usaammo.com

[shane_huskey]

I came across this site via an advertisement, but can't find any information on them from the forums that I read. It seems like every time someone asks about USA Ammo, someone tells them that they are mistaken and that they are referring to WWB since it has the encircled USA emblem on the box. That being said, usaammo.com seems to have some pretty competitive prices and offer both reloaded and new ammo. From what I've read on their site, they only use brass fired at indoor ranges for their reloads, but their new cased rounds aren't very much more expensive than their reloads. I kindof gather that they load all of their ammo (new or reloaded) themselves, which is why I wanted to find out if anyone has ever used any of their stuff. The reviews on their site are mostly 5 star (although that doesn't matter, because they could just delete the bad reviews if they got any) but I would like to hear from someone on here that may have shot it. Safe, Accurate, Clean etc?

[jcj]

I did some searching around to get some info on them a while back. Didn't find any real complaints about their ammo, but several people noted that shipping charges seemed a bit high.

No first hand experience, just passing along what I've read about them.

[shane_huskey]

Yeah, I noticed that shipping was a little high too, but even with shipping it comes out to a few cents less per round than WWB at Wal-mart especially after tax, which is pretty negligible until you start getting up in the hundreds or thousands of rounds. But what I was really thinking is if it is good ammo, seeing if they offer a military discount which would negate shipping. Quadratec used to give a 15% discount plus free shipping to military, and if this place did something along those lines, it would end up being a steal for ammo.

[JC57]

A poster over on Bersachat.com who is an experienced reloader did some tests with the .380 version. He wasn't very impressed, though he acknowledges that he may have gotten a bad batch.

USA AMMO .380 Update FAIL

[Guest packingheat]

I just got a couple of boxes of remanufactured 9mm FMJ and a couple of boxes of new 9mm FMJ from USA Ammo. I haven't fired any yet, but a friend also ordered some of the remanufactured and says it is very clean and shoots well. He had no problems with the 200 rounds he ordered. I noted the new 9mm used Speer nickel plated brass. The remanufactured was brass from a variety of manufacturers, but mostly Remington and Winchester. The shipping to Knoxville was $10 for 4 boxes (200 rounds). It is $19 for 1000 rounds. If it works out okay for me, I will probably order at least 1000 more rounds. Will let you know how it shoots.

[shane_huskey]

Thanks for the link, JC57. I would like to read more reviews about it, but his does seem to be a pretty in depth review. I noticed that the muzzle velocity is pretty comparable with the Remington and reloads that he shot in comparison. Something that scares me is he said when he had a FTF, the projectile had been pressed further into the case. That just doesn't seem safe. I have never had a FTF with any pistol that I have shot with (have them a lot when shooting M-16's/M-4's tactically, as if you turn them on their side, the shell will feed into the gas tube) but it seems like the crimping on the case should keep the projectile pretty stationary in that type of situation. Although, another guy on there mentioned that he didn't have any issues with it when he tried it. That being said, he may have had the same thing happen if he did have one fail to chamber.

One thing I did notice though is what he said at the end.

If these people would just taper crimp this ammo just a bit more and not sell the match ammo hype it would be very good for 10.99 a box. I won't take it away from them that I just may have had a bad lot#

I believe he was expecting match grade ammo, and was upset that he got regular ammo. I am fine with regular ammo as I just use it to stay proficient in shooting. Now, the crimp is something to think about and should probably be researched a little more before bought.

Once again, thanks for the link. I probably wouldn't have found it since I didn't see it when I did a Google search.

[shane_huskey]

I just got a couple of boxes of remanufactured 9mm FMJ and a couple of boxes of new 9mm FMJ from USA Ammo. I haven't fired any yet, but a friend also ordered some of the remanufactured and says it is very clean and shoots well. He had no problems with the 200 rounds he ordered. I noted the new 9mm used Speer nickel plated brass. The remanufactured was brass from a variety of manufacturers, but mostly Remington and Winchester. The shipping to Knoxville was $10 for 4 boxes (200 rounds). It is $19 for 1000 rounds. If it works out okay for me, I will probably order at least 1000 more rounds. Will let you know how it shoots.

I'm looking forward to finding out if you have the same problems the guy from the Bersa forum had. What type of gun are you firing it through?

[Guest packingheat]

I will be using a Glock 19. My friend used a Glock 17. I just ran 15 rounds of remanufactured and new stuff through manually (not firing) and had no problems.

[shane_huskey]

I will be using a Glock 19. My friend used a Glock 17. I just ran 15 rounds of remanufactured and new stuff through manually (not firing) and had no problems.

Oh, I was kindof hoping you were going to be using something a little less reliable to see if there were any failure problems. But since you can pretty much shoot bullets cast out of red clay and dog **** through a Glock with no problems, this may not be such a fair test.

[Oh Shoot]

... But since you can pretty much shoot bullets cast out of red clay and dog **** through a Glock with no problems,...

Yeah, but you just can't shoot very many cast out of lead.

- OS

[shane_huskey]

But since you can pretty much shoot bullets cast out of red clay and dog **** through a Glock with no problems, this may not be such a fair test.

Yeah, but you just can't shoot very many cast out of lead.

- OS

Sorry, that was kindof my attempt at being funny while also noting that even if he doesn't have any malfunctions with USAAmmo, it may not be a very good test across the board, as it seems like the only way to get a Glock to jam is to either limp wrist it or shoot insanely light loads through it.

[Oh Shoot]

Sorry, that was kindof my attempt at being funny while also noting that even if he doesn't have any malfunctions with USAAmmo, it may not be a very good test across the board, as it seems like the only way to get a Glock to jam is to either limp wrist it or shoot insanely light loads through it.

Or KaBoom one by shooting non-jacketed bullets. Which was my attempt at being funny by mentioning a very real concern with Glocks also.

- OS

[kesava]

I have used USA ammo because their JHP prices are really good. Around 1k rounds of 9mm and .45 ammo, and no issues.

[shane_huskey]

I wasn't really planning on buying any JHP from them. I use Federal HST in my .40 and Speer GDHP in my 9mm (I don't necessarily think one is better than the other in any particular caliber, I just got a good deal on a bunch of GDHP a few years back, so I stocked up). I was just looking to USAAmmo for target ammo. But since you mentioned it, have you shot any of them into gelatin or any other type of media? I would be interested in seeing how well they expand and how much of their weight they retain. The reason I mention it is because a friend of mine carried WWB JHP for a while in his G23 because it was cheap until he came across a few tests on them that showed that they don't expand that well and the jackets completely separated on over half of the rounds that impacted. He now carries something from Cor-Bon, not sure what it is called.

[kesava]

I haven't tested it for expansion. Mostly I choose HP's not for their expansion ratio but because they don't travel through as many walls as FMJ.

[shane_huskey]

I haven't tested it for expansion. Mostly I choose HP's not for their expansion ratio but because they don't travel through as many walls as FMJ.

There is a guy that lives near you (if you do indeed live in Nashville) that goes by tnoutdoors9 that tests ammo. If you are at all interested in how that round actually performs when fired, you might want to contact him. I've never met him, but from what I gather, people send him a few rounds of ammo that they are interested in, and he tests it by shooting it into milk jugs filled with wet newspaper. I just saw a video where he was switching over to Sim-Test ballistic media, but either way, both would be good tests. The only way that I know how to contact him is via his YouTube channel. YouTube - tnoutdoors9's Channel

That being said, thanks for chiming in with your results of reliability of USAAmmo. Any report on how clean or dirty it is?

[kesava]

Not very dirty. I put 300 rounds of it through my pm9 yesterday and all it needed was a couple of strokes with the bore snake to clean up. I am sure that a fluff and buff may be nice, but from the looks of things, not required. I plan on using this ammo as much as I can. I appreciate that link, I will contact him. Thanks!

[Guest LeifyD]

Yah, Herr Kapitan Husky. I wrote a little review of my experiences, which were positive on the 9mm, and 380 I used. Has anyone ordered/fired anything from USAammo? :: FN Forum.NET Yah, its amazing how many 5 stars there are on the website....sort of like a 97.5% vote for a 'president' in a banana republic. My experiences were positive. I didn't have any jams out of 500 or so 9mm. I don't know about shipping though to the south, that was the dealmaker for me because AIM, and all those others are crazy expensive to ship to Seattle. Hope yr enjoying the green machine.

- Leif (aka Drangsholt (the one who made 21k in ranger school)

[Jonnin]

Sorry, that was kindof my attempt at being funny while also noting that even if he doesn't have any malfunctions with USAAmmo, it may not be a very good test across the board, as it seems like the only way to get a Glock to jam is to either limp wrist it or shoot insanely light loads through it.

Our glock could not even cycle "starting loads" from our load data tables, and it jammed when doing action shooting (multiple targets, double tap each rapidly moving the gun from side to side) up until nearly the max load (not +P) data. They do not have to be ultra-light loads to cause problems. The starting loads worked fine in 4 other brands of 9mm pistol but glock springs are too strong for target loads.

As for lead, hardcast works fine if you work up a load that does not lead up the barrel. Its important to keep an eye on this issue, but the cast bullet problem is largely a soft-lead problem, not a lack of jacket. Honestly, poly or regular, I would keep a eye out for buildup in any gun that you used cast bullets in, just to be safe, clean it / check it after each range trip. I have shot hardened hardcast in 3 poly rifle guns, a makarov and 2 glocks, without any trouble but I clean most of my guns after each trip (I dont clean my 22s this often, just the centerfires).

I looked at the usaammo site but their calibers are very limited and it wasnt much of a deal at the bottom line. I didnt finish the order so I have no idea how it shoots.