Ammo brands you avoid

[pbcaster45]

LOL! I'm in my 60s and the worst ammo I've ever tried (once!) was made by American Ammunition (A-Merc). Terrible quality control.

 

[sigp220.45]

When I got this Stoeger .22 Luger I had been forewarned by the all-knowing internet that it would be very picky about ammo and that only plated HV stuff would make it function. I bought a variety of .22 ammo and the only ammo that worked 100% were some grungy Thunderbolts at the bottom of my range bag that had spilled from the bulk pack.

That’s all I shoot in it now, and it still hasn’t bobbled.

 

[GnarlsR2]

GnarlsR2----the answer to both your questions is yes.

Hello ruger 22,

I was pretty sure the answers were yes. But with all the discussion about ammo I've been reading I like other "input".

Thank you.

 

[Matt_X]

I've been avoiding Magtech even though it might be fine in revolvers.
Magtech at the Range - The Carbine Collector's Club
Just not worth having a primer cup caught in the bolt or such.


Also armscor just based on the experience of others, although again in self loaders.
Armscor Ammo in my ‘43 Inland - The Carbine Collector's Club - Page 2

 

[offrdmania]

Not necessarily brands. I just avoid steel cased and anyone's reloads.

 

[kimporter]

Grizzly cowboy action 45’s,bought a uberti colt45 replica and that was the only ammo I could find,the first shot at 15 was dead on,2nd was 12 inch’s to the right and sounded little louder so I checked cylinder,it was leaded up real bad from first round I guess,pulled the rest to reload
Aguila 22,I know it sounds funny but the burnt powder smell makes me nauseous
Best I’ve used is rem 22 sv,my ole win 69a loves it and my41 loves it

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I have several cases of military .22 ball ammo from the CMP.. Standard velocity........From Both Remington and Winchester.......Never had a dud..........In my youth I never had any duds from the big 3 makers.....I guess they really don't care about QC anymore.

 

[Buford57]

S&B I had 3-5 failures to FIRE out of the first box of .38 Spl and the same in the first box of .357 Mag I tried. There was evidently no priming compound, since I tried to fire them repeatedly in different guns until the cups wore through. That was 15 years ago. Maybe a fluke, maybe QC has improved, but I have other options so I don't bother with it anymore.

Armscor .22LR. Back when the Obama ammo scare began I picked up 2 bricks. I experienced ruptured cases and failures to feed in everything from revolvers to bolt action rifles. Reports ranged from pfft to BANG. To their credit as soon as I told them the lot number they sent a return shipping label and refunded the purchase price of the remaining ammo. Since I had left a couple of boxes at an out of state residence and had shot up a box or two before giving up I lost a little on the deal, but over all it soured me.

Winchester White Box 110 gr. FMJ. Shot fine, but hotter than Blazes - temperature, not potency. After one cylinder full the metal was too hot to hold while reloading. Not my cup of tea but it all went bang.

Any Russian shotgun shells. Having to hire a chimney sweep to clean the barrel after less than a box negates the benefit of low price.

Have found Winchester Wildcat .22 LR of lower quality recently than in the past (i.e. 30 years ago). Excessive lube on the bullets make chambering difficult.

Everybody has bad days but there are enough options that I tend not to make a second attempt once I've been disappointed. I now have enough shot shells and rimfire ammo to last my life and reload for every centerfire caliber I shoot. Since I'm retired again I have time to crank out my own and other than SD ammo I probably won't be buying a lot of factory stuff.

 

[RobzGuns]

I stopped buying WWB Value Pack a few Years ago. Often wondered if they are 'factory seconds' of the WWB (in racks). I figure, when I can see a noticeable difference in OAL, just by standing them up in a row (no calipers required), I wasn't interested in risking a kaboom.

As for Reman... I've used Freedom and LAX for almost 10 Years with only a very occasional FTFire.

.22s ... Norma Range & Training works well, but None of my bottom feeders like their 'Eco' line.

I've only used Eastern Euro Steel Cased ammo when I couldn't find decent U.S. rounds. Their Powder recipe is definitely 'dirtier' than most U.S. made.

Magtech is probably the dirtiest shooting U.S. brand I've shot and I haven't bought it in Years.

 

[Kasian]

Old Western .32 ACP JHP

I inherited a box of Western .32 ACP JHP. I know some Western ammo boxes are auctioned on internet as a vintage ammo. This box is probably late 70-s or the latest - early 80-s.
I shot 1/2 of it at the range (Walther PP) - all perfect. Will finish it soon enough.

 

[S-W4EVER]

Not necessarily brands. I just avoid steel cased and anyone's reloads.

The cheapskate department I worked for in my retirement job actually bought some steel case 5.56 ammo for Range use. Since I carried my own AR15 I furnished my own brass case ammo. I do prefer steel case ammofor my AK’s though.

 

[Matt_X]

In general, reloads from LAX/Miwall/and related companies. That said I bought several hundred Miwall reloads for a class and all but a 1/2 dozen failed to fire. Primers dented, and all but one went bang on a second strike. Have one box in the cache. Probably would not buy again but under the circumstances it filled the need.



I'm also avoiding companies known to use hard primers in pistol cartridges, especially for .38 Spl. There's a thread in the Smithing forum about that.

 

[Matt_X]

Came across this 2023 video report of badly underloaded Miwall .38 spl rounds. That's worse than my experience with their .380 ACP and carries a risk level I consider unacceptable for anything but slow deliberate fire where one is concious the bullet might not leave the barrel.

 

[Narragansett]

Golden bullets and Thunderbolts. Basically any and all Remington 22.

I avoid any and all Remington products, and have since 1987. They did an injustice to their workers in Connecticut, and the clay target industry when they closed the Lordship club.

Their products are not what they should be, they are always in financial trouble, and now they have abandoned the workers in New York. The days of the Remington men showing up at local shoots, and rebuilding your 1100 on the spot for free are gone. All the good Remington guys that did that have passed on.

According to their web page, they do not make a 22 anymore

Not much left

 

[Terry G]

Anything Blazer is typically garbage.

I think their brass cased 9 MM is OK, but the aluminum cased stuff malfunctioned in MY CZ's that never malfunction. Tried it in an SD9VE and Taurus G3. Same thing all of them.

 

[venomballistics]

Remington Thunderbolts. Worst ammo from Maine to Spain

back in the late 80's, T bolts were our go to standard ball for all reasons and seasons. then I saw the bullet profile change, which seemed to ding the reliability ... then it changed back, which didn't seem as potent at the old reliable gen one.
at this point, we wrote it off. I can't imagine it's reputation improved at any point since

 

[SWFan27]

Good afternoon, sir

Regarding your Armscor 22lr ammo. As VP of International Customer Relations for Armscor/Rock Island Armory, I can tell you that you’re not the first to have experienced this issue. In 2023 we had a few lots containing primer compound that seemingly degraded after passing QA. The likely cause was due to chemicals necessarily purchased from an alternative vendor during Covid. The problem has been corrected and ammo from those identified lots pulled from the chain of commerce and replaced. If you wish, Armscor would like to replace your 22lr ammo. Please PM me for details.

Lou

I have three Smith & Wesson 357 Magnum revolvers. They function fine and shoot great, except when using Armscor ammo. There are usually a few duds in each box that won't go bang. Someone online joked that Armscor should advertise that you get 45 rounds and 5 snap caps per box. I will never buy Armscor again and I am using up whatever I have stashed away.

Today there was some event at the range, so I did not stay long. I only shot 22 rounds of 357 Mag, and 3 rounds would not fire. That was through my always dependable 686+. Last week I brought my Models 19 and 66 and had 2 rounds that would not fire out of a box of 50. It might be the cheapest stuff pricewise, but not if you factor in the duds in each box.

Prior to this, and after many thousands of rounds of centerfire ammunition, I have had one dud that would not fire. That was a 357 Magnum, Magtech 158 grain soft point round. I have had a handful of high primers with my dad's reloads. The only other centerfire factory ammo problem I have ever had was a high primer on one round of a Remington HTP 38 Spl. Armscor gets the trophy. Thankfully I was just shooting holes in paper. If they make self-defense ammo, best of luck to anyone trusting their lives with it.

 

[Matt_X]

As part of the bankruptcy sales of assets, Remington Ammunition was sold seperate from the naming rights and fire arms manufacturing. Vista Outdoors bought the ammunition manufacturing. They recently sold or spunoff all of five of the ammunition companies they owned as The Kinetic Group. The new Remington ammo website shows rimfire ammo, and as of this morning .22 LR target ammo in stock. Not that you should buy it. I've been using their .38 Spl. LRN and generally like it, but other than that no recent experience.

I avoid any and all Remington products, and have since 1987. They did an injustice to their workers in Connecticut, and the clay target industry when they closed the Lordship club.

Their products are not what they should be, they are always in financial trouble, and now they have abandoned the workers in New York. The days of the Remington men showing up at local shoots, and rebuilding your 1100 on the spot for free are gone. All the good Remington guys that did that have passed on.

According to their web page, they do not make a 22 anymore

Not much left

 

[gym cat]

I avoid any thing with a steel case.

 

[Matt_X]

I've been avoiding Magtech even though it might be fine in revolvers.
Magtech at the Range - The Carbine Collector's Club
Just not worth having a primer cup caught in the bolt or such.

Today had a high primer in a box of Magtech 130 gr FMJ
In the J-frame it prevented the cylinder from rotating. But it cleared the recoil shield on the inboard side enough that the cylinder closed. In the Model 15 the cylinder would not shut.