Inspecting Purchased Reloads

[RoyGBiv]

First time purchasing commercial reloads. Thought I'd give Freedom Munitions a try, since the price was right. I'm in the process of inspecting the shipment I received yesterday and had a few questions for the experts. I've never reloaded myself, but I'm a wiz with calipers and understand the basics/math/chemistry.

Visual... Inspecting cases for deformities, bulges, etc., setback, improper/angled set, flush/straight primers.
Measuring... Case diameter, OAL (COL).

Q1: According to Hodgdon (http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp), COL should be 1.125" (1-1/8"). I'm measuring consistently 1.113" - 1.115" actual (180gr Flat point FMJ, unknown bullet manufacturer). Anything to be concerned about here?

Q1a: What range of COL is acceptable?

Q2: When verifying case diameters, where is the proper place to measure? I assume I'm looking for cases to be straight and should be measuring at neck, middle and bottom, expecting to see the same number +/- a few thousandths.??

Q2b: What range of case diameter is acceptable? Hodgdon is silent re: brass diameter, I assume because different mfrs will use different alloys with slightly different thicknesses, but I would assume the finished OD (outer diameter) would need to be appropriate for the barrel/caliber(?). I'm seeing head stamps from a wide range of mfrs throughout the batch but OD's are consistently 0.420" +/- 0.001"

Anything else I should be inspecting for?

Thanks.!

ETA: I have a postage scale and a dietary scale... Not sure either will be accurate enough to confirm powder loads.

[BigBoss0311]

Can't help with the technical aspect, but I have shot thousands of their 9mm and .40 through my pistols with no problems. Out of all the ammo I have ordered from them, I have only had a handful of rounds that were bad, all with the bullet pushed to far into the case.

[BN]

Q1: I'm measuring consistently 1.113" - 1.115" actual (180gr Flat point FMJ, unknown bullet manufacturer). Anything to be concerned about here?

Q1a: What range of COL is acceptable?


Q1: Nothing to be concerned about.

Q2: I wouldn't bother measuring them. Remove the barrel from your pistol and use it for a case gauge. They should drop in and invert the barrel and they should drop out.

[rsa-otc]

Q1: Nothing to be concerned about.

Q2: I wouldn't bother measuring them. Remove the barrel from your pistol and use it for a case gauge. They should drop in and invert the barrel and they should drop out.

Exactly, I have an old Mdl 10 Cylinder I use to check my revolver reloads and an old 645 barrel for checking my 45s.

With regards to weighing the rounds to check the powder charge. In my best Italian voice "Forget - a - bout -it". Especially if they use mixed brass like many commercial reloaders. There's enough variation in weight even amongst the same case manufacturer to make weighting the rounds to check powder charge a futile effort. Even carbon residue from the previous loading of the case can effect the weight.

[RoyGBiv]

Thanks Gents!

Ill eyeball everything for setback and not worry too much about measurements.

Cheers

[jumpthestack]

Check that there is a new primer in the case and that it's seated flush. If it's sticking out a little it could lead to a light strike or failure to go into battery. And do the 'using the barrel as a case gauge'.

[Paul D]

When I used to buy loosely packaged re-manufactured ammo, I would put each round into 100 round reloading boxes. This would force me to at least have tactile inspection with my fingers and to make sure the primers are set in properly. I would then make sure all 100 rounds were uniform in length (i.e. nothing sticking too high or low).

[PPGMD]

Unless I am having issues, like the Freedom Munitions like I mentioned in another thread, for range ammo I don't bother beyond a quick visual inspection.

For match ammo (new or reloaded), I do a more in depth visual inspection and I use an EGW case gauge to test in round. Granted there are some exception, namely high round count matches where I have the ammo drop shipped. I simply don't have the time to gauge the ammo in the hotel room. But in that case I use known good ammo companies.

[Tirofijo2001]

I take it this is practice ammo? I'd inspect the primers as I load mags to make sure they are seated fully, but that's it. I'm not going to case gauge it. You'll find out soon enough if it doesn't chamber. (I case gauge my match ammo and duty ammo. But not practice ammo.)

+1 what others have said about trying to weigh it. There's so much variance in brass that you won't be able to detect squib loads or double charges, unfortunately. I tried when I started reloading, using once fired brass from the same manufacturer. Weights varied too much.

[RoyGBiv]

I take it this is practice ammo?
Yes, of course. The cost of shooting has reached a point where it would be good to find some economical reloads for practice. Hopefully these are it.

Good thing is that Freedom shipped everything in 50-round trays, making it easy to visually scan the primer side. Any substantial setback should also be easy to spot, plus I'm pulling rounds randomly to double check.


+1 what others have said about trying to weigh it. There's so much variance in brass that you won't be able to detect squib loads or double charges, unfortunately. I tried when I started reloading, using once fired brass from the same manufacturer. Weights varied too much.
I figured, but thanks for the (several) confirmations.

Thanks again all..

[Jason F]

I actually shot a few hundred rounds of Freedom Munitions ammo this weekend at the Georgia State IDPA Match.

Having heard others talking about inspecting their match ammo before, I thought it would be prudent.

I was shooting 230gr RN .45ACP FWIW.

I opened each box of 50, and did a quick visual inspection of the primers and the case rim to make sure I didn't see any major dings/flaws.

Then I dropped them out in to a pile and spread them out, doing a quick visual inspection for any that might be setback. Then I picked them up in 2's and 3's and put them back in the trays, turning the individual rounds over in my hands a few times en route to the tray just to see if anything "felt" off.

Didn't find anything out of spec, and everything ran like a champ for me at the match.


But for a regular range session? I don't go to those lengths, I just keep an eye on them as I'm loading mags.

(FYI, Freedom's BLASTER line of "range ammo" is the same ammo that doesn't meet their visual / aesthetic QC - ie, it's got drying stains on the case, etc. So it's a small tick cheaper, but it's the same ammo, just not "as pretty").

[PPGMD]

I picked up the Shockbottle 100 round 9mm case gauge from the prize table. Looks like gauging rounds will become quite a bit easier now that I can upgrade from my 7 round EGW gauge.