While overlooking a brown bear stream in AK last week I was bored and staring at the .375 HH ammo in my buttstock holster. Wow, what variation in seating depth. Some on cannelure, some above and some below. Easy .100” variation. No wonder why sometimes this rifle shot amazing groups and sometimes I got a few flyers! Definitely not confidence building when chasing something that would consider me a light snack!
Then a few weeks ago I also bought some Vortx ammo in .260 rem. Many of those case necks were so loose that they would spin manually without much effort. Some bullets even had up and down play, seemingly only held in by the factory crimp. No way I’m shooting these!
Terrible consistency and quality control. I’ve shot this stuff for years and have never had any problems like this. What’s up with Barnes these days? This stuff is really expensive and it’s not like I can return it so I’m kinda pissed!
First I've heard of problems with barnes factory loads. You can bet if I ever buy any I'll look at every round in the box before I pay. One would think with the tight tolerances in machinery today stuff like loose bullets would be a thing of the past. Oh well, lots of other great factory ammo out there.
You guys think thats bad, one of my buddies was using barnes factory ammo the other day and a primer let loose. Something was really wrong with that ammo. He was using a savage and it broke the extractor, and ruined the spring inside the bolt face. I had to rebuild the bolt face. I also believe it was the vortex ammo as well. My buddy sent barnes a parts list of everything i had to replace ($30.00 in parts) and he said he did not want any more of their ammo.
You guys think thats bad, one of my buddies was using barnes factory ammo the other day and a primer let loose. Something was really wrong with that ammo. He was using a savage and it broke the extractor, and ruined the spring inside the bolt face. I had to rebuild the bolt face. I also believe it was the vortex ammo as well. My buddy sent barnes a parts list of all what i had to replace ($30.00 in parts) and he said he did not want any more of their ammo.
Wow! How did Barnes respond?
Upon further research, I see Barnes was acquired by PE firm Cerberus! That explains everything! The same company that ruined Remington. Ugh. So sad, time to move on.
Was going to point out that Barnes was part of Remington. This does not surprise me...they are bankrupt from qc issues
Pop them in the press. Run it up and grab the bullet firmly with side cutter pliers and then run the press down, removing the bullet. Now seat at the length you want.
Barnes ammunition loaded by Barnes is usually very good, but some SKUs are loaded by Remington in Lonoke, AR and that stuff can range from good to garbage. All of the Safari and TAC-XPD is loaded at Barnes, but some of the VOR-TX is loaded in Lonoke. I'm not a fan of ball powder in rifle loads but Remington uses a bunch of it because it flows through the old loading machines better than extruded powder. Also, the bullet seating dies at Remington contact the bullet tip and not the ogive so seating depth is determined by the overall length of the bullet.
While overlooking a brown bear stream in AK last week I was bored and staring at the .375 HH ammo in my buttstock holster. Wow, what variation in seating depth. Some on cannelure, some above and some below. Easy .100” variation. No wonder why sometimes this rifle shot amazing groups and sometimes I got a few flyers! Definitely not confidence building when chasing something that would consider me a light snack!
Then a few weeks ago I also bought some Vortx ammo in .260 rem. Many of those case necks were so loose that they would spin manually without much effort. Some bullets even had up and down play, seemingly only held in by the factory crimp. No way I’m shooting these!
Terrible consistency and quality control. I’ve shot this stuff for years and have never had any problems like this. What’s up with Barnes these days? This stuff is really expensive and it’s not like I can return it so I’m kinda pissed!
I have had the same problem. Also the cases were dented and dirty primers.
I bought a box of VOR-TX 50 gr 22-250 ammo last year and the cases were all rusty. I thought that was bad I guess it could have been worse.
And folks always tell me, there is almost no financial gain to reloading anymore, be it 9mm, 12 gauge or whatever rifle ammo I load.
I never put up with poor QC on anything but rimfire. And if I could load THAT, I would.
And folks always tell me, there is almost no financial gain to reloading anymore, be it 9mm, 12 gauge or whatever rifle ammo I load.
I never put up with poor QC on anything but rimfire. And if I could load THAT, I would.
I am always amazed at how many people (who are too cheap to buy a 119 dollar Lee single stage kit) bash handloading. Barnes factory stuff is super expensive too, that is disappointing to hear.
I had a Barnes 7mag that didn’t have a primer. Perhaps it was cuz it didn’t have a primer pocket😳! The rest in the box were fine. Notified Barnes and sent a pic, they sent me a new box of ammo. Figured that was decent customer service.
I looked at some Barnes .30-06 loads recently and by the metal splatter on the outside of the cases, they appear to be the sloppy crap produced by Remington. Older Barnes ammo certainly didn’t look like that. I passed. Happy Trails
You guys think thats bad, one of my buddies was using barnes factory ammo the other day and a primer let loose. Something was really wrong with that ammo. He was using a savage and it broke the extractor, and ruined the spring inside the bolt face. I had to rebuild the bolt face. I also believe it was the vortex ammo as well. My buddy sent barnes a parts list of all what i had to replace ($30.00 in parts) and he said he did not want any more of their ammo.
Wow! How did Barnes respond?
They sent him 3 boxes of the same damn ammo!!!!! He was pissed, because he seriously didn't want anymore of their crap ammo. I'm going to pull the bullets and pop the primers out and throw away the powder. I'll check the primer pockets and put my own powder and primers in the their brass. We for damn sure don't trust their loading...
So I had several of my buddies go through all of their Barnes ammo. This issue is apparently widespread. Every single one of them had at least one or two boxes in their stash with loose and spinning bullets, and dramatically inconsistent seating depths. So sad. Another good company down the tubes.
I also emailed Barnes customer service with my findings. I was kind about it, but two days and no response. My bet is they don’t care.
So apparently now when you buy Vortx ammo you are paying premium Barnes prices, for crap Remington core loct quality.
I’m wondering if this is all newer ammo since the Remington take over?
My Barnes ammo from 3 years ago is very good and I have couple partial boxes left over and they are consistent.
I reload now and it’s sad to hear about their poor QC.
I’m wondering if this is all newer ammo since the Remington take over?
My Barnes ammo from 3 years ago is very good and I have couple partial boxes left over and they are consistent.
I reload now and it’s sad to hear about their poor QC.
Barnes sold almost 10 years ago.
Yes, all my older stuff is fine. The newer stuff is chit.
I’m wondering if this is all newer ammo since the Remington take over?
My Barnes ammo from 3 years ago is very good and I have couple partial boxes left over and they are consistent.
I reload now and it’s sad to hear about their poor QC.
Barnes sold almost 10 years ago.
I guess I’m not up to date !
lol
Anyhow, sad to see the drop in quality
I bought 3 boxes of 7mm 08 (I think 120gr Vortx) a few months ago. I opened 1 up after reading this post and checked 2 rounds. They were fine. After reading the later posts, I guess I'll have to check them all now.
I recently zeroed a new SS 3-9 scope and confirmed dope to 500 yards w/ 150gr Vortx and shot about 40 rounds w/ consistent good results. I just inspected my remaining 40 rounds and observed no problems.
mike r