Anyone have experience with factory seconds or blems? Aside from cosmetic differences are the bullets OK? Main concern is getting lopsided or non-concentric bullets. Objective feedback appreciated. Thanks.
- Thread starter Thumper580
- Start date
I picked up 1k 77gr and 1k 175gr smk seconds from powder valley, and I honestly can't tell a difference visually or weight wise, and they certainly shoot just as good as my " firsts". To be honest I'm not really sure why they are considered seconds.
I buy them when I can. They may look a little dull but other than that I can't tell you about any problems personally.
The 77gr .224 bullets I got from PV had 3 different ogive readings when I checked them with my bullet comparator. If I recall correctly they measured 1.572 to 1.595 They ended up in three different groups. one group was at the 1.572 range the next was at 1.585 the last group at 1.595 all plus or minus a couple of thousand.
Recently bought some 175 grainers from Powder Valley. They look fine and I weighed about 20 of them-I don't recall the actual weights, but they were all within .5 gr of each other. I think maybe sometimes just the packaging gets screwed up or something and maybe they can't sell them as first class merchandise. Midsouth Shooters Supply and Midway seem to get these fairly often. On the Powder Valley website look under the "specials" tab or whatever they call it.
I have some 178 bthp's that have a greater variance in weight and length than factory firsts. They still shoot well, sometimes sub-moa, but I don't trust them for competition loads.
There are a number of reasons for "seconds" and it could be inappropriate to use the term "blems" as if it's cosmetic. First of all, in the manufacturing process, they are going to Q.C. every run checking on everything measurable, weight, length, etc. At any point in the process, production runs can be "shit canned", (the scientific term), and dumped in trays, mixing lot numbers and reasons for the rejections. It could be as innocent as mixing lot numbers, or a busted, or warn out die, necessitating a replacement, which might be "close" but not identical. It's impossible to list the reasons for rejection by quality control but it is not just because of finish or polish and you never know if you are getting a product that is measurably different from the standard, or it's just cosmetic. Whatever the reason, the maker does not want their name associated with their normally high quality product, so they sell this stuff cheap to people on a budget or someone who is not looking for match winning performance. In a lot of cases, it's good value and a good use of something that would normally be sold for scrap. Face it, there is a lot of scrap in machine shops. BB
Honestly, I don't buy blems anymore because there is always a doubt in my mind if there is a flyer (or God forbid a wild shot!Lol) if it was me or the blem bullet. They are cheaper, but I don't get out shooting nearly enough, and when I let off a good shot, I want there to be no doubt in my ammo. A lot of shooting is mental, and that goes against my confidence. I guess I'm doomed to paying full price!
Powder Valleys are great. Graffs are not. Of the 500 175's I bought about 20% where 155's. They also were clearly blems whereas with PV's you could hardly tell.
I went through a bag of 500 of Graf's seconds and they were all 175's. Using a bullet comparator, I did notice that they were all either a little longer or shorter than the range my actual SMK 175's were falling in. I wonder if they were just all out of spec and rejected for that reason. I've had a lot of luck sorting the longer ones from the shorter ones.
ive had good luck with the dogtown blems from midway
I've shot a lot of factory seconds from Nosler. I pick them up if they're available if I happen to be there at the plants proshop. Shot 2nds. from .20 cal up to .30 cal in various bullet configuration. Can't say I notice much difference or had any issues with them. Nosler sells the 2nds. like hot cakes anymore. Seems every time I look online they're out of a lot of the good stuff. I do think they hold some for us guys that happen to be in town and stop in. I think if they are coming from a reputable company you should be GTG.
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