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Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

P

PRKmachinist

Private
Minuteman
May 5, 2008
65
0
California
Is this normal for these guys?

All of the 175g match with Fed. cases show no scratches of any kind. While fully half of the Winchester cases used in these 180 gameking rounds are scratched to the point where it catches my fingernail, some have dings at the chamfer, the middle one has a flattened scuff...sure gotten any FGMM or Black Hills that looks like this, its much worse in person, camera doesn't show it all. Definitely not happy.

photo13of.jpg

imgp6816m.jpg

58143045296824122130.jpg
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

looks like their sizing die had some buildup of brass on it or not enough lube. Call them or wait for them to contact you here. They will see it. I had an issue with a round from them once. They 100% took care of me above and beyond.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

Looks like reloaded magazine fed spent semi auto brass to me. Are you worried about apperance or are you concerned about safety?
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

BOOM!!!

Was it two out your order or four.

I have a rifle I use to chamber two rounds out every so often when I do the boxing. I do know the last three weeks, I did do the boxing for the game kings.
Those rounds have been chambered and extracted, it is part of my feel good process. I will replace your scratched brass if you like.

Would like a pm or email next time.

Thanks,

Zach
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SWammo</div><div class="ubbcode-body">BOOM!!!

Was it two out your order or four.

I have a rifle I use to chamber two rounds out every so often when I do the boxing. I do know the last three weeks, I did do the boxing for the game kings.
Those rounds have been chambered and extracted, it is part of my feel good process. I will replace your scratched brass if you like.

Would like a pm or email next time.

Thanks,

Zach </div></div>

It was not just those two rounds pictured, after pulling them all out of the five boxes, it's easily 75% of the rounds which are scratched or dented, and they're not just light scuffs, on some it's scratches that have depth to them which means it's a stress riser and increases the chances of case failure.

A UPS call tag will be fine. [email protected]
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jeff1383</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Looks like reloaded magazine fed spent semi auto brass to me. Are you worried about apperance or are you concerned about safety? </div></div>

Safety on subsequent re-loadings, it's supposed to be brand new Winchester cases, I've never gotten FGMM, BHA, or even BHA 2nds that looked like this.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

I noticed the scratched cases on your product photos on your website. The .338LM cases show them.

Cut
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: PRKmachinist</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SWammo</div><div class="ubbcode-body">BOOM!!!

Was it two out your order or four.

I have a rifle I use to chamber two rounds out every so often when I do the boxing. I do know the last three weeks, I did do the boxing for the game kings.
Those rounds have been chambered and extracted, it is part of my feel good process. I will replace your scratched brass if you like.

Would like a pm or email next time.

Thanks,

Zach </div></div>

It was not just those two rounds pictured, after pulling them all out of the five boxes, it's easily 75% of the rounds which are scratched or dented, and they're not just light scuffs, on some it's scratches that have depth to them which means it's a stress riser and increases the chances of case failure.

A UPS call tag will be fine. [email protected]</div></div>

There will be no case failure. In most cases that is caused by oversizing of reman brass or some defect in the draw process. The only thing I do to Winchester brass, is manipulate the necks to uniform the neck tension. Winchester brass is not always pretty. It's intension is to be fired not win miss California. Like I said before a little bit of professional curtiousy would have been nice in an email with this concern and then maybe posted about your experience After we decided what to do about the situation.

Thank you, I will extend you better then you gave me.

Zach
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

I would be happy to shoot them, pretty sure the deer won't care what the brass looks like.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Bradu</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I would be happy to shoot them, pretty sure the deer won't care what the brass looks like.</div></div> When I get them back, they are yours for free.

Zach
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

The brass is scratched?! DEAR GOD!!! What to do?!



Really? Its cheap enough to shoot, tumble and reload. Who cares if it's scratched?!
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

Id be happy to pay for them. WOW, seriously some professional courtesy should have been used here. SW has an excellent reuptation. I have purchased several rounds from you guys with no issues and I will purchase more in the future. Keep on keeping on
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

What is it these days with the worries and all about scratched brass or, in the case of a few posts in the Reloading forum, some dinged up necks? Start shooting the stuff enough and even the expensive ultra sexy Lapua stuff starts showing scratches, dings etc. I know because I see it on just about every piece of the couple thousand Lapua brass I own and somehow it all manages to reload and shoot just fine.

I am starting to think there is diminishing returns with this quest for showroom perfection - presuming this is not a full on benchrest bunch and instead the majority of us want the stuff to chamber, shoot accurately and in a perfect world allow us to reload it again if that is our particular bent. I'm not saying that I don't like my stuff nice and as accurate as can be but at some point enough is enough.

Lastly, IMO a vendor issue should be first dealt with privately and directly with the vendor, not aired out on a public forum. SW never had a chance to understand the issue let alone make it right before this bit of laundry was out in the open. I've not bought from SW but if the occasion comes up where I need to purchase ammo I will put them first on the list because of how they tried to deal with the situation AFTER the fact in a professional and courteous manner.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SWammo</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Bradu</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I would be happy to shoot them, pretty sure the deer won't care what the brass looks like.</div></div> When I get them back, they are yours for free.

Zach</div></div>

That would be awesome! If you are serious let me know and I will go ahead and place my order for 200 rounds of .260 ammo a little earlier than planned that way shipping would be covered.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Bradu</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SWammo</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Bradu</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I would be happy to shoot them, pretty sure the deer won't care what the brass looks like.</div></div> When I get them back, they are yours for free.

Zach</div></div>

That would be awesome! If you are serious let me know and I will go ahead and place my order for 200 rounds of .260 ammo a little earlier than planned that way shipping would be covered.</div></div> It's yours minus one box, cause I need one.

Zach
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

These are stand up guys trying to build a business. Why not give them a chance to do the right thing by contacting them privately?

Gil Horsley
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

My casual observation:

Customer did not contact company when product was recieved.
Customer became immediately disappointed that his cartridge looked scratched.
Customer posted bad juju on the inturdweb.
Company stands up to make it right.
Customer throws company under the bus publicly rather than calling to begin with.
Company makes stand up deal and offers the cartridges for free to someone else.

Guess who I am supporting.
Zack, I get paid in 6 days, look for an order.
I accept scratched brass as long as it shoots 100%.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: PRKmachinist</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SWammo</div><div class="ubbcode-body">BOOM!!!

Was it two out your order or four.

I have a rifle I use to chamber two rounds out every so often when I do the boxing. I do know the last three weeks, I did do the boxing for the game kings.
Those rounds have been chambered and extracted, it is part of my feel good process. I will replace your scratched brass if you like.

Would like a pm or email next time.

Thanks,

Zach </div></div>

It was not just those two rounds pictured, after pulling them all out of the five boxes, it's easily 75% of the rounds which are scratched or dented, and they're not just light scuffs, on some it's scratches that have depth to them which means it's a stress riser and increases the chances of case failure.

A UPS call tag will be fine. [email protected] </div></div>

Zach provides excellent customer service actually one of the best if not the best that I've delt with.
South West Ammo provides a fantastic product at a great price. I've ordered from them, had excellent communication with them through out the process, and had received my order within three days. All of the ammo looked great when inspected. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you how it shoots out of my rifle yet, however, It did run flawlessly through a friends rifle (DMPS .308) and even had him saying it was excellent ammo and asking where I got it.

My guess is you seen this whole thing going differently, but it is hard not to back a company like SW Ammo. I am a happy customer and I am sure that there are many more out there like me. That wouldn't be the case if they offered a bad product.

By the way Zach, I'll be ordering again soon! Might have to try out some of the A-max. Oh, and chamber a few of my rounds so you don't have other people complaining about the scratches.
grin.gif
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

I love Southwest Ammo. I did notice a recent run where there was a small amount of wear-and-tear on a few SW118LR cases. Nothing functional. Probably exactly as federal gave it to them. If I wanted everything absolutely burn-my-retinas shiny, I'd tumble it myself and load my own. It shoots well. Hell, I've got 489 pieces of brass I'm thrilled to send back to them for more.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: DoctorBen</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I love Southwest Ammo. I did notice a recent run where there was a small amount of wear-and-tear on a few SW118LR cases. Nothing functional. Probably exactly as federal gave it to them. If I wanted everything absolutely burn-my-retinas shiny, I'd tumble it myself and load my own. It shoots well. Hell, I've got 489 pieces of brass I'm thrilled to send back to them for more.</div></div> Send me the brass, I will load them up with a light shine.

Zach
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

But.... the bullets, when I shoot them they make the case dirty. Can you put a light coating of pam on there so it wipes off? Nothing I shoot, or use at the range has any nicks, scuff scratches or *gasp* Dings. Order coming in for some of your excellent ammo.. (that's what I call customer service handled right)
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

I'd go broke if I threw away all my scratched brass.. Sw thanks for all the great ammo you have feed my rifles.......
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

I just received some SW Ammo and when I opened up the box all the brass were swaddled in little microfiber blankets sleeping oh so soundly. It was so cute..
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ogreshooter</div><div class="ubbcode-body">My casual observation:

Customer did not contact company when product was recieved.
Customer became immediately disappointed that his cartridge looked scratched.
Customer posted bad juju on the inturdweb.
Company stands up to make it right.
Customer throws company under the bus publicly rather than calling to begin with.
Company makes stand up deal and offers the cartridges for free to someone else.

Guess who I am supporting.
Zack, I get paid in 6 days, look for an order.
I accept scratched brass as long as it shoots 100%. </div></div>Well said.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Hawk45</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I just received some SW Ammo and when I opened up the box all the brass were swaddled in little microfiber blankets sleeping oh so soundly. It was so cute..</div></div>

This sir, is epic.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

Ive gotten a lot of southwest ammo sent to me and GOSH GOLLY it is scratched a little here and there. Heck with it. I will still shoot it and smack the target.
smile.gif



SWammo, keep doing what your doing.

Heath
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

Man oh man... I wish my reloads that I took alot of time and care to put together looked half that good. Carry on.

DK
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

Jesus fucking Christ.....
.We have a thread whining to the mods about a pic of a turd.
We got the pronunciation police posting in the Fieldcraft section about how foolish 95% of us say words.
Now scratched brass in the fucking bolt action section?!

Quit yer fucking bitching and shoot them cocksuckers!

I think we need a Tampons and Pacifier section added asafp!
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

I recently placed a 3rd order with SW Ammo. No issues with their product, packaging nor shipping. Perhaps some of us here should take the time to contact the company directly and let them know your concern or issue. Pick up a phone and or send a politely worded e-mail. Give them a chance to read & respond.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

SWAmmo has been good to me, though one of the waits was a bit long, but they made up for it with an extra 2 boxes of ammo.

I think they've rectified that now and ship fast. Speaking of which, I need more ammo.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

If you have a rifle and an interest in shooting, you'll find that Southwest makes some of the most accurate ammo available.

I've fired 3 rounds of Southwest with a group of .055 inches. I paid about $16.50 for the 20 round box.

Southwest also has great customer service and offers discounts to Hide members.

Thanks, however, for your input on the aesthetic aspects of the ammo.

Let us know when you get a rifle.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

this is the end of the world as we know it, this all the scratched brass fault, too.
seriously.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

I had SW do an order of 3200 175 SMK's for me recently and while the wait was longer than I would have hoped, the product has been superb so far out of my OBR and my scar. I ordered whatever the cheapest brass they had was and while it isn't shiny beautiful it didn't have any scratches, at least on the 8 boxes I've shot so far.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

The factory loaded Federal FGMM 175 SMK's had sporatic annealing within 1/8th of an inch... Oh lord what shall I doooooooo!

This guy serious??? I bet he shot em, and didn't notice a damn thing!
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

Great thread contributions guys. There is hope for humanity. Sometimes it seems like this place is full of people that romanticize shooting but never actually do it. This made my day!
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

I was talking with Mike Doy, president of Springfield Armory Inc. one evening at Camp Perry while going through their reject batch of stocks. I kept having to ask him where the imperfections were.

One stock I looked at he pointed it out - it was a nick in the wood on the INSIDE of the stock near the action. I was like, you've got to be kidding me....

His answer? "I'm not in the gun business, I'm in the JEWELRY business."

Looks like his statement applies to the ammo business too.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

Honestly guys, we are all annal about certain things. Scratch or ding in my scope, that of course will not affect a damn thing, would drive me nuts. This gentleman has a brass fetish....and that's fine! He just should have talked to SW Ammo in private first. They would have worked it out without anyone needing to know. RG
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

wow, I am so glad he posted about the scratched cases on this ammo... after looking at the prices offered by SWammo I can afford to shoot a lot more than I have been! and I can ship the brass i have been collecting to be reloaded for me? man im glad the OP was bitchen... Looking forward to sending in an order soon.

Oh and I dont mind if the cases are scratched, so is my rifle!
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

To the OP:

I don't know the product offering that you purchased but they offer many products including ammunition produced with "new" brass, "military pulldowns" and recycled/once fired. Obviously you expected ammunition produced with "new" brass and apparently have something else. No idea on the misaligned expectations but no worries, those slight case imperfections will not effect the reliability or performance of the cartridge.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

I can say this. SW ammo is the best ammo Ive used.
I can tell no difference between it and Nosler custom.
Thats as far as accuracy goes. But, come to think of it,
I really couldn't tell a difference in looks either.
I think very highly of the guys at SW ammo .
Super nice dudes that will give you the time of day.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

I like SW ammo also. I have done all my precision rifle ammo with SW Ammo. It has shot better then BH, Federal and Hornady in all my rifles. They have always treated me well. I will continue to use them also. I have had scratches on my brass and have not had them affect the accuracy one bit.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

Just made my second order from them, all groups less than .5" at 100. Best groups(most groups) were one hole. I never thought I would be able to shoot like that, especially when the $43 box of win supreme shot only 1+" at 100. Maybe the op should buy those, they are wicked shiny. I plan to send these "dented" and "scratched" brass back to get reloaded. I don't have time to reload, and certainly don't have time to worry about how my ammo looks.

ps. here is a link to my build.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f26/my-first-rifle-build-so-far-100832/

Thanks again SW ammo for such a great service!
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: smallbutfierce</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Just made my second order from them, all groups less than .5" at 100. Best groups(most groups) were one hole. I never thought I would be able to shoot like that, especially when the $43 box of win supreme shot only 1+" at 100. Maybe the op should buy those, they are wicked shiny. I plan to send these "dented" and "scratched" brass back to get reloaded. I don't have time to reload, and certainly don't have time to worry about how my ammo looks.

ps. here is a link to my build.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f26/my-first-rifle-build-so-far-100832/

Thanks again SW ammo for such a great service! </div></div>

Nice build man, nice shooting too.

Zach
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

I had never shot over 300 yards before last weekend.

Last Saturday I used up the last of my 175 SMK's (from SWAmmo) by walking into the 14" diamond at 600 yards, then proceeded to smack it 6 times in a row. And I'm a HORRIBLE shot! Also noticed my elevation was less than what the ballistics calculator called for, but that's all on me. EXTREMELY CONSISTENT! Shot a few of the Fiocchi 150 grain rounds I have, those are garbage.

Thank you for putting out a great product at a great price. I'll buy more as soon as I can, and definitely from SWAmmo.

Companies with a history of going out of their way to manufacture quality products at reasonable prices, AND of taking care of their customer, deserve a phone call before shitting all over them on the world wide web.
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

I just placed an order for a few boxes...
 
Re: Southwest Ammo - scarred cases with dings/scuff

There's several issues here, the first being that I should have contacted SW Ammo directly first to voice my concerns with them, for not doing that I have already apologized to them through our PM conversation.

Obviously people were very happy with the performance that they were receiving from the ammo they purchased from SW, I was not in doubt that it would shoot well, the original intent of my post was to simply ask others if they also received their ammo with surface scratches and dings. Yes, this was listed as new Winchester brass, had I been buying reloads then I would not be as picky, but I have never in my twenty years of shooting bought new manufactured ammo that had this many marks on it, being marketed as match grade I would expect an even higher level of quality than that which I have gotten in my thousands of rounds of BHA and FGMM.

Additionally I have hand loaded for many years and the only time I have gotten this kind of case damage on my own is when pulling the case back out on a dry sizing die, so in my opinion this was not something that I should expect to see on new ammo that was manufactured by a small company and not a huge corporation. As I have already stated, many of these scratches were not simply superficial surface scratches, but rather scores where material was removed in the loading process where you could catch your fingernail on them, that is not simply an aesthetics issue, had it been, I would never have had a complaint.

For the "just shoot it crowd," this ammo was purchased to be used for long range shooting and to then refresh my dwindling brass supply, I don't want to use scratched cases as a base for multiple reloadings because I can tell you from working with precision machined parts for many years, that any serious scratch is a stress riser and increases the chances of failure. This is not made up nor up for discussion, it's a simple fact, and any machinist or someone who works in failure analysis will tell you that a sharp edge creates a means of failure. I simply expected more from what was being sold as new product.
 
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