Dirty Ammo
Last time out to the range, I shot about 50 rounds of reloaded ammo that I bought from the gun shop there. The reason I say ‘about’ is that one of the rounds failed to discharge. Buying reloads seemed to be the thing to do, what with the price of ammo these days, but it comes with some drawbacks.
Photo credit - The Better Half. Clickable image.
I bought a couple of bags of .45 ACP for about $22 per bag (remember when factory ammo was that cheap?). I shot them using “Fat Man,” my Glock 30. In addition to the failed round, the ammo seemed especially ‘dirty’ to me, leaving more than the usual spent powder deposits near the muzzle.
Fat Man cleaned up OK - I use a CLP product, “Strike Hold,” which does a pretty good job of cleaning and lubrication. Everything got wiped down and a couple drops on the slide rails is all the lube that this gun seems to need.
drjim on 04 Feb 2010 at 2056 #
I wonder if the guy who they get their reloads from changed his powder. I haven’t had any problems with their 45ACP stuff, and found it usually shot cleaner than some factory stuff I bought.
Have to grab a bag of 45ACP next time I’m there.
Minstrel on 05 Feb 2010 at 0818 #
I bought the ammo that I used last time in November or December of last year. I bought replacement reloads last Friday. I don’t know when we’re going to shoot the .45s next, but I’ll try and note the powder deposits when we do.
The Better Half used factory UMC .45 ACP in “Miss Piggy,” her Para Warthog. They are also not the cleanest we’ve seen.
drjim on 05 Feb 2010 at 1604 #
I generally shoot Winchester “White Box”, but when the prices went way up, I’d buy whatever I could find on sale, or what ever I could find *at all*.
I seem to remember Fiocchi being particularly dirty, UMC being OK, and the other premium loads, like Golden Sabers, being OK. I bought a case of WWB 45ACP JHP at the range when they bought a pallet of it. It shot clean, but was the first time I can recall unburned powder gains being on my hands after I shot it. Felt gritty, like sand.
It also kicked harder, made more of a flash and more of a BOOM when I shot it compared to the FMJ WWB I shot, yet the box indicated it had the same MV as the other stuff.
Minstrel on 08 Feb 2010 at 0719 #
We bought a bunch of Winchester JHP last year. We shot a couple of boxes and they seemed to be OK. Saving the rest for a “rainy” day.