blemished bullets worth the money?

[Steel Mover]

I use blems to fire form brass. If you expect BR accuracy, buy first shelf quality.

 

[searcher]

While I'm sure I have fired 20k+(possibly 30K?) of seconds varmint and target bullets (mostly varmint) with great success, I have only bought them from a few sources, with most of them coming from Shooters Pro Shop (all Nosler fare), MidwayUSA and maybe some at Natchez or Midsouth. I haven't gotten any of the really "questionable" bullets others complain about from any of these places, though I did buy some pulled bullets one time and I'll not likely do that again. The target bullets I shot were great for informal practice, forming brass and finding the right powder for a load without sacrificing first-line bullets. The last 2nds varmint bullets I bought were from Midwayusa and were 62 ELDVT's. I had a rifle built to shoot that particular bullet and happened across the 2nds when I was buying my first batch of 1st line bullets. I started off load testing with the 2nds, found a good load (stopped testing when I hit upon a .300" load) and have been shooting those 2nds since - without even trying the 1st line bullets as of yet. Those 62 ELDVT 2nds might shoot even better in my rifle with a different load. The 1st line bullets may shoot even better than the 2nds. Time will tell. If I can get 3/8' MOA with my seconds in my varmint rigs, that is good enough for my intended purposes. I consistently got well under that with the Nosler lead-free Ballistic Tips and some of the others. I have used probably 15 different 2nds bullets and worn out a few barrels that never shot a first-line bullet. Other than the pulled bullet purchase, I've never bought bullets that didn't shoot acceptably well. I never used them in matches, not because they didn't shoot well, but because I had to assume there could be mixed batches of bullets with different things going on - like tarnish on some, poor tip formation on some, weight a bit off on others, etc. Nearly all of the 2nds I have bought from all the different sources appear as 1st line bullets - and in some cases they probably are. So, shooting them next to each other to see which is best may be an exercise in futility unless one can be certain the 2nds are, in fact, 2nds. I would not buy bullets where there is posted feedback about the bullets being visibly messed up, missing tips, etc. Just asking for problems, I think.

edit: I call bullets other than first-run, premium bullets "seconds" in some of my posts (this one included), whereas most I bought were actually advertised as "blems". I thought it important to note this as some folks discern between blems and seconds. I tend to only buy those advertised as "blems" with minor issues such as tarnish, light scratches, etc. I AVOID ANY when feedback says they got some bullets with really visible issues, such as tips missing or other material issues.

 

[Pirate69]

Noslers were sold as blems. Hornady sold as first quality.

 

[varmit_hunter]

Coyotes and Deer couldn't tell the difference.

 

[ricco1949]

I've loaded a few thousand green tip 2nds for my PDn partner.

Man they definitely be 2nds. Tips missing and tips mangled. He claims the missing and bunged up tips still shoot to POA....at least for MOPD.

I'll shoot TNTs before resorting to those 2nds.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

In the past I have bought Nosler BT cosmetic blems(.224). They had "wrong" color tips.

 

[fatelvis]

Reloading and shooting is my main hobby and passion. I know I'm not the best shot or reloader out there, but I want every shot to be made as accurate as possible using my tools and components, so any misses or flyers can only be blamed on MY BAD SHOOTING, not the quality of the components. I will never buy seconds, because to me, it immediately introduces a possible flyer to the equation, even before it is fired.

 

[PhilC]

blemished bullets worth the money?

I've shot 1st quality Nosler and Nosler "blems" (not to be confused with seconds) mixed together so I didn't know which was which. Results were identical to 1st quality only, so my answer to your question is yes.

 

[vonb]

I've had some 2nds that shot great and I've had some 2nds that weren't worth the "discount". I've changed my thinking to buying 1st that are on sale. Best shooting 2nds were Hornady and Sierras. Worst shooting 2nds were Nosler. YMMV.

 

[jelenko]

I've changed my thinking to buying 1st that are on sale

Same here.

 

[Gary in MD]

I did buy and shoot some seconds quite a few years ago. Some of them actually didn’t shoot too bad, surely minute of deer or varmint.
I have noticed that since people started buying the seconds and the word spread, the suppliers and manufacturers have gotten quite proud of them. Better now to just buy first quality for me.

 

[Leo_B]

A friend's daughter lives about an hour from Sierra. He plans on next visit to go there and buy some seconds from their outlet store if they have anything they want. He offered to pick some up for me too. I'm thinking of some for my handgun range plinking and maybe the same for my AR range plinking. Not for anything serious though.

 

[davidjoe]

It’s probably entertaining to bullet manufacturers to read our experiences and hypothesizing about bullets that they ship unbranded as factory seconds / blems.

I bet big recently. There’s no mistaking what the generic 190 grain aluminum tip 7mm bullet is. It was near the last A-Tip introduced and until recently, to my knowledge, has never been sold outside of regular retail distribution. I bit.

After examining some, comparing them to retail 190’s, and as a viewer of the podcast, I believe the reason these were segregated may be because the meplats are smaller than the meplat size prescribed by Hornady’s patented Drag Variability Reduction Technology. The podcast implied that meplat technology, which I think boils down to a “ratio” will be strictly followed. (I have previously commented that the points on the end product are not particularly small, imo).

A-Tips have been made longer than this patent has been touted, so it’s plausible that some noncomplying bullets were made before the DVRT switchover and patent was in full effect, and while these jackets lack the appearance of age, the meplats are indeed very small. I can see the difference without measuring.

It’s also possible the bullets are new, but the smaller meplats were not intentionally made to be this small, and were deemed not to comply.

I repoint other bullets, but as we know these cannot be. However they came into existence, since someone has to rehome the discounted aluminum tipped bullets with a smaller meplat than normal, I volunteered.

 

[SecondsCount]

I've had some good and mediocre experiences with blems. As long as your expectations are low, you should be okay.

 

[Jeff Porter]

I have used them in the past. Found Nosler Blems to actually be factory overruns of an order. Had some shoot great. Others just plain sucked.

If you are shooting somewhat seriously, they are a false economy. I will shoot less and pay more per bullet at my stage of shooting and competitive level. Yellow boxes or green boxes, first run only for precision paper punching.

Have a lot of Red boxes and some Black and gold I cannot go back to with the consistency of the others.

 

[PhilC]

I've had some 2nds that shot great and I've had some 2nds that weren't worth the "discount". I've changed my thinking to buying 1st that are on sale. Best shooting 2nds were Hornady and Sierras. Worst shooting 2nds were Nosler. YMMV.

There's a difference between Nosler blems and 2nds. Per Nosler and former Shooter's Pro Shop before it closed blems are 1st quality with "cosmetic" blemishes, those were all I ever used and found no difference in performance.

Seconds, however, were a level below blems back then and I suspect still are since Nosler currently lists blems and seconds on their website.

 

[46and2]

Do NOT buy blemished 165gr Accubonds! I missed five times in a row with my 300wm at just 200 yards today!!

 

[Dgd6mm]

Do NOT buy blemished 165gr Accubonds! I missed five times in a row with my 300wm at just 200 yards today!!View attachment 1738011

Tighten up. Lol

 

[mrmurl]

I used to make a trip out west for prairie dogs every year but the governments out that way have begun to poison them and it isn't worth the trip out there, plus cost of gas, food, and every thing else that comes up. I bought blems at the Sierra factory, I live about 70 miles from the plant and make a trip to the home city of the Sierra plant. When there I always stop by the Sierra plant and replenish what ever bullets that I need at the time. I have never had a problem with blems. Most of the time I use poly tipped bullets and if the tip is missing it just makes a heck of a hollow point. For those trips out west I always used the blems and the prairie dogs didn't care if it was a first line bullet or a blem, I have had really good luck whit blems.

At the Sierra factory, where they sell the blems in a separate area and the blem bullets are kept in about 25 gallon metal barrels and the lady that works in that area dips them up with a hand scoop and weighs them by the pound. If you buy a pound you will have more than a hundred good bullets in it at about usually less than the cost.

 

[Leo_B]

The quantity per pound depends on the bullet and weight. Some are as few as 17 per pound for $9.59, a 400gr. 50cal JSP. At the opposite end 217 for $30.64, a 32gr. 20cal BK. Some a quite good buy and others not so much.