match grade pleasingly reliable. I have shot around a thousand of them in my GP-100 .357.
 
ATK owns many of my favorite companies:
http://www.atk.com/corporateoverview/corpover_ammogroup.asp
Independence, which is manufactured by "Ammunition Accessories Inc.", is also owned by ATK.

One thing I've noticed with the Independence .357 is that it resizes like butter, probably due to the shinier finish. Many reloads through some of it and no problems whatsoever.
 
For what its worth...

My fave local gunshop here in mid MI carries this stuff in .38 spl, 40 S&W, and various other calibers as their economy priced range ammo. This is a shop with a public indoor range and a good repuatation, they wouldn't sell it for use on their own range if it was not up to snuff. I've shot a couple boxes of the .38spl 130 gr fmj stuff out of my GP-100 6" and had no failures of any kind, and at 10 bucks a box, I won't complain. Next time I'm there I will look for Independence ammo in .380 ACP too. My 2 cents...;)
 
Any pointers on where to get a deal on Independence ammo? Natchezss.com is the only place I know of selling it at the moment, but I know there must be more.
 
the .38 special fmj target rounds shot horribly out of my 3" gp100. Fiance, who is a good shot normally was frustrated after shooting the stuff.
 
I have used it before

older Brazilian stuff had expanded primer chambers that lodged the brass in the cylinders

I have used newer American made stuff in .357 and .38 and it is not the best, but allows for practice at less expense; it shot and the brass was more durable and didn't expand

Federal's new 'Fusion' stuff in .357 is also inexpensive (compared to other hunting loads sold in 20 round boxes) and I would venture that the same powder, primers, and brass from the 'Indepenence' line are used to keep the costs down
 
Independence is to CCI what WWB is to Winchester, UMC is to Remington and American Eagle is to Federal: Economy line of standard caliber ammunition.

Up until a couple years ago all the Independence ammo I bought had a CCI headstamp. All I've seen now has *I* on the head.
 
my 686 ate up just fine, kinda dirty I thought. but maybe I don't remember.
 
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