Warning about Lake City Surplus Ammo

[Ben Shepherd]

That ammo felt very warm.

Chris, time to get a chrono buddy. That way you now whether it felt warm, or if it is warm. Also how consistent it is.

That way when you get a batch that is certifiably warm, accurate, and consistent you know to limit usage of that particular batch to things other than casual plinking.

Glad your rifle survived the incident, along with your face, eyes, and hands.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Not to throw gas on this fire, but I always thought that tumbling loaded ammo was a big no-no. Something about possibly causing overpressure due to the action of tumbling on the powder charge. That is is "grinds" the powder to a finer powder which causes faster burn time etc., etc.

The ball powder used in any NATO 5.56 that I've seen does not appear to be harmed by tumbling. I am sure there are some powder types that this would apply to but it doesn't seem to happen to this particular powder.

And, as mentioned, it only takes a few minutes. You leave the stuff in a tumbler for 24 hours there's no telling what might happen.

As for the OP's ammo, my father in law gave me a nice ammo can of "brand new" Lake City M193 once. I was suspicious and took a couple apart to weigh the powder charge. Someone's reloads, and apparently someone who should have bought a new powder measure a long time ago. I had to pull them all apart, toss the powder, and reload them myself. It didn't even look like BL-C, it was some flake stuff.

 

[crue cab]

Just a quick chime in. LC is just about all my S&W AR will feed properly.
Shoots it great and I dont find it too dirty at all.
Other brands like PMC or Wolf will short stroke my bolt every 3 to 5 rounds.

 

[rattletrap1970]

No, someone did a test on one of the forums and Chronographed tumbled ammo for up to days at a time. There was practically no difference in velocity.

 

[Uncle Mike]

The ammo did not seem to have been stored properly and was definitely in bad shape.

...and you shot this stuff anyways, and experienced a failure, hmmm!

And, not tumble ammo....duh!

 

[Al Thompson]

ZOMBIE!!!!!


OP was in 2003.....

 

[crue cab]

Haha, I just googled "where to buy Lake City Ammo and this tread came up.

 

[W.E.G.]

member with 4 posts bumped year-old thread

 

[Horny Toad]

 

[nitetrane98]

Tumbling ammo bad?

I'm guessing those who say it is have never ridden in a railroad boxcar all day. Or the cab, much less the trailer, of an 18 wheeler or finally in a deuce and a half or 5 ton military vehicle, or a C-130 or Chinook for hundreds of miles.

A few hours in the tumbler won't hurt a thing.

 

[BushyGuy]

i got some Lake City ammo stamped in 09 if its the real deal i am gonna stock up to the roof. i know the military aint using the 55gr anymore for the front lines, only for practice ammo.

its cheap and i hope very effective for SHTF i tried PPU 55gr fmjbt its almost supposed ot be same as m193, i heard nothing but good stories about the LC m193.

 

[kwelz]

Wow. This is the zombie thread from hell. It has been rezzed what? three times now?