Avoid "Ranger Bonded 9mm 124gr +P (RA9BA)" from www.sgammo.com

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10-10-2011, 12:44 PM
XD40Colorado

Avoid "Ranger Bonded 9mm 124gr +P (RA9BA)" from www.sgammo.com

Hey guys,

Recently bought 100 rounds of "Ranger Bonded 9mm 124gr+P JHP" from SGAmmo.com

When it arrived to my house, I was dismayed that it was December 2006 production ammo, which is really crappy stuff. There's almost no HP cavity to speak of. Winchester realized this issue, and corrected the bullet design to have a deeper HP cavity as of late 2008/early 2009. Needless to say, I was expecting this 2008/2009 reliable ammo, not the unreliable, 5-year-old stuff that I received. The HP cavity is so shallow, it almost makes the bullet a FMJ (images attached).

Not only had the ammo thus sat around for 5 years and have a major design flaw, when it arrived, the brass jackets on almost all the rounds were dirty and tarnished with a black, thick residue.

Normally,SGAmmo.com is a very good company. I have purchased Ranger T-series and Gold Dots from them, all of which have been in new, excellent (and current production) condition. I have contacted him about returning the ammo, but until I hear back AVOID the RA9BA he is selling. It is junk, and should have been marked "ZRA9BA" with the "Z" designating "out of date/seconds" ammo.

Images:
Image Shack is being goofy...when the image loads, click on the "broken link" icon and it will pull up the shot in 640 x 800

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/3302/1000828e.th.jpg
Tarnishing around case (not sure how well camera picked it up)

http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/484/1000829do.th.jpg
More tarnishing, big black smudge. Not sure camera got it?

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/8116/1000827z.th.jpg
Side angle of shallow, almost non-existent HP cavity

http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/8480/1000826m.th.jpg
Top-down shot of four random rounds, all showing differing serration, HP depths, and just general lack of HP cavity

Just a warning for you guys!!!!
10-10-2011, 12:49 PM
Ra

Thanks for the information. I have ordered from them a few times and have found their products to be top-notch. I would think he will play ball and fix this issue...
10-10-2011, 01:05 PM
XD40Colorado

Hey Ra:

Just got an email back from him. He is going to exchange the defective ammo (minus cost of shipping) for a box of Gold Dot 124gr +P.
Again, this company is A++ as he just showed by offering a full refund to me! Wow!
10-10-2011, 01:59 PM
Ra

Yeah, he seems like a nice guy. Under the comment section of the order form, I sent him a riddle to solve. When I received my order from him, he answered it, correctly too!
10-10-2011, 02:41 PM
TedDeBearFrmHell

so instead of a slam as implied by the title of the thread, prehaps a kudos thread about the company?
10-10-2011, 05:22 PM
XD40Colorado

No, I didn't knock the company.
If you read the first two posts, I describe that I have previously had good service, and that he is letting me return it.
Purpose of the thread was NOT to knock them, it was to advise buyers that the RA9BA he has been sold by Winchester is old stuff and lower-performing than the current generation of RA9BA.
That's all.
10-10-2011, 07:42 PM
hud35500

They are a reputable company. I've never had a complaint on any of my purchases, but it's good to see that they take care of their customers.
10-10-2011, 07:48 PM
TedDeBearFrmHell

Quote:

Originally Posted by XD40Colorado

No, I didn't knock the company.
If you read the first two posts, I describe that I have previously had good service, and that he is letting me return it.
Purpose of the thread was NOT to knock them, it was to advise buyers that the RA9BA he has been sold by Winchester is old stuff and lower-performing than the current generation of RA9BA.
That's all.

gotcha and i stand corrected......

i do however have a question..... you say repeatedly that this ammo is 5 years old and should have been sold as "out of date"?

what is the expiration date ? how long is the shelf life of ammo? any other flaws not withstanding would you have been happy with well designed and stored 5 year old ammo?
10-10-2011, 07:53 PM
denner

I've seen the bonded Ranger series sold from ammunitiontogo likewise have the same blemish issues on occasion. I've never had an issue with ammunitiontogo or SG personally. As a matter of fact, I just recently bought a case of Winchester RA9T T-Series 147 grain ammo from SG and it's the latest brand new production T-Series stuff.
10-12-2011, 10:59 PM
XD40Colorado

Hey Ted -

Point being that there have two redesigns to that ammo since 2006 which have significantly increased its performance, so needless to say, I was expecting the latest version.
And to my understanding, I think the shelf-life is about 15 years or so? Not sure?
10-13-2011, 01:14 AM
denner

Quote:

Originally Posted by XD40Colorado

Hey Ted -

Point being that there have two redesigns to that ammo since 2006 which have significantly increased its performance, so needless to say, I was expecting the latest version.
And to my understanding, I think the shelf-life is about 15 years or so? Not sure?

Two redesigns since 2006 on the Ranger bonded? Is the old Ranger bonded designs now the new PDX1's? As far as what I've seen the Ranger Bonded has always performed well from it's inception. It's not going to expand like a HST or the T-series, but it's not designed to, but designed to give better penetration through hard barriers. Here's a test of the 147 Ranger bonded with the same exposed lead and shallow cavity, I'm thinking it's the same type of ammo you had but for being 147's. Doctor Gary Roberts recommends the Ranger Bonded and he had no mention of redesigned bullets for the Bonded as opposed to not using the inferior SXT and Black Talons which evolved into the T-series, but his test was done awhile back, but for the blemishes I think you sent back some good ammo. Did you happen to do any ballistic tests with it before you sent it back? Winchester Ranger 9mm 147 gr Bonded JHP with Denim - YouTube