Can’t get myself to buy “seconds” bullets

[Lefty Trigger]

Most recently I bought a crap ton of "blems" from Midway and they was clearly Hornady SST 162gr for 7mm. The only thing I found with them was they had PINK tips instead of red. Guess the mix was slightly off for the red and nobody wants to shoot pink tip bullets... HA!

 

[searcher]

Over the years, I've bought tens of thousands of blems, mostly for varmint work in .17, .20, .224 and 6mm. I use mostly Sierra Blitz Kings I bought from Powder Valley and Noslers from Shooters Pro Shop. I reserve my "non-blems" for serious matches - but if I could get blems in the brands I shoot in my target rifles - I'd practice with them for sure. If I can hit my distant varmints consistently with them - they are a true bargain. I'll use them till I croak.

 

[searcher]

I buy and shoot thousands of blem and reject bullets every year. I shoot off hand competition and these cheaper bullets provide me the accuracy needed for lots of practice. I always stop at the Sierra factory store to or from regional matches to stock up on 6.5 and 7mm reject bullets. I have never been disappointed with any of my purchases. Just stains, a wrinkle here and there or excess lead squirts that don't fall off in tumbling. Pick them off and shoot them up. They are sold by the pound. All the little cosmetic issues disappear when they hit steel.

Of the tens of thousands of blems I have bought over the years - I have never bought any that looked anything less than perfect with exception being light jacket stains or very light scratches - never disfigured tips as shown in photo. I realize they are not sorted at Sierra when you buy them at their store - but reputable outfits will usually have sorted that type of stuff out prior to reselling, including those made by Sierra. I have avoided buying from Midwayusa, for example, because of so much feedback that buyers were getting truly defective bullets in the mix. I have never encountered that with the outfits I buy from.

 

[Longtrain]

I have mixed feelings about blems and seconds. I bought a bunch of Nosler RDF 6mm blems and or seconds, can’t remember which. Figured, hey, this is a hybrid wannabe, with a good BC, they’ll shoot inside my Dasher with Berger’s 108’s (which I love), and they’re cheap too.

So, I wrung them out at 100 and 300, and a LR practice, not too bad, an occasional flyer, hey, that could be me, not the bullets. Took them to a LR match, after the first day, I wished for my Berger 108’s back. With great conditions, X after X, then a wide 8, almost a 7, back to 10’s and X’s, then another 8. Conditions were so good, everyone was scoring. I have to take the squeaker 9’s over then line, but a 7 or 8, with no consistency, something was wrong. The second day was they same, solidly in the lower middle of the pack with unexplained flyers.

Returned to my Berger 108’s on the next match and won the F-Open, 2nd overall to a great FTR shooter that set the match on fire, good for him, (my buddy).

The moral of this story is, we spend $2500 plus on a rifle, $1500 on a scope, not counting the accouterments that we pay for, travel time, motel, meals, barrel life depreciation, etc, etc. and we look to save $.10 a shot on using lower quality bullets, doesn’t make sense IMO. I can’t even justify using seconds for practice, why would I use a bullet that I have no confidence in going to the point of aim?

If you shooting clay birds on a berm, varmints or tin cans, use whatever, but if your spending all the time and money to compete, shoot the best you can afford. I haven’t tried real custom bullets (Bart’s etc.), but Berger’s have been consistent. Lots have been so good, that I set my seating depth and I’m good to go. On a side note, I shot Sierra 107’s on a match, where I segregated the bullets by LTO, and placed high in the standings. But, it took a lot of time to handle every bullet, I haven’t had to do that with Berger’s so far.

 

[JSH]

Blems,overuns and seconds. I have bought thousands in the past.
Blems usually seem to be all cosmetic.
Overuns just seem to be 100% fine, excess to maker.
Blems, a whole different story. Last batch I had a buddy pick up were terrible. Jackets with no cores, plastic tips smashed bullets. Out of 5 pounds of crap I sorted out 200 usable bullets. Used to save about half, now 1/4 or less.

You get what ya pay for most times.

 

[wkdickinson]

This may sound strange, especially since I am by no means a rich man, but I can’t get myself to buy blemished or “factory seconds” bullets. Even when I am loading for informal target shooting, and not competition, I like to know that when I miss, or score of nine instead of 10 or X, it was me, and not a sub-par bullet. I guess it falls under the “if you’re gonna do it, do it right” methodology.
Am I the only one who feels this way?

If you don't practice with the same quality ammo as you shoot in competition, what are you learning from your practice?

 

[mtnman31]

I've never had any issue with blems or seconds. I've never shot them in competition but have complete confidence in them to shoot for practice and load development. That said, sometimes the blems are only slightly less than first quality, other times they are a great bargain and significantly cheaper. I always compare prices before buying seconds. I also won't usually buy loose or bulk bullets (like you might find at a gunshow) unless the price is at or less than second/blem pricing. Too easy for a seller to stock up on blems and try to sell them at first quality prices when they aren't in factory packaging.

On the other hand, I've had some first quality bullets that were complete junk. I'm currently dealing with a 1000+ 9mm FMJs that are the absolute worst bullets I've ever encountered. I've tried a ton of different load recipes (through my proven-accurate competition pistol) with these lemons and they are all junk. Calling their grouping on paper a "pattern" would be very generous. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I couldn't shoot them more accurately using them as slingshot ammo. They are so bad that I can't bring myself to sell or even gift them to someone else. I was going to let a friend who is just getting into reloading have them, but then I worried he might get frustrated or discouraged when his reloads didn't perform. He'd probably think it was him and not realize that the bullets were crap.

 

[grovey]

My EX wife was a second. Shot good for awhile, but I'll not buy another.

 

[fatelvis]

If you don't practice with the same quality ammo as you shoot in competition, what are you learning from your practice?

Excellent way to look at it.

 

[243Mendoza]

I've never had any issue with blems or seconds. I've never shot them in competition but have complete confidence in them to shoot for practice and load development. That said, sometimes the blems are only slightly less than first quality, other times they are a great bargain and significantly cheaper. I always compare prices before buying seconds. I also won't usually buy loose or bulk bullets (like you might find at a gunshow) unless the price is at or less than second/blem pricing. Too easy for a seller to stock up on blems and try to sell them at first quality prices when they aren't in factory packaging.

On the other hand, I've had some first quality bullets that were complete junk. I'm currently dealing with a 1000+ 9mm FMJs that are the absolute worst bullets I've ever encountered. I've tried a ton of different load recipes (through my proven-accurate competition pistol) with these lemons and they are all junk. Calling their grouping on paper a "pattern" would be very generous. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I couldn't shoot them more accurately using them as slingshot ammo. They are so bad that I can't bring myself to sell or even gift them to someone else. I was going to let a friend who is just getting into reloading have them, but then I worried he might get frustrated or discouraged when his reloads didn't perform. He'd probably think it was him and not realize that the bullets were crap.

Agree 100% I have bought RDF and CC seconds in 308,6.5 and 6 and have measured them and found too wide a variation resulting in flyers. Not even worth to shoot in practice. Good for fouling the barrel and plinking and shooting steel at less than 600yds or short-range AR15 carbine practice.

 

[Marksman]

I'll say the Nosler blems from their distributor are top notch. As for the blems that go through Midway, well I've had a bunch that looked like they were picked up off the floor or found behind the machines during cleaning. Granted I was only buying them fun rounds out of my Garand, but I would never count on them for serious accuracy.

 

[TikkaSporter]

I've seen a lot of 6.5mm, 147 gr and 143 gr bullets with red polymer tips (unlisted mfr, but who else makes bullets that fit this description?), for sale from Midway and a couple other places recently, listed as over-runs or blems. Picked up a few 1000.

Wondering if the advent of a bunch of these 'mystery mfr' blems hitting the shelves has/had anything to do with reports of them blowing up in flight and a possible fix/re-design?

I finally got around to using some of the blems mentioned above. Specifically the 147's. For the heck of it I threw a few on the scale... 143.4, 143.1, 143.7, 144.1, 146.9, 147.1....wtf... Opened another box and started weighing, similar result. Appears either the boxes are mixed with 143 ELD-X and 147 ELD-m blems or they are way off on their weight distribution, with not many (or none) coming in 144 - 146 gr. Ugh, guess I have some sorting to do.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Blems are not what they seem. They are adjusting the machine, etc. Do you think they would take what they consider good bullets (which are usually marginal at best) and sell them at a discount for nothing? Sure you may get a consistent 100 in a row as the machine heats up but they dont take good bullets off the line and call them blems and sell them for scrap. They get mixed right in with those spotted up bullets they let dry in the concrete mixer polishers when they go to lunch

 

[PhilC]

I'll say the Nosler blems from their distributor are top notch.

I cannot tell difference with those I've shot from Shooter's Pro Shop who, btw, also sells overruns (1st quality) for less than blems. I scoop 'em up when available, on sale, in calibers I shoot.

 

[fatelvis]

I'm sorry to bring up an old thread, but this subject came recently at the range, and I thought I'd add to this (Gets a little deep! LOL)
In this "flash of time" we call life, I'm finding my time is worth more than money or almost anything else. And my RANGE TIME is right up there close to family time. I don't get out to the range nearly enough (about 2-3 times a month). I want every trip to be the best possible experience, without doubting my loading components, and knowing that any miss is due to my increasingly worsening eyesight or wobbly/shaky hold! Lol. But it seems I am getting more and more advertisements about seconds/blems on this "super sale"! Nah, not for me...

 

[joshb]

I buy them. They have a good purpose for my shooting. Fowlers for one. Why waste top shelf bullets for fowlers.
Secondly, I have a few guns I like to shoot that will never be 1 MOA shooters. They don’t benefit from using top shelf bullets. The factory seconds shoot fine.

 

[RED DIRT]

I'm sorry to bring up an old thread, but this subject came recently at the range, and I thought I'd add to this (Gets a little deep! LOL)
In this "flash of time" we call life, I'm finding my time is worth more than money or almost anything else. And my RANGE TIME is right up there close to family time. I don't get out to the range nearly enough (about 2-3 times a month). I want every trip to be the best possible experience, without doubting my loading components, and knowing that any miss is due to my increasingly worsening eyesight or wobbly/shaky hold! Lol. But it seems I am getting more and more advertisements about seconds/blems on this "super sale"! Nah, not for me...

I believe you`ll find that you`re far from being alone on this very subject. I`ll never waste my "second" look at any sale for seconds/blems. I won`t even take the freebee`s either. Not worth my time.

 

[RED DIRT]

I buy them. They have a good purpose for my shooting. Fowlers for one. Why waste top shelf bullets for fowlers.
Secondly, I have a few guns I like to shoot that will never be 1 MOA shooters. They don’t benefit from using top shelf bullets. The factory seconds shoot fine.

If i were in that same situation, i`d be doing the same as you. I totally agree with you, for you.

 

[fatelvis]

I buy them. They have a good purpose for my shooting. Fowlers for one. Why waste top shelf bullets for fowlers.
Secondly, I have a few guns I like to shoot that will never be 1 MOA shooters. They don’t benefit from using top shelf bullets. The factory seconds shoot fine.

That actually is a very good argument for buying them, and an angle I haven’t considered before. Although I think I might be a little delusional, and believe every one of my rifles are capable of winning benchrest competitions! Lol

 

[RED DIRT]

That actually is a very good argument for buying them, and an angle I haven’t considered before. Although I think I might be a little delusional, and believe every one of my rifles are capable of winning benchrest competitions! Lol

YEP! Every one of my guns win every bench rest match every time, just ask them! HaHa