Rio Ammo

[JMintzer]

Good? Bad?

I shot a few boxes a few weeks ago and it seemed fine. What's the consensus?


Jamie

 

[dj_in_md]

I've used it before and never had any problems.

 

[blackthorne]

It's on par with Remington Gun Clubs, if not a bit better. Look in the classifieds.

 

[circleshooter]

I think it's pretty good stuff. Not always easy to find.

 

[zombiehunter]

I have a case of Rio slugs. They leave really pretty holes in the paper lol.

 

[blackthorne]

Most places that cater to clay target shooters carry RIO. A lot of high volume shooters shoot RIO today due to the lower cost and availability in bulk from distributors. I usually put together an order of 200-300 flats per year along with a few other guys and have it delivered. The majority of the order is RIO. It's not a premium shell like the AA or STS, but I think it's one of the best of the economy shells.

 

[justsand]

Most places that cater to clay target shooters carry RIO. A lot of high volume shooters shoot RIO today due to the lower cost and availability in bulk from distributors. I usually put together an order of 200-300 flats per year along with a few other guys and have it delivered. The majority of the order is RIO. It's not a premium shell like the AA or STS, but I think it's one of the best of the economy shells.

Totally agree but they do not like cold temps

 

[shooting again]

Shyda's (Lebanon, PA) carried Rio the last time I was there.

 

[mcbruzdzinski]

We have used it for Monumental Club shoots and it has been good.

 

[Nanook]

I've shot Rio #7, #9, and slugs from 90 deg F down to 28 deg F and it's always done what I wanted.

I don't always shoot a shotgun, but when I do, I like it to go bang.

 

[RetNavyHD]

Totally agree but they do not like cold temps

Never had this problem have seen people say it on the internet. I have shot over 1000 cases of RIO's without a problem.

 

[tdt91]

I saw it happen this winter to a guy that reloads and used RIO primers. We were sporting clay shooting and he had to put them in his pockets to warm them up or they were not igniting strong and he would get a powder puff load.

 

[blackthorne]

The primers have nothing to do with it. RIOs like many European shells, use a stiffer plastic wad. Some stiff wads become less flexible in cold weather and occasionally fail to seal the bore, causing a blooper, especially with some of today's guns with larger bores. Many guns today made for the American market sport larger bores. RIOs are a European shell. Most European guns have smaller bores. I would guess that you would only have an issue if you 1) shot a gun with a bore of .740 or more and 2) exposed the shells to very cold weatgher for a long period of time. That said, I've shot about 200 flats of RIOs and had 2 bloopers. It was during a winter league when it was less than 20 degrees. If you store the shells in the cold (very cold) and then transport them in the trunk, this might happen to you. Since my experience was with 2 shells out of 50,000 shells, I'm OK with it and I am fussy. Of greater importance to me is that I've never had a RIO with a cocked wad, split brass, bad primer or a separated case. I can't say that for some of our own premium shells.

So why are RIOs and like shells cheaper? The components used are a wee bit cheaper, some components are outsourced and not made in-house, the type of hulls are cheaper to make and can't be reloaded as many times as say a AA or STS, the labor in Spain is less, etc etc etc. Bottom line is that they are a good econo shell, better than the crap you buy from Wallyworld.

Later in the year I will post about a RIO order. If anyone wants to get in on it you can consider it at that time. I would ask for a commitment of buying a minimum of 10 flats. The cost will be about $.50 a flat over the wholesale price to cover fuel surcharges, with no tax and no shipping cost. I will post details later in the year. I will place the order once 200 flats are spoken for. Delivery will be to Annapolis.

 

[zombiehunter]

The primers have nothing to do with it. RIOs like many European shells, use a stiffer plastic wad. Some stiff wads become less flexible in cold weather and occasionally fail to seal the bore, causing a blooper, especially with some of today's guns with larger bores. Many guns today made for the American market sport larger bores. RIOs are a European shell. Most European guns have smaller bores. I would guess that you would only have an issue if you 1) shot a gun with a bore of .740 or more and 2) exposed the shells to very cold weatgher for a long period of time. That said, I've shot about 200 flats of RIOs and had 2 bloopers. It was during a winter league when it was less than 20 degrees. If you store the shells in the cold (very cold) and then transport them in the trunk, this might happen to you. Since my experience was with 2 shells out of 50,000 shells, I'm OK with it and I am fussy. Of greater importance to me is that I've never had a RIO with a cocked wad, split brass, bad primer or a separated case. I can't say that for some of our own premium shells.

So why are RIOs and like shells cheaper? The components used are a wee bit cheaper, some components are outsourced and not made in-house, the type of hulls are cheaper to make and can't be reloaded as many times as say a AA or STS, the labor in Spain is less, etc etc etc. Bottom line is that they are a good econo shell, better than the crap you buy from Wallyworld.

Later in the year I will post about a RIO order. If anyone wants to get in on it you can consider it at that time. I would ask for a commitment of buying a minimum of 10 flats. The cost will be about $.50 a flat over the wholesale price to cover fuel surcharges, with no tax and no shipping cost. I will post details later in the year. I will place the order once 200 flats are spoken for. Delivery will be to Annapolis.

What do you mean when you say "Flat"?

 

[RetNavyHD]

A flat is one case of 250 shells...

 

[tdt91]

The guy I speak of used the RIO primers. When he had the problems he then started putting the shells in his pants pockets and they worked fine then. So yes, in this case it was the primers.

 

[justsand]

The primers have nothing to do with it. RIOs like many European shells, use a stiffer plastic wad. Some stiff wads become less flexible in cold weather and occasionally fail to seal the bore, causing a blooper, especially with some of today's guns with larger bores. Many guns today made for the American market sport larger bores. RIOs are a European shell. Most European guns have smaller bores. I would guess that you would only have an issue if you 1) shot a gun with a bore of .740 or more and 2) exposed the shells to very cold weatgher for a long period of time. That said, I've shot about 200 flats of RIOs and had 2 bloopers. It was during a winter league when it was less than 20 degrees. If you store the shells in the cold (very cold) and then transport them in the trunk, this might happen to you. Since my experience was with 2 shells out of 50,000 shells, I'm OK with it and I am fussy. Of greater importance to me is that I've never had a RIO with a cocked wad, split brass, bad primer or a separated case. I can't say that for some of our own premium shells.

So why are RIOs and like shells cheaper? The components used are a wee bit cheaper, some components are outsourced and not made in-house, the type of hulls are cheaper to make and can't be reloaded as many times as say a AA or STS, the labor in Spain is less, etc etc etc. Bottom line is that they are a good econo shell, better than the crap you buy from Wallyworld.

Later in the year I will post about a RIO order. If anyone wants to get in on it you can consider it at that time. I would ask for a commitment of buying a minimum of 10 flats. The cost will be about $.50 a flat over the wholesale price to cover fuel surcharges, with no tax and no shipping cost. I will post details later in the year. I will place the order once 200 flats are spoken for. Delivery will be to Annapolis.

Good right up and I agree for the price they are a great deal

 

[PapiBarcelona]

It's exactly the primers. When you shofot light low velocity loads that have here exposed to cold weather for a good amount of time, even with fastest burning powder you will probably experience off sounding shots. Leaving shells in your warm car then shooting them real quick in freezing temps is a bit different than walking around with them for an hour in your pouch when its freezing cold. Rio primers aren't exactly the most premium primer that's available

 

[blackthorne]

It's exactly the primers. When you shofot light low velocity loads that have here exposed to cold weather for a good amount of time, even with fastest burning powder you will probably experience off sounding shots. Leaving shells in your warm car then shooting them real quick in freezing temps is a bit different than walking around with them for an hour in your pouch when its freezing cold. Rio primers aren't exactly the most premium primer that's available

How does temperature effect a primer? Bloopers in cold weather with RELOADS are most likely from the other thing you mentioned - low velocity light loads not building enough pressure. Fast burning powder is one thing, but how much of it is what counts. Of course, we don't know what the recipe was for the reloads mentioned, only that RIO primers were used. As you know, if it's not the right mix to begin with and low pressure stuff is the result, you will have inconsistancies galore. That said, I don't know where RIO primers fall in burn rates, as I've not loaded them. Back to the bloopers, if all else is correct and pressure is up there, the culprit is thought to be the wads. There has been much written about this over the past 10-15 years because of so many aftermarket clones available.

I don't put too much faith in what people tell me about reloads. There are a lot of guys who mix and match components and don't really have a clue as to what they are doing. A light load in a STS hull might work just fine, but switch just one component, like going to a different hull, and things change big time in some cases. As to the original direction of this post, I think the answer is that RIOs are good shells for the price and work well for 99% of shooters in any clay target game.

Guess we've beaten this one to death!

 

[PapiBarcelona]

Right prob a combination of powder and primer. I use sts primers with red dot or e3 and will get bloopers if exposed to cold for a long time. Alliant pressure data is a little low for my light stuff 8000 to 9000 depending on what components and recipe I use.

I have to put them on my pockets sometimes for preheat I'd we are out in the cold for a long time

I'm not interested in shooting more than an ounce of lead, plus I think factory ammo is a little superior to a reloader for cold weather reliability since they get customized powder to their current needs