Quality Control During Shortage- Freedom Munitions

[defygravity]

Hi Folks,

I know there have been a couple of threads on here about QC during the current ammo shortage, but I wanted to highlight one company in particular that seems to be having an issue.

I have ordered reloads from Freedom Munitions in the past and have been VERY pleased with their products. However, I just got a shipment of their 38spl reloads in the other day, and to put it very lightly, they're TERRIBLE.

I took a box to AGC over the weekend to try them out. Out of the box of 50, I had to stop after shooting 36 because I was so disappointed. 15 were defective to the point where the cartridge wouldn't fit in my revolver's cylinder, or if they did the primers wouldn't ignite.

The most common problem was with the casings being deformed or damaged (about 10). The rest had the primer issue. One cartridge ignited and sent a bullet downrange, but split the casing lengthwise in two places. No damage to my revolver or my face, but it wouldn't extract due to the expansion.

These are all standard pressure cartridges, BTW. I will be calling Freedom tomorrow to voice my displeasure and see what they can do. I sure hope the other 500 rounds that I purchased are in better condition. Like I said earlier, I've ordered 38spl, 9mm reloads from them before and have been VERY pleased with the quality of their product.

I'm chalking it up to the ammo shortage, and am crossing my fingers that they fix their QC...

Any idea what would cause a casing to split that way? I don't reload, so I'm not sure how many times brass can be re-used safely...maybe it was re-used too many times??

Anyone else having QC difficulty from them?

Caveat Emptor....

 

[settleitinthering]

Not good. I usually get those splits on my 54r Milsurp stuff, but only 1 out of 50, on average.

 

[t84a]

Great. I just received 1000 9 mm

 

[Echo]

oh no...
I was a little hesitant to order from them since I've never used their ammo before but in this shortage I didn't have a choice so I ordered 500 rounds of 5.56. I just received them today but I haven't seen them yet. I kinda thought that QC would be a little lax due to everyone just trying to pump out as much ammo as possible but at the same time I thought no respectable business would drop QC and put someone in danger dealing with ammunition.

 

[defygravity]

Great. I just received 1000 9 mm

QC probably varies widely based on where they source their brass...

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[MaxVO2]

****I have several 1000 rounds of 9mm and .38, some purchased very recently from them. No problems so far though I have recently been receiving everything in just cardboard boxes without the plastic spacer thingies store ammo usually has at 2x the cost or more...

Shot some of the 9mm yesterday, will bring the wheelguns out a bit later this week.. Ammo purchased the past couple of weeks..

 

[Silverlode]

I had an issue in the last few weeks with 45acp 230gr FMJ. Out of a 1K case I opened two boxes and in each there were at least a few examples of far overseated bullets.

The two examples shown are from two different boxes, one round (from each) showing expected OAL for point of contrast.

They told me they shipped me a replacement case back on the 15th, but I still haven't seen it yet.

 

[m33p]

Wow. Glad i haven't ordered any of this yet. I will definitely rethink that decision should they come back into stock any time soon.

 

[Baccusboy]

Please repost this on 1911forum. There is a guy on there who works for FM, I believe. He is often talking about their great product and downtalking the imports, so it would be nice to add some balance.

 

[MaxVO2]

I had an issue in the last few weeks with 45acp 230gr FMJ. Out of a 1K case I opened two boxes and in each there were at least a few examples of far overseated bullets.

The two examples shown are from two different boxes, one round (from each) showing expected OAL for point of contrast.

They told me they shipped me a replacement case back on the 15th, but I still haven't seen it yet.

View attachment 77289

****Wow! Good catch! I only have 9mm, .38, .357 and have never had that issue as far as I am aware. Everything I have purchased from them has gone bang so I am happy. I used to buy factory type expensive ammo and never had a problem with that either but it was expensive and at my skill level of shooting - I didn't notice any difference in accuracy when trying to hit the broad side of a barn.

I have since gotten good enough to hit a pie plate, and am working on eating more pies so I can have more plates to shoot at but it's slow going as I'm not Oprah or Rosie O'donell.

The Freedom Ammo I have used has never given me problems so far and I've purchased significant amounts of it recently.

 

[defygravity]

Update: Last night I went through 200 rounds of the ammo and another 15 or so casings were damaged physically. These aren't your typical small dents either, we're talking multiple (some large) weak spots on each casing. I even found one visibly warped casing.

They're definitely getting a phone call

I'm not a member of 1911forum.com, as I do not (yet) own a 1911. Could someone please repost this?

 

[Baccusboy]

Well, SRJim over at 1911Forum (who claims he lives in the same town as FM, and probably works for them) has bitched and moaned so much about my reposting of this thread on 1911 that he finally got it deleted.

I kept my arguments totally above-board, and told him I wasn't about to be baited into an argument after he went ape.


Here was what I got from DeltaKilo, one of the mods there:

I'm sending this to both baccusboy AND SRJim, so we're all above board here.

That said, you both are grown adults, and you should know better than to take grievances and arguments into the public forum.

Further, while quality control issues and heads-up posts are "fine" in that making a post that says "hey, I ran into X, has anyone else..." is within the rules, posting a thread calling out or otherwise griping about a manufacturer or individual that has no presence to defend themselves or offer any kind of rebuttal -- as well as the fact that airing failures and issues and mistakes in public leaves the maker at a genuine disadvantage when it comes to being able to rectify QC issues and/or mistakes.

I expect more out of the members of the Ammo Can forum, because we are representatives of a critical area of guns, just as much as gunsmithing and reloading are: we discuss and present information on ammunition which poses both safety points for the shooter as well as others around him.

I have deleted the thread regarding freedom munitions. If the original poster of the information decides that it is appropriate to directly post his experience, then I'll review what he has to say at such time as he chooses to do so. However, reposting reports from other sites without the benefit of any contextual data is not going to fly at all.

As a side note, having only skimmed through the thread on it, if Freedom Munitions wants to speak about their own loads and offer their (possibly biased) opinion on imports, that's their right. They as a business, or the person posting as a representative of the business, has a right to compare their products with other makes and types, and when they do so, information that disagrees is fair game.

Now, please keep it on topic, and please keep it civil. If you can't do so, then I will ask that you refrain from posting at all.

So feel free to post your own grievance/solution over there, if you like.

 

[DeltaKilo]

Well, SRJim over at 1911Forum (who claims he lives in the same town as FM, and probably works for them) has bitched and moaned so much about my reposting of this thread on 1911 that he finally got it deleted.

I kept my arguments totally above-board, and told him I wasn't about to be baited into an argument after he went ape.


Here was what I got from DeltaKilo, one of the mods there:




So feel free to post your own grievance/solution over there, if you like.

To be fair, as the Mod who sent that to you, I reopened the thread after I cleaned up the personal back and forth as I respect and accept that posts concerning potential safety hazards are a necessity in an ammo forum, even while general grievance threads (so and so didn't tickle me the right way) are against the rules.

I would appreciate it in the future, however, if you don't repost a PM of mine in an issue that I'm resolving unless you have permission to do so, since these issues do involve other members and may not be the final word, as it wasn't in this case.

 

[4095fanatic]

I received 1,000 9mm a few weeks ago, and so far 150 have been sent downrange without a problem. Recovered brass appeared to be ok as well.

 

[MaxVO2]

****Zero problems with my 9mm ammo purchased 2-3 weeks ago. I use between 50-100 rounds a week as I live close to the range so get there often and have nothing but praise for the ammo. I leave the brass in the provided buckets after sweeping it all up as I don't reload. The brass on the ammo seems to be good quality so perhaps others at my club are using it for themselves when they reload which makes me happy someone is doing their part for helping the environment by recycling..

 

[Nanook]

Brings up why it is important to inspect every round before you load it, just in case. I have seen, maybe 6-7 years ago, factory fresh ammo with a flipped primer. I don't remember the brand but it was a major player.

S**t happens and 'caveat emptor' - which is why every single firearm manufacturer voids their warranty if reloads are fired through their weapon.

 

[MDnumb321]

I got some of the reman 9mm a couple weeks ago. I've used about 200 between three guns and not a single issue to speak of. Smooth and accurate.

 

[cornstalk]

What, are they handloading these in China?

 

[Kilroy]

Well that's disappointing. I shot 2k worth of .223 and 9mm from them before this craziness happened, and had no issues.

As for other forums, sometimes they censor negative postings with the rationale of "give the company a chance to fix it first." That's stupid. Regardless of if the problem gets fixed, there was still a problem. If they fix it, then let us know how the customer service is. Full disclosure is a wonderful thing.

 

[defygravity]

Quick update (has it been long enough?):

After a couple of emails and sending them pictures of the broken casings and failed primers, I haven't heard back from them yet.

I DID, however, get an automated shipping confirmation from them with no description of contents or indication of why this was coming to me.

I'm assuming the mystery package is ammunition, and they're making things right by re-sending my order, but I have no clue.

We will see soon enough I guess (fingers crossed). Would be cool to get 500 rounds of 38spl in a time of such shortage.

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