Freedom Munitions Remanufactured 40 S&W Ammo Review

Freedom Munitions 40 S&W Ammo Review

Freedom Munitions is an American ammunition manufacturer with locations in Texas and Idaho. They manufacture both new and remanufactured ammunition. The only difference being the cartridge case. Remanufactured ammo uses once fired cases that have been inspected, tested, cleaned and full length resized. New ammunition features new cases.

So why buy remanufactured ammo?

There can be a significant cost savings with remanufactured ammo. Cartridge brass is the most expensive component of ammunition. If you reduce this cost, you can save a good chunk of money. Freedom Munitions only uses once fired brass. They do not use brass that has been reloaded several times. Remanufactured ammo is loaded on the exact same equipment that new ammo is loaded on. The process is the same once the fired brass is prepped.

Freedom Munitions 40 S&W ammo is loaded with various bullet weights and designs. I chose the 180 FMJ for this test. The 180 grain FMJ is a copper jacket and pushed to 950 fps. It retails for about $13 per box of 50 rounds. New Freedom Munitions 40 S&W ammo retails for $15/box of 50. If you shop for the major brands of 40 S&W ammo like PMC, S&B, Speer or Fiocchi, you’ll pay $17 – $18/box of 50. Freedom Munitions is quite a bit cheaper.

Freedom Munitions uses major brand components like most manufacturers do. Primers, powders and cases are all big brand manufacturers like Speer, Alliant, Winchester, Federal, etc. Some people think these smaller ammo manufacturers use their own components or sub-standard components but this it not true. It is high quality ammo using name brand components.

You can see in this photo that Freedom Munitions used mixed cases…Speer, Federal, Blazer, R-P and FC.

Ammunition Tolerance Test
One quality evaluation that I like to do is weigh the ammo and determine the weight variance. This can give you an idea of the tolerances of the ammunition. If you use high quality components the weight variance should be very low. If the reloading equipment is high quality, the powder weights should be very close in each cartridge. A low variance in weight should be an indicator of quality. Let’s see how this box of Freedom Munitions 40 S&W pans out on the digital scale.

Average Weight – 256.395 grains
Lowest Weight – 250.80 grains
Highest Weight – 261.20 grains
Max Variance – 10.4 grains
Avg Variance – 4.805 grains

This data is on par with most major manufacturers ammunition like Speer, Federal and Hornady. An average weight variance of less than 5 grains is good considering there are 4 separate components in one cartridge and each one has some variance. Bullets alone often vary 2-3 grains in weight.

Now let’s see how it performs at the range. I’ll be using my Hi Point 4095 TS carbine to demonstrate accuracy and reliability of the ammo. I will be shooting at combat type ranges and not 100 yards. I like to be practical when it comes to testing products. The 40 S&W was designed for handguns and handgun ranges which are 10 -15 yards max.

At the Range
The Freedom Munitions 40 S&W ammo loads into the magazine very easily. The brass is shiny and slides in the magazine like glass. The Hi Point 4095 magazine holds 10 rounds so I emptied one magazine into a target from 15 yards. This simulates a real combat scenario in which this particular carbine might be used…aka ”close quarters combat”. No optical sights were used, just the stock peep sights and no rifle rest of any sort. Like I said keep it “real”. I shot everything offhand and at a somewhat rapid fire.

All 10 rounds fired without a hitch and all ten went into a 2.25” group. This ammo is much more accurate than that but a benchrest would be needed to really test its potential. However, this ammo is not designed for benchrest target shooting or long ranges. The 40 S&W was designed for self defense/combat type situations at close ranges, like 10 yards. So putting 10 rounds into a 2 1/4” circle in 10 seconds would be satisfactory and in the “kill zone” of a human target.

I then fired the rest of the box into another target to see if any malfunctions would appear. The remaining 40 rounds went into a 4” circle without a hitch of any kind. The Freedom Munitions ammo fed perfectly and ejected several feet away. The fired brass cases were very clean and looked like they could be sized and reloaded without cleaning.

Conclusion
The Freedom Munitions 40 S&W ammunition is 100% reliable and accurate in my Hi Point 4095TS carbine and my Glock 22. I have shot hundreds of rounds of Freedom munitions without any malfunctions in my guns. The packaging and appearance is first class. It performs extremely well in my guns and the price is very good. I could not ask for more from any ammunition, new or remanufactured. This is target ammunition and I do not keep this in my loaded guns. I only use top notch soft point ammunition for defense like Federal GuardDog, Speer Gold Dot or Remington Golden Sabers.

*I just want to add that not all firearms feed all ammunition 100% reliably. Freedom Munitions may not perform well in all makes and models of firearms. Some firearms are finicky with ammo. I know when I used to shoot 1911’s, each one liked a particular brand of ammo and would not shoot others reliably.

Author Bio

Kevin Mazza is a NRA member, experienced hunter, shooter and reloader and has written hundreds of firearm related articles and reviews. Kevin is the owner and editor of The Ammo Blog.