What to look for when spotting bad ammo...

[SilentStalker]

Ok, I have another thread talking about M1A kabooms and whatnot and it seems that a lot of people are blaming this kind of thing on reloaded ammo. Here is the deal, I am kind of worried about this but am not sure exactly what to look for on the bullet casing to spot a bad round whether it be a reload or not. I never usually use reloads to be honest, but in making the last 3 pistol purchases I made the seller (a guy I worked with at the time, now a cop) threw in some ammo with the purchase, something in the neighborhood of 250-500 rounds per gun. So, even though the ammo is in a store bought looking package, most of it UMC of some sort, I am not sure whether they are reloads or not. How can I tell? Can anyone post pics as reference to things I should be looking at? Oh, and the caliber handguns we are talking about is 9mm and .45. I mean I knew the guy and worked with him and whatnot but if these are reloads then I would rather not mess with them if you know what I mean. My final question is if you spot a bad round that you determine you will never shoot, then how do you dispose of it?

 

[TexasRifleman]

Here is the deal, I am kind of worried about this but am not sure exactly what to look for on the bullet casing to spot a bad round whether it be a reload or not.

Well, in the case of lots of the surplus ammo that has kaboomed there wasn't really anything unusual looking about the ammo.

The Israeli 308 I posted of in your other thread looked perfectly normal.

The metallurgy on the brass was bad and the cases split, but they looked great right out of the package.

I am not sure whether they are reloads or not. How can I tell?

One way is to look for sealant around the primer. Most commercial loads tend to have a sealant (red is common) around the primer. Sealant on the brass but not on the primer is one giveaway, but not 100% reliable.

Another way is the primer. Lots of commercial loads have primers that are brass colored, not shiny silver. If you know a commercial loader uses brass colored primers and you have silver.... reloads.

Again, not 100% since you can buy brass colored primers too.


It's a best guess game and you have to base some on your feeling of the honesty of the source.

how do you dispose of it?

One way to dispose of a round is to pull the bullet and make it inert.

The range I shoot at has a box for them, I don't know where they go after that. I assume some enterprising reloader takes them all and pulls the bullets.


Maybe someone will have some other ideas on this, those are the things I tend to look for.

 

[stubbicatt]

Handloads are not inherently dangerous. They are neither less reliable than factory.

As with any ammunition, it is best to know your source. Shooting ammo of indeterminate origin is probably not a good idea.

M1As have a floating firing pin, which, in conjunction with some types of primers, whether commercial or otherwise, will have the propensity to slamfire. A knowledgeable handloader understands these issues and prepares his cartridges accordingly.

 

[goon]

If you're worried that the might be handloads, why not contact the guy you got them from and ask him?

If you're really worried...
Maybe you shouldn't shoot them. Not worth it EVER to risk blowing your hand off, blinding yourself, and destroying a $500 gun on substandard ammo.

 

[SilentStalker]

Ok, here is another thing that kind of bothers me. When I purchased the G19 from this guy he threw in 500+ rounds of ammo, most of it remington UMC 115 gr. MC. In all honesty that is a pretty expensive lot of ammo, from my research (since I have never bought bulk before), that is well over $200-$300 worth of ammo. So, it kind of makes me think why in the world you would sell a handgun for $400 and then throw in that much money or more worth of ammo. it kind of makes me wonder if I should have trusted this guy or not. What are your thoughts on this? Am I going way overboard on this and thinking too much? Some of the ammo was some expensive defensive rounds as well.

 

[mack7.62]

Rem UMC MC is not that expensive, even today it can be found for around $100 for 500 rounds. A few years ago 9mm was $60-70 for 500.

 

[SilentStalker]

Thanks. I figured that out after more research last night. The first site I went to did however list 250 rounds of the stuff for nearly $200 so that threw me off. However, after checking into it some more I found it at academy Sports for $56. for 9mm and $76 for .45.

 

[goon]

Really, if it looks like factory ammo and is in factory packages that don't look like they've been recycled a hundred times, I'd probably just shoot it.
Can you buy a box of this ammo locally to compare it with the ammo you have?

Handloads aren't any more dangerous than factory ammo anyway, provided they were assembled properly (which also goes for factory ammo).
My reloading system has three built-in safety checks AFTER I put powder in the casings and BEFORE a bullet goes in there. Even if I miss one check, I still have two more to prevent mistakes. And they work too - one time I found a lady bug in one of my casings.

I doubt a factory can work in that many checks just because of the automation involved.