Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Reloading equipment, methods, load data, powder and projectile information.

Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by Blr243 » 07 Oct 2018, 9:29 am

I’m chasing 243 80 gn hunting ammo not Fmj. 2 or 3 hundred rounds should do. From then onwards I will be reloading
Blr243
Brigadier
Brigadier
 
Posts: 4479
Queensland

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by JimTom » 07 Oct 2018, 9:37 am

Have a look at the various websites mate. Plenty of 80gn .243 on there.
User avatar
JimTom
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
 
Posts: 2130
Queensland

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by bigrich » 07 Oct 2018, 11:21 am

Rebel gun works is closest to me with the biggest in store stock, but my local gun shop browns plains firearms has beaten these guys on price a few times. just have to order in. "support local business , keep prices competetive and support your local gun shop " is something i say to people, if you weigh up time and fuel, sometimes it evens out. :thumbsup: :drinks: :thumbsup:
User avatar
bigrich
Brigadier
Brigadier
 
Posts: 4483
Queensland

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by Rod_outbak » 07 Oct 2018, 11:23 am

A thought is Rebel Gun Works: https://www.rebelgunworks.com.au/
They are in Woollongabba, so slightly closer but not as cheap.

As far as brands, I have had poor results with Remington brass for reloading, and ho-hum results with Highland ammo (Though after a lot of post-processing the brass, it has lasted well in reloads). I also found the Hornady 'Match' brass seemed to have a bit of a crimp around the primer, which needed a bit more force to de-cap them.
As far as ammo you can buy and get good life out of the brass afterwards, I am finding the OSA/Buffalo River (Which is ADI) brass seems to last well, and pretty decent value for money.
Federal brass lasts okay, but not as consistent or as long-life as the OSA brass.

(Slight divergence here) Of the brass I reload, the Lapua and Norma brass is the most consistent and most uniform. If I weigh loaded cartridges after I've finished reloading them, both these brands of brass rarely vary by much more than 2 grains between loaded cartridges, with an average weight around 375gns loaded (.308win). The OSA brass varies by slightly more; maybe 2-3.5 grains, and the Federal brass maybe half a grain more again.
In contrast, the Highland brass can vary by up to 10 grains.
(The reloaded Highland brass varied so much I weighed a heap of empty Highland cases to satisfy myself that it was just variation in the brass itself, and not that Roddy had lost the plot in his reloading processes somewhere)
Winchester and Hornady brass are somewhere in between the Federal and the Highland for variation.

In my (limited) experience, I would prefer to buy new Lapua or Norma loaded cartridges, and reload them for ever and a day.
However, given thats pretty much impossible for me to do, if I need to buy loaded ammo, I try to buy OSA/Buffalo River ammo, and reload it as needed.

Along this line of reasoning, I have had excellent results with the factory Buffalo River 87gn V-Max .243 Win loads, and you can buy them in 480-round cans.
The projectiles are a bit heavier than what The OP wanted, but they fly well(BC is up at 0.4), hit REALLY hard, and you get decent brass to reload at the end.
A can of 480 rounds currently retails for around $655, which comes out around $1.364 a round, which isnt too bad for quality ammo.

Anyway; thats my experience.

Other suppliers (in Toowoomba area) are 'The Open Range'(Toowoomba), and 'The Barn'(Oakey). Both have online stores.

Cheers,

Rod.
---------------------
Sharing the extreme love with cats in Outback QLD
Rod_outbak
Corporal
Corporal
 
Posts: 494
Queensland

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by JimTom » 07 Oct 2018, 5:21 pm

I have used Rebel for online orders and they've have been prompt. Wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.
User avatar
JimTom
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
 
Posts: 2130
Queensland

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by RoginaJack » 10 Oct 2018, 3:20 pm

I've used PPU ammo and am onto 3rd reloads and if I stuff one up, no big deal...
Boom, Boom! Tikka, Tikka, Boom! Shoot first, video later.
User avatar
RoginaJack
Warrant Officer C1
Warrant Officer C1
 
Posts: 1410
Queensland

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by Sergeant Hartman » 10 Oct 2018, 3:56 pm

My gun doesn't like ppu brass for reloads. I have like 200 once fired and full resized.
Sergeant Hartman
Sergeant Major
Sergeant Major
 
Posts: 1722
Victoria

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by Rod_outbak » 10 Oct 2018, 6:53 pm

I bought some loaded PPU 150Gn SP ammo for the Rem 700 (.308w) about 5 years ago. Ammo itself was crap; only reasonably accurate out to ~150 metres or so.
I found that in prepping for the first reload, the PPU brass needed a LOT of work to get it uniform; huge variation in case length, some primer pockets needed extra work, etc etc etc.
However, once I'd flogged it into shape, it seemed to be reliable brass, and pretty long-life.

In recent times, the PPU brass hasnt been used much, and so has been about 4-5 years before I've gone on a big enough reloading binge to process some of it.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, one of my final checks these days, is to weigh the loaded cartridges, and tally the weights so I get an idea of weight variation between cartridges.

This is what I've seen so far:-

Loading 125Gn Hornady SST pills into twice-fired OSA .308win brass, the variance was around 1.6 grains.
Loading 165Gn Barnes T-TSX pills into the Lapua brass, the variance was around 1.4 grains.
Loading 150Gn SST pills into Federal 3rd-firing brass, the variance was around 3.4 grains.
Loading 120Gn Pills into Norma 7mm-08 brass, the variance was around 1.8 grains.
Loading 55gn Z-Max pills in the .223 OSA brass, I'm getting a variance of around 1.5 grains.
[Bear in mind the .223 cartridges weigh under half that of the loaded .308 ones]

But loading the 150Gn SST pills into the .308win PPU brass, there was a variance of 13.5 grains, and fairly spread out across the range.
Freaked me out so much, I weighed 100 empty PPU brass cases, to see if the variance was in the brass. That batch came up with a variance of around 11.5grains.

I dont think any of my other brands of brass have varied by much more than 4 grains when loaded; that Highland brass is certainly roughly made.

Now, I'm sure the PPU brass would fire just fine for hunting, but I can now see why people often separate brass on weight, and indeed I might do the same, if I decide to keep using that brass.
---------------------
Sharing the extreme love with cats in Outback QLD
Rod_outbak
Corporal
Corporal
 
Posts: 494
Queensland

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by Sergeant Hartman » 10 Oct 2018, 7:01 pm

Rod how do you find the zmax for 223?

I weighed the ppu (308) and found the were two distinct groups one was about 11grains heavier than the other. In each group's the weigh was about 2ish grain spead. But my chamber is strange the necks expand a fair bit, so much that it can be felt like its dragging when I am neck sizing. While the howa and 6.5 creedmore I don't feel anything.

It might be 10 or 15 thou forgive in size from fried to resized on the 308, while the other is 4-5 thou (inch)

Sorry I liked to collect meaningless data. Lol
Last edited by Sergeant Hartman on 10 Oct 2018, 7:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sergeant Hartman
Sergeant Major
Sergeant Major
 
Posts: 1722
Victoria

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by bigrich » 10 Oct 2018, 7:03 pm

PPU ammo hasn't bin real accurate for me and dirties up rifle bores real quick . it's supposed to be good qaulity brass, but with that much weight variance i think i'll leave it alone for reloading . bottom line you get what you pay for i guess :thumbsup:
User avatar
bigrich
Brigadier
Brigadier
 
Posts: 4483
Queensland

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by Rod_outbak » 10 Oct 2018, 8:17 pm

The overseer has fired about 400 of the Zmax 55gn pills through the new rifle, and likes them very much. He reckons they shoot like lasers, and hit really hard.

About his only negative is they are a bit susceptible to wind, but a). its been quite windy, and b). the new rifle is so consistent, that he's shooting ~100 metres beyond what he was previously shooting with the old Remington 788. He reckons that beyond ~200-250 yards, they are a bit erratic on a windy day....
I suggested we can address the wind issue by upgrading to maybe a 75gn pill, but he seemed to think he might simply get a bit closer in future, when it's really windy!
What a concept!

Aside from that, he keeps returning home and telling me how he burned through another 35 rounds and is averaging around a 98% kill rate, and Roddy just keeps thinking about how much more time I have to spend reloading .223 rounds....
To be fair, he DID share a mob of pigs with me this arvo, so we had a great pokk-fest with 3 adults, and about 5 suckers. Very satisfying, and I dropped by the shearing shed to share the love with ~8 grasshoppers, on my way home...
Not a bad end to the day...

I did notice the PPU brass seemed to have 2 'peaks' in the weight tallys as well. The other brass usually has one 'peak', and a tail either side, but the PPU brass had 2 distinct 'peaks' in both batches I've weighed so far.
---------------------
Sharing the extreme love with cats in Outback QLD
Rod_outbak
Corporal
Corporal
 
Posts: 494
Queensland

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by RoginaJack » 11 Oct 2018, 11:15 am

I'm happy with it but just use it in the field - on feral dogs and foxes and the odd feral pussy & not firing many rounds, maybe 3 or 4, hopefully.. The 1st time around, yep the barrel got a bit dirtier but still needs to be cleaned.

Rifle - Tikka T3, 243W., Reload - 75 g Sierra H.P. . Target - 100yds, pulled the 5th shot, got a bit excited... :roll:

shoot.01a.jpg
shoot.01a.jpg (371.64 KiB) Viewed 5192 times
Boom, Boom! Tikka, Tikka, Boom! Shoot first, video later.
User avatar
RoginaJack
Warrant Officer C1
Warrant Officer C1
 
Posts: 1410
Queensland

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by bladeracer » 11 Oct 2018, 11:16 am

I regard brass prep as getting all my brass as much the same as I can, I do it once with all my new brass. Size, trim, deburr and chamfer case mouth, cut the primer pockets to the same depth and diameter, deburr the flash hole inside and out. So not only would I not notice how much variation there might be in a batch of new brass, I wouldn't care anyway as I'm prepping all of it the same way.

You say you can see why people would weight-batch their brass, but you don't say if the case weight variation actually made any difference to your ammunition. Personally I see zero value in batching brass by weight. If you want your brass to have consistent volume then you have to measure their volume, not their weight.
Practice Strict Gun Control - Precision Counts!
User avatar
bladeracer
Field Marshal
Field Marshal
 
Posts: 12655
Victoria

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by RoginaJack » 11 Oct 2018, 11:27 am

+1
Boom, Boom! Tikka, Tikka, Boom! Shoot first, video later.
User avatar
RoginaJack
Warrant Officer C1
Warrant Officer C1
 
Posts: 1410
Queensland

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by Blr243 » 14 Oct 2018, 12:36 pm

A very big thank you to all for taking the time to share your info. It has been a big help.
Blr243
Brigadier
Brigadier
 
Posts: 4479
Queensland

Re: Where to buy bulk ammo in Brisbane ?

Post by Rod_outbak » 14 Oct 2018, 7:12 pm

bladeracer wrote:I regard brass prep as getting all my brass as much the same as I can, I do it once with all my new brass. Size, trim, deburr and chamfer case mouth, cut the primer pockets to the same depth and diameter, deburr the flash hole inside and out. So not only would I not notice how much variation there might be in a batch of new brass, I wouldn't care anyway as I'm prepping all of it the same way.

You say you can see why people would weight-batch their brass, but you don't say if the case weight variation actually made any difference to your ammunition. Personally I see zero value in batching brass by weight. If you want your brass to have consistent volume then you have to measure their volume, not their weight.


... I can see why people might weigh their brass, but I'm not really considering it for accuracy. I couldnt appreciate the difference between those PPU loads and the Lapua ones in my shooting (hunting).
I agree; vloume would be the most accurate, but it's not a level of precision in my loads that I would be able to appreciate.

I was thinking about segregating brass by weight, so that when I do my final check, I'm not likely to see such a huge variation in completed weight.
I get a bit worried when the weight variation is higher than the safe weight range of the powder being loaded.
(I know the Phukup Fairy LOVES me...)
Now, I have other checks that pretty much exclude it being likely that I'll have made such a huge mistake, but as others have written here, it isnt too hard to end up with a squib load.
For me, weighing the finished loads works as a final safety check. Likely wouldnt for others, but it works for me.

Sorry; I was a bit vague about why I'd be sorting brass by weight myself.

It's likely a bit academic at this point; I have a LOT of Federal brass to work through, so it's likely not going to be often that I'm reloading the PPU brass.

Cheers,

Rod.
---------------------
Sharing the extreme love with cats in Outback QLD
Rod_outbak
Corporal
Corporal
 
Posts: 494
Queensland


Back to top
 
Return to Reloading ammunition