Best sources of factory reloaded ammo?

O

OhioGuy

New member
I monitor a site called Ammoseek.com to see what deals are floating around online for low ammo prices.

My usual threshold is whether I can get brass ammo for under $10/box when shipping is included. It's rare that it goes that low for new ammo, which is why I usually just buy Federal Aluminum at Walmart or stock up when Cabela's has some brand on sale at $10/box (frequently their own Herter's brand, sometimes Blazer Brass).

Lately I see two sources of reloads coming up on that site frequently. One is Octane Munitions and the other is Ammo Valley. Neither has much of a website, and the latter doesn't appear to even have contact info. Prices with shipping appear to be as low as $6/50 rounds for their factory reloaded ammo. Ammo Valley advertises newly manufactured ammo (their own) for around $8/box.

I can't find any reviews of either of these sites. I know people who've ended up with broken guns using factory reloads and I don't want to lose $500 (or fingers!) because I saved $20 on ammo.

Does anyone (a) know anything about these two sources above, good or bad? or (b) know of good, reputable suppliers of reliable factory reloads that cost under $10/50 rounds?
 
I have used reloaded ammo, both personally and professionally, and admit I am not a big fan. I won't bore you with issues encountered, but both I, and my former employer, had much better results using new, economy, major manufacturer, training/practice/target ammo. The Outdoor Unlimited site appears to have some very competitive pricing on factory new ammo.....ymmv
 
I am in no way connected with this company.
North Georgia Remanufactured Ammunition has always been satisfactory for me.
 
I have shot Freedom, both new and remanufactured. Never had an issue with pistol ammo. I had one batch of 223 that I had issues with. I think it was a combination of gun and ammo. The gun had major feed issues with all ammo. In particular though, when the freedom 223 jammed it also experienced significant setback. Freedom took care of me, but it gave me pause. Again, no issues with pistol ammo, 9 and 45.

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Freedom has a mixed reputation. My experience has been good, but their reload prices and new prices are pretty close. And the new prices are no longer much lower than big name brands. There is some new 9mm for $9.50/50, reman about $9
 
As of late I have been using Freedom Amuntion with no issues. I have run both reman and new in 9mm, 40S&W, 38 Special, and .357 Magnum. Their prices are good as I can't find brass ammo local even close the thier price. The offer deals on shipping all the time. Last weekend it was free shipping on orders over $99. Their processing time varies as some orders took up to three weeks to get and other less than two. So if your in a rush may not work.
 
Several years ago there was a Northern Colorado company named Maverick Ammunition that sold reloads at gun shows under the name "Ammo Kan". I shot a couple thousand rounds of their 9mm reloads with never a single ftf or fte or other problem.

When Colorado passed their gun restrictions a few years ago Maverick moved to Laramie Wyoming and set up shop. Last I talked to them they were cranking up production and were about to open a store front in Laramie. Then one night they packed up and left in the middle of the night, and not a peep since. If anyone knows anything about them or what happened please feel free to share.

I've shot a ton of Freedom reman loads over the last year in .38 and .357 and have never had any issue at all.
 
There is no such thing as "factory reloads", if by that is meant ammunition reloaded by the major ammo companies. I have had sellers assure me that the ammo they were selling was "remanufactured" (a really meaningless term which equates to "reloaded") by Remington, Federal, Winchester, etc. Of course, the story goes, the big companies won't admit they do this which is why they put the stuff in plain boxes or plastic sandwich bags. Nice story, but just a story.

It is all reloads. Some reloaders obtain good brass and keep decent quality control, some seem to have none. Some have high quality tooling, others have a second rate manual tool and a bunch of kids to provide the muscle. There are no standards and the only license required imposes no quality requirements or warranties. (BATFE, as they will tell you, is not the Better Business Bureau; the possession of a Federal license does not guarantee either honesty or competence.)

Myself, I don't use any reloads except my own; if they fail, I know the guy who produced them and can kick him in the fanny.

Jim
 
Jim is absolutely correct. But the market for all this "factory reloaded", "factory remanufactured" ammo will always be there as many shooters will buy the absolute cheapest ammo they can find. I don't know, buying "pig-in-a-poke" reloads to shoot in my expensive guns in order to save a few cents just never made sense to me. But then I don't use range pick up brass for my own reloads either. The "factory remanufacturer" my employer used for training ammo for years did use range pick up brass for their oh so great "remanufactured" ammo. This, until problems continued, culminating in a KA-BOOM one might during training.
Dept. was considering switching to another "factory" remanufacturer until the ammo they submitted to us for testing ruined a barrel in one of our guns. They wanted the barrel for evaluation and said they'd replace the barrel. They didn't. We did buy our own new barrel, but we did not buy their "factory" remanufactured ammo. We switched to actual major manufacturer factory (new) ammo for training. Problems solved........ymmv
 
Have had great experience with Georgia Arms and Freedom Munitions. I hear LAX is good too, but never tried them.
 
Myself, I don't use any reloads except my own; if they fail, I know the guy who produced them and can kick him in the fanny.
Click to expand...

Well said, sir. I wish I had started reloading sooner. I enjoy it and it has taught me a lot.
 
I agree with James K ...there is no such thing as "factory reloads"...its just marketing bs....( and in my opinion, a lot of these retailers selling reloads are using 3rd parties to reload ammo ...for them )...and these 3rd parties are all kinds of independent contractors - most without insurance...

The only reloads I use are my own... and I know who to smack in the head, if there are ever any issues...
 
Not quite true. Blackhills does factory reloaded. Little cheaper then the new stuff. Just lets you know it is fired brass.
Haven't bought any in a while.
 
I am not a huge fan of reloads BUT I have shot thousands of rounds of Freedom Munitions 9mm 124 grain and have never had a bad round.
 
Let's get terms straight. An ammunition factory may not make all the components themselves but they use nothing but new components. No "once fired" brass, no salvaged powder, no bullets pulled from scrap ammo or picked out of the hillside at the range.

Sometimes reloaders will obtain a large quantity of once-fired brass, along with its original boxes, and will package their reloads to look like factory new. If the customer points out scratches or lack of sealing, the seller will "spin a yarn" about special reloads or whatever.

Jim
 
I used to burn through a fair amount of Georgia Arms until one detonated in the chamber on me. The round wasn't seated well enough. Outside of that, I used Seacoast Ammo Supply out of North Fl. They're reloads were pretty decent in price at bulk pricing. That's back when 9mm was 15+ a box for cheap [stuff] my area.The only issue I had with them was a batch that had hard primers. They took care of it though. I know the owner and he shoots the reloads through his own guns. Takes a lot of pride in his work.

Now, they're just not as economical to shoot so I moved on. I used to shoot them for Glock matches. Every one got the more premium rounds for tighter grouping, but the reloads from Seacoast always gave tight groups.

I think new factory rounds for $10/ box is probably the best way to go in general. Bulk price it out if you can afford the upfront cost. When prices started going down I started buying PMC bulk packs from Wal-Mart for practice rounds. Ran well for me.
 
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My experience with Freedom Munitions was brief and not very impressive. I had ordered 250 rounds of their new 124gr JHP, and somewhere over the course of the first 50-100 rounds had three instances of case separation in three different guns. A friend of mine shoots competitively and reloads, and being that Freedom ammo is popular among some of the competition guys, he often ends up with a considerable amount of spent Freedom brass. He's had enough issues with it that he now tosses all Freedom brass.

My personal take on it, given previous experience and what I hear from other shooters, is that the cost savings of buying Freedom ammo isn't enough to bother with. I've had zero trouble with HSM, HPR, Ultramax, Black Hills "blue box" and every other reload brand I can think of.
 
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