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December 26, 2010
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I've read how ammo can vary from maker to maker and from lot to lot. I've also read that some shooters reload their own to better control the consistency of shot to shot. I figured the difference had to be relatively small and hoped one day I might be experienced enough to notice a difference from maker to maker. I figured I would probably never be good enough to notice the difference from lot to lot.
Help me out if I'm wrong here but I noticed a difference tonight and it wasn't really that hard. The ammos were:
PMC 357 Magnum, 158 gr semi-jacketed wadcutter - 30 rounds
American Eagle, 158 gr round lead nose - 30 rounds
Winchester Silver Tip, 145 gr jacketed personal protection - 18 rounds
I've shot a fair amount of PMC and have been pretty pleased with it, until night. What a junk batch! I had 4 FTF. (Interestingly, I got these to fire but it took several attempts.) The shells were difficult to eject. Several times I had to use a screw driver to push them out. There was some flame from the cylinder to barrel gap. For magnums they seemed somewhat puny. I expected something similar to the last batch of American Eagles I shot. They were stout and so friggin loud I was glad I had doubled up on the hearing protection. Regarding the FTF's, after the first two I paid attention to the offending cylinder hole. The FTF's varied from cylinder hole to cylinder hole. When I noticed the strikes were somewhat offcenter on the FTF's I thought it was the gun and expected it to repeat with other ammo. I think I even had a flyer in there. What I thought was going to be a very good shot was off by 5". Maybe that was me but something is telling me it wasn't.
The American Eagles were downright pathetic, especially compared to the last box I had used. Very quiet, virtually no recoil, no flame, but they shot high compared to the PMC and the Winchesters. I had to "drop" the front sight from pumpkin on a post to half a pumpkin on a post. All but one lit on the first strike. And all ejected pretty easily.
The Winchesters were what I wanted. Loud, noticeable recoil, every one lit and all ejected easily. And I had to go back to pumpkin on a post. Unfortunately they cost twice as much as the others.
I'm going to have a gunsmith check the gun. Maybe that has something to do with the FTF's. (The lockup could be tighter.)
Can there really be that much variance? If I learned to re-load well, could I really improve the ammo consistency? Thanks for any suggestions and insight.
February 15, 2009
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Every different load will act differently in each gun. One gun may do real well with one load and another gun could be pretty bad with the same load/ammo. Maybe you could post some pics of the primer strikes. I wonder if it is your gun which it may not be.
If you want excellent consistency you can do it yourself. You can tune loads to your particular gun by adjusting the amount of powder or a different powder or different bullets. It's easy to reload ammo and you have numerous loads you can try so you can fine tune your ammo. You don't have much of a selection at all with factory ammo.
You can load premium quality ammo for cheap. With 125 grain jacketed bullets over 7.5 grains of Unique it costs me .14 cents a round or about 7 bucks a box for good quality ammo. These are medium power loads. Add maybe 2 more cents for full power loads. With hard cast bullets the cost is .11 cents each or 5.50 a box. My ammo is very consistent as well as accurate and reliable. This is all .357 ammo.
I'd like to encourage you to reload. You can make better ammo than factory. Get the ABC's of reloading and read it then read it again. You can teach yourself easily enough. If you enjoy shooting reloading will make it that much more enjoyable. It's almost addicting.
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Dans Club
February 22, 2009
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Almost addicting???
And that ain't all.....
Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....
May 17, 2010
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I just bought my first press and am working to fill in all the other things that are needed. I just bought two scales just minutes a ago. A beam scale and a digital. Then I bought a primer flipper tray. Oh and the digital scale came with a trickler....
From what I have read... you can REALLY create a huge variance in loads, its not JUST powder amount and bullet:
powder burning rate (fast slow)
powder configuration ( ball rod)
Powder amount
primer temp
crimp (hard soft)
headspace
bullet weight
bullet hardness
bullet length
bullet coating (jacket moly cast swagged plated lubed)
bullet configuration ( WC SWC RN...)
Soap Box, Ballot Box, Ammo Box
in that order.
4 Monson Model 15's
1 Palmer FB 15
1 Rossi 357 Model 92 (lever)
1 CZ 75B
DWF Supporters
Dans Club
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November 17, 2008
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Reloading is just as addicting as shooting and gun collecting. Don't be fooled that it saves money, you still spend the money, you just shoot more for it 
. Now don't run down factory ammo too bad as it is very good and consistent. Only they build their ammo to suite the masses, the hand loader can tailor a load to a specific need and gun. Some guns are finicky and will perform best with a certain recipe. Half the fun is finding the right recipe. Just my 2 cents worth.
LB
Wisdom is merely the realization of how little one knows, therefore I am wise.
February 11, 2010
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Yep, you could have got a bad batch of PMC's. If these were recent
manufactured and purchased and not some old ammo given to you or
picked at a Trader show, then I would contact them. I'm sure they will
make it more than right by you.
I'm guessing the AE lead round noses are .38 not .357 and if that is
right I agree they are junk. I had no luck with them in any thing I shot
throught them including my DW 15. If fact I really have never had any
AE ammo do well in any caliber except .45 and .223. and those were
a low good to fair results at best.
If you can find it because of a limited run, Fiocchi has a econo load that
sells for $20 for 50 rnds and dose very well.
https://www.danwessonforum.com/forum/ammunition-test/fiocchi-357-mag-sjsp-158gr
-Blacktop
December 26, 2010
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Thanks guys. I appreciate the info and encouragement. I'm glad I'm finally experienced enough to notice some difference.
Blacktop, thanks for the suggestion about contacting PMC. I will contact them as I bought these a month ago from Cabelas. (No disrespect meant to Cabelas. Just saying this most likely was fresh ammo.)
I'll post a pic of the primer strikes later tonight. I was watching that and the few that didn't light on the first strike were off-center. The second strikes make it difficult to see the first strike. (I've heard of slow ignition, but never experienced it. Still I did wait 30 seconds before moving to the next round or inspecting the FTF). The gun goes to the smith tomorrow. While I got it working, a second set of eyes (and much more experienced ones) looking at it will be a good thing.
I'm leaning heavily to reloading my own. I've saved most of the brass from what I've bought plus the supermag ammo is pretty expensive. I hope it does become zen like. Seems like I'm always running from task to task and interruption to interruption. Turning off the phone and holing up in the basement for a couple of hours sounds might tempting. Heck I may even have to reward myself afterwards by enjoying a beer or savoring some single malt. 
Thanks again guys. I'll start studying the reloading post.
February 11, 2010
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Sounds like you may need a new hand spring, a cheap fix you can do yourself
http://www.ewkarms.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12&products_id=20
-Blacktop
December 26, 2010
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Blacktop, thanks for the suggestion. I put all new springs in it so that's not the problem. The PMC must have been a bad batch. Oh well.
I just got back from the gunsmith. He can still pull the trigger in such a way that the cylinder doesn't fully rotate. I can't make it do it, be can. I left it with him. It'll be right when I get it back.
Just have to shoot my 22 till then.
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Range Officers
May 2, 2009
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Somewhere on the forum I posted a reloading cost calculator--nice tool to have if you want a true analysis of your reloading costs vs factory pricing.
Reloading isn't as cheap as it used to be, but it still beats paying factory prices.
SHOOT
February 15, 2009
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Here is a reloading cost calculator:
http://www.handloads.com/calc/loadingCosts.asp
Shooting .357 and .44 is very expensive and you can save quite a bit of money by reloading. Here .357 ammo is 25.00 a box but you can get cheapo .38 ammo for 15.00 or so. The lowest price for .44 ammo here in Portland is 33.00 per box.
You don't need to spend several hundred dollars to get started. I'm sure I could put together a pretty decent reloading set up for under 150 if you don't mind used equipment. You'll wonder why you waited so long.
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Dans Club
February 22, 2009
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I save the most on my 450 Martini. Commercially (Ten-X), they run over $140 + shipping for 20 rounds…. ouch.
Rolling (and pouring) my own initially costs around $26, less if I can scrounge the lead instead of buying it. Then when I re-use the brass it's even less ~$6 p/ 20.
Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....
DWF Supporters
July 11, 2009
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I would absolutely contact the ammo manufacturer and tell them you noticed a big difference from the last time you shot the same type. If you have any rounds from that box left, I'd save them in case they ask for them.
An ammo manufacturer doesn't know how well the entire lot shoots unless the get feedback from the field. they do representative sampling, but it's al luck of the draw.
I frequently send feedback about government ammunition through our channels when a particular lot feels, sounds, or shoots drastically differently, along with any physical discrepancies.
Who knows, they may send you a free box for taking the trouble to contact them about an issue
Hope is not a course of action
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