Hard to believe we are already into August. With everything going on, this year is flying by at a speed that seems surreal. We didn’t do a website update last week in favor of finishing up a write up. This write up is a follow up to an email I received a couple weeks ago. The question posed was what tools are used to conduct quality control. Hopefully this write up provides a good overview of what you can find on a manufacturers floor.
Quality Control Tools for Ammunition
I think many people would be surprised that many of the tools hobbyists use, are the go to tools of most of your major manufacturers. Sometimes the tools are scaled up, or specialized, to more efficiently handle volume, but they are not as crazy as some people might think. The one exception to this is equipment to measure pressure. While the most dedicated hobbyists will have strain gauges to measure pressure, I am not aware of anyone who tests via piezo transducer.
There’s a lot of trouble finding ammunition. One of my fellow employee’s recently bought a Sig 320 and a Sig 365XL. He’s numbered among the many new gun owners of late. He’s been shopping for 9mm, and when he find’s it, he buys what he can. Prices right now are pretty outrageous. Given the tenor of the world, and ramping up of this election cycle, we are not expecting to see an end to this circus any time soon.
For those who do not mind buying ammunition online, Ammo Seek is a good website to use. The website automatically searches the four corners of the inter webs to find ammunition listings. Usually you can find something in stock, and if you are lucky, reasonably priced. I do not know the folks who run the website, nor are they affiliated with this website. Just one of the tricks I picked up when it came to looking for competitive samples during our last ammo shortage.
Ammo Seek isn’t just a tool for loaded ammunition. They also do reloading components. I know primers are harder to find than hen’s teeth. I did a quick search and they have listings for primers, mostly 209 shotgun primers but a few small pistol and some rifle primers. Unfortunately ordering offline usually means you are stuck with the HAZMAT fee. I hate the HAZMAT fee deal, the only why I’ll drink that bitter cup is to order in bulk, which I can’t always afford to do.
A friend of mine commented the other day, that a bad day shooting was still better then a good day at work. My first thought, and immediate reply was, “Unless your bad day of shooting involved chambering a 300Blk in a 223 Rem Chamber, then it’s about sixes”. Of course we all know it that’s not true, we’d rather endure a bad day at work then a catastrophic day on the range.
That’s all I have for this week, I hope everyone stays safe out there. As always if you have questions, comments, or ideas shoot me an email at jayandrew338@gmail.com, check out our Facebook page, or scroll through the pictures on Instagram.
Thanks for Stopping By,
The Ballistic Assistant