6.5 Swede wood ammo

[db_tanker]

Who here has any experience with this ammo?

A vendor I get emails from has this listed in stock and I figured what the heck and bought 600 rounds (its incredibly cheap at 2.00 per 20 in some bulk).

So..wooden bullets...has anyone played with this stuff? Its Berdan primed so reloading isn't high on my list...but getting the wood bullet out and possibly doing something with the brass that way...maybe? Not worried about that just yet.

I've played with the 308 plastic ammo and its neat out to 50 yards (and very accurate to boot) - will this be the same considering the platform? The vendor talks about using it for varmints at closer range...anyone use it for that?

Thanks!
D

 

[wiscoaster]

The wooden bullets were used as blanks and as training rounds with a muzzle device that shredded the bullets as they were shot.
View attachment 975651

 

[garandsrus]

I bought several hundred rounds, maybe closer to 1000, to pull the bullet and use the case for jacketed rounds. The cost was about the same as a primer so even if I just scrapped the brass after shooting, it was a good deal.

This worked really well to pull the bullets, but I don’t know if they are still available. The woo http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/FIREARMS/forster_bulletpullersuperpuller.pdf

I found one on eBay! https://www.ebay.com/itm/Forster-Su...504654?hash=item1ab22defce:g:emIAAOSwgOhgCEtX

I never shot a wooden bullet round, but they are supposed to disintegrate at the muzzle.

The powder is supposed to be equivalent to “Russian Unique”, whatever that is. I have saved the powder but not loaded anything with it. It is supposed to be pretty fast so not suitable for jacketed rifle loads.

Here are a couple posts with a lot more information:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?168873-SAMCO-6-5-Swede-Wood-Bullet-Ammo
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?327751-Can-Swedish-blank-powder-be-salvaged
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?383078-They-said-It-can-not-be-done

There are quite a few more posts if you do a search there.

I have one of the adapters. This isn’t mine, but here is a picture: https://www.libertytreecollectors.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=86

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Here's a short demo video about checking these blanks at different distances for safety purposes;



Any idea whether these have corrosive primers?

 

[Swampman]

I bought a couple cases of these from Samco about 20 years ago.

The first case was all matching headstamp Karlsborg Ammunitions fabrik virgin brass of 1985 production. I was so pleased that I ordered another case, which contained mixed manufacturer, umpteen times fired cases with some dating back to 1933.

There must have been acid in the ammo boxes because the cases had a pink stain where they had rested against the cardboard. It tumbled off after a couple hours in walnut hull.

I've had no problems reloading and shooting the 1985 production cases with both cast bullets and mid level jacketed bullet loads. I haven't done anything with the mixed headstamp brass.

I did a couple nail tests and the '85 stuff is definitely not corrosive.

I read somewhere that the blanks are loaded with a fast burning shotgun powder, but I don't know if that's true.

 

[db_tanker]

SO...I'm thinking this is going to be fun to shoot at 50 yards lol

Maybe I inspect the brass and see what its about after shooting and see if I can score Berdan primers afterward.

Thanks all for the info!

D

 

[Random 8]

It's very good brass, with very good primers. I never got the old mixed brass with the 600 or so I ordered back in the day. I simply pulled the bullets with a pliers, removed the decapping pin from my dies and neck sized, then reloaded. They made match grade ammo for me, unable to tell the difference between the reworked brass and my Norma boxer match loads. I scrapped them after one firing.

 

[maxxhavoc]

I bought and still have a bunch. We played with some at my range and ended up doing a group buy kind of thing.

We are pulling the wooden bullets (needle nose vice grips work well), damping the powder, and adding powder and bullets. I leave the stem in a resizing die, run it in and out to open the neck. I try not to touch bottom, but if I do, no worries...first time Berdan primers have been good for something.

Shot one straight into a plastic bucket at point blank range - nothing left but sawdust. Never found anything in the wood chipper either. I am assuming the chipper simply keeps high speed sawdust from blinding someone as trainees shoot at each other for fun. After looking at the above video, looks like we just got lucky.

We got ours for $99 + $199 shipping for 4,800 rounds and split them. I ended up with 2,400 of them, probably a lifetime supply of primed brass.

Wet tumbling for 15 minutes cleans them up pretty well and exposes the corroded ones. 30 minutes and they leak. We are still learning.

 

[Swampman]

SO...I'm thinking this is going to be fun to shoot at 50 yards lol

Maybe I inspect the brass and see what its about after shooting and see if I can score Berdan primers afterward.

The only thing that'll travel 50 yards from the muzzle is the BOOM!

The Russian Murom primers (A.K.A. PMC, Tula, Wolf and Fort Smith) fit perfectly and worked very well in the few cases I bothered to re-prime.

The easiest way I found for pulling the woden bullets is a single stage press with no die installed. Just run up the ram, grab the bullet with slip joint pliers, then raise the handle.

 

[maxxhavoc]

The only thing that'll travel 50 yards from the muzzle is the BOOM!

The Russian Murom primers (A.K.A. PMC, Tula, Wolf and Fort Smith) fit perfectly and worked very well in the few cases I bothered to re-prime.

The easiest way I found for pulling the woden bullets is a single stage press with no die installed. Just run up the ram, grab the bullet with slip joint pliers, then raise the handle.

That works pretty well, thanks.
Not sure if you break any, but if you do, they have a hole in the center of the "bullet". Run a drywall screw in and it pulls the rest out when you pull out the screw.