The case of the curious Federal Ammo at Wal-Mart
Last weekend, I had to get some ammo and I went to Wal-Mart. I saw they had some Federal 230g 45ACP at only $15 a box. I bought it all. I did not notice that it was stamped Not for Law Enforcement Use. Interesting.
August 19th, 2010 at 8:52 am
I got some of that stuff, too. 9mm and .40. I’ll be shooting it this weekend and I’m curious too.
I suspect that the powder is low grade and doesn’t burn as quickly as it should, so if you’re shooting a ported or comped barrel you might be showered with burning powder.
August 19th, 2010 at 9:48 am
Don’t mind me too much, but i think I heard that LEO ammo tends to have a constancy of pressure and lower flash. How that has to do with porting I have no idea.
August 19th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
I suspect it has nothing to do with powder quality and has everything to do with differences in internal marketing and pricing. Sort of like when you go to Sams and buy a multipack of anything the individual packages are labeled Not For Individual Resale (though of course every hot dog truck in DC sells them that way).
Winchester has different deals for pricing ammo to idicidual law enforcement agencies, it’s all negotiated separately, and for Retailers like Wal Mart, etc. They probably caught wind that some agencies, looking to save $$$ were buying ammo at Wal mart or other discount retailers.
August 19th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Federal responded to my query. The answer regarding the ported barrels is none of the above.
Short answer is low quality bullets that come apart on launch. Long answer is in my original post.
August 19th, 2010 at 11:31 pm
I run loads of that Federal WallyWorld .45 ACP ammo through my Wilsons and Kimbers for practice and training. I find it to be cleaner and more consistent than WWB.
But I wouldn’t dream of using it for anything but Cheap Practice Crap.
August 20th, 2010 at 12:24 am
I ran about 20 boxes of it in 9mm shooting ISPC this summer and ran good for me, Crappy jacket is a good thing when shooting steel right?