I found Hyperion Munitions and decided to try it out. 9mm 124 grain brass plated steel case rounds. They were super cheap for a 500 round ammo box. I figured why not.
Well? When this malfunctions on three different pistols, then I can unsafely say don’t buy this stuff. Failure to feed I can live with. What I won’t deal with is when the casing expands so much after the bullet is fired that it can’t be extracted from the barrel. In 400 rounds that happened over 15 times (lost count but you get it). Thank goodness my Walther P99 has a simple takedown that doesn’t require a slide lock back. But… The others that do require it like the Sig or Glock?? Harder for sure. I had to rack the slide using the iron sights against the edge of a table to force it back. One had an optic, but it held up. Then I had to use a pick to remove the expended casing from the barrel after field stripping. In the end, I had other ammo, used it and they all ran fine after that. I was worried about extractor damage but no issues.
Gotta be honest: 1st time it happened I thought I had a live round in the barrel and it was a primer strike that failed to ignite. That’s because it didn’t happen to me the 1st time, but my cousin. I wasn’t watching him that closely as he’s an excellent shooter. But he’s not a malfunction fixer so … I was extra careful.
Moral of the story? Not recommended so run away. Here are pictures of the box and the rounds for you.
I have learned (fortunately NOT the hard way) You can skimp on many things but Ammo isn’t one of them. Just like the Handgun/Rifles I buy I never go Cheap/Bargain hardware. I bought a couple of ‘Novelty Guns’ because they were a kick but my ‘Go to’ guns are all in great shape and super reliable just like my ammo.
(I do find it hard though to blow off my Specialty Self-D Ammo, Hollow points etc) Seems like a waste but ever since I heard that each round you jack into the barrel causes the round to compress (shell pushed back into the casing ?) so eventually you may have a Failure to Fire or Stovepipe, or bent round so rotating my front line ammo eliminates that worry.
All this experience comes over time but one thing I NEVER want is a malfunction in my EDC’s. Never say never but avoiding buying cheap ammo seems like a smart way to prevent disaster.
Range and Target ammo is one thing, but EDC self defense ammo? I don’t skimp on that. It’s good solid ammo that’s I’ve tested on each EDC I carry and I have a rotation.
I have used A2 Warehouses’ reman ammo for years with no failures; if I did have any, they were so few I do not remember. They are currently out and not sure what the price will be on the next batch given the economy. It used to be 93 to 108 per 500 rounds. I am sure the bullets are needed for the war effort right now. So the price of this next batch will be in line with gas prices…
I used to use 2A until they changed the bullet shape on the 180 gr 40 S&W and 2/3s of them wouldn’t feed. Then I ran into a batch of hard primers in 9mm. I still have some .223, & 45, but I won’t give them any more of my business
Good to know. I guess I have been lucky because I really bought a lot of ammo from them in the past. I do mainly buy the reman 9mm for range purposes; I usually go with a bunch of friends, and they kick in for the shells because it is easier for them since I buy all the time. LOL my UPS driver got to know me so well and what I was getting. I gave him 4 one-hour passes to the range to have some fun with his son.
I spent a bit over $8k on Freedom Munitions ammo pre Covid. Lot of reloads, especially in 9mm and 5.56. Never had an issue. One of my 11 5.56 guns won’t ignite IMI, Igman or Lake City ammo, but loves the FM. Glad I have a couple boxes left as it’s my only non semi auto in that caliber.
Cheap ammo lol. Years back I bought “approximately 1000 rounds” of some cheap 9mm reloads. Vendor said it’s +/- and he goes by weight lol. I got an extra bullet in the bag,no case. This stuff was brutal,think I was around 30-35% ftf’s. Had two coworkers run through it with me. They were new to shooting and learned how to clear a dud real quick.
I know it doesn’t do much but I emailed the company with the lot number, explaining what happened. I’m not asking for anything but curious on how they respond, it at all.
I thik the moral of the story is not to buy large quantities of any ammo unless you know what you’re getting as far as reliability and accuracy goes.
A lesson learned the hard way.
A box or two should give you a good idea what to expect.
Don’t waste money.
My 2 cents anyway
So I just had an email back and forth with the ammo manufacturer. They’re going to replace the entire case even though I expended most of the rounds. They just asked and I ship back whatever is left so they can take a look at it. And they’ll pay for the shipping.
However, when I get the replacement case of ammo, I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I clearly will have to be selective on what pistols I bring to use
