AmmunitionToGo.com - Warning!

lklawson

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After having zero luck finding 7.62x25 HP rounds actually in-stock any where, I opted for the slightly less powerful but still compatible 7.63x25 Mauser (aka ".30 Mauser") ammunition (yes, it's safe to fire in guns chambered for the 7.62 tok round but not vice versa).

After looking around at various options, I decided to buy a box of 25 Hornady brand .30 Mauser rounds in JSP (semi-jacketed lead Soft Point) from AmmunitionToGo.com. The price seemed decent and they seem to be splashed across a lot of sites and search engines.

Well, eventually the product arrived. It took about a week longer than I expected for UPS Ground and I paid almost 50% more than "list price" when you include shipping ($19 + $8.50 S&H), but at least I had compatible ammunition at least a month earlier than if I'd gotten in line for the back ordered Wolf Gold JHP 7.62x25 Tok.

Things went from ho-hum to uncomfortable when I examined the cartridges. At the case mouth, running parallel to the length, were small cracks in 18 of the 25 cartridges.

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Naturally, I wasn't comfortable with this so I emailed AmmunitionToGo with the issue, asking for a simple exchange. I ordered the product I wanted and didn't want anything special, just that exact product.

After having to email them twice to get their attention they finally started to correspond. The end result was AmmunitionToGo offered to give me "Store Credit" on the original purchase price of $19 (not including S&H) if I were to ship the defective product back to them. OK, so, I paid $9 extra to ship the defective product out to me in the first place, now they want me to spend an extra $9 to ship it back to them so that I can have a "store credit" equally what I would have spent by that point in shipping alone so that the next time I buy something from them I can spend another $9 in further shipping and be in almost $50 into my $20 purchase of 25 rounds.

$2 per round? Gee, thanks AmmunitionToGo.

So I call Hornady. First, let me say that Hornady's customer line is vastly amusing. Even if you have no problems at all, I recommend calling their customer support line just to laugh at the pre-recorded messages. Phone: 1-800-338-3220. No. Seriously. Try it. I was in a good mood before I even got a live person. Once I finally got a live person, I was advised that this ammo had been custom loaded under contract by Graf & Sons. I was given their customer support number and off I went to Door Number Three.

So I waited on hold at Graf, got a live person who couldn't help me but promised very convincingly to have the person who could do so call me back very quickly. In this case that very quickly was the next day. Unfortunately, I'd worked late and didn't get the message until 7 or so. So, today, during my lunch break, I returned the call. Well, it turns out that Graf is aware of this problem. They offered an alternate product (FMJ) but I want expanding ammo, not FMJ. If I'd wanted FMJ, I could have just stuck with the 7.62 Tok stuff I've already got! Further, I learned that, because they are aware of the problem the product is being sold as "Factory Seconds." Hmmm... Factory Seconds? So I had them confer with their techs who positively assured me that it is safe to fire this ammo but that it would not be reloadable. I'm still a bit twitchy about shooting it, but Graf swears to me (no, really, I'm not kidding) that they wouldn't sell ammo that wasn't safe to shoot.

Let's go back to this "Factory Seconds" thing. No where, and I do mean NO WHERE, on AmmunitionToGo.com product page for the .30 Mauser ammo was it described as "Factory Seconds" or I wouldn't have bought it.

Conclusion:
Graf & Sons is OK and seemed willing to work with their customers.

Hornady is helpful, polite, and their automated phone system rocks.

AmmuntionToGo.com is only willing to do the minimum required for people who buy stuff from them (folks other businesses would call "Customers"). Don't do business with them. There are plenty of alternatives.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
 
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lklawson

lklawson

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I've been buying from Cheaper Than Dirt (http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd/default.asp) lately, and I've been pleased so far. I also buy 7.62x25, for my CZ-52 pistol. I bought a few mags for the CZ from them, no problems and a LOT cheaper than elsewhere.

Thanks for the heads up.
I've bought from Cheaper Than Dirt and Sportsman's Guide both and had good experiences.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
 

KenpoTex

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That sucks dude...sorry you had a bad experience.

I'm pretty sure I've ordered from them before without any problems (can't be 100% sure since I've dealt with so many companies here and there). Unfortunately though, the "service" part of customer service seems to be lacking with a lot of people nowadays.
 

jks9199

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From the pictures, I'd almost say they're reloads in the first place.

I'm kind of surprised that Graf was backing them, since they had been out of their hands. How do they know that AmmunitionToGo or someone else along the line didn't do a crap reload job?
 
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lklawson

lklawson

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That sucks dude...sorry you had a bad experience.

I'm pretty sure I've ordered from them before without any problems (can't be 100% sure since I've dealt with so many companies here and there). Unfortunately though, the "service" part of customer service seems to be lacking with a lot of people nowadays.
Yeah. I've dealt with other companies that did a much better job of customer service. I'll go with them in the future.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
 
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lklawson

lklawson

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From the pictures, I'd almost say they're reloads in the first place.

I'm kind of surprised that Graf was backing them, since they had been out of their hands. How do they know that AmmunitionToGo or someone else along the line didn't do a crap reload job?
Only Graf knows what sort of brass they used. But they told me that this was a known issue for this Lot# of ammo.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
 

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