I wrote this for another forum and thought that some of you might find the information useful:
In this thread, I will give brief review of each of these two popular discount reloaders.
Ordering and delivery:
I first placed an order with Jack Ross on February 6th after seeing their deal posted on Slickguns. Order 1000 rounds of 9mm reloads for $159 + 12.50 shipping. Previously, I had always purchased cases of factory ammo at around $200, but these deals were getting harder to find, so I thought I'd take a chance.
After placing the order, I didn't hear anything for quite a while. On March 7th, I shot them an email asking if it would take much longer. On March 8th, I received a response stating that they were still processing January orders and asked if I wished to cancel. They also said that if I wished to wait, that I would not be disappointed in their product. They also explained how short handed they were. I liked the personal touch and decided to wait.
On April 5th, I received an email stating that my order had been "completed" and I received a FedEx tracking number shortly thereafter. I received the package on April 11th.
A slightly different story with Freedom. I placed an order for 1000 "Blaster" training rounds on March 2nd and was changed $163.21. I received an email from them with a tracking number on March 5th. I then received a call from them on March 6th stating that their ordering system had been off and they undercharged me so asked for my authority to charge an additional $14.43. I thought this was a little odd, especially considering that I had already received a tracking number, but it was still a good deal so I agreed. I received the package on March 12th.
Inspection:
The Freedom Blaster Training Rounds came first. They came in bulk packaging in a big box with 250 rounds in each. I haven't counted every box, but one of the boxes had a few additional rounds. I think in the two boxes, I got about 10 additional rounds, +/- a couple.
They looked "OK". Some looked great but most had slight blemishes. It looked as though they brass casings didn't spend much time in the tumbler. The bullets looked good for the most part, but some (I would guesstimate about 15-20%) had some visible marks/nicks. Some of these blemishes could have resulted from them being tumbled around in the bulk boxes.
Jack Ross rounds came in individual boxes of 50 rounds in plastic holders, just like factory ammo. For most of the ammo (I inspected 4 boxes), it looked very close to factory ammo and you would have a hard time telling it apart from such from more than a few inches away. Since they are individually packed, there is no chance of getting "extra" rounds.
Shooting:
I shot about 200 rounds of the Freedom and 150 rounds of Jack Ross so far.
My first time out with Freedom, I experience my first ever malfunctions with my pistol (9mm CZ P-01). I had 2 failure to feed after about 100 rounds. These rounds seemed much dirtier than anything else I had shot through the pistol previously (S&B, WWB, Remington) and completely covered the feed ramp in carbon after 100 rounds. That, couple with the slight imperfections in the bullet is what I think caused the rounds to "stick" and not feed smoothly.
Other than that, the rounds shot well and accuracy and felt recoil was on par with other rounds I've shot.
After shooting, cleaning the pistol confirmed my initial thought that this ammo was "dirtier". I really had to scrub some of the black powder/carbon off. I had to let my barrel sit in Hoppes for a while so it could break down the build up on my feed ramp and scrub and actually scrape it off with my finger nails.
I didn't experience any problems with the Jack Ross ammo and I would say that it shot pretty much on par with my favorite 9mm round, S&B. No malfunctions and not very dirty.
Cleaning the pistol afterwards was much easier and every came off easily. Not much of a build up on the feed ramp or other places. This was 50 rounds less, however.
Conclusion:
If I can wait or if Jack Ross can speed up their orders, I will go with them in the future. I think it is a much better value (costs less for better ammo). I don't think that Freedom ammo is a bad deal, but they are definitely in a different class. Freedom does offer non "Blaster Training" ammo, which I think are better reloads for $189+shipping per case of 1000, which I think would be more comparable to the Jack Ross reloads, but that would be roughly 22-23% more expensive and comparable price of factory ammo.
I hope this helps.
In this thread, I will give brief review of each of these two popular discount reloaders.
Ordering and delivery:
I first placed an order with Jack Ross on February 6th after seeing their deal posted on Slickguns. Order 1000 rounds of 9mm reloads for $159 + 12.50 shipping. Previously, I had always purchased cases of factory ammo at around $200, but these deals were getting harder to find, so I thought I'd take a chance.
After placing the order, I didn't hear anything for quite a while. On March 7th, I shot them an email asking if it would take much longer. On March 8th, I received a response stating that they were still processing January orders and asked if I wished to cancel. They also said that if I wished to wait, that I would not be disappointed in their product. They also explained how short handed they were. I liked the personal touch and decided to wait.
On April 5th, I received an email stating that my order had been "completed" and I received a FedEx tracking number shortly thereafter. I received the package on April 11th.
A slightly different story with Freedom. I placed an order for 1000 "Blaster" training rounds on March 2nd and was changed $163.21. I received an email from them with a tracking number on March 5th. I then received a call from them on March 6th stating that their ordering system had been off and they undercharged me so asked for my authority to charge an additional $14.43. I thought this was a little odd, especially considering that I had already received a tracking number, but it was still a good deal so I agreed. I received the package on March 12th.
Inspection:
The Freedom Blaster Training Rounds came first. They came in bulk packaging in a big box with 250 rounds in each. I haven't counted every box, but one of the boxes had a few additional rounds. I think in the two boxes, I got about 10 additional rounds, +/- a couple.
They looked "OK". Some looked great but most had slight blemishes. It looked as though they brass casings didn't spend much time in the tumbler. The bullets looked good for the most part, but some (I would guesstimate about 15-20%) had some visible marks/nicks. Some of these blemishes could have resulted from them being tumbled around in the bulk boxes.
Jack Ross rounds came in individual boxes of 50 rounds in plastic holders, just like factory ammo. For most of the ammo (I inspected 4 boxes), it looked very close to factory ammo and you would have a hard time telling it apart from such from more than a few inches away. Since they are individually packed, there is no chance of getting "extra" rounds.
Shooting:
I shot about 200 rounds of the Freedom and 150 rounds of Jack Ross so far.
My first time out with Freedom, I experience my first ever malfunctions with my pistol (9mm CZ P-01). I had 2 failure to feed after about 100 rounds. These rounds seemed much dirtier than anything else I had shot through the pistol previously (S&B, WWB, Remington) and completely covered the feed ramp in carbon after 100 rounds. That, couple with the slight imperfections in the bullet is what I think caused the rounds to "stick" and not feed smoothly.
Other than that, the rounds shot well and accuracy and felt recoil was on par with other rounds I've shot.
After shooting, cleaning the pistol confirmed my initial thought that this ammo was "dirtier". I really had to scrub some of the black powder/carbon off. I had to let my barrel sit in Hoppes for a while so it could break down the build up on my feed ramp and scrub and actually scrape it off with my finger nails.
I didn't experience any problems with the Jack Ross ammo and I would say that it shot pretty much on par with my favorite 9mm round, S&B. No malfunctions and not very dirty.
Cleaning the pistol afterwards was much easier and every came off easily. Not much of a build up on the feed ramp or other places. This was 50 rounds less, however.
Conclusion:
If I can wait or if Jack Ross can speed up their orders, I will go with them in the future. I think it is a much better value (costs less for better ammo). I don't think that Freedom ammo is a bad deal, but they are definitely in a different class. Freedom does offer non "Blaster Training" ammo, which I think are better reloads for $189+shipping per case of 1000, which I think would be more comparable to the Jack Ross reloads, but that would be roughly 22-23% more expensive and comparable price of factory ammo.
I hope this helps.
