By Kevin Mazza
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, you guessed it, new cases . . .
Why remanufactured ammo?
There can be a significant cost savings with remanufactured ammo. Cartridge brass is the most expensive component of ammunition and reusing it can save a good chunk of money. Freedom Munitions only uses once-fired brass. Their remanufactured ammo is loaded on the exact same equipment that their new ammo is loaded on. The process is the same once the fired brass is prepped.
Freedom offers .40 S&W ammo in various bullet weights and designs. I chose the 180 FMJ for this test. The 180 grain FMJ is copper jacketed and pushed to 950 fps. It retails for about $13 per box of 50 rounds. For comparison new Freedom Munitions .40 S&W ammo runs $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.
Like most manufacturers, Freedom uses major manufacturer components. Primers, powders and cases are all from big brand manufacturers like Speer, Alliant, Winchester, Federal, etc.
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 I like to do is weigh the ammo and determine the weight variance. This can give you an idea of the manufacturing 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 five grains is good considering there are four separate components in a cartridge and each one has some variance of its own. Bullets alone can often vary 2-3 grains in weight.
At the Range
Now let’s see how it performs at the range. I used my Hi Point 4095 TS carbine to demonstrate accuracy and reliability of the ammo, shooting at combat type ranges and not 100 yards. The .40 S&W was designed for handguns and handgun ranges which are 10 -15 yards max.
The Freedom Munitions .40 S&W ammo loads 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. I shot everything offhand and at a somewhat rapid rate of 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. But this ammo isn’t designed for benchrest target shooting or long ranges. The .40 S&W is a self defense/CQB round. So putting 10 rounds into a 2 1/4” circle in 10 seconds would be satisfactorily 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 was 100% reliable and accurate in both my Hi Point 4095TS carbine and my GLOCK 22. I have shot hundreds of rounds of Freedom munitions without any malfunctions in either of my guns.
The packaging and appearance is first class. It performs extremely well in my guns and the price is very good. I couldn’t ask for more from any target ammunition, new or remanufactured.
Rating (out of five stars):
Overall: * * * * *
The Freedom remanufactured rounds are good, reliable, affordable target rounds that are great for training purposes. You can spend more, but why would you?
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 PelletGuns1.com.