Be advised - RIO ammo is crap

[bigbossman]

I had a very frustrating hunt due to RIO shotgun ammo.

I recently bought a case of BlueSteel #6 shot via mail order, and took it to the field yesterday for a dove hunt. I shot a box of Winchester without issue, but when I switched to RIO ammo I started having problems. It seems the rims are way too soft, and when the extractor tried to pull the shell out the thin soft rim would tear. The left the spent shell in the chamber and the next round jammed up behind it. Birds were flying everywhere, and I was kept busy tying to un-jam my gun

Switched to Winchesters again, and the problem went away. So now I have 9 boxes of ammo that I cannot use, and I'm out $130 for the case.

I went to the RIO webpage, no phone # but a contact form. Tried submitting but kept getting errors, so I poked around the web and found a phone#. I called, and an automated message directed me to the web page with no provision to talk with a live person. I called Roger's (the vendor I bought it from) to see if they had contact info, but they did not.

Just thought you'd like to know.


20240905_083837.jpg

[TAS]

That sucks- sorry for your experience.I have limited experience with the Rio brand (target loads only)but never had issues with the few boxes I’ve run. I’m curious, what gun were you using?

[Revoman]

I had some issues with RIo a few years back.
Shooting an over/under no less. It seems that the brass base outer edge does NOT have a sharp shoulder on it, rounded, or slope-shouldered, yes.
This made the empty shell in the barrel drop past the ejector (I had the gun set to NOT eject, just raise up to grab them by hand) after shooting both barrels. This from opening the action and trying to reload another shell with the barrel facing down, which is normal. If I reloaded with the barrel parallel with the ground, I could pull the empties out and reload (how are ya gonna remember to do that while in hot pursuit of game?).
PITA to pull out once it had gone past the ejector though. I had to switch to a different brand in order to make it work correctly. Luckily there was other ammo.
This on a pheasant hunt in Utah for two days.
Glad that I didn't have to put up with the Rio ammo, or I would not have been able to shoot much.
I agree, Rio ammo IS CRAP!!!

[bigbossman]

That sucks- sorry for your experience.I have limited experience with the Rio brand (target loads only)but never had issues with the few boxes I’ve run. I’m curious, what gun were you using?

Winchester 1400. Eats everything else just fine... Winchester, Federal, Kent...

[TAS]

Winchester 1400. Eats everything else just fine... Winchester, Federal, Kent...

Thanks for the update. I’m happy not to be sitting on any at the moment as I’ve seen some decent prices on it in the past.

[ar15barrels]

I had a very frustrating hunt due to RIO shotgun ammo.

I recently bought a case of BlueSteel #6 shot via mail order, and took it to the field yesterday for a dove hunt. I shot a box of Winchester without issue, but when I switched to RIO ammo I started having problems. It seems the rims are way too soft, and when the extractor tried to pull the shell out the thin soft rim would tear. The left the spent shell in the chamber and the next round jammed up behind it. Birds were flying everywhere, and I was kept busy tying to un-jam my gun

Switched to Winchesters again, and the problem went away. So now I have 9 boxes of ammo that I cannot use, and I'm out $130 for the case.

I went to the RIO webpage, no phone # but a contact form. Tried submitting but kept getting errors, so I poked around the web and found a phone#. I called, and an automated message directed me to the web page with no provision to talk with a live person. I called Roger's (the vendor I bought it from) to see if they had contact info, but they did not.

Just thought you'd like to know.


20240905_083837.jpg

Besides the obvious of the cases not being strong enough to be extracted and ripping like that, hulls getting stuck in the chamber can be a sign of a rough/dirty chamber.
Clean and or hone the chamber smooth and see if the problem goes away.
Even though the winchester shells work fine, it could be that the chamber IS a little dirty/rough and that's why the cheaper Rio ammo won't work.
If all it takes it cleaning/polishing your chamber, you could perhaps get some use out of those last 9 boxes so they are not a complete waste.

[scamp62]

I have run 100rd of the blue Rio through my Turkenilli M4 without a hiccup!? maybe Randal has a point!!😎

[bigbossman]

I don't have a hone, but I'll give the chamber an extra-good scrubbing and try again tomorrow. The 1400 is a gas gun, so I'll be hedging my bet and taking an 870 along, just in case.

[ar15barrels]

I don't have a hone, but I'll give the chamber an extra-good scrubbing and try again tomorrow. The 1400 is a gas gun, so I'll be hedging my bet and taking an 870 along, just in case.

Homemade hone:
12ga chamber brush
extra fine grit wet-dry sandpaper (600-1200 grit)
Cut a strip of sandpaper the width of your brush and about 4" long.
Bend a 1/4" long tab on one end of the strip and insert the tab into your cleaning brush.
Wrap the rest of the sandpaper around the brush in the same direction that you will be turning the brush after the brush is inserted into the chamber.
Add a little oil to the sandpaper and spin the cleaning rod holding the brush in a power drill
The brush will push the sandpaper against the chamber after you put it in the chamber.

[Grendel Guy]

I bought a box of it a couple of years ago (that's all they had when lead was a no no in CA). Shot it with no probs. Maybe they changed manufacturing process, materials dunno. Sorry for your misfortune. Hope the suggestion works.