Anyone else ever get hosed buying either open box or bulk packaged bullets, or am I the only sucker here? I just tapped into a couple boxes of 168gr "SMK" bullets I bought from a guy several years ago. I bought like 6 or 8 boxes that he claimed were new. When they arrived I recall noticing that some of the Sierra boxes had been opened since the decal that wraps around it had been broken but I have seen this occur in shipping from Midway or other vendors when the boxes get jostled in shipping so I didnt think anything of it. Welp, yesterday when I finally got to using a couple of these particular boxes I noticed that the COAL of my loads changed pretty significantly so I measured the ogive of my known SMKs to these and they were different. I then weighed several and the they were a .2-.3 gr variance. I have found verified SMK to be +/-.1 gr. Now obviously I cant go back to the seller a couple years later and say WTF but it begs the question: Other then only buying NIW directly from vendors how do you keep from getting ripped off buying supposed match bullets online or even at gun shows? With the significant difference in cost between say a SMK or Berger and a Nosler blem, Hornady or other lesser quality bullet and the difficulty spotting differences measured in thousandths of an inch or tenths of a grain, its a real crap shoot. In some cases the seller may not even be aware of the product not being the real deal. Estate sales seem the sketchiest. Who know if Grandpappy just reused boxes for storing bullets?? One easy answer, I suppose, is to only buy NIW from established vendors but if everyone did this take a look in the for sale forum under reloading and realize how many of the ads are for open or bulk packed bullets and know that none of those would move if everyone took such advice.
I guess I am just sort of pissed and frustrated. Now what to do with a couple hundred 30 cal SMK knock-offs????
I guess I am just sort of pissed and frustrated. Now what to do with a couple hundred 30 cal SMK knock-offs????
