Question about reman ammo

[Bustedglockv2]

So I just picked up a sp101 .357. I really want to play with her but I've recently been having wrist issues so .357 out of a 2.5 seems painful, naturally I think .38spl, however when I went to my LGS they had no factory new .38s. However they did have factory reman .38s. Now coming from a semi auto history I would NEVER put remanufactured ammo into my semi's. But noting how beefy the sp-101 is......if there was let's say over pressure , or a bad casing on a 38 in a tank built sp101 built for .357.....would it junk my gun? Or is this thing as tough as I thinks it is . Question in short can I fire remans out of this in .38 worry free?. Thanks for the help.

 

[LaneP]

No revolver from any maker is immune from damage or failure from improperly reloaded ammo. Though most commercial ammo remanufacturers will state their ammo is loaded on equipment that ensures adherence to SAAMI standards, gun makers aren't willing to put them in the same league as new production commercial ammo. From the Ruger SP101 user manual:

AMMUNITION (CARTRIDGES) NOTICE
WE SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE OR INJURY WHATSOEVER OCCURRING IN CONNECTION WITH, OR AS THE RESULT OF, THE USE IN THE SP101 REVOLVER OF FAULTY, OR NON-STANDARD, OR “RE-MANUFACTURED”, OR HAND LOADED (RELOADED) AMMUNITION, OR OF CARTRIDGES OTHER THAN THOSE FOR WHICH THE FIREARM WAS ORIGINALLY CHAMBERED.

I know plenty of people shoot and trust commercially reman'ed ammo, but bear in mind in the event there is an incident, Ruger is going to absolve themselves of any responsibility.

 

[Jim Puke]

You can fire them with no problem.

Personally, I think there is very little risk in firing commercial reman ammo and I have fired a ton of it before I started reloading...in revolvers and autos.

 

[Bustedglockv2]

Thanks. It's bullseye reloads. Haven't heard much but my LGS, Kittery Tracing Post which is nationally known, they informed me it's "not crap" I hope their right haha

 

[mikld]

I wouldn't worry about shooting a remanufacturer's ammo. Black Hill Ammunition started out as a "remanufacturer" and now make quality new ammo also. Now, I wouldn't shoot any "reman." ammo sold in baggies at a gun show...

 

[Mobuck]

True "reman" ammo made by a licensed/insured business is probably at least as good as big name factory ammo and maybe better than some "factory new" ammo. Ammo manufacturers make mistakes just like everyone else-hence the numerous "factory recalls" seen lately.

 

[phonejack]

Miked is correct

 

[Bustedglockv2]

Perfect. This stuff is factory reman. So I'll test it out and if it works...$14 for 50 ....good price haha

 

[LaneP]

If you look over the warnings S&W issues in their revolvers manual, their concern with reman/reloaded ammo heavily center around the potential for any consequences that may result from case fatigue. Obviously they are just trying to cover their rear from a liability perspective.

 

[cadillo]

Someone else's handloads or reloads in one of my guns? I'd sooner dance a jig on a mine field!

Why? Because I have seen what can happen. It ain't pretty!

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Someone else's handloads or reloads in one of my guns? I'd sooner dance a jig on a mine field!

Why? Because I have seen what can happen. It ain't pretty!

There are a few and I say a few that I would trust. I have seen some real garbage sold in pretty new boxes that I wouldn't shoot for love nor money. Myself and more than several others got a commercial reloader canned at a range I frequent. This stuff was trash and new guy's trying to save a buck or two were getting their guns beat up by this trash. The range started buying in larger volumes of new ammo and their costs were lowered and passed on.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Dixieboy, I buy once fired brass, separated by head stamp for a very good price and it is a cleaned and well packaged. So I'm sure there are remakers that can get quality components to create an excellent product.
The biggest issue with the end product is squeezing the squeal out of the pig, that's the best reason for a varying or just plain bad product that I can come up with.

What I remember most about this one reloading outfit's stuff was that it was all over the place when it came to recoil force. I bought a couple of boxes of these rounds during one of our many ammo shortages some years back. It was probably 2008 as I was still buying some range ammo to fill needs, my reloading was not close to the level it is now. This stuff was pop, phew, bang, BANG, pop, phfft, bang, every round was an adventure in itself. There were also a fair amount of reported squib loads. The rumors I heard about this company were just totally insane and mostly unbelievable but I met one of their production people and after some discussion about his work, I just kind of threw up in my mouth a bit.
They had many what would be called 'temp' workers pulling handles, charging powder drops and clearing jams, filling primers into the machines. Supervision was not up to par and quality checks during runs were almost never done. It even sounded like powders could be mixed in drops and some powders were used that were less than ideal for a given round. The finished product didn't look all that bad, it was clean and shiny and packaged in a nice box but if you checked OAL's they were all over the place.

After all that and witnessing a couple of kabooms and bulged barrels I pretty much keep that in the back of my head and make sure I keep paying attention to everything I can control, it makes me smarter.

 

[Rick Courtright]

Hi,

There's this thing called "Pride of Workmanship" that sometimes shows itself in reloaded/remanufactured ammo. For example, if one opens two boxes of ammo, from different loaders, and one's got all matching headstamps, all yellow brass or nickel, with the same bullet (and OAL if you measure), while the other's got a half dozen headstamps, mixed yellow brass and nickel, and the calipers go nuts on OAL, methinks it's a safe bet one of those boxes will have a much higher quality product, and it's a pretty sure bet which one it is.

There are many other factors to consider, but if the loader doesn't care enough to cover the obvious, what care did he take where it doesn't show until one pulls the trigger?

Rick C

 

[cadillo]

Reading some of these posts about shooting others' hand loads just gives me the heebie jeebies. It's not just about how the cartridges look, it's about how the gun and shooter look after shooting them. I was once bloodied after an acquaintance offered to let me fire his 1911 stoked with his hand loads. First shot ruined my prescription eyeglasses, brought me almost to my knees and blackened and bloodied my face from powder and numerous brass shards. But for my eyeglasses, I would have been totally blinded that day.

That was thirty years ago, and since that day, I will not knowingly fire a cartridge hand loaded by any one else. I just won't do it. I worked for the feds for over twenty years, and have seen untold numbers of defective factory handgun cartridges including bullets loaded backwards, primers loaded backwards, bullets that could be pressed into the case with light pressure from one's small finger, and cartridges loaded into cases that had split upon seating the bullets.

These were factory loads from mainly Remington and Winchester. We were once issued some Speer .38 Special ammo that split most of the cases upon firing. Several of my co-workers had their guns fitted with new cylinders at the expense of Speer due to gas cutting in the chambers.

I have a number of guns, and most, other than my shotguns or the ones that I had to qualify with for duty use have never seen a factory cartridge, and none have ever fired a cartridge hand loaded by anyone but me.

Commercial reloads? That's like seeking affection in a cat house and hoping to always remain healthy.

A blown case is not a fun thing to experience!