Agent Lemon 157 Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 (edited) Okay, it was all the sellers fault. Contacted the manufacturer, and was told that the ammo is from 2007. Was probably badly stored too. Anybody use it? Is it high quality? I picked up some in the 9x18mm variety. I don't usually buy U.S. made ammo due to the calibers of my guns, but this time American Eagle was all that I could find. Bought it off ammoman for a retarded price. Since I don't usually buy U.S. made ammo, I do not know the quality difference in American brands. First thing that I noticed, was that the bullets were dirty. Then while at the range, I kept getting what looked like bits and pieces of that same dirt, and maybe some unburnt powder, that would fall on the spare targets on the bench. I was shooting the pistol maybe 2-3 feet right above the extra targets. When I got home, I noticed that the muzzle of the gun was very dirty (100 rounds through it today). I believe that it was much dirtier than after shooting the same amount of Brown Bear through the gun. Is this normal for American Eagle brand? Did I get a batch that went horribly wrong? What gives? The ammo shot fine and was okay other than the strange things mentioned above. Edited April 10, 2013 by Agent Lemon Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nlacy 692 Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 Never shot it myself. I'm wondering if we are seeing the effects of running full production, non-stop to catch up to demand. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
patriot 7,197 Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 Federal makes it. I've shot a bunch of it. It's good, solid pistol ammo. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ruffian72 548 Posted April 9, 2013 Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 Know some calibers made at Federal plant. Shot hundreds of rounds in 45acp and 9mm. No issues. The flacking looks as if the outer coating that covers the lead and makes it look shiney is coming off. Believe this is a cosmetic issue, especially since all else seems normal. Stuff on your table is the flakes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Agent Lemon 157 Posted April 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2013 Know some calibers made at Federal plant. Shot hundreds of rounds in 45acp and 9mm. No issues. The flacking looks as if the outer coating that covers the lead and makes it look shiney is coming off. Believe this is a cosmetic issue, especially since all else seems normal. Stuff on your table is the flakes. When I scrape the black stuff off, it reveals a shiny copper color. I thought that it was a lack of metal jacket at first, but that does not seem to be the case. ALSO, I just thought about this, but I am not sure. The specks that were on my spare targets MAY HAVE been pieces from the lane dividers. They are made of wood and coated with some stuff, and the Makarov ejects kind of violently due to it being a straight blowback design. No way of telling right now though, since I left the range a few hours ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matthew Hopkins 1,065 Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 I have fired the 9mm, .45, 5.56mm EAGLE ammo it's good ammo and was at the time inexpensive ammo. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jwulf 179 Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 I use their .223 and .45. Never had anything that looked like that, it has always been clean. It has always done a good job in my guns.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Maxwelhse 1,285 Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 (edited) I ran about 200 rounds of that stuff in .45acp about 10 years ago. It all ran OK, but I remember one shell casing having a sharp brass chip hanging off of it that stabbed my thumb (like a pin prick), and it was dirty looking (though not as dirty as yours). At the time, it was about $2 a 50/rd box less than Remington/Winchester and about the same price as PMC. At the time, I considered all 3 of those to be better ammo and never bought more American Eagle. Again, that was 10 years ago, but all of my .45acp FMJ inventory is now either Remington or Winchester (which "appear" immaculate) and when I bought it the cost difference was marginal. Any and all .45acp I've ever bought runs just fine in my G21 and Ruger P90, including the American Eagle. Edited April 10, 2013 by Maxwelhse Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TIMTIMTIM 57 Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 I have shot it in my AR with no issues. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Agent Lemon 157 Posted April 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 Sounds like it is a reputable brand. The dirt on the bullets really threw me off though, as I have never seen that before. I thought that it was tarnish at first, but its only the bullet, and it has a texture. Maybe as one poster above said, it is the result of hurried manufacturing to supply today's starved market? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beretty 37 Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 I've shot hundreds maybe thousands of 9mm and .40. I used to get it cheap at my LGS in PA. Decent ammo. Dirty but reliable. Only issues I've ever noticed was in a friend's 1911. It was the gun not the ammo. Last time at the range, I shot a box of .38spl. It was unjacketed lead but no problems. I would be happy if I could find it in a couple of calibers for a decent price. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lone Eagle 839 Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 Most of my .223 is the American Eagle black box. I had some of the AE x39, and it was about as dirty as Wolf. Looking at the jacket, it looks like the copper wasn't smelted right. Could have been a "dirty batch" where they didn't skim the insulation/slag off the top. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MT Predator 2,294 Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 Federal makes it. I've shot a bunch of it. It's good, solid pistol ammo.. Same here. As a matter of fact, I have a lot of in .45ACP. My brother's PD switched to .40 so their armory had a shit ton of .45 to get rid of. Nobody else wanted any so he got it all. I think they may have had a deal with Federal because all the JHPs are Hydrashoks and the FMJ is all American Eagle. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
YOT 3,743 Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 (edited) It is to Federal what UMC is to Remington, but better. Looks like the box you got has been sitting around for awhile. Edited April 10, 2013 by Yeoldetool Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SouthernOne 203 Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 (edited) I have a 1K case of 45 FMJ Am Eagle that looks and shoots fine. Like said above, yours looks aged. Check the http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/topic/83617-official-available-ammunition-thread/ thread for some good dealers to order from. Edited April 10, 2013 by SouthernOne Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Syndicate 812 Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 It is GREAT ammo, I've shoot 3000+ of it out of my 9mms and about half that in 5.56 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dubya 198 Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 Strange. I live 10 minutes from the Federal ammunition plant and have quite a few friends that work there. Usually ammo with ANY imperfections go to a room where employees can buy it at extremely discounted rates, say $3-$4 for a box of 50 9mm FMJ or $5 for Hydrashocks and top quality rifle ammo. And yes, I get ALOT of ammo from my buddies that work there 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Voltia 375 Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 I like it. UMC and Winchester White have defects. American Eagle does not, in my experience. Send Federal the pics, they'll send you new, take back the old, and pay the shipping. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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