Does Federal Champion always look dirty with imperfections?
 

I just purchased 6 boxes of Federal Champion .40/180gr. from Wal-Mart for the first time. After inspecting all 6 boxes, most of the casings in every box appear to be dirty. It may even be corrosion which I have never seen before. I have also noticed a couple other things with these rounds. Some of the bullets have imperfections on the jacket such as scratches and a black sticky material on the tip which can be scratched off. Lastly, when comparing these rounds to some Winchester white box it appears the Federals are not seated flush with the casing. To be honest with you, the stuff looks like re-loads. Is this how Federal Champion from Wal-Mart always looks or did I get 6 bad boxes?

I can take pictures if you want to see what they look like.

Here are some photos. Should I return them or should they be ok? Is this normal for Federal Champions to look like this?

http://i978.photobucket.com/albums/a...1-16182252.jpg

http://i978.photobucket.com/albums/a...1-16182333.jpg

http://i978.photobucket.com/albums/a...1-16182410.jpg

I've never gotten a box like that but I did get a box of 30-06 that had a few dark spots on the brass, nothing on the bullet though. I shot them, tumbled the brass and the spots never came back.

If they were mine, I would shoot them. I don't see anything that is of major concern if you plan to use them soon. The corrosion on the copper would concern me if I wanted to store them for a period of time but if you plan to use them soon, have fun.

Ditto on shooting them .. Soon.

IMHO, this is just what I would expect from Walmart. I buy ammo from Wally, but only for fun practice. I have got boxes of ammo from them that had different colors (brands) of primers, different bullets, discolored cases and bullets in the same box, but NO corrosion.

How soon should I shoot them. Can anyone confirm that the brass appears to be corroded?

If you store them in a cool, dark, constant temp environment they wouldn't change for some time. So let's say you keep them in your bedroom closet and your house stays around 70...if you shoot them within a year you should be ok. Now if you pull them out a year from now and there is green stuff growing and stuff that looks like hair....don't even think about it. Extreme temp changes will speed up deterioration of ammo.

The brass shows MILD corrosion. It looks like it's seen the oil of someone's skin or maybe some water at some point. I'm guessing you bought it at Walmart(I would, they're the cheapest) and they buy in volume. They also aren't very concerned about ammo storage(think 20 years from purchase) because 90% of it will be off their shelf and shot within 3 months.
What you've got is like surface rust on sheet metal. Is it rust? Yes. Is the sheet of metal junk? HECK NO!!

Seriously, don't over think it. Take it on your next range trip and have fun.

Thanks for all the info. I will shoot them within the month and from now on before I buy ammo from Wal-Mart, I will open the box and inspect it before I purchase it. If the Wal-Mart employee has a problem with it, I will tell him the last 2 boxes of ammo I bout from here were corroded.

Do you guys think Wal-Mart will let me return these boxes and inspect the other boxes they had to see if I can find ammo that doesn't look like it's in the early stages of corrosion. I am hoping someone knowledgeable will be in the sporting goods department tomorrow because he will clearly see dents in the jacket and possible seating issues between the actual bullet and the brass.

I don't think so but you can get lucky. It all depends on the person you are talking to sometimes.

No, they won't. They have a strict no return policy which is printed on the bottom of each receipt of ammo. You can try to argue with them but I doubt you'll win.

Just go shoot it, there is nothing wrong with it. Heck, if I had a 40, I'd buy it from you.