Is Freedom Munitions ammo known for hard primers?

[YVK]

115 gr 9 mm, new. Getting light strikes. Thanks.

[HopetonBrown]

Shot a few thousand through a Glock with Taran Butler's reduced spring kit without issue.

[ST911]

I have a few hundred rounds of the 115 reman RPT through Glocks 17 and 19. Good strikes. Guns are stock.

[jetfire]

115 gr 9 mm, new. Getting light strikes. Thanks.

I think they use CCI Primers.

[trailrunner]

I've shot about 5k rounds (if not more) of Freedom Munitions in my Glocks, M&P, and Ruger carbine without a single problem. 90 percent of that was 115 grain, but I think one of my lots might have been 124 grain.

[camsdaddy]

Ive shot 1000+ through several guns and never a hiccup. I am curious if anyone has had accuracy issues compared new ammo from Winchester or Federal etc?

[cclaxton]

In my experience, not at all...at least not with the CZ75 Shadow with Ext Firing Pin.
Being in the ammo business, though, you can't always guarantee the consistency of ammo and primers. When you need 500,000 primers and you have demand, you are going to get them wherever you can. Winchester primers are normally good but we had a bad batch. We are having excellent quality from Ginex primers in Jack Ross, and they are made in Bosnia. Freedom doesn't make their own primers, so they are just buying them from whoever gives them the best price and availability. You can ask for samples from suppliers, but guess what the suppliers send you?....yep, their best primers hand inspected.

You could just be into a bad batch. I have gone through at least 5000 of the 9mm Freedom with zero primer issues...I did have a few cases that were not sized correctly. They use the same bullets that we use at Jack Ross and they are excellent. I never see any keyholing or plating separation (on paper.)

Cody

[YVK]

Ive shot 1000+ through several guns and never a hiccup. I am curious if anyone has had accuracy issues compared new ammo from Winchester or Federal etc?

I find it less accurate. Doesn't show up close and on bigger targets, but ringing steel at 100 yards is less successful with this ammo than anything else.


Interesting stuff on CCI primers as I get light occasional light strikes with Blazer too.


Thanks for info to everyone.

[ST911]

Most recent shipment of Freedom Munitions 115 reman had primers that were visually identical to a batch of loaded Herters/S&B. They are a pretty flat shape, gold in color. Anything with a known-CCI in it on hand is a bit rounder and silver. FYI

[NickDrak]

At the Vogel class I hosted in June two guys were running the 115gr Freedom Munitions ammo and both were experiencing an average of like 1 light primer strike every 20 rounds with it.

[Chuck Haggard]

A lot of the smaller ammo makers, and reloaders, source primers wherever they can get them from. Sometimes that's overseas.

[GJM]

To me, a more interesting question is whether the Sig P228 is known for having problems busting hard primers -- I thought hammer guns were supposed to be better in this regard?

[hufnagel]

I can tell you their 115gr feels like it's loaded lighter than CCI Blazer Brass 5200; recoil kick is noticeably less. That said I haven't had any issues with light primer strikes and I'm not pushing the bullet 100+yards out so I haven't notice any accuracy issues. I will say I'm going to switch exclusively to their 147gr ammo simply because it's not NEARLY as loud in the concrete jungle as compared to their 115 and 124 gr options.

[jetfire]

I can tell you their 115gr feels like it's loaded lighter than CCI Blazer Brass 5200; recoil kick is noticeably less. That said I haven't had any issues with light primer strikes and I'm not pushing the bullet 100+yards out so I haven't notice any accuracy issues. I will say I'm going to switch exclusively to their 147gr ammo simply because it's not NEARLY as loud in the concrete jungle as compared to their 115 and 124 gr options.

I really like Freedom's 147 grain load for action pistol. It shoots super soft and is really nice and quiet.

[cclaxton]

A lot of the smaller ammo makers, and reloaders, source primers wherever they can get them from. Sometimes that's overseas.
Just because they come from overseas doesn't make them necessarily hard primers. Ginex has been 99.99% reliable for me. I have been shooting about 1200 rounds a month and I think I had one primer fail to ignite in a USPSA match. Domestic commercial Winchester primers were the worst I have ever experienced.
Cody

[hufnagel]

I really like Freedom's 147 grain load for action pistol. It shoots super soft and is really nice and quiet.

Agreed. I like it so much more that the 10% premium for the bigger bullets is worth it to me... at least after I burn off the stashes of 115gr and 124gr I got also. :D

[Jay Cunningham]

I've had a couple of what seemed to be hard primers on the FMs 115gr. reman.

I have had all good luck with the FMs 115gr. new.

[HMFIC]

I bought a few thousand rounds of their 124 gr remanufactured and had a lot of issues with both my wife and my glock 34s. So much so that every stage we shot at the last two local 3gun matches had at least one light primer strike. I changed our striker springs from 2 and 4lbs to to 6lbs and still had every 20 or so get light hits. I even have a extended skeletonized striker. We bought a bunch of walmart 115 gr and took those to shoot SMM3G and had zero issues. I'm only using FM for practice anymore. from the few boxes i just looked at these are brass colored primers and sit very flat and a bit deep compared to federal

[BaiHu]

I've gone through about 4k rounds over the "shortage" in the last few years with friends. I found that anytime there was an issue with a friend's Glock or Walther, it would easily feed in my HK P30 or my other friend's Beretta. These were 115 and 124.

[PPGMD]

Toss it in a case gauge. Chances are your hard primer are cases that fail gauge.

[Chuck Haggard]

Just because they come from overseas doesn't make them necessarily hard primers. Ginex has been 99.99% reliable for me. I have been shooting about 1200 rounds a month and I think I had one primer fail to ignite in a USPSA match. Domestic commercial Winchester primers were the worst I have ever experienced.
Cody

I was thinking more of the Russian made and such.

[campbed]

I've run 3000+ FM 124gr without any issues in my SIG's (226, 239) or Nano in 9mm. Range log says 1 fail-to-fire (fired on second trigger pull, but that is a whole different thread...) assumed hard primer. Not bad for range ammo.

[cclaxton]

I was talking ammo at Fredericksburg USPSA yesteray and they told me horror stories about Freedom Munitions NEW brass failing them in a variety of ways: squibs, inconsistent power factor, and powder as well. Primers didn't come up though. The senior USPSA group I was talking to avoid Freedom. Interestingly, they were happy with the Jack Ross loads. We did have a bad batch of Winchester primers, but those are out of the system now, but that hurt the reputation for a while.

I just ordered 1000 rounds of .223 because I have a lot of range brass to sell them. I normally shoot Wolf Gold .223 and have excellent luck, consistent, reliable, clean. Prices went up, so figured I would try out the Freedom .223.

Cody

Cody

[cclaxton]

I was thinking more of the Russian made and such.
Yeah, agreed, can't trust the Russian primers. Also, I hear more toxic.
Cody

[Chuck Haggard]

I have no problem with Russian primers in general, I've certainly shot LOTS of Wolf, Tula, etc. x39, ,223 and 9mm with no issues, but I do hear of people having trouble capping some of that off in their guns.

I wouldn't shoot reloaded .223/5.56 from anybody, I just don't trust the "once fired brass" that much after seeing about a dozen ARs go high order over the past few years.

[RJ]

I was talking ammo at Fredericksburg USPSA yesteray and they told me horror stories about Freedom Munitions NEW brass failing them in a variety of ways: squibs, inconsistent power factor, and powder as well. Primers didn't come up though. The senior USPSA group I was talking to avoid Freedom. Interestingly, they were happy with the Jack Ross loads. We did have a bad batch of Winchester primers, but those are out of the system now, but that hurt the reputation for a while.


Huh. So new FM is no longer gtg?

I am about done with an order of 124 remans, but wasn't ordering until this fall. The remans are ok but I was going to get 'new', but not if they are having issues these days?

[A.G.]

FWIW when I was shooting their reman 124gr a year ago my gamer gun would not reliably pop the primers. They looked like S&B primers to me (shiny gold color). CCI 500s were GTG in the same gun.

[cclaxton]

I have no problem with Russian primers in general, I've certainly shot LOTS of Wolf, Tula, etc. x39, ,223 and 9mm with no issues, but I do hear of people having trouble capping some of that off in their guns.

I wouldn't shoot reloaded .223/5.56 from anybody, I just don't trust the "once fired brass" that much after seeing about a dozen ARs go high order over the past few years.
I agree on the 223. I ordered Freedom New Brass .223.
Cody

[cclaxton]

Huh. So new FM is no longer gtg?

I am about done with an order of 124 remans, but wasn't ordering until this fall. The remans are ok but I was going to get 'new', but not if they are having issues these days?
To be clear: The guys I was talking to are highly demanding and very picky about ammo because they are very serious B-class and up USPSA shooters. Even one bad round at a Nationals or Area Championship can cost them top spot in their Class.
Cody

[RJ]

To be clear: The guys I was talking to are highly demanding and very picky about ammo because they are very serious B-class and up USPSA shooters. Even one bad round at a Nationals or Area Championship can cost them top spot in their Class.
Cody

Ah, ok, thanks. I am in no danger of being a B shooter for some time to come. :cool:

Should be ok for me to use at the range, sounds like.

Thanks!

Rich

[PPGMD]

Huh. So new FM is no longer gtg?

I am about done with an order of 124 remans, but wasn't ordering until this fall. The remans are ok but I was going to get 'new', but not if they are having issues these days?

They've been never been good to go AFAIK.

I use them because they are cheap for practice, but I would never use them at a match.

[JMS]

I've had a couple of what seemed to be hard primers on the FMs 115gr. reman.

I have had all good luck with the FMs 115gr. new.

My experience with FM essentially matches yours. Stopped using their reman.

Less the 2 severed cases in that other thread of mine from a couple of months ago, I'm past 20k rounds of throughput with the 115gr through Glock, M&P, CZ, SA RO and P30 with no greater level of incidence of FTFire than any other ammo. That doesn't alter or invalidate anybody else's experiences with the stuff, however.

[BobLoblaw]

I ran through 3 cases of FM 124/115 gr. new brass with one round having obvious setback so it was tossed. Mostly shot through a VP9 or P30.

[JAD]

My reading of the general current on the forum, including the post above, is that FA has a relatively high number of defects that are not just a cost factor, but actively dangerous.

[HCM]

My reading of the general current on the forum, including the post above, is that FA has a relatively high number of defects that are not just a cost factor, but actively dangerous.

Yes, as I posted on the other thread, I attended Bruce Grace practical fundamental class here in San Antonio a month ago. We had three squib loads between two different shooters, in one day. They were using two completely different lots of freedom munitions. One gentleman was using freedom remanufactured 9 mm and experienced to squib loads from two separate boxes of ammo with in the same lot. The second gentleman was using freedom new manufacture ammo, and experienced one squib.

I can live with a few hard primers in practice ammo, but i've never seen that many squibs at one time with commercial ammo

[Sasage]

My last batch of reman 115gr had several setback rounds. I think Ill stick with their "new" ammo from now on.

[olstyn]

My last batch of reman 115gr had several setback rounds. I think Ill stick with their "new" ammo from now on.

Do you have some inside information that the new is loaded on different machines than the reman, or that more stringent quality control is employed? If not, I don't know why you'd have any more confidence in one than the other.

[ABC]

I buy from Freedom when my local source is low on inventory.

Down to 100 out of 1000 of lot 16048-15119, no problems.
Previously shot 1,000 rounds of lot 19304-31019 with 1 bullet set back too far to shoot, and no other problems.
All 9mm 115 gr round nose remanufactured.

Bad news for me if they are having QC problems, I have another 1k on the way.

[JAD]

1/2000 is pretty far from six sigma. No big deal if it's just a cost issue, but setback can be a pick-up-finger-with-other-fingers deal. Looks like they're about $200 a case -- I can buy Blazer for $210…

[Qaz98]

Interested to know if there are updated opinions on Freedom Munitions QC, as the last post on this thread was 2 years ago. On another thread someone had referred avoiding FM b/c of this thread, I presume. I have a bunch of their 115g, 124g reloads and new. I also have a mix of American Eagle (0.16c per round!) and just ordered S&B 115g (0.19 with free shipping at Brownells), so I'm not beholden to anything.

Everyone I've talked to and other reviews I've read make no mentioning of QC issues, let alone squibs, which freak me out. Given that costs have more or less decreased, I've been getting the new rather than reloads since it's only 1 cent more.

And not that high demand should excuse poor quality, but maybe FM has improved their production model?

[OlongJohnson]

I work pretty close to their Houston store. Was looking for some .357 Magnum for a Marlin about a year ago. They had one of the best prices going, so I went to check it out. The rounds on the shelf (I opened multiple packages) had never been crimped after seating the bullet. The mouths were still expanded. I opened a box of Hornady they had just to make sure I wasn't nuts. I wasn't nuts. Brought the lack of crimp to the attention of one of the store employees, and he tried to tell me it was how it should be.

Shoot uncrimped ammo in a revolver, it can pull the bullet and lock it up. Shoot uncrimped ammo in a Marlin, it can set the bullet back - not a good thing with .357 rounds. As JAD said about fingers...

Another friend had a case of .45, and it acted underloaded (weak, dirty, etc.) Another friend has gotten recall notices for overloaded lots.

That's the thing about poor "quality control," as opposed to product with a low content specification. Most of the product is usually OK and some may be excellent, but the problems are frequent, usually random, and you don't know when they're going to show up. I won't use FM in my guns, and encourage other people not to use it in their guns.

[5pins]

I bought 5000 Ginex primers just before the election and have had nothing but problems. I’m right around a 10% failure rate in my Glock 19. A little less in some of my other guns.

[HCM]

Another thread about Freedom Munitions issues:

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?13156-Freedom-Munitions-300blk-Reloads

[45dotACP]

I've never been satisfied with anything from Freedom Munitions. It's underpowered, uncrimped pre-once-fired brass IME.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[RJ]

Can one of y'all explain in simple, horsey-ducky terms, what 'crimping' does for ammo?

Is this something I need to look for on visual inspection?

About all I do with my limited knowledge is to line up a sample (10%?) of the 9mm ammo I buy and see if they are the same length.

I currently have a mélange of Speer Lawman 124, Blazer Brass 115, or Federal brass wms199 115.

[HCM]

Can one of y'all explain in simple, horsey-ducky terms, what 'crimping' does for ammo?

Is this something I need to look for on visual inspection?

About all I do with my limited knowledge is to line up a sample (10%?) of the 9mm ammo I buy and see if they are the same length.

I currently have a mélange of Speer Lawman 124, Blazer Brass 115, or Federal brass wms199 115.

Crimping (roll or taper) keeps bullets in place and maintains the proper length of the round. Bullets getting pushed back into the case is bad. It can cause both feeding issues and dangerous increases in pressure. Conversely inertia can cause bullets to "jump" forward causing feeding issues in autos and cylinder binding in revolvers. This is most common in light weight revolvers, because/ physics.

[hufnagel]

See the Boberg XR series of pistols for reasons why you want a bullet that doesn't move inside the case.

(note: I still think the XRs were an awesome idea. just didn't quite work as intended.)

[rcbusmc24]

I've had multiple squib rounds with FM .45ACP new ammo in both 1911s and a Glock 41, had a bunch of hard primers in their 9mm and had some of their new .223 that neither I or Pat Rogers could get to group at 50 meters in a known good AR at a class two years ago, switched out the ammo to the hornandy steel training stuff, boom..... instant cloverleaf group... I will not use FM anymore, dont care how cheap it is.

[1986s4]

Crimping (roll or taper) keeps bullets in place and maintains the proper length of the round. Bullets getting pushed back into the case is bad. It can cause both feeding issues and dangerous increases in pressure. Conversely inertia can cause bullets to "jump" forward causing feeding issues in autos and cylinder binding in revolvers. This is most common in light weight revolvers, because/ physics.

This. I'll add that the case is opened up slightly to allow the bullet to be seated without shaving off any copper or other coatings it may or may not have prior to crimping.
I bought some 9mm 'American Steel" for my SIG p226, hardly a cheap pistol. One FTF with every magazine, I sent it back for a refund. Recently I took a chance on some FA .38 super, supposedly new manufacture. All cases are Shooting Star and all rounds function as advertised. 135 gr. flat nose bullet and a little hot.

[Zincwarrior]

9mm wise (115 and 124 grain new and "american steel") I have not noticed any issues in the last few cases. In a darkened indoor range the AS ammo ocassionaly makes interesting sparks.

During their height of the Obama bullet bubble their inaccuracy was effectively double that of other ball ammo from US manufacturers (of course you could never get other manufacturers then). In the last two years I had one case of remans where I had to check as there were occasional rounds with excessive bullet seating (I think it was one particular bad lot). I switched to new rounds and do not have that problem. Accuracy is about par for non-HD/competition level ball ammo.

I'll note in the last case of Remington UMC (new) I had similar issues which was surprising.

Now I shoot these out of an M&P and Beretta storm, both of which tend to eat anything and ask for more.