Great Customer Service from CCI/Speer

[Ken Rainey]

I decided to try the aluminum cased Blazer .45 Auto cartridges a few weeks ago and got a 1000 rd case....when I took some of them out for a quick visual inspection I noticed that a few appeared to be set back in the case...so, I whipped out the trusty calipers and started measuring OAL.....sure enough, a few of them were way too short.

I sent an email to CCI/Speer on 3-18-08 telling what OAL's I had found and asked for the minimum accepted OAL......I received a reply from a Ms Linda Olin on 3-19-08 stating that they should be within +/- .015 of 2.260 OAL and that if I would return the ones not to specification that they would replace them and send some extra for my shipping expenses. Checking again, I found that I had 37 that dropped below the 2.245 minimum OAL so I emailed again with a specific round count and Ms Olin responded that since it was only that many to not bother sending them back and that she'd send out a couple of boxes, one to replace the ones that were too short and a box for my trouble...

Got'em today! Thanks again Linda Olin

 

[Neener Neener]

Great to hear! These are the kind of stories that make me buy a certain brand next time I go out and shop.

 

[sniper350]

What you have experienced with the bullet set back ..........unfortunately is a common occurance with Blazer ammo.

I too bought a 1,000 round case and had to go through and remove the "dangerous rounds". I called CCI to make them aware of the problem so that maybe they could solve what looked like a packing problem??

The told me to send the ammo back ..........which amounted to about one box similiar to what you found. It cost me $6 to ship and about 40 minutes of my time driving to the UPS store plus Gas. They sent me two boxes, just like you. It cost me about $12 in time & money [shipping] and gas for what cost CCI about $3 a box to make . It cost them $6 total for their sloppiness and cost me $12 to rectify the situation. Whats wrong with that picture.

When I called their customer service ........ I was told it was up to the BUYER to make sure the ammo they shoot from CCI is SAFE !! I was floored when I heard this [ got the e-mail to prove it ] ............when I protested that the buyer is not always able to know what is safe or not ......... I was told by customer service that I should probably look to buy my ammo elsewhere !!

I have saved all the e-mails should anyone doubt that CCI could care less about the bullet "set back" problems.

So buyer beware !! Check all your CCI ammo .............because the company certainly expects you too ............. Don't own calipers ?? I guess that's tough. Yes I check each round I load into a magazine - I always have.

To that customer service rep that told me to go elsewhere for ammo ........for almost 35 years I have bought Blazer ammo to the tune of tens of thousands of rounds ......... so now I have taken his advise & done just that.


JF.

 

[loop]

I reload - don't care what cheap ammo sells for or how they service it.

I know the folks at CCI though. They are really good people and take care of problems very quickly.

Hey sniper, you bought tens of thousands of rounds and don't reload? Really?

I shot 3,000 rounds last month and not one was a factory round.

BTW, bullet setback is a really minor problem if pressures are kept within proper limits. It is one of the parameters I use to determine functionality of my reloads.

If it sits back a 1/4 inch it may be a problem. If it simply doesn't mic right it means nothing. The pressure parameters established by a manufacturer are are incredibly sloppy. They have to account for the oldest, cheapest gun ever made in that caliber.

Guess if I had an antique or a really crappy gun I'd worry about it.

Oh, but I only shoot match-grade target guns...

*** do I know.

 

[mccook8]

Yep, they're real nice folks.

When a double charge in a Blazer .357 round blew up my Taurus 66 about 20 years ago, I sent them a nasty-gram, and they were kind enough to send me a coupon for a free box of Blazer ammo.

I never redeemed it, needless to say.

They make some fine components, though. I just don't trust them to assemble them.

YMMV

 

[Ken Rainey]

I reckon it "may" just depend on who you talk to at CCI....I got a good one with some common sense and very polite too = Ms Linda Olin.

sniper350, yep, she started out wanting me to ship mine back also and told me what to write on the box, etc.....but after I emailed back with the "less than a box" round count and....yes, I did try to very politely indicate that it wasn't worth me going to the trouble to ship it back by UPS for just "replacement" ammo without saying it and thankfully, Ms Olin picked up on it and just offered to send out a box for replacement and a box for my trouble. If I would have had to send any back, I would have followed up with an email detailing my "total expense" for doing so and I "think" that they (she) would have sent enough ammo to compensate for that as well.

loop, I reload most of my .45 ammo too, that's one of the reasons I look so close at whatever I buy.....one of the bullets was set back to an OAL of only 1.184 (one of three less than 1.20), eight was less than 1.30, twelve less than 1.24 and fourteen less than 1.245 for a total of 37 that was less than the accepted 1.245 OAL......the factory ammo can't hold a candle to what accuracy my reloads can do, but I like to (have to, for my store) keep some on hand for a "just in case" situation...

mccook8, don't know what all was said twenty years ago, but seems to me that they would have had to replace your revolver in the end....after they examined it and the cartridge case, etc., etc.....

In business dealings, I've always found that it makes the most difference in how I come across as to what kind of response I get - not always, there's always gonna be someone that has a "don't care about you" attitude... but 90% of the time, If I'm polite, I get a polite response. Ms Linda Olin was one of the nice ones. If anyone has any need to correspond with CCI, I suggest that you address it to her.....and tell her Ken said Hi !

 

[BsChoy]

What you have experienced with the bullet set back ..........unfortunately is a common occurance with Blazer ammo

Sniper350, my dept shoots nothing but blazer ammo for quals and we put thousands of rounds downrange twice a year and I have never seen this problem. Could you elaborate on bullet setback and how often you find it.