Blemished vs. Regular Boxed Bullets?

[Lenny Foffa]

I'll use Nosler Blems for my 270 Weatherby mag in early loading development. 150 grain Nosler ABLR Blems in plastic bags from shooters pro shop. I weigh them individually and sort them into weight ranges 149.8 and 149.9 and 150.00 and 150.1. Approximately 95 or 96% of the bullets I weigh fit into one of those four weight ranges. I do not measure Base of bullet to OGIVE for Hunting Loads . After the powder charge has been selected I then began to adjust COAL and ogive length! When I think I'm nearly there then I switch to the 150Grain ABLR bullets I purchased from Nosler in the. Card Board. Boxes!

 

[Teri Anne]

Hey from Western PA! 1st of all I'd like to thank you all. I have been reloading for years but only a member for a few. But have learned more in the few than all the rest.
I purchased a few boxes of (blemished) bullets. I was skeptical but. After inspecting and weighing I found nothing I would call a blemish. In fact the weights varied less than some regularly priced. Am I missing something?

I have been shooting blemished ammunition and blemished bullets for a long time. I have never noticed any difference in the zero's of the factory blems and they chrono at close to the advertised velocity with only minor variation. They appear to me to be a good savings and any savings these days is important. In short, good ammo and bullets at a discounted price.

 

[MKWas]

Hey from Western PA! 1st of all I'd like to thank you all. I have been reloading for years but only a member for a few. But have learned more in the few than all the rest.
I purchased a few boxes of (blemished) bullets. I was skeptical but. After inspecting and weighing I found nothing I would call a blemish. In fact the weights varied less than some regularly priced. Am I missing something?

I've used several hundred blems, 9 mm & 30.06. I've never had an issue with them.

As long as they are discoloration & minor scratches I don't have a problem. By the time I've loaded them, boxed them, transported them, and loaded them, the newest shiniest bullets look just like the blems anyway.

 

[Retired CPO]

I've bought blemished bullets from Midway for years, from .22 to .35. I always weigh them before loading them. I have had a few rejects for odd weights, but nothing to be concerned with. They have performed well and I enjoy having money left in my pocket after ordering. And, yeah, I agree with CrickBottom. They're garbage, don't buy them!

 

[5gauss]

Hey from Western PA! 1st of all I'd like to thank you all. I have been reloading for years but only a member for a few. But have learned more in the few than all the rest.
I purchased a few boxes of (blemished) bullets. I was skeptical but. After inspecting and weighing I found nothing I would call a blemish. In fact the weights varied less than some regularly priced. Am I missing something?

It is mostly marketing/overstock because some will always afford expensive bullets and others cannot or will not so......manufacturers want to sell in a normal market.....I have used them for many years with no difference....

 

[villagelightsmith]

I used the Verne Juenke Machine to separate my bullets into lots.
The #1's and the "blems" of any maker ran about the same variation, as did their accuracy.
A mess of custom BR bullets ran much more consistently, both on the VJM and on the paper.
I still don't know what that machine is measuring, and nobody can tell me.
The last year I settled down to Best Practices when loading and practical testing.
Each bullet's final test occurs when it is fired.
If they go thru the same hole, they're Real Good Bullets. If they pattern like a Modified Choke, not so much.
I think we should bring back the old Houston Warehouse, or access the old salt mines, where real testing could be done and the results quantified and fought over by Obsessive Compulsives. Maybe somebody should write some grants to allow us to arc bullets and punch paper all day. I need a nap.

 

[xsn10s]

I cannot speak for other blems but Nosler blems or 2nds are just comestic as far as I know. I've used them for punching paper, varmint hunting, and big game hunting. I have not seen any difference in performance. The over runs are just that, over runs. The presses were working so good they just continued the run. If they don't sell fast enough they sell them at a discount. Maybe their practices have changed but I've been using them since 2004 and have not seen any difference. YMMV.

 

[claybreaker]

I've received "blems" from SPS before and noticed the distance to the Ogive was different than the 1st run bullets. Looking at them they looked perfect.

 

[baldhunter]

I buy,shoot and hunt with Nosler blems all the time.I have never had an issue with those.I bought some of the boxed over run bullets and found quite a few tarnished bullets unlike what I see in the bagged untarnished seconds.I too noticed the grade C Accubonds.They would be great for range use but I'd be a little skeptical for hunting use.I had some of the Accubonds that some of the tips were failling off.If you have several cartridges in the magazine when you fired the rifle,the recoil slams the cartridges forward in the magazine and sometimes would break the tips off.Even though the tips were broken,it really didn't affect the accuracy too much,but it could affect the way the bullet performs on game.Without the plastic tip,the bullet will act like a wide tipped hollow point bullet and would expand quickly upon impact.This might be the reason some people have called them Accubombs.The worse seconds I have purchased came from Midway.They were Hornady and Remington seconds.I never could hit a 2'x2' target with the Remingtons and the Hornady had horribly crooked tips.They were defiantly rejects,I would have been ashamed to sell them.

 

[baldhunter]

I buy,shoot and hunt with Nosler blems all the time.I have never had an issue with those.I bought some of the boxed over run bullets and found quite a few tarnished bullets unlike what I see in the bagged untarnished seconds.I too noticed the grade C Accubonds.They would be great for range use but I'd be a little skeptical for hunting use.I had some of the Accubonds that some of the tips were failling off.If you have several cartridges in the magazine when you fired the rifle,the recoil slams the cartridges forward in the magazine and sometimes would break the tips off.Even though the tips were broken,it really didn't affect the accuracy too much,but it could affect the way the bullet performs on game.Without the plastic tip,the bullet will act like a wide tipped hollow point bullet and would expand quickly upon impact.This might be the reason some people have called them Accubombs.The worse seconds I have purchased came from Midway.They were Hornady and Remington seconds.I never could hit a 2'x2' target with the Remingtons and the Hornady had horribly crooked tips.They were defiantly rejects,I would have been ashamed to sell them.

 

[Grumpy old man]

Hey from Western PA! 1st of all I'd like to thank you all. I have been reloading for years but only a member for a few. But have learned more in the few than all the rest.
I purchased a few boxes of (blemished) bullets. I was skeptical but. After inspecting and weighing I found nothing I would call a blemish. In fact the weights varied less than some regularly priced. Am I missing something?

I got some stinkers as blems first time so I stand clear ,tips were bad and weights varied 3 grs

 

[Fedwell]

I have been buying them from Midway for years, Mostly in 224 cal. I use them for PD Hunting where i shoot over a Hundred in an outing also find them to be a great savings in the AR 15s when my friends and Bro-inlaw Like to do Rapid fire. Just my 2c.



"Lets go Brandon"

 

[Chris Montana]

If you're going to practice shooting offhand at 25 yards, why waste first run bullets if you can buy something significantly cheaper? Perfect ammo is only part of the equation.

 

[sfdoc2000]

I recently purchased 500 "blemished" bullets from Midway, That from the picture on the advertisement looked like Berger bullets. This was the 140 grain 6.5 mm bullet. When they arrived I noticed that the meplats were somewhat different so I sorted them based on weight, meplat appearance and Ogive distance based on my bullet comparator. I found there were three different types of bullets in the lot. Some turned out to be the 140 grain Berger Elite Hunter, some turned out to be 140 grain VLD Match, and some turned out to be 140 grain VLD Hunter. There were also some cosmetic coloring blemishes but nothing serious. So far, they appear to shoot just as well as their first line counterparts.