Excel bullets

I shot some years ago, they weren't bad.

I remember reading some were having issues with newer ones though.
 
They're cheap for a reason. I found them inconsistent in regards to diameter and weight. I even found a .41 bullet in my box of .45s. Several in a box of 1000 will be so large/out-of-round they'll split the case when you seat.

If you're just looking for something cheap that goes bang, they fit the bill, but ensure your QA is good enough to catch the crap ones.

I'd rather pay the extra $5 to $10 for Montana Golds.
 
I use Excel for all my pistols practice rounds and Level 2 match rounds. They are pretty decent to shoot especially in my Tanfoglio LC.
You get what you pay for is all I say.
 
There is an earlier thread someplace on here u should look for. Lots of comments. Personally I will never use them again. Too inconsistent, deformed in some cases, undersized and in the case of lead, the wax lube was just goo that gummed up the dies. Other than that, they're fine:rolleyes:
Some folks now claim they have changed for the better but I wont be using them again..
dC
 
Inconsistent weight and they're not round. I've shot the copper 'washed' versions in 9mm, 44mag and .40. Same problem with each. No matter how cheap I can get them, they're not worth the trouble.
 
They were/are used a lot locally because when you pick them up directly from the factory, in quantity, they are much cheaper than anything else out there.

That said, their quality control used to be terrible, but I understand it has become much better. I will give them a try them again. I really do want to support Canadian manufacturers.

As for copper "wash" I have cut a few apart and they have a pretty good layer of copper on them, not just a wash.
 
Last edited:
The reason I asked..

I just bought a couple thousand and one batch out of the handful I grabbed is about 3-5 grains off of what the total weight should be and the other batch is about 13-15 grains off with the few I checked.

How the hell are you suppose to reload with that inconsitency?
 
albertacoyotecaller said:
I just bought a couple thousand and one batch out of the handful I grabbed is about 3-5 grains off of what the total weight should be and the other batch is about 13-15 grains off with the few I checked.

How the hell are you suppose to reload with that inconsitency?
Click to expand...

I guess it depends how good of a pistol shooter you are, some people wouldn't notice a difference.:p:D
 
Aside from the diameter (not round or undersized) Inconsistent weight is always an issue with Marty's bullets. That's why you gotta be careful with the powder charge.... you can not charge your reload to the max allowed unless you check the bullet weight individually....
I know there has been a lot of complain about this product, but inspite of that, a lot of ON IPSC top shooters, GMs to name a few use his product. You gotta wonder why they use it inspite of the "quality" of Excell bullet... just my 2-cents
 
nognog said:
I know there has been a lot of complain about this product, but inspite of that, a lot of ON IPSC top shooters, GMs to name a few use his product. You gotta wonder why they use it inspite of the "quality" of Excell bullet... just my 2-cents
Click to expand...
The weight variance doesn't matter so much for shot to shot consistency...it usually varies between 1-- 5 grains and really hasn't affected accuracy for me. Velocity may vary slightly more due to the weight variance but if you are loading with an appropriate power factor cushion it won't matter and you won't feel the difference. In a button rifled barrel bullet concentricity would matter more, but in the tighter polygonal barrels that we are using in the Tanfoglio guns those issues just go away. There are no sharp corners to score the plating, and the bullets are essentially swaged into concentricity as they traverse the bore, so the end result is that you get very good (consistant with no mystery fliers) accuracy with these bullets in these guns. With standard button rifled barrels it will be hit and miss. You may get one that shoots them well or you may not. Experiment and see.
 
I just had an issue with Excel plated 9mm bullets.

I was loading up a bunch of rounds and found they were coming our crooked (bullet seated off center). I cleaned the setaing die (it was clean anyways) and tried again; still crooked. I had an extra seating die; 20 minutes later I tried it again and they are still crooked. About this time I notice they are hard to seat compared to my last run of 38 Special (Win bullets). I decided to try a Win FMJ bullet; it seated perfect with little force.

I decided to break down the Excell rounds I made; the bases were bent from the force required to get it to seat. When I compared the Win and the Excel rounds, I noticed that the Excel rounds had cases that were bulged much more where the bullet was contacting. I decided to measure the bullets about this time; the Win came in at .355" and the Excel came in at .360". I pulled a few more out of the box and found none that were under .358".

I learned my lesson; no more Excell bullets. They may be cheap, but they will not seam so cheap if they damage my press, my pistol, or me. I am off to grab a pile of Hornady bullets tomorow.
 
on-ca said:
This is back in the 90's so cannot speak for now.

They were way off, +-0.003 in diameter and +-10 grains in weight from what I recall.

I switched to DRG's and been using them since, +-0.0005 in diameter and +-1 grain in weight from what I recall.

on-ca
Click to expand...


Whereas on the other hand I am satisfied with Excel's 9mm and .45 bullets, but will never touch anorhet DRG.:D
 
relliott said:
............ In a button rifled barrel bullet concentricity would matter more, but in the tighter polygonal barrels that we are using in the Tanfoglio guns those issues just go away. There are no sharp corners to score the plating, and the bullets are essentially swaged into concentricity as they traverse the bore, so the end result is that you get very good (consistant with no mystery fliers) accuracy with these bullets in these guns...........
Click to expand...

Thanks Rob.
BTW, How's your Tanfo open gun shooting with Marty bullets?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom