Factory Blemished Bullets

[HK Dave]

Anyone ever tried the factory blems at powder valley? I wonder if its SMK. Anyone know what the "blemish" is? I could care less what it looks like as long as its perfectly accurate.

[sacto929]

Not sure, but they're the only 175's available right now. Picked up 1K....

[klewan]

The first 200 bullets off a new setup are considered blems. They've found it takes that long for the machinery to get settled down and make a consistent product. Others are some kind of cosmetic flaw. I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones I've read about.

[graceunderfire]

I've never tried Powder Valley's but I have bought some from Midway. They looked great. Better than non-blems.

[Baja_Traveler]

I used to buy factory blems at the Sierra Factory when they were up in Santa Fe Springs (that should age me). 90% of them were just scuff marks on the jacket, the rest were little tits of lead on the soft point, or little lead doughnuts swaged down to the jacket from the softpoint having too much material. In both cases a quick flick of a fingernail removed them and they shot perfectly fine.

[HK Dave]

I had no idea Sierra used to be next door to me!

From the responses... it sounds like it's possible it's not just a color thing but could be internal or marked... so no good for precision but great for blasting ammo.

[Coyotegunner]

I get the Blems from Midway sometimes.Issues I usually just live with.
Color maybe and maybe a striker scratch-no biggy
Ballistic tips fall out-inspect and super glue.
Overall length-while reloading,check your overall length often.Really,you have been warned.

[stilly]

I've never tried Powder Valley's but I have bought some from Midway. They looked great. Better than non-blems.

+1
Me too.

I bought blems at Midway and could not see anything wrong with them. If they have a accurate desc then I would be inclined to trust that I mean, it IS Powder Valley, have they ever really lied to anyone intentionally? They are primer/powder gods in my book...

[Divernhunter]

I have bought blems from Nosler and could not tell any difference in looks or performance. Sometimes they were just overruns. Probably not overruns now with the shortages.

[rmblaster]

Like the other poster I also used to buy blems from sierra when they were in Santa Fe Springs never had an issue with them

[shooterbill]

I have bought lots of blems. From what I was told, it's only cosmetic. If it was a quality issue, the bullets would be scrapped. I personally haven't seen any blemishes. The bullets shot fine.

[cjskalka]

I bought 2k of the 175gr blems a few nights ago, I have had pretty good experience with blems.

[johnny1290]

Hey guys, I'm looking to reload for my new ptr91. I'm assembling the necessary bits and pieces, and just wondered if this is a good price and if I should get the 168 or 175s, or maybe a different weight?

As far as I can tell, for $110+ship they seem around $20 cheaper than normal, does that sound about right?

Thanks in advance

[wtkaiser]

Baja, I remember those days! My friend and I would go there during a long lunch to get seconds, with which we could find no faulty whatsoever. I swore off Sierra bullets when they left. That lasted, oh, about 2 weeks...

[SmokeWagon]

I just ordered some to give them a try.