factory seconds for hunting

[porkchop401]

I am going on a last minute elk hunt with a 300wm that I have not worked up a load for and at the moment I only have some nosler 200gr partition factory seconds on hand. Should I use em or just wait a week for something better?Anybody know of problems with factory seconds?I have H1000 to push them with out of a 26" tube.

 

[FEENIX]

I am going on a last minute elk hunt with a 300wm that I have not worked up a load for and at the moment I only have some nosler 200gr partition factory seconds on hand. Should I use em or just wait a week for something better?Anybody know of problems with factory seconds?I have H1000 to push them with out of a 26" tube.

Most of the factory seconds are simply cosmetic, i.e blemishes, etc ... and should not affect the overall performance.

I have a few hundred Nosler 150 .277 LRABs bullets that was labeled factory seconds and only a few had blemishes that cleaned right off when I tumbled it (did it just for kicks ).

 

[Barrelnut]

I have had accuracy issues with Factory "blemish" from Midway. I had serious accuracy issues. I sorted them and found dumfounding differences in weight and bearing lengths. Even after sorting I had issues. Someone said that the seconds were from the test runs they do when setting up for a production run. I don't know. I will never touch them again. Wast of time and money for me. You may have better luck as Feenix has. They seem to be a crap shoot.

 

[jimbires]

as feenix said these are only cosmetic blemishes . I have 7mm 160 accubond seconds . these were made with red plastic tips , instead of the normal white tip . if they didn't have the different color tip I couldn't tell them from their first quality bullets .they fly just like first grade bullets , and I've shot an elk and a few whitetails with them , no problems . I sure wouldn't be afraid of them .

 

[Barrelnut]

as feenix said these are only cosmetic blemishes . I have 7mm 160 accubond seconds . these were made with red plastic tips , instead of the normal white tip . if they didn't have the different color tip I couldn't tell them from their first quality bullets .they fly just like first grade bullets , and I've shot an elk and a few whitetails with them , no problems . I sure wouldn't be afraid of them .

That's what I got from Midway 2 years ago. Blemished Accubonds with red tips. Only mine were in .257. I think a blemish can go deeper than a little cosmetic difference. I think the red tip is an indication that the bullets were produced from test runs. They do it to visually identify the bullets created from test runs. Otherwise, if just a hand sorted/machine sorted blemish from a production line, they would have the white tips.

 

[mtwarych]

Factory seconds purchased from Shooters pro shop are Nosler firsts that have marks or are discolored in some way. I have not had a problem with any I have purchased from them.

On the other hand, the blems I have purchased from Midway are just crap. I have found slugs that were way out of weight, round and length. I won't buy any more of them.

Shoot the Noslers with no worries.

 

[porkchop401]

Well fellas this kinda puts me at ease, I will see if I can get a reasonable grouping load with them .

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I've purchased plenty of them from SPS. Some of my tightest groups fired at 300 yds were obtained with Accubond & Partition "blems". Oddly enough, I've never seen a blem on any of the bullets that I purchased. They all look like "firsts".
However, I will always use factory fresh bullets when hunting if they are available.
Don't like to leave anything to chance.

 

[jimbires]

That's what I got from Midway 2 years ago. Blemished Accubonds with red tips. Only mine were in .257. I think a blemish can go deeper than a little cosmetic difference. I think the red tip is an indication that the bullets were produced from test runs. They do it to visually identify the bullets created from test runs. Otherwise, if just a hand sorted/machine sorted blemish from a production line, they would have the white tips.

I called and talked to a guy at shooters pro shop before I bought these . it was my first purchase and I didn't know what to expect . I was told these bullets with the red tips were made for a company that sells factory load ammo. he would not say what brand ammo . . this company specified they wanted a red tip . so what ever company loads bonded bullet ammo with a red tip is who ordered these . nosler ran more than was needed and the extra got sold as blems . I doubt you bought nosler bullets from midway since nosler has their own outlet store , shooters pro shop . when I've looked at the blems midway sells the 7mm were the odd weights 139 gr , 154 gr these weights seem to correspond with hornady bullet weights .

 

[Barrelnut]

I called and talked to a guy at shooters pro shop before I bought these . it was my first purchase and I didn't know what to expect . I was told these bullets with the red tips were made for a company that sells factory load ammo. he would not say what brand ammo . . this company specified they wanted a red tip . so what ever company loads bonded bullet ammo with a red tip is who ordered these . nosler ran more than was needed and the extra got sold as blems . I doubt you bought nosler bullets from midway since nosler has their own outlet store , shooters pro shop . when I've looked at the blems midway sells the 7mm were the odd weights 139 gr , 154 gr these weights seem to correspond with hornady bullet weights .

Thanks. I'm starting to see the light now.

 

[WildRose]

I am going on a last minute elk hunt with a 300wm that I have not worked up a load for and at the moment I only have some nosler 200gr partition factory seconds on hand. Should I use em or just wait a week for something better?Anybody know of problems with factory seconds?I have H1000 to push them with out of a 26" tube.

If they shoot well in your rifle shoot them. If they don't try some of the Hornady with either the Interbond or Interlock. The Hornady factory ammo has shot well for me in all three of my 300wm's.

 

[WildRose]

I called and talked to a guy at shooters pro shop before I bought these . it was my first purchase and I didn't know what to expect . I was told these bullets with the red tips were made for a company that sells factory load ammo. he would not say what brand ammo . . this company specified they wanted a red tip . so what ever company loads bonded bullet ammo with a red tip is who ordered these . nosler ran more than was needed and the extra got sold as blems . I doubt you bought nosler bullets from midway since nosler has their own outlet store , shooters pro shop . when I've looked at the blems midway sells the 7mm were the odd weights 139 gr , 154 gr these weights seem to correspond with hornady bullet weights .

Yep, the red tips are Hornady and those are their 7mm weights.