Remington .223 Question

Fusion · March 29, 2013, 09:01 AM

I was at Dicks Sporting Goods today trying to get some .22 ammo. While there I also got some Remington 55 grain MC .223 ammo that they had to shoot in a buddies gun next time we go shooting. I opened the box which appeared to be sealed on both ends by some sort of glue or something just to look at the ammo. Upon opening it I noticed 18 cases had the normal gold colored primers and 2 had silver colored primers. All of the brass had the RP headstamp. I also noticed a ring around the bullets on all of them almost like a seating die sometimes leaves. Did Remington somehow get reloads mixed in here? Or are they just using whatever primers they can scrounge up right now? I just thought it was odd, but being that it was from Dicks and the box appeared to be sealed prior to me opening it, it seems unlikely that they would be reloads, but I'm wondering if I should shoot them?

Art Eatman · March 29, 2013, 09:28 AM

Oddball deal. I'd probably go ahead and shoot, although not necessarily expecting a tight group.

You could pull a bullet, I guess, to see if the powder charge looks to be about right for quantity. Or weigh it.

If a trip back to Dick's is no big deal, you could talk to them to see if others have had this sort of deal.

As a last resort, I guess you could call Remington, telling the first live person you get on the phone that it's a safety concern.

Hope you've kept the receipt...

allaroundhunter · March 29, 2013, 09:57 AM

Go ahead and shoot them. Don't expect match grade accuracy, but even if they all looked the same they would still be Remington UMC which are not known for exceptional groups. For plinking ammo, they will work just fine.

tahunua001 · March 29, 2013, 10:07 AM

if this were something like a factory reloader or smaller outfit like USA ammo or BVAC I would tell you to not worry about it but since it's one of the big 3(remington, winchester, ATK) I would heavily recommend calling and voicing a safety concern and getting the green light from them first. mixing primers is not common for major brands and I've even used that as a quick reference to tell whether something is a reload or what the head stamp says it is but making sure all the primers match.

for all you know this is the beginning of a safety recall because of some blunder at the factory.

Picher · March 30, 2013, 02:24 PM

I once bought a case of .223 Rem UMC FMJ and it didn't shoot great in my bolt-action. One day, I wanted some varmint ammo, so pulled the bullets on some UMC and replaced them with Sierra 55 grain spritzers and shot them for groups. They shot about 3/4" at 100 yards, while the UMC bullets in the same cases and powder charge shot only 1 1/2".

Fusion · April 1, 2013, 11:29 AM

I finally got a call back from Remington today and they informed me that it was safe to shoot. The lady on the phone claimed they put a "moly" coating on the primers for sealant and the just went a little crazy on the ones that are silver. Doesn't moly coating usually turn stuff black though? Anyway, she told me to take a pencil eraser and rub the primer and that it would get the coating off and become gold colored like the others. Sure enough, this it did. She seemed positive that it was safe to shoot.

big_ed · April 1, 2013, 07:20 PM

This post got my attention. Last fall I bought 3 boxes of 30-06 Remington Core-Lokt's. I just went and pulled the boxes of ammo and checked, all three had the same problem. Several rounds in each box I fired several groups out of 2 of the boxes (some of the rounds fired were the off color primers) and did not experience any accuracy issues.

March 29, 2013, 09:01 AM	#1
Fusion Senior Member Join Date: August 13, 2010 Posts: 429	Remington .223 Question I was at Dicks Sporting Goods today trying to get some .22 ammo. While there I also got some Remington 55 grain MC .223 ammo that they had to shoot in a buddies gun next time we go shooting. I opened the box which appeared to be sealed on both ends by some sort of glue or something just to look at the ammo. Upon opening it I noticed 18 cases had the normal gold colored primers and 2 had silver colored primers. All of the brass had the RP headstamp. I also noticed a ring around the bullets on all of them almost like a seating die sometimes leaves. Did Remington somehow get reloads mixed in here? Or are they just using whatever primers they can scrounge up right now? I just thought it was odd, but being that it was from Dicks and the box appeared to be sealed prior to me opening it, it seems unlikely that they would be reloads, but I'm wondering if I should shoot them?

March 29, 2013, 10:07 AM	#4
tahunua001 Senior Member Join Date: July 21, 2011 Location: Idaho Posts: 7,839	if this were something like a factory reloader or smaller outfit like USA ammo or BVAC I would tell you to not worry about it but since it's one of the big 3(remington, winchester, ATK) I would heavily recommend calling and voicing a safety concern and getting the green light from them first. mixing primers is not common for major brands and I've even used that as a quick reference to tell whether something is a reload or what the head stamp says it is but making sure all the primers match. for all you know this is the beginning of a safety recall because of some blunder at the factory. __________________ ignore my complete lack of capitalization. I still have no problem correcting your grammar. I never said half the stuff people said I did-Albert Einstein You can't believe everything you read on the internet-Benjamin Franklin

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March 29, 2013, 09:28 AM	#2
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	Oddball deal. I'd probably go ahead and shoot, although not necessarily expecting a tight group. You could pull a bullet, I guess, to see if the powder charge looks to be about right for quantity. Or weigh it. If a trip back to Dick's is no big deal, you could talk to them to see if others have had this sort of deal. As a last resort, I guess you could call Remington, telling the first live person you get on the phone that it's a safety concern. Hope you've kept the receipt...

March 29, 2013, 09:57 AM	#3
allaroundhunter Senior Member Join Date: May 6, 2012 Location: Southeast Texas Posts: 1,670	Go ahead and shoot them. Don't expect match grade accuracy, but even if they all looked the same they would still be Remington UMC which are not known for exceptional groups. For plinking ammo, they will work just fine.

March 30, 2013, 02:24 PM	#5
Picher Senior Member Join Date: December 14, 2004 Location: Maine Posts: 3,694	I once bought a case of .223 Rem UMC FMJ and it didn't shoot great in my bolt-action. One day, I wanted some varmint ammo, so pulled the bullets on some UMC and replaced them with Sierra 55 grain spritzers and shot them for groups. They shot about 3/4" at 100 yards, while the UMC bullets in the same cases and powder charge shot only 1 1/2".

April 1, 2013, 11:29 AM	#6
Fusion Senior Member Join Date: August 13, 2010 Posts: 429	I finally got a call back from Remington today and they informed me that it was safe to shoot. The lady on the phone claimed they put a "moly" coating on the primers for sealant and the just went a little crazy on the ones that are silver. Doesn't moly coating usually turn stuff black though? Anyway, she told me to take a pencil eraser and rub the primer and that it would get the coating off and become gold colored like the others. Sure enough, this it did. She seemed positive that it was safe to shoot.