So, recently at work, one of my LT’s bought a concealable vest from Federal Armament to replace his vest that had been torn up and beat up over almost 20 years. Well, when I went on their sight, I found so many cool things that I kinda geeked out. Well, after talking with their sales team, they sent me out some ammo in 9mm, 40, and 45 ACP, along with some projectiles to reload.

When the package came with the ammo, I felt like I was breaking into Fort Knox, and from that moment, I knew it was a good sign. When I finally got all the way into the box, I found that there was a lot of care put into the way everything was packaged. From there I inspected every single round that was sent for any defects, or damages. Out of 300 rounds, I only found 1 small crack in 1 case for the 45 ACP ammo. I was able to pull the bullet, transfer the primer, powder and bullet into a none damaged case.

When I took it to the range, I found that all of the ammo, especially the 9mm was a dream to shoot. Not to hot, not under powered, just right. My guns loved the ammo that they sent, and I took my time shooting slow so that I could get more time out of each round. The best part was when I collected the brass, and sat down at my bench and reloaded them. The bullets that were sent as well, seemed to work better in my press than some of the other bullets I have been using. Then, the real test came, when it was time for me to requal for my Armed Security license. With the requal you use 48 rounds per string of fire, from 1 yard, to 25 yards, and the highest score is a 240. I did 3 strings of fire,1 with factory Federal ammo, 1 with my normal plated bullets, and 1 with the bullets sent by mike over at Fed Arms. First string was a “practice” where I scored a 232, then the 2nd round was my normal plated ammo I reload, where I got a 236. The last string of fire was with the Fed Arms bullets, where I scored a 239…….yes I am still pissed about pulling that 1 round (was on me not the bullets).
I also found that Fed Arms carries some odd ball stuff like the 50 BMG stuff that most people dream about having in a collection, as well as some very good pricing on rifles, and shotguns, even the body armor. What are you doing still reading this? Get over to Fed Arms now! and tell the sales team I sent you!.

 

photo courtesy of cardinalguns.com

By Jimmy Ogletree

Jimmy is a southern man, raised in a military family with over 24 years of firearms experience. He has worked in the security and Law Enforcement field for over 10 years, many of those years were spent in a car for 13 hours a night on patrol. He is also a former investigator for the Department of Defense. Jimmy is an NRA certified instructor, as well as a Florida Security Officer School Instructor.

31 thoughts on “FedArm (Federal Armament) Ammo Review”
  1. I bought some reman 9mm from FedArm and it is crap. 25% won’t chamber. The bullet is copper plated lead, there is no jacket. I think the bullets were deformed when seated. Why do I say that? I thought the case was sticking, but one of the times I had to manually extract the cartridge (the last time) I noticed unburned power. So I looked down the barrel (yes, unloaded etc.), there was the bullet stuck in the chamber. I shot about 10 bullets out of the 1000.

    1. I ordered 1,000 9mm. First time I shot it, the second round was a squib and deposited a bullet just inside the barrel preventing me from chambering another round. I was at the range, but kept thinking the casings were jamming as I tried repeatedly to chamber another round.

      I’m lucky and learned a valuable lesson about squibs. Something I never experienced with factory new ammo.

      How does anyone become comfortable with reloaded ammo? I guess 1,000 for $135 bucks was to good to be true?

    2. My canik had the same problem. Every other empty case got stuck. Shot a different brand while shooting the cedars and I didn’t have any problems. I guess not all pistols like fedarms

  2. I just bought 500 remanufactered 40S&W rounds. Within 60 rounds into the 500 it won’t be even chamber correctly. Caused my first jammed round into my brand new HK USP40. I’ve shot 400 rounds of winchester just fine, until I had the opportunity to try these. I haven’t into looked the barrel, but plan on taking apart this weekend and see what damage the bullet have cause. I will never purchase from this company again.

    1. Timothy, I hate to hear you had such bad luck. I will be sure Jimmy, who wrote the article, sees your comment and if he has any input. I would definitely contact the manufacture and let them know of the issues.

  3. I am in the same boat. Bought 1000 rds 9mm reloads.
    200 rds fired. Approx 8% failure rate in my glock and about 25% failure rate in my XDM long slide.
    Did contact the manufacturer today. Will update when I hear back.
    Also the powered seemed very dirty. Clouds of heavy smoke at the indoor range.

  4. I bought 500 rounds of .40 from them. Upon opening the box I noticed one of the rounds was missing the primer and there was loose powder inside the bag. Because of this I decided to count and inspect each round (499). I found several that were unusable or of poor quality including a bullet seated backwards, many with dented cases, gouges completely through the copper plating, excess lead flashing around the case mouth. I contacted them immediately with pictures and sent back what in their own words was described as “defective ammunition”. They issued a partial refund claiming some of the ammunition wasn’t returned even though I sent back everything they sent me. They can’t tell me how many rounds they received back and have stopped responding to my e-mails. Buy ammo somewhere else, this place isn’t worth the hassle.

  5. I read the original “RangeHot” review before purchasing, but did not read the comments. After receiving the ammo – I do agree that it is not kind of rough looking ammo….
    I was nervous that I would have issues with chambering, dirty ammo and smoking up the indoor range after reading the comments.
    I put 150 rounds through my Glock 17 yesterday. I did not have a single failure of any kind. If I had to say I noticed anything – it seemed to be loaded a little lighter than the other cheap range ammo I used yesterday. I noticed a very slight difference in felt recoil – gentler with the FedArm.
    With so many people having issues, I do not know if I would take a chance with ordering it again, however, my experience was good.

  6. I ordered 1000 rounds of .40. They cycled through my glock 23 arlright but would not cycle my fnx40 which I’ve never had a seconds trouble with before. Buyers beware!

  7. I too just bought a lot a these, went to the shooting range and very disappointed with them, had issues with chambering, dirty ammo and smoking up the indoor range, lots of stove pipes, shooting a springfield 9mm. Will contact Fedarms.

  8. I bought 500 rounds of 300 blackout, tried about 8 of them, 7 would not chamber. Forward assist would not help and almost impossible to eject. I tried two different rifles. I tried calling them, they don’t answer phones, just goes to voicemail and they don’t call back.

    They sent me a stock reply that is my problem and if I want a refund to send the ammo back at my expense.

    Avoid unless you want trouble.

    1. I see we have run into the same problem.

      I ordered 1000 220gr TMJ 300aac subsonic. it was literally loose loaded in a walmart plastic bag in a cardboard box that cracked open somewhere during shipping and handling. And if that wasn’t bad, not a single round successfully cycles in there different functioning 300aac ARs. They are accepting a return but expect me to pay for return shipping.

  9. I have had great luck with the 9mm, shot 1000rds a little smokey but a great price and made in the good old USA.

  10. I bought 1000 9mm 115 gr TPMJ rounds. My son and I went out shooting and shot about 300 or more rounds. Had 1 round that wouldn’t chamber completely in 2 different S&W pistols. I will be at the range again this weekend and will post an update of how the rest of the ammo performs.

  11. I bought 1000 rounds of 9 mm had two squibs in two separate Guns out of the first 10 shots unbelievably dangerous for the shooting community dangerous for all shooters to be around I just sent them an email expect all have a fight on my hands stay away at all cost dangerous dangerous dangerous poor quality control if any

  12. I purchased a 1000 rounds of the 9mm reload from FedArm.com (Federal Armament) and must agree their ammo is unsafe. The brass is oversized to the point it will only chamber into older guns with looser chambers. However, if I try to chamber a round into a tighter Barstow Barrel, the bullet becomes dislodged and stuck in the barrel. Also noted a sever leading issue in a couple of barrels after a box this bad ammo. I contacted the manufacturer but they are ignoring me. I will be contacting the State Attorney General to ask for assistance with this dishonest company.

  13. I purchased 1000 rds of the .40 from Federal Armament. I shot 200 rds with glock 35. Lots of smoke, then bullets began to tumble. The barrel was FULL OF LEAD. I used a variety of cleaners including peroxide and vinegar to no avail. I had to buy a new barrel.
    I would like to send these bastards to the electric chair

  14. I bought 500 rounds of 9mm, haven’t put this ammo through my Glock 17 yet though. Any thoughts on what I should do? Should I try contacting them or should I just dispute the charge? I am now hesitant at running this ammo through my new Glock 17.

  15. I recently bought 200 rds of .50 BMG @ $2.00 per rd. Great price, right! Problem is the bullets are steel core; I had no idea. Fed arm’s product description made no mention of this. Wouldn’t you think that describing bullet type should be an important bit of info when advertising ammo? Apparently, FedArm doesn’t think so.

  16. I ordered 500 rounds of 5.56×45 / .223 which came quickly as advertised. Having run about 200 rounds through two different platforms I have had no misfires, FTF or issues of any sort. I have read the unhappy comments of those who took the trouble to post them but my experience has been positive. It is difficult to believe a company could remain in business if the negative comments were the rule rather than the exception. I will be ordering again.

  17. So far I have approx 1% fail to go into battery. Quality is sub par. Cheap? Yes. Value? No. Will not buy again. Pay a little more and use ammo that runs.

  18. Worst crap ammo I have ever purchased. Range grade is junk. Wasn’t aware FedArm didn’t stand behind their product until I received ammo. Included was a disclaimer stating,something to the effect of, “This ammo has been loaded by a 3rd party”. Whatever! Range grade /dumpster grade. Why would a company sell something they won’t stand behind? I will do everything in my power to talk this outfit down short of “FedArm -ing”.Oops I meant lying. Turds!

  19. Just ordered 500 rounds of 9mm 115grain ammo for a great price! Will update on how the ammo shoots once I receive it.

  20. I have shot probably 9000 or so of their 9mm. I used to order their “range grade” and found that I would get 1-4 stovepipes out of every 100-150 rounds in my glock 19 (the ammo is definitely loaded with a much weaker powder charge than most factory 9mm) .

    So I decided that I would try the normal grade 115 fmj. This ammo has functioned much better, I get the occasional failure to eject/stovepipe (every 200-500 rounds maybe) still but am able to write it off as it is my practice ammo and hey, I’m saving 30-40 per 1000 (I shoot about 1000 rounds a month). The normal grade stuff is very weakly loaded as well, and I believe that my G19 functions with it is because I have been using the same recoil spring for the entire life of the gun (my estimates put around 20,000 rounds through the gun), essentially equating to a reduced power recoil spring.

    This also means that this ammo recoils FAR less than any other 9mm ammo I have ever shot, but it has cost me valuable time and places on the leader boards in local competitions due to failures to eject.

    A warning: This ammo had a 30% failure rate in my friends brand new glock 19.

    With my weaker recoil spring, I find the gun really only begins to malfunction after a few thousand rounds of not cleaning the gun.

    Those are my experiences.

  21. Just bought 500 rounds of 300blk. First trip to the range I couldn’t get more than 3 in a row to fire out of either gun. Took them home and checked them, our of 100 rounds 14 had oversized necks up to. 004 over saami max, 5 had primers in backwards, 12 had no primers. Oal had a deviation of. 060. When I contacted them they said sorry no refunds and offered free shipping on my next order

  22. I bought 500 rds of 8mm Mauser that was supposed to be “brand new primers and new powder drop in Russian surplus steel cases with original surplus bullets”. What I got was old Nazi surplus mixed with a little Czech, Romanian, and Yugo surplus from WWII to 1952. All they did was print “8×57 IS FA” on the side of all the cases. I also got 200 rds of 9mm Luger. I got 4 rounds of it through my new Walther then the 5th round was a squib. Luckily, the bullet didn’t even fully clear the chamber so the next round couldn’t chamber and the slide couldn’t go forward into battery so I didn’t blow my gun up. They do nothing but lie in emails or on the phone.They refuse to make anything right or to admit to even having responsibility for the product and its flaws. They hide behind front-companies and shell-companies so they can shift the blame to one subsidiary or another until you just give-up in disgust. Most dishonest company – of any kind – I’ve ever dealt with. Avoid them like the plague!

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