I just received some Speer Gold Dot short barrel ammo (23917) in 357 Magnum, 135 gr and noticed after opening the box there is BLUE colored INK or DYE at locations on the primer. It looks like it is not completely around the primers but just a portion. In a 20 round box there were 16 like this, 4 did not have this colored material on the promer.

Anyone ever see this?
Could these be rejects or something?


Seems everything from ATG has something goofy or abnormal associated with it. I wonder where they get their products - I will not be ordering from them again.

A primer sealant maybe?

Your ammo should be fine. As Reliable mentioned above, that's just primer sealant. I have Speer's 135gr. .38 +P Short Barrel ammo, and it looks identical to what you described except that the dye is red. The sealant is mostly in the groove between primer and case, but on several of the rounds it appeared to splatter on the face of the primer itself. It's all factory-fresh ammo in 50-rounds per box Law Enforcement packaging (not the bulk-packed ammo that Speer sells for practice only), and after shooting several boxes of it, I can tell you that it's all been flawless.

It just seems odd I do not see this on ammo found in retail stores or other online sources. I'll go out this weekend and shoot some.


I still doubt I will ever order anything else from ammunitiontogo. This was only my second order from them and both batches of ammo appeared to be odd or abnormal compared to previous experience of same ammo from other sources. I suspect they purchase specific factory seconds or rejects for resell.

non of my Gold Dot, short barrel 230 gr. or the LE packaged 50 rnd boxes of 230 gr. or the 200 gr + P exibit this.

but I suspect it is just dye in the primer sealers as others have said.

Deadman,
You are a strong and respected voice around here - thanks for responding.

Have you (would you) ever ordered anything from ATG?

Mine are marked in the same way I got them from a dealer its primer sealant & will not hurt a thing WW military and Winchester ammo have the same thing but red.

armsmaster270

You have Speer Gold Dot with BLUE?

Thanks,

The S&B 357 SIG ammo I bought at a retail shop in town had the red lacquer on the primer. It's just to seal/waterproof the primer against the case. Odd that only some of the ammo in there would have that, but it would have happened at the factory.

I've gotten Speer Lawman from ATG before. It was at a great price, only problem was it shot a little dirty indicating it may not have been stored at the optimal temperatures - but I couldn't care less as long as it's reliable. Which it was.

After you have shot one, deprime it. If the color is around the outside of the primer or inside of the primer pocket, you know it is sealant. If it appears to be only on the headstamp area of the brass and not on the sides of the primer or pocket, it's probably some sort of ID mark from the factory. Might indicate a round that had to be reprocessed for some reason, but I find that highly unlikely.

Got a pic you can post? I wouldn't doubt that blue primer sealant exists, but I've only personally experienced red and green.