I was out of ammo and when looking to buy some ammo, I came across Ultramax remanufactured (reloaded?) 230 gr FMJ for .45 ACP. The price was right - it wasn't as inexpensive as Wolf ammo, but it was less expensive than WWB or anything else. I purchased 500 rounds.

I haven't shot any of it yet, but I was surprised to see when I opened one of the boxes that the brass is stamped with:

Winchester
CCI
Federal

There are also a couple of other stamps on some of them that I don't recognize.

So, a couple of questions - is this ammo going to be ok or will I be disappointed overall? Two, will I be able to reload this brass down the road when I have the equipment to do it? The brass seems to be decent enough - was this ammo remanufactured from once-fired brass?

At a glance, the quality seems ok, but I know that what is inside the case is where the rubber is really going to hit the road. If it winds up being crummy ammo but I can at least reload the brass, then I'll have 500 rounds of decent brass to use toward that eventual endeavor.

Looking back, I now realize how hooked-up my Dad was with his bullet casting and reloading. If he ran out of ammo, as long as he had a little bit of time, he could easily make more, although he wasn't the kind of guy who only reloaded a little at a time. He'd cast hundreds/thousands of bullets, and reload several hundred at a time, and he'd buy supplies such as primers by the case.

Re manufactured means it's been shot once and reloaded. I'd expect it to be as good as any reloaded ammo and I've been shooting that kind of stuff for lots of years. Shoot it and see how it does.

You know that for around a hundred bucks you can buy one of Lee's Anniversery reloading kits from Cabela's or Midway. With that plus a set of Lee dies for each caliber you have and your used brass, some powder, primers and bullets you can make your own ammo at about a 50 to 70 percent cost savings over buying factory stuff.

When I cast bullets I can shoot the handguns for near the same cost as a 22 long rifle. Now that's incentive.

Bob - thanks for that post! I looked a the Anniversary kit and Cabela's is selling it for about $85 at the moment - that's not bad at all, and I might have to pick that up as a means to start myself down the path of reloading. I had always thought I would simply splurge and get a Dillon multi-stage to make things easier - that's what Dad had (mom unfortunately sold it after he passed) but I suppose that could wait. After all, Dad reloaded a lot of ammo on a pair of Lyman single stage presses that he owned, and even after he bought the Dillon, he still preferred to do rifle ammo on the single stage.

I'll post in a report after I've had a chance to run some of the Ultramax rounds downrange to give my impressions of how I believe it performs.

I know this ain't hand gun ammo , but...


I shot some Ultra Max Ammo from my .308 and was really surprised at the accuracy. The brass was both Federal and military headstamps.

I have shot a lot of the Ultramax ammo without any problems what so ever. The price also keeps me shooting it. I have reloaded the Ultramax brass several times without any difficulties either.

My department tried a case of their cast lead 38's once and all of the handguns used that day had long strips of lead to remove from the barrels. I went to the Shot Show that year, and stopped by their booth and let them know what we had happen. Well the next week I received two cases with an appology for the bad lot we received the first time. The second lot was pretty good, and we had no signs of leading, so we continued using their product untill we went to autoloaders, and the new chief would not use reloads because he was afraid that it would void the waranty for the new guns.

Do they give you any data for them? I'd shoot it but be very mindfull of pressure signs!
If any show, stop using it and have them check that lot. I'd also ask them about the use of many different types of brass? That to me shows lack of quality control which would make me very suspect of that ammo! Reload your own -thats the best Quality control there is! :)

Hi Patrick!

I wouldn't worry about mixed types of brass... I use whatever I can get my hands on, reload it, and shoot it all together with good results.
Go and have fun!
You could go through the stuff and segregate rounds by headstamp before you fire them.
That way, you can compare them, but I doubt you'll see any difference in accuracy or performance.

Happy Shootin'! -Tom


I was out of ammo and when looking to buy some ammo, I came across Ultramax remanufactured (reloaded?) 230 gr FMJ for .45 ACP. The price was right - it wasn't as inexpensive as Wolf ammo, but it was less expensive than WWB or anything else. I purchased 500 rounds.

I haven't shot any of it yet, but I was surprised to see when I opened one of the boxes that the brass is stamped with:

Winchester
CCI
Federal

There are also a couple of other stamps on some of them that I don't recognize.

So, a couple of questions - is this ammo going to be ok or will I be disappointed overall? Two, will I be able to reload this brass down the road when I have the equipment to do it? The brass seems to be decent enough - was this ammo remanufactured from once-fired brass?

At a glance, the quality seems ok, but I know that what is inside the case is where the rubber is really going to hit the road. If it winds up being crummy ammo but I can at least reload the brass, then I'll have 500 rounds of decent brass to use toward that eventual endeavor.

Looking back, I now realize how hooked-up my Dad was with his bullet casting and reloading. If he ran out of ammo, as long as he had a little bit of time, he could easily make more, although he wasn't the kind of guy who only reloaded a little at a time. He'd cast hundreds/thousands of bullets, and reload several hundred at a time, and he'd buy supplies such as primers by the case.

Both UltraMax and Black Hills ammo are local companies here. I know guys that work at both places. Quality control is very good.

First off you'd probably need a gun that is capable of great accuracy to notice the difference in headstamps. When you get into reloading and are looking for the last few thou. in your groups, you can getting picky about matching cases.

From my experiences with Ultra Max ammo they aren't loaded to a high pressure. My mild varmint loads are maybe a bit hotter than their .223 stuff.

Hi Patrick!

I wouldn't worry about mixed types of brass... I use whatever I can get my hands on, reload it, and shoot it all together with good results.
Go and have fun!
You could go through the stuff and segregate rounds by headstamp before you fire them.
That way, you can compare them, but I doubt you'll see any difference in accuracy or performance.

Happy Shootin'! -Tom
Tom, it's interesting that you should bring that up because the ammo that I used up prior to buying the Ultramax was all reloaded ammo that my Dad reloaded prior to his passing in 1997. I believe his philosophy at the time was "more shooting=more fun", hence his Dillon press, and the fact that he rarely boxed his reloaded handgun ammo anymore. It was all categorized together, but it was loose in surplus ammo boxes and the Dillon plastic stackable bins. It was also all mixed headstamp. I have 294 rounds of empty .45 ACP brass - I probably had an even 300 rounds when I started, but I missed a few in policing up my brass at the range.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that as long as the brass is of decent quality, I'm with you - the headstamp doesn't really matter too much. At the end of the day, I'll have almost 800 pieces of .45 ACP brass, most of it only reloaded once, so I'll have a fair amount of brass to play with when I finally get all of my components together to reload. I'll probably end up buying another 500-1000 rounds, just to make sure I have a fairly solid supply.

The only brass that I get "picky" about are the ones I use to compete with. Those are all "same headstamp" and lot number when possible. Otherwise, I use whatever is available and it all seems to work better than I can shoot. BTW, if you shoot a lot, get into reloading.

MK - I got a Lee Challenger press kit for Father's day along with a set of Lee dies for .45 ACP - not the most glamorous reloading setup, but it will get the job done. At the moment I don't have the components I need to finish the job. Powder and primers aren't my worry at this point - finding inexpensive bullets is more of a concern at the moment, and I'll likely start casting to put a dent in that expense as well, especially since I might have a line of free WW - I'm still checking into that. :)

If you have a free line of wheel weights, by all means start casting. Once you get your initial setup, it will be a lot cheaper than buying bullets, and more satisfying, too!

If you have a free line of wheel weights, by all means start casting. Once you get your initial setup, it will be a lot cheaper than buying bullets, and more satisfying, too!
I'm still checking on my source for wheel weights. A good friend of mine is a friend of a guy who own/operates a Mr. Tire store near my home. So many times it's all about who you know, especially if you are a musician - almost every gig I have had over the last 15 years has been obtained because of who I knew, but I digress. If this source turns out to be good, I'm going to gear up with casting/lubing/sizing equipment straight away.

Well, the general consensus seems to be that Ultramax ammo as a purchased ammo is a decent deal, but even sweeter if you reload and aren't concerned about matching headstamps.