Nosler Seconds

[Barrelnut]

Read somewhere that the blems were actually bullets made while setting up the equipment for a different product run. These bullets are usually not perfect and usually have ogive and or weight variances.
I bought some 25 cal 110 Hornady seconds one time from Midway. They had pretty big weight variance. They were supposed to be Interbonds. They had a cannelure. Think they were made for factory ammo. They shot bad. Swore them off after that. Would have been fine for 100 yard hunting rounds though.
Would be tempted to try Nosler seconds though...

 

[hunter67wa]

Been shooting Nosler seconds and they work great. shhhhh!

 

[Jluck]

Been shooting Nosler seconds and they work great. shhhhh!

Lies! Don't trust this guy or buy the low class seconds! Leave them for bottom feeders...

 

[Varmint Hunter]

To be clear: I have shot quite a few Nosler "blems" and have generally had good luck with them on paper. The off-color tips or oddly placed cannalure that doesn't exist on 1st production Nosler bullets never bothered me.

However, several batches of bullets had absolutely NO blemish of any kind (or any other irregularity) and appeared exactly the same as 1st production bullets. Nosler does sell "over runs" but these bullets were discounted out and sold as "blems". It's reasonable to assume that Nosler had a good reason for not boxing them up and selling them as 1st production bullets or "over runs". It certainly wasn't because they were blemished.

I've still got some "blems" on the bench and will use them but I don't work up loads or hunt with them. FWIW, I shoot far more Nosler bullets than any other brand.

Just sayin".

 

[window licker]

My partner and I won the RTC series, tac class,shooting blem 77 grain RDFs. Our scores would have have registered 2 6th place finishes, and a 4th in the open class, we only shot three matches. I even asked nosler to make more blems, but they put us on the pro discount so it didnt matter.

 

[Groot]

I maybe the only one whos had issues with seconds but the first and only time I ever bought factory seconds a quarter of them had significantly deformed tips or no tip at all. This was from midway. They appeared to be 55 grain Sierra blitzkings so I ordered 400 and after sorting 100 of them had issues. I had been under the impression that blems were mainly cosmetic but perhaps it was a fluke experience. When your counting on performance the bullet is the last thing Id want to skimp on, will you really know exactly what you are getting with seconds? Even if the appearance is ideal, mechanically it could be flawed. I would pay the extra 10

 

[stephenthesuave]

I bought some 150 e-tips (.308) last year to shoot in my .300wm. I couldn't see blemishes on them and they shot sub-MOA without much drama so I was very happy.

Fast forward to a few months before a trip to Wyoming this past October and I needed some more but couldn't wait for the blems to restock. When I bought the "1st quality", they had a different ogive and I had to adjust seating depth and shoot a half a box of them to get dialed back in. I didn't really compare weights but I can do a comparison now since I have a few of each.

So no complaints about the quality of the blems, but it alerted me to the fact that I can't just do load work with blems and then switch over to normal for hunting without doubling my efforts somewhat. Probably didn't end up saving much money when I consider the extra shooting and loading.

 

[Casimirblue]

I've had some mixed results , but its more likely the gun not liking them or me not taking enough development time.
I do however use the 77rdf's seconds for my practice gun and ar. I bulk load them on the Dillon and they are good to 600 yds. After that the bulk loading practices catch up with you.

 

[Bret GRAVELINE Graveline]

When you buy a box of "blem" bullets but there isn't a single blemish anywhere, you've gotta wonder why they are farming them out at a discount.
I shot a bunch of them for awhile but that nagging question convinced me that they weren't worth the savings and barrel wear. If you couldn't get the bullet to group; is it because of the powder, charge, oal, primer, or "the blem"? When working up a load I want to be confident that the bullet is as consistent as possible while I work with all the other variables.
Using a "blem" for hunting wouldn't even be a consideration.

Nosler sell's the seconds to the public for the same price they sell the 1st at wholesale, only a very small percent has a blem, 2 to 3 percent, they are removed from a conveyer belt, several non-blems will be removed during the sorting process, if you look you will find smudges and discoloration a deformed tip or missing tip, they perform just as intended on game,
on a side note Ive had four partition failures over the years and they were all 1st's

 

[GLTaylor]

Only issues are already stated.
Appearance, wt variations bullet to bullet (must wt sort), variations in ogive location
I use them for fire forming.

 

[Gater]

Has anyone had any performance issues on game from Nosler seconds? I got to get more 142LRAB and the seconds are $10 a box cheaper on Shooters Pro Shop than the normal ones.

Thanks
idcwby

Practice sure for a hunt I wouldn't take the risk for $10 bucks

 

[D Scott]

Has anyone had any performance issues on game from Nosler seconds? I got to get more 142LRAB and the seconds are $10 a box cheaper on Shooters Pro Shop than the normal ones.

Thanks
idcwby

I have never had any problems with them, I live only a few minutes from the store, accuracy has always great with a good load, and good terminal performance

 

[Johnny blade]

I shoot the partitions and I've never had a problem.

 

[xsn10s]

Would a blemish cause an issue with the bonding of the bullet? Would do they consider blemishes?

idcwby

Any bonding issues get sent to the bullet crusher. The AB's have to go through a washing process that some times leaves stains or water spots. Those get deemed as cosmetic blems and sent to 2nds. Some times over runs get deemed as 2nds also.