Wally World bulk Federal problem

[RNB65]

A buddy of mine has had at least a half-dozen cycling failures with his Rem 1187 while shooting sporting clays the last two weekends. That gun is 15 years old and has always been stone reliable.

We noticed that the Wally World Federal bulk ammo he was shooting had a silver colored base. The base looks to be aluminium or steel and not brass. Also, the base on some of the fired shells appeared to be out of round. Our guess is that some of these shells are slipping out of the ejector and not fully ejecting.

What's up with the non-brass base and has anyone else had any similar problems?

 

[Technosavant]

You know, I have had a few failures to cycle properly in my 1100 with the stuff. I don't know if that's the gun, the ammo, or I just need to clean the works a bit better.

I will probably try going to the bulk Remington stuff- it seemed to function just fine, and it didn't smell as weird.

 

[RNB65]

Any idea what that base metal is? aluminum? tin? paper thin steel?

It's got to be the ammo. Over the last 15 years my buddy has broken 10,000+ clays with that Remmie and it has failed to cycle no more than once or twice a year using Rem STS or Win AA ammo. Then suddenly it fails 6-7 times in two rounds of clays using the Wally World stuff.

I'll be sure to check the ammo at Wally World from now on to make sure they got brass basses.

 

[Technosavant]

To tell the truth, I never paid that much attention to the base metal.

My failures were of a weird sort; the spent shell ejects fine, but the next one just ends up sitting loose in the action, with the bolt stuck to the rear. A quick pull on the bolt handle, a push on the button on the loading port, and it's back to business. But it's only happened with the Federal.

 

[ArmedBear]

This thing will tell you quickly and cheaply if a base is out of round, sized incorrectly. Works for every shotshell gauge currently used.

Scroll down to Shotshell Checker: http://www.mecreloaders.com/productline/AccessoryReloading.asp

Anyway, it doesn't surprise me that the bulk Federal stuff is "off"; I've had even had occasional feed troubles in a pump. Remington makes the best-feeding bulk ammo, in my experience, followed by Federal, with Winchester a distant last. Remington can be up to a buck fifty more for 4 boxes, but it's worth it IMO, especially if you reload the things, because the cheapest Remington hulls still are good for 8+ reloads, and crimp better than others. Sometimes, though, they're all the same price. And the Federal stuff is DIRTY! Reliable, though, and I still use it in a break-action occasionally.

The bases are soft steel. That has its advantages. My club has a bunch of magnets on sticks; steel-base hulls are easy to collect. Brass hulls still need to be picked up by hand.

 

[The-Fly]

i havent had any problems with the cheap wally federal #8 in my extrema2. Once in a while i do get a stuck shell in my 870 after firing it, but lightly banging the stock on the ground pops it loose.

 

[spooney]

I get more of that Federal bulk ammo stuck in my 870 than any other ammo in any other gun that I own. I stay away from it now. Not to mention it smells like a Black Cat firecracker after you fire it.

 

[ArmedBear]

i havent had any problems with the cheap wally federal #8 in my extrema2. Once in a while i do get a stuck shell in my 870 after firing it, but lightly banging the stock on the ground pops it loose.

I think Remington chambers are "to-spec." I can stuff almost anything in my Browning break-action and most of it comes back out again. I don't know about Berettas; it sounds like they're also a tad oversized. The only downside might be a little more powder burn on the crimp end of the hull, if you reload.

Now that I roll my own, my shells are round and sized just how I want 'em, because I can set that up however I want it.

 

[Red State]

I have had pretty good luck with the Federal shells from Walmart. Seems like they do ok in both 1100s and 870s.

Stay far, far away from the cheap Winchester shells (although their AA series run great through autos).

I haven't used much of the Remington, but now that you mention it, I remember it as always feeding and extracting.

 

[Rob62]

According to Remington's 1187's factory manual. There is a minimum power that shells have to have in order to cycle the action reliably. Check out pg 11 of the manual.

Loads lighter than 2 3/4", 3 dram, 1 1/8 oz shot may not generate enough power to function properly - Just re-read the notice. This is for the 1187 SUPER MAGNUM shotgun. Not sure if that is the version you have but if it is that's the reason for the problems.

That is why I got rid of mine. I could not get it to shoot any brand of the lower power bulk pack shot shells reliably.

Rob