Remanufactured ammo

There are times (like I'm seriously practicing, or being scored) that I care the most about precision.  There are other times, like if I'm just trying to check something on a gun, that I'm more concerned with other things rather than precision.  I'm way behind in reloading, and any time I do so, I pretend that I'm getting ready for the World Championships and everything I do will be the very best I can, especially so because I don't know what or when I'll be using that ammo, and I want all of it to be "perfect".

Maybe I did something dumb about some recent ammo orders.  I was mostly trying to work on several guns, and wanted to check them out.  For example, changing the sights from sub-6-o'clock hold to center hold, or trying out suggestions on how to maybe improve my grip.

I never really thought much about "remanufactured ammo" before, but I took some to the range yesterday and my friend looked at it, frowned, and said "hey, they're all different head stamps on the cases mixed in".  I already knew that, but I figure for what I was trying to do, it didn't matter.  It sure did matter to him though.  So today I went through my ammo can of 250 rounds of 38 Special lead round nose, and sorted them by head stamps, with the odds and ends placed in their own group.

I'm not trying to be "cheap", but I don't like wasting money either.  I shoot standard CCI SV ammo for anything I do, unless I'm able to get the bulk Eley ammo.  With 38 and 45, I need to load my own (using Starline cases), and also shoot whatever I have available when I'm being less serious about things.


Anyway, you can all dump on me if you wish, wondering how I could have done something so dumb, or maybe you'll agree with me that there are times when I can save some money and make do with what I'll call "practice ammo" ("remanufactured" sounds nasty...).

I don't see any problem here.. how the ammo performed with you pulling the trigger should count for more than your friend's opinion.

Having said that, I sort my brass by headstamp too. The majority of my "serious" shooting is done with Star Line (which I have probably 1,500 pieces) and R-P.

The mixed brass I use for those days when I just want to stay in practice/go shoot because I'm bored/or blast through my Glock.


.02

That's when being able to call your shots pays off. 

Where the holes in the paper are becomes irrelevant.

DA/SA wrote:That's when being able to call your shots pays off. 

Where the holes in the paper are becomes irrelevant.

My most "serious" 38 shooting will be with my Model 52, and it will be with my own reloads, only with Starline brass.

Thanks to a LOT of help from CR-10X in these forums, I can mostly call my shots now.
It took forever to learn.  It took "forever" for a lot of things......
I know that's more important than where the holes are on the paper, but any scoring is done based on the paper, not my memory... 

I bought a case of Wilson remanufactured ammo.  It arrived yesterday.  That's 400 rounds I need to sort.  I hadn't planned on that, but I learned my lessons.

My point was that training ammo doesn't necessarily need to be top quality, as there is a lot that you can learn from what is happening at the gun, not the target.

Were the sights aligned properly when the shot broke?

Was the dot centered in the scope when the shot broke?

Did the gun come back on target after the shot broke, or did you have to wrestle it back?

Did the gun move around in your hand when the shot broke?

Was your follow through good or did you jus let the muzzle flip up and hang there after the shot?

Some seem to spend more time worrying about the quality of their ammo than they do about the quality of their shooting! 

Think of it as dry fire at the range with live ammo if your ammo is questionable and concentrate on what's happening at the gun, not the target. It works well for those that find that their live fire is completely different from their dry fire due to flinching.

You can actually work on the above by just shooting at the berm without even posting a target...

DA/SA wrote:My point was that training ammo doesn't necessarily need to be top quality, as there is a lot that you can learn from what is happening at the gun, not the target............Think of it as dry fire at the range with live ammo........and concentrate on what's happening at the gun, not the target. 

Aha!  I understand, and agree.  Dry-fire is not helpful at controlling the gun.  I used to flinch.  My gun used to squirm in my hand.  The gun rarely pointed correctly after the shot until I forced it back where it belonged.  My group size improved as those issues were dealt with, one at a time.  For these purposes, less expensive remanufactured ammo was adequate.

Oh well.  No reason not to sort my bulk ammo by head stamp.  I did it for 250 rounds of 38 yesterday, and will do so today with 400 rounds of 45.  May not be necessary, but it's only time, which I seem to have a lot of lately.  

Thanks for clarifying what you meant.  I didn't pick up on it correctly, and was puzzled.

One of the best competitors going uses mixed headstamps in his loads. I have tried either way, and all were spot on. I had no issues. It may be argued that you might wish to be fussier for the long line, but IMHO it’s like looking for “fly shit in the pepper”. If your loading process is tuned well, and your pistol is up to snuff then it should all be good. The rest is up to the operator. 
YMMV

The only time I pay attention to headstamps is for 50yd match ammo, or ammo for group testing.

FWIW I have commissioned a commercial loader to make Match 45 ammo as I will not give my personal loaded rounds out to anyone for obvious reasons. The load is 180 Brazos over 4.0 Bullseye. Mixed once fired cases totally professionally prepped. Anyone interested in more info may PM me here. We have about 10 cases being produced at this time. All tested and vetted thru various equipment.

For training and 25 yards, I have never found headstamps to make a significant difference.  For 50 yards maybe, but for 50 I’d like to have common manufacture AND roughly the same number of firings on each case.  After 4 or 5 firings it’s definitely training ammo.   And for headstamp sorting cases from the same manufacture even of differing headstamps (“WINCHESTER”, “W-W”, “WiN”) are treated as the same. Oddball lots (less than 500) are practice ammo as I load in 1000 round batches (or bigger).

That's good to know - thank you.  I guess for training at 25 yards, I don't need to match my ammo by head-stamp.

When I first started shooting 45 with my Colt Combat Commander, I loaded my own ammo as instructed by my friends.  This was before I knew anything about bullseye.

Several years ago, when I bought my Les Baer Premier II, I was shooting Winchester White Box 230 grain ammo.  People at the club convinced me to make my own bullseye ammo, so I started getting the Magnus #801 bullets, and replaced the recoil spring in my Baer with a lighter spring, if I remember correctly, 16# as recommended by Brenda, the lady at Baer who was handling customer service.

The Wilson remanufactured ammo I just bought is:

• .45 ACP 200gr LSWC
  
• Remanufactured
  
• 770 FPS 5" Barrel
  
• RA45-200-LSWC-T
  

I'll need to measure the spring in the gun, but what weight spring do you guys think might be appropriate for the above ammo in a Baer Premiere II with open sights ?
I'll also check with Brenda, but I have always gotten more useful information here in this forum.

Ed Masaki used to do a lot of machine rest testing with the .45 ACP. He always used mixed cases and he always got excellent groups at 50 yards. He even tested cracked cases and they shot well, as I recall. That being said, the .45 ACP does seem to be a very forgiving cartridge to load for precision. The .38 SPL is a completely different animal, although I would have to test the remanufactured ammo, if it were from Zero or Precision Delta at 50 yards before passing judgement. They both have stellar reputations in the PPC world. That being said, custom PPC revolvers and S&W model 52's are different animals and may shoot different groups with the same ammo.