Premium Ammo not so Premium ? ( pic heavy )

WeaponHot

WeaponHot

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
4   0   0
So I drove out to the range today to test out 3 different Foster slugs. Winchester Super X / Federal Power Shock / Federal Premium
Much to my surprise the cheap Winchester outperformed both of the Federal brands with the Power Shock in close 2nd.

What was even more surprising as to how poorly my shots were landing with the Federal Premium slugs. 2 of the shells failed to eject and had been slightly deformed at the crimp end. I have to note that none of them got jammed they just sat half way out of the ejection port with the bolt back ( i was loading 1 shell at a time ).

This is one of the boxes I was shooting today.


I kept 1 slug to cut it open because I was curious as to what it actually looked like inside.


Here you can see a Winchester hull in the middle of the 2 deformed FP hulls



I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it until I discovered one of the wads stuck in the target cardboard which looked like it didn't collapse evenly. At first glance it looked like the "true ball" was melted into the wad.



CAN'T JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT! I GOTTA KEEP DIGGING :D






Here you can see the new wad next to the deformed wad
It had me concerned for a moment because I'm not sure what kind of pressure irregularity that might cause in the barrel. It almost looks like it wanted to bind up.



Looking closer at the slug I also noticed how rough and uneven the rim and the walls of the slug looked.



I then used the edge of my knife to lift a few loose bits of lead at the rim of the slug




Seeing the results and the inner construction of this "premium" shell will definitely make me think twice about paying the extra $2-$4 per box next time I am ammo shopping. I definitely will not be buying the Federal Premium slugs again, but I would still recommend the Federal Power Shock to any one of my friends. This is just my experience with this Premium brand of slugs.
The shotguns used during the test were: Remington 870 Im/Cyl Beretta A400 Xtreme Cyl

Sorry for making this so huge.
 
WeaponHot said:
So I drove out to the range today to test out 3 different Foster slugs. Winchester Super X / Federal Power Shock / Federal Premium
Much to my surprise the cheap Winchester outperformed both of the Federal brands with the Power Shock in close 2nd.

What was even more surprising as to how poorly my shots were landing with the Federal Premium slugs. 2 of the shells failed to eject and had been slightly deformed at the crimp end. I have to note that none of them got jammed they just sat half way out of the ejection port with the bolt back ( i was loading 1 shell at a time ).

This is one of the boxes I was shooting today.


I kept 1 slug to cut it open because I was curious as to what it actually looked like inside.


Here you can see a Winchester hull in the middle of the 2 deformed FP hulls



I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it until I discovered one of the wads stuck in the target cardboard which looked like it didn't collapse evenly. At first glance it looked like the "true ball" was melted into the wad.



CAN'T JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT! I GOTTA KEEP DIGGING :D






Here you can see the new wad next to the deformed wad
It had me concerned for a moment because I'm not sure what kind of pressure irregularity that might cause in the barrel. It almost looks like it wanted to bind up.



Looking closer at the slug I also noticed how rough and uneven the rim and the walls of the slug looked.



I then used the edge of my knife to lift a few loose bits of lead at the rim of the slug




Seeing the results and the inner construction of this "premium" shell will definitely make me think twice about paying the extra $2-$4 per box next time I am ammo shopping. I definitely will not be buying the Federal Premium slugs again, but I would still recommend the Federal Power Shock to any one of my friends. This is just my experience with this Premium brand of slugs.
The shotguns used during the test were: Remington 870 Im/Cyl Beretta A400 Xtreme Cyl

Sorry for making this so huge.
Click to expand...

Should send your pics and comments off to Federal and see what they say..
 
Nipigon Jack said:
Since you're shooting a 2 3/4", I would suggest you try the Challenger. It's my go to slug after going through the same thing you just did years ago.
Click to expand...
The only Challenger I can get my hands on are these target loads. Wasn't aware that they even made slugs.
 
That Truball actually shoots the most accurately from my 870 with fixed imp. cyl. choke. You shot slugs from an A400? Do they not have an overbored barrel like the A391 they replaced? My Xtrema2 specifically says no slugs. Just wondering if it's part of the problem.
 
xtremacanuck said:
That Truball actually shoots the most accurately from my 870 with fixed imp. cyl. choke. You shot slugs from an A400? Do they not have an overbored barrel like the A391 they replaced? My Xtrema2 specifically says no slugs. Just wondering if it's part of the problem.
Click to expand...

Yes sir A400. I've read the manual and there is no mention of not putting slugs through it. I will read it again to be sure.
My 870 had the imp/cyl choke in at the time of the test. It actually worked better in the A400.
Once again these are just my results, may be different from you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom