remington ammo = junk
 

I lost a nice deer due to cheep ass corelokts today, pulled the trigger and gun went snap. Just as I was about to wrap my new ruger around a tree I decided to look at the cartridge, good thing I didnt hit that tree. The primer on the cartridge was setting way to far in. The primer was just barely struck by the firing pin. Guys I have been a Remington fan for years but never again will I buy their cheap shells for anything serious like hunting.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

That just plain sucks! I've been using Remington's CoreLokt's to take deer and target practice for years and I've been lucky enough to never have one misfire with 'em in any of my rifles. Wolf ammo on the other hand I've had 3 misfires over the years, but that's another story. I really think it's horrible that Remington would let something like that slip through the line and end up on the shelf. I've always given the bullet the once over before hitting the field but I think from now on I'll be checking that primer too. You should contact Remington and make them aware of the problem.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

That most certainly is a shame.[:@] I've had good luck at the target range with Remington factory ammo but have never hunted with anything other than reloads. I do plan to try out my reloaded .30-06, 165 grain CoreLokts on hogs next month. I am pretty careful at the reloading bench but after reading of your experience I am going to re-inspect my ammo, and probably cycle each hunting round through the action just to make sure it fits.

Hope you get another shot this season!

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Sorry for your bad luck but you must have gotten that one in a million bad shell. I've never used anything but Corelockts for hunting and never had a problem.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Maybe next time you should think to check the ammo you're gonna' load before you take to the woods? :eek:

Been using Remington Core-Lokts for years - no problems in the field or on the range.
But heh, when you make millions of rounds each year I suppose it's bound to happen that a few will not be up to par.
BTW, if you get so mad at such little things that you're going to wrap your rifle around a
tree - DON'T. Just send it my way. :D

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

I quit using Remington centerfire ammo 15 years ago after having a dud. I pulled the trigger on a 10 pointer, standing broadside at about 65 yards. I know this can happen with any ammo, but for centerfire ammo, the Remington Corlokt is the only one that has ever done it to me.

I use Hornady now and am very happy.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

never had a problem with remington express corelokts ever. just about every deer ive killed was with core lokts except for the 2 exceptions one i killed with winchester ballistic silvertips and another with PMC's sierra BTHP gameking loading.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

What do you mean when you say the primer was set too far in? I've been reloading for several years and I didn't know you could push it in too far. I've had them not seated deep enough so I seat them deeper. Please explain.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Yet another satisfied Remington customer. Dont bother to contact Remington they DO NOT CARE! As posted in the Tasco repair thread I have a row.........yes a row of Remington Core Lokt duds from my 270 and 35 rem. sitting here at my desk to constantly remind me of the screwing I took. I have 3 270 rounds and 5 35 rem rounds set up like little soldiers. I wrote and called the company with lot #'s and such, all I got was a "we will look into it" response on the phone. Unlike your dud, mine are struck hard with good solid dents and no Kaboom. BAD PRIMERS! the only thing I will ever use Remington for in the future is the brass to reload. Considering that I shoot alot (in excess of 400 rounds a year) they have lost alot of money on me in the past 3 years. I sure wish there was a way to check that before I go to the woods. No more for me thanks.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Barnes, deep primer seating if pretty common for reloaders. Most of the time the pockets are cut too deep. For reloaders, I made the mistake also, and cut them too deep by using a primer wisk in a drill to clean out the primer pockets. Don't do that anymore.

Sorry about your deer. Any manufacturing process is flawed, cause humans run it. You should have looked over your ammo however. I know I do. I have to agree remington makes some crappy ammo. Just take out your calibers and measure overall length. Or take your spend brass, and measure neck thickness or buy a batch of coreloks and wiegh them for consistency. But for 90% of hunters, this ammo is very adequate as shots will be very close.

I find Federal to be superior. Even the Winchester Sepreme.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

I have used Remington shotguns all my life for birds, small game, & deer. I have had no luck at all with Remington ammo. I find it to be very inconsistant. I have been a firm beleiver that Remington firearms are made for Federal ammo. I use nothing but Federal for small game birds and slugs for deer. The only Remington ammo that I found superior to any other is there Hevi-Shot for geese. The shell are the stateof the art load. Being a hard core goose hunter I have tried them all. This Hevi-Shot load is the best on the market.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

I been shooting Core Lokts for more than 10 years an never had a problem with them. I have taken deer at 300+ yards and find the ammo fairly good.

I switched to Federal Premium just last year not because misfires or poor accuracy but jus because I ran out of ammo and the only available ammo that day was Federal. Now I have mi deer rifel sighted with federals and is gonna stay like that as the rifle seem to like it better.

I think there is no need to throw such %$#"!# to remington. After all, you get what you paid for........

Just my 2 cents

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

I just did a little math on the subject "You get what you pay for" A box of Winchester 35's carry a ticket of $16.95 in these parts. A box of Remington Core Lokt goes for $15.99. That makes it (rounded up) .90 per shot on the Winny's and .80 per shot on the Remmies. BUT! when you take out the 3 rounds I had in ONE box that did not go boom the Remmies suddenly jump up to .94 per shot and a ton of aggrevation. I think that what irks me the most was the response or absolute lack there of from the folks at Remington. Left me with the impression of "Tough $&*T, Chew Harder. So there it is, you get what you pay for.................but I at least expect to be kissed after I get, well you know what I mean.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

you could look at it the other way though. was it the ammo or was it the gun? if the fireing pin is weak it may shoot 200 rounds but have 1 that won't go off.

not a big core lokt fan but think about how many rounds they pump out in a year. sooner or later one of those rounds are going to be duds.

also was your ammo brand new? or has it been laying around? it could have picked up residue and you just didn't notice. is your gun older? some times you will find that older guns have weak fireing pins, some new rifles can also have weak fireing pins.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Yea, I have to agree with some on here. If you have three duds in a box, chances are you might have some headspaceing issues. Not too uncommon. If I was you Rod, I would take that gun to a gunsmith and have a no-go gauge put in it. 3 rounds out of a box? I don't like thier ammo any more than the next guy, but I have shot thousands and used kleenbore primers for too long to hear that.

Sure you might get some ammo with different shoulder lengths and mask the problem, but you might be just that masking a problem.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

I've had 2 duds on the firing range from rem. 30-06. My biggest gripe is they don't seem to put the powder in them that the others do. I have found this in the '06 and .243 win. cg

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

In 1989 I had a buddy have a corelokt misfire when he was shooting a nice 8 point standing right in a scrape. I've been shooting Fed Premium since then with no issues, and their 150 grain 30-06 boat-tail has performed well EVERY time. I had an earlier post where I mentioned I was thinking of shooting the managed-recoil stuff this year, but I've now reconsidered and will stick to the Feds. After all, I can never remember the recoil after shooting a deer anyway-

I'll probably open a can of worms by saying this, but in my opinion you should always shoot premium loads of some type with the best bullets you can possibly afford. After all, by the time gun season rolls around I usually have 2-3 deer in the freezer, so at most I'll be shooting at one or 2 deer during gun season...I can afford the extra 40 or 50 cents per shot.

My father in law has a great philospohy when it comes to this- he takes one pheasant trip per year that costs a bunch of money- if he has to spend a couple of extra bucks per box on premium pheasant loads, it adds very little to the overall cost of the trip-

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Mastinson You may want to check your firing pin and spring. I have shot thousands of rounds from assorted ammo manufacturers, including Remington, and have never had a misfire. You may have oil buildup around the spring or firing pin or maybe just a weak spring. I would check this out before you go out again.
Good Hunting...;)

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Guys, you are only reading part of the threads. There was a hefty dent in the primer on all of the rounds that didnt go. Believe me it is not the gun as my gunz are ALWAYS spotless. I dont oil my gear like alot of others (drop here drop there) I take them down to parade rest and wipe each piece with an oily cloth so "buildup" isnt an issue. The ammo was less than 1 year old as I shoot alot and cant seem to hang onto it very long. That is another reason I have started reloading. The ammo is always stored in a 50 cal military box with desicant packs in a conditioned space. With the 35's the lot numbers were not the same but had 3 out of 1 box and 2 out of another. The 270 rounds were out of 1 box. Prior to this I had access to ammo on the dealer level and had 25 boxes (this lasted 3 years) of the PMC in 35 Remington. Sure wish I could have that back as it shot great out of all 3 of my 35's and its the cheapest ammo available, I paid less than $8 a box and never a misfire in those. I dont have a set of go-no go's but I dont think its a headspace problem or I should see some signs in the brass during the measure/inspect process prior to the reload, all 3 are pretty much the same. Again all the rounds had very good pin hits. Whatever, you will NEVER see remington factory ammo in this house less the 22 rimfire.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Well I have had a cup of joe and read my earlier post above and it appears that I have not read the entire thread as well. Snipers comments were not directed to me and I do apologize. Just get pretty worked up with the Remington ammo issue. We all have our favorites and opinions and I will put this to rest and finish skinning the 7 pointer hanging in the garage.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Also my math sucks as the cost of the Winchesters is .85 p/shot...really do need to come to grips that the reading glasses are becoming more and more a permenant fixture.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Must be the polish in ya:D How is going Rod...Coming down to Somerset this year?

I've shot probably 10 boxes of Rem Core-lokt's out of my 30/.06 with out a failure. I have since switched to Win Ballistic Silvers and I'm glad I did.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

BEFORE i proclaimed "any" ammo junk, i'd want to pull that round apart and have a look see!! (i'm NOT saying you don't have a bad round though)

There are many things that can, and does cause miss fires. Most common one i've seen is a fireing pin that doesn't strike hard enough EVERY time. The most common reason i've seen for this happen, has been, sticky oil ect.. inside the bolt "slowing down" the fireing pin!!

Now, for junk ammo: I have a small box full of factory ammo that could be classified as "junk" useing the origional posters words....

I'm going to name a few here, Federal shot shells with the primer in sideways and crushed, Winchester 44 mag shell with the primer upsidedown, Winchester 44 mag shell with a primer ect.., but NO FLASH HOLE! Winchester 458 win mag ammo, with the bullet seated so crooked, it wouldn't even chamber! I have many many more!!

I picked on Win. here a bit, because it was Rem. that was called junk in this post.

Point i'm trying to make is, EVERY mfg turns out some "junk" every once in a while!!!

I'd be checking the gun over thoroughly though, because it's more common for the gun to be the problem than the ammo!!

Drilling Man

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Hey JJ! Yes I will be at Somerset in booth J20. I will have once again the full line of Temple Fork rods and some sweet package deals I am putting together. The new TFO TiCr-X is a monster of a rod in the hands of an experienced caster. Not to forgiving if you blow the timing. Ya gotta check em out. I am also doing the College Park, Marlboro mass, Wilmington Mass, Waynesboro Va. and the new Rhode Island show. Gonna be a busy couple of months

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Big country before i started reloading for my 308, i think i might have mentioned it to you before but I used remington express .308 150 grain core lokts, the quote cheap junky ammo some have said in this thread. I would zero my .308 2 inches high at 100 yards would roughly put me dead on at 200 yards but at 100 yards this ammo would hold 1 inch groups or less and my best 200 yard group was 1.75 inches which is plenty accurate for hunting applications. Those core lokts also have been responsible for two 300+ yard whitetail 1 shot kills for me too. Im sorry some of you dont like them but as for me I will keep using them as they have been good for me. and I will continue to use the brass for reloading aswell. I also keep a box of them as back ups since my reloads and the core lokts have a point of impact within an inch of eachother at 100 yards. just wanted to put another 2 cents into this thread

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Rod, a heafty dent around the primer is a sign of excessive headspace. Another is loose primer pockets and primers falling out. Hey man, your happy thats all that matters.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

rod smith with that 270 it could very well be a headspacing issue but with a 35 remington it shouldn't be since its a rimmed case. whats the make and model of those guns? Ive heard of problems with marlins in the past that were chambered in 35 remington that had problems with detonating primers a buddy of mine had this problem with his turned out to be the hammer spring lost its tension.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

HDW, The guns are in fact Marlins, both are 336CS Mfgr dates are 1984 and 1991 I believe. Only 1 of the duds failed in the newer of the gunz. The 270 is the Rem 760 pump. Here is the thing, the duds all happened within a 2 week period with ammo purchased at the same time at the same shop. After the problem I made it a point to shoot off all the Rem ammo I had and make the switch. Havn't had a dud from that date on. Now I am not one to put on blinders and avoid a possible problem, how do I check for hammer tension? BigCountry, the dents are in or near the center of the primers not around it, sorry if that was misleading. In either case I have started to reload now that I have all this Rem $ PMC brass and it may take some time but I will get the proper loads for my gunz. Also have to work up a nice load for the new 336D, also in 35..yeah I do like that round for the NE whitetails.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

NOT true!!!

Yes, it headspaces on the rim, BUT, if the breech block sets back, it can create excessive headspace!!

A friend of mine, had a Win 94 in 30-30 that was misfireing. Gunsmith first replaced the fireing pin, that didn't fix it, then he realized the breech block had too much play in it, and there was excessive head space!!

Drilling Man

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

With the comment "The primer on the cartridge was setting way to far in. The primer was just barely struck by the firing pin.", I would guess it is a defective primer that is missing the anvil, the primer pocket was cut too deep OR possibly the primer cup too short.

With the sheer volume of ammunition ALL manufacturers put out, EVERYONE WILL GET defective fliers of one sort or another on occasion. It's simple probability and statistics. The only thing that could possibly make one manufacturers ammunition less prone to defects is greater process controls and preventative maintenance on their equipment. This costs money... which you pay for eventually at the sporting goods store when you buy a box of more expensive rounds. With 'expensive' rounds, there will EVEN STILL be some defective rounds over the course of a couple million loads but probably less in number than with the 'cheap' rounds.

I don't believe in the old addage 'you get what you pay for' when it comes to ammunition. Hence, I load my own and inspect every component of every shell at some stage in the game. Just because a box of Brand X shells may cost $100 doesn't mean there isn't 20 duds in there.

To the guy that said Remington doesn't put as much powder in their shells - this is likely by design. Different powders have different maximum charges (not to imply that any manufacturer uses a max charge in any factory load). The powder that Remington uses for a particular load is probably different from that used by Winchester for their equivalent load and Federal even different yet (I'm sure of this seeing as how dirty Federal factory loads are when fired). Brass volume is different between manufacturers, too.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

i wont use em anymore except as for cheap ammo to whack groundhogs with...i had bad luck with them in the passed....i hit my second deer with the round nose 180s..i was 13..didnt buy the ammo...god only knows why dad bought them....it was less then 10 from me...ive never had a hole that big....i could put my fist in the exit....never saw such a thing....that wasnt bad...then the next year i went to PSP 165gr bullets....youth doe hunt....doe walkes down the trail like it was supposed to....i stop it....line up.....BOOM....jumps adn takes off....ya its going down.......never found it.....VERY VERY skimpy blood for maybe 30yds then NOTHING.....NOTHING to be found in 3 more hrs of searching this little set of woods....dad was a bow hunter from way back and knows about tracking deer...ive had guys that really dont like my dad much tell me that he was a heck of a bow hunter....next deer was in rifle season..lined everything up...BOOM....deer runs off...ONE drop of blood found....that was IT.....followed scuffles in the leaves for a little ways till she meet up with the herd and we lost them...i dont know if the bullets were basically exploding on impact or what...thats my guess...both deer were close...30yds and about 50yds...from a 3006....shooting groundhogs this summer with that ammo showed some nasty stuff...my friend was shooting balistic tips in a 260 and my 3006 was doing more damage....im not hunting anything important with remington ammo anymore....ive never seen a 3006 not leave blood exspecially at close range.....heck ive never had one go 30yds...makes me sick to think about them deer.....premium ammo only for me now.......ever since.....leave the cheap stuff for the groundhogs....

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

You could put the word premium in front of any brand name shell, charge an extra 5$ a box, and people would buy them whether they actually performed better or not. If they didn't perform, people would find some other peice of equipment to blame it on, cause it couldn't have been the "premium" ammo.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

I got on the premium ammo train a few years back like everyone seems to be doing nowadays, I always used remington core lokts in my 308 and have always had good performance and accuracy with them and every deer ive shot with them ran no more the 30 or 40 yards with good thick blood trails execpt my very first deer i shot at was a horrible quartering shot and all i hit was its hind left leg in the thigh with a core lokt it ran a 1/4 mile before i found it. But one year I decided to use some quote premium ammo, Winchester ballistic silvertips because a salesman convinced me that they were "so much better" then what i was using.
on the range my core lokts held tighter groups then the silvertips did but i decided to use them anyway because i was thinking it was pushing a better bullet. The deer i shot with the ballistic silvertips was a 50 yard quartering shot with no good shots openings to the vitals i decided to go for a neck shot i pulled the trigger and the deer cart wheeled forward landed on its back got up ran 10 yards and collapsed. I was thinking wow these bullets really are kick butt i never had a deer do that before, I inspected the deers neck for an entrance but never found one though there was a heck of a exit hole in the front of its neck while field dressing the deer I noticed where the bullet went in, it hit low I had what they call a texas heart shot on my hands what mess that ballsitic tip turned all of its insides into bloody stinking mess of bowls blood and guts. I suppose i cant blame the bullet but after that I went back to core lokts and have killed 5 deer with them since. I still have 2 full boxes of winchester 168 grain ballistic silvertips I never intend to use I figured i might pop them off for the brass to reload them but at 25 dollars a box that I spent i cant push myself to do that.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Highdesert, for me, deer is not the issue for terminal peformance. Just about any bullet out there is a great deer bullet. I look for accuracy. And usually Coreloks are all over the place. You try wieghting them, or measuring the ogive in reference to the tip, or check out velocity spreads. They are all over the place. For a 308, a good dynamic load it won't matter. I know, I got a load/gun in 308 that would could vary the bullet wieght, have runout of .007", and vary the COL by .01" and still get 1.5" groups.

You might get great accuacy out of Coreloks, but I don't think cause you do means everyone does. I reload for a FN tactical rifle in 308 that shoots factory Coreloks under 1MOA with a flyer every so many groups. It shoots my 168gr matchkings and 44gr of Varget .5MOA. Is it worth it? You bet ya.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

oh heck, don't cry over that, is this the worst thing that could happen to you in a year. Probably not! However, I'm a remington fan and will always stick with my remington ammo and guns. That in my opinion is just bad luck, nothing more. That deer wasn't for you, unfortunitly.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

well fellas, gotta add my .02 worth, I work in a production factory, where we manufacture millions of "pieces" a year, I can tell you having a close working relationship with the Quality Control aspect of high speed manufacturing, that ALL companies have a measured defect "aceptable margin" its called parts per million defect or ppm for short. Now Im no Remington ammunition fan by any means (in fact I will never shoot them in any gun I own) BUT, in their/and other companies defense, when you roll out millions of pieces per year, and your process has a human factor in it, they know there will be bad pieces/lots. Its something they expect, and would drive the costs up to an outragous amount if every primer,casing,bullet and loaded cartridge were inspected, and even then it would be done by humans! Just trying to add a different perspective on the subject.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

My model 700 loves the core lokt. At 100 yds i had four shots touching and two an inch away. Which i know was my fault. I hit a bull elk at 390 yards and it did a good job on that. They have taken out 6 deer to date and not one failure. They are all i shoot because they are cheap and shoot good in my gun. Like mossyoak said, with mass production you are goin to have failure. It just happens. Especially when you buy a box of ammo that is $15 a box. Remington also makes a more expensive ammo. I dont think one problem is enough to say that Remington ammo is junk.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

Heres two targets to give everyone an idea of what kind of accuracy i get with core lokts. For cheaper line ammo I cannot complain at all and Ill stand behind them and keep using them Untill I'm proved otherwise.

RE: remington ammo = junk
 

I guess I don't understand HDW. Are you trying to claim everyone will get this kinda accuracy????????

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I have not used to many of them but they are very accurate in my 308. If fact nothing else I have tried even comes close. They have performed well for me.