I bought loose ammo

[Sentryau2]

I bought loose ammo 50rds for 5$ of 9mm. A guy had a bag of ammunition for sale he sold his handgun so wanted to get rid of the ammo. Now I was looking at the rounds and they have different headstamps and it appears one round is either a lighter 115 gr bullet or set too far in the casing.
Which does it look like to you? I won't be firing this roun
Also is it OK for the round to have an odd crimping mark in the middle of the brass like this?

 

[Sentryau2]

Odd crimp mark?

 

[M-Cameron]

eh, if you bought a bag of loose rounds......with mismatched headstamps, and odd looking crimps.......i would automatically assume they are reloads and would avoid shooting them at all costs.

 

[Barry the Bear]

I agree, 5 bucks ain't worth the hundreds or even thousands (depending on gun make) the guns worth or even more important your safety.

 

[jakk280rem]

That odd crimp mark is pretty normal on factory ammo. You see it a lot on 38 and 357. As fast as the short round goes it could just be a light bullet. A 115 next to a 127 or 147 might look a little diminutive. I can tell you, if that "odd crimp mark" is present on a majority of the ammo, it bodes well. If it were reloaded or remanufactured, it would be mostly removed through the firing and resizing process.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

As a rule I never put anything through my guns I don't know the origin of. I especially avoid bag-o-rounds at all costs! As others have said it is not worth saving a few dollars over ruining a $400+ pistol.

 

[Twiki357]

They may be just fine, but is a few bucks worth the risk of damage to your gun. Pull them apart, dump the powder and use the primed brass and bullet to reload so you know it’s safe.

 

[goon]

Wait til the next ammo panic and resell them for $15.
(Let the buyer know that you have no idea where the rounds came from.)

 

[rondog]

Send 'em to me, I'll shoot 'em up and tell you how they did!

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

The "odd crimp mark" looks to be a wrinkle because whoever loaded it didn't have his press set correctly. You bought reloads, probably from someone who was trying to learn and discovered that he couldn't.......... Pull the bullets and reuse the casings, except for the one with the wrinkle....

 

[Ironicaintit]

Yeah, i wouldnt fire those. Part them out and rebuild!

 

[goon]

That mark on the case is a crimp from the factory. I see them mostly on older .38 Special ammo, but it's not a idiot mark from a reload. They may still be reloads, but they might also be factory from several a different lots or brands. When you buy or trade for loose stuff, you never really know. But the mark around the brass is a factory crimp at least.

Take a look at the attached pic. It's Federal factory loaded 158 grain JHP .357 Magnum. Note that all the rounds have a similar crimp on the casing just like those. The crimp usually survives reloads though, so it's still a wild guess on yours.

 

[joem1945]

Pul them down for components, the reload them, trash the powder.

 

[MechAg94]

I bought a bag of loose 223 ammo once. I had one round I needed to extract from my AR without firing. The bullet stayed in the chamber, but everything else came out and spilled powder all inside the receiver. A pain to clean out.