Cheapo shotgun shells.

[K191145]

My nefew and I were shooting up a box of some cheap Winchester target loads, he was shooting his 870 and I was shooting my Stoeger double. These shells wern't brass but aluminum and I had to force the action open to extract the spent shells. Ejecting the spent shells from his 870 had more tension than the shells we shot with brass. My guess is that the aluminum swells in the chamber after being fired. No more of that cheap crap in my guns. Has anyone else experienced that with aluminum based shells? I also have some Rio .410 shells that don't eject in my single shot .410 and they are brass based. I have to tap them with a rod to eject them. All other shells eject fine. Rio is Mexican cheap ammo, I wonder if the brass is too thin on them. It's worth it to spend a few extra bucks to buy decent ammo.

Edited March 16, 2011 by K191145

[dlm37015]

rio is made in spain they are building a pant in bucksnort. you must have got a bad batch because they make very good shotshells.they are also the largest mfg of shotshells in the world .i buy shotshels once a year at basspro when thet have their sale

[Caster]

It's always worth it to buy decent ammo. Cheap ammo is fine if you're feeding a junkyard dog, like an AK or something. Everything else, you get what you pay for.

The only good thing about cheap ammo is you can blast a little more, but it's usually at the expense of accuracy and more times than not, it's dirty too boot.

I can't afford top shelf ammo. That's why I took up reloading.

I'm sure there'll be droves in soon to tell me what I am full of, but those Wal-Mart bulk packs with the aluminum bases are garbage.

If something is cheap cost wise, you can bet there's a reason.

[Guest TnValleyBulletman]

You could have some roughness in the chamber, even of a new gun. It happens.

But you can always just stick with what is working for you to avoid problems.

[Jonnin]

Yea, its very soft. I had some of the very light loads and just added a mag tube to my shotgun. Of course, I had to check it, so I poked 7 of those things into it and hand cycled them a few times. There was a rough spot in my tube that I finally polished out, and in the process I hand cycled them a few more times..

At the end of the day I looked at the shells closely for the first time and the metal was beat and dented so much that I could have used it to make a mold for a new receiver face. All 7 shells were dented and beat to a pulp, which actually helped a little but (they were extra prone to hangup in the mag tube, so once it took THOSE it will now take ANYTHING). I was afraid to use those dented shells, and will not be testing with them again for sure. I will use them again though, I need some low recoil rounds and those are the weakest thing I have found, unfortunately anything better quality is also a lot more potent and I cannot handle rapid fire with stout shells.

[Oh Shoot]

If by "aluminum" shell bases you mean the silver metal type from the 100 count of Federal/Winchester/Remington, put a magnet on them and you'll see they are not aluminum at all.

- OS

[Jonnin]

If by "aluminum" shell bases you mean the silver metal type from the 100 count of Federal/Winchester/Remington, put a magnet on them and you'll see they are not aluminum at all.

- OS

apparently almost all shells have a bit of magnetic material in them by design, no matter if it looks like brass or anything else visually. The metal caps, if they are steel, are some mighty soft steel.

[Oh Shoot]

apparently almost all shells have a bit of magnetic material in them by design, no matter if it looks like brass or anything else visually. The metal caps, if they are steel, are some mighty soft steel.

Far as I know, all shotgun shells are steel or steel alloy of some sort for years now. Maybe the silver ones just aren't brass covered, I dunno. Surprising lack of info to be found re construction, seems.

Certainly any number of shotguns have various probs with the 100 count bulk stuff, common to read that on forums. I've not shot a ton of the low base silver stuff, but maybe 100 rounds of various brands have all done okay in my 870 synthetic model.

- OS

[chances R]

Rio has been manufacturing shot shells in bucksnort for some time now..over a year for sure. They are widely used in sporting clays.......generally a quality shell. As mentioned, the metal base on most shells are steel. Winchester AA and Rem. Premier and Nitros are brass. It is more likely you have a 'sticky' chamber. Be sure and clean the chamber well with a chamber brush. Sometimes polishing with a brass brush wrapped with 00 steel wool is helpful. Just use a varible speed drill and short cleaning rod with the brush attached.

[K191145]

Far as I know, all shotgun shells are steel or steel alloy of some sort for years now. Maybe the silver ones just aren't brass covered, I dunno. Surprising lack of info to be found re construction, seems.

Certainly any number of shotguns have various probs with the 100 count bulk stuff, common to read that on forums. I've not shot a ton of the low base silver stuff, but maybe 100 rounds of various brands have all done okay in my 870 synthetic model.

- OS

We also shot up alot of old stuff I had, some from the 70's where the brass turned blackish, and some new Remington high brass #2 shot. All brands of different sized shot and power, all ejected fine in both guns except the bulk alloy based Winchesters. It's logical to say the problem is with the ammo.

As for the .410, it may not be with the Rio shells but some other brand that stuck in the chamber. I'll have to shoot it more, I know it was a low brass load that was sticking.

[K191145]

rio is made in spain they are building a pant in bucksnort. you must have got a bad batch because they make very good shotshells.they are also the largest mfg of shotshells in the world .i buy shotshels once a year at basspro when thet have their sale

Your right, made in Spain. I must have been thinking about some Aguila .38 rounds I have. Aguila is made in Mexico.

[babelt]

I have a remington 870 and i shoot the bulk wally world ammo all of the time. I have shot the federals and the remingtons and ive put probably close to 700 or 800 of those rounds through my shotgun. I had a horrible problem with the remingtons not wanting to eject. I have had better luck with the federals and probably only had 1 or 2 that I remember not wanting to exect completely. I only buy the federals now and for the price you cant beat them to practice with. my shoot gun is my home defense weapon and it is like a extention of me. I couldnt have shoot that many brass rounds on my pay!