Finally, some ammo…

I was up in Chandler this weekend visiting Sarah and her sister, Heidi. Heidi wanted to go to Dick’s Sporting Goods to buy something as a gift for her friend’s birthday. While we were there, I browsed around the gun counter and came across a 150-round pack of Ultramax .223 factory reloads.
The price was quite comparable to what one could get for the same quantity from various mail-order sources, if they had any in stock, and I was willing to give Ultramax a shot as I had used some of their pistol stuff before and it had been fine. With the employee’s permission, I opened the box and took a look at the bagged, loose-packed ammo inside. It was all Federal (both commercial and Lake City), Winchester, Remington, or PMC brass, all polished to a high shine, and all with no split necks or other deformations. While the cases themselves may have had different neck lengths, all the cartridges had the same OAL (on the cases with a slightly shorter neck length the cannelure was visible, while with slightly longer case lengths the cannelure was covered by the neck).
When I was loading the ammo into magazines at home, I inspected each cartridge. Every one looked to be in good condition, all the primers were seated below the back of the cartridge, and no defects that I could find. I’ll let you know how well they work the next time I’m at the range.
I’m doing my part to help out the enviroment by recycling ammo, both by reloading my own and buying factory reloads from reputable companies. It’s always fun to mention that to green types. 🙂
Now, if only the ammo companies could somehow ramp up supply to keep up with demand. This whole every-store-sold-out-all-the-time thing is getting old, fast.