Buying reloaded ammo questions

**T34418L31** · December 10th, 2008, 06:13 PM

I've read the horror stories about reloaded ammo, and basically I'm just looking for some personal experiences from you guys.

40S&W and .380, out of a Taurus PT940 and a Bersa Thunder .380, respectively.

For carry use, good stuff is in the mag, but for target practice, are you guys comfortable using reloads? A local shop swears by it above the new stuff (for target, due to the lowered cost,) but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about putting the stuff through the guns.

Any stories, positive or negative?

Jesse

**shooter357** · December 10th, 2008, 08:27 PM

So long as the ammo is reloaded be a reputable company you will be fine. The loads to look out for is the ones that come from individuals. The only reload I feel completely comfortable with are my own.

**andrewjs18** · December 10th, 2008, 10:24 PM

I'd also only buy a small batch first to make sure your gun shoots them reliably.

My CZ-85 wouldn't cycle reloads reliably last time I shot, but I'm almost positive it was due to a faulty magazine. I have since replaced it, but haven't been able to hit the range yet to retry some reloads.

**bdevil73** · December 10th, 2008, 10:30 PM

I've shot Ultramax reloads through my PT111. I found three rounds out of a 250 round pack that must not have been sized properly. I found them when I was cycling them through by hand. The slide would close. I didn't fire those three, but didn't have any problems with the remaining rounds. They cycled just fine.

**JoeWilliams** · December 10th, 2008, 10:42 PM

The vast majority of my shooting is done with reloads. The difference is that I reload them myself, so I know the person doing took good care and had a vested interest in the safety of the outcome

I'm extremely reluctant to shoot ammo reloaded by someone else unless I know and trust them, or it's coming from a reputable company.

**PA Rifleman** · December 11th, 2008, 12:45 AM

Originally Posted by JoeWilliams

The vast majority of my shooting is done with reloads. The difference is that I reload them myself, so I know the person doing took good care and had a vested interest in the safety of the outcome

...

Ditto, I'd prefer not to use one of my guns as a bad reload detector, particularly the 300 Winchester Magnum. I suspect it'll make a flash & mushroom cloud if that one ever let go anywhere else but the muzzle. [XP

**T34418L31** · December 11th, 2008, 03:22 AM

Hm, thanks for the responses.

The guy at the store made it seem as though it was a (fairly) local guy that did this, but I was told "This is all this guy does is reload handgun ammo. I've never used anything else in my guns for target and I've never had a problem."

But I agree, I really hate to test my gun's durability if I get a bad round. I think I might just have to go with new stuff.

**shooter357** · December 11th, 2008, 06:57 PM

Most commercial reloading is done so the gun goes bang, not for accuracy.
I had purchased a case of reloaded .38spl just for target shooting. It wasn't bad but I did find a box(50rnds) that wasn't loaded. That's right, just the empty cases. Now I load my own.