Anybody else deload and reload cheap surplus ammo

[jeeptim]

Just wondering if any one else dose this?.
For me it started with about 300 8MM Mauser ammo I got in trade all with bad burdan primers.
So I did what any self respecting reloading junkie would do got 300 30-06, 270, 280, cases cut trimmed and sized to 8mm. Pulled all the powder and bullets was 44gr per loaded 40gr and just like that 300 rounds for my mauser. Then I says to myself Self what about that spam can of corrosive moisen ammo so I got busy 440 bullets and about 3lb of powder used it in the moisen enfield and sks.
Yeah its a lil work but when powder and bullets are hard to come by it works well.
Now the garbage man looks at me a lil funny after finding all them cases.

 

[LAGS]

@ Jeeptim
I have been doing that since 1976.
I buy the Spam can stuff, disassemble it , save the powder and bullets, and use the berdan primed cases to make up Cast Bullet loads using shotgun or pistol powder like Unique, 2400 or IMR 4198 and SR4759.
The old primers still work great for those loads, even if they are old and not as consistant.
The bullets and powder get reloaded in Boxer primed cases, or I work up loads for other calibers with the powder.
But Seperate all the powder BY Headstamp and note the original loading.
Never mix powder from ammo of the same caliber that has different headstamps.
I do this mostly with the 7.62x54 and use some of the bullets in the .303
I also do some of the POF .308 for the powder and bullets since both are in short supply.
That gives me powder and bullets for my 30-06 too.
You can greatly improve accuracy of the Spam Can stuff by playing with the surplus powder in the loading and using New Primers but the same bullets or even an equal weight bullet.
The 8mm mostly goes back into Boxer primed cases for 8mm since the bullets don't fit anything else, and the primers are what is inconsistant on that surplus Berdan ammo, and I still end up with primed cases for my .323 cast bullets.

 

[Swampman]

Depends.
Does it count as "deloading", if I do it by putting them in the chamber of my rifle and pulling the trigger?

Otherwise, unless you've got a situation where the primers just flat don't work, as was the case with your original 300 8mm rounds, or are giving poor performance as in LAGS case; I don't see it as worth the time and trouble.

Compare how much time it takes to pull powder and bullets and reform new cases with cleaning up with warm soapy water after shooting corrosive ammo and I'll choose the cleanup every time. Pulled mil-surp bullets just don't generally give the accuracy that I like to get from carefully prepared handloads.

On another note: I'd be very careful disposing of primed cases by tossing them with household garbage. If a few went off when they ran the compactor and started a fire you might well be liable for damages, especially if the driver has already noted your "different" trash.

 

[jeeptim]

Good point on the trash will take them to the range to dispose.
And yeah its a lot of work but I get a lot of pleasure out of reloading and if I can keep it on the cheap and get some reasonabley good ammo ill do it all day.

 

[Swampman]

Originally posted by: jeeptim

"I get a lot of pleasure out of reloading
and if I can keep it on the cheap and get some
reasonabley good ammo ill do it all day."

And when its all said and done, that's all that really matters.

I'd be interested to know what sort of accuracy you got from your pulled 8 mm bullets and what type they are. I recently read about some total case head failures in 50's Yugo 8mm ammo that has me thinking about pulling almost a case and a halfs worth.

I've fired quite a bit of this ammo with no issues (after I installed a new 24 pound firing pin spring, those primers are HARD), but pulling the bullets and using those cases for lower pressure cast loads as LAGS has done might not be a bad idea. It only takes one case head failure to mess up your rifle, your whole day and maybe your life.

 

[LAGS]

The cast Bullet loads are my Blasting ,plinking and walk in the desert ammo. ( I don't care if I loose those cases.
It sure makes the cost of shooting much less, and you don't have to run around and find powder and bullets in these lean times.
Average out the cost per round, and see just how cheap it is to turn Surplus Crap Ammo into decent shooting ammo.
I started doing it for the Mosin' s to turn them into Hunting SP loads since I could not find or afford Norma Ammo back then, and no one else made 7.62x54 reloadable cases in 1976
I still have some of the cases from the Original Box of Norma I bought back them, and am still reloading them with cast loads.
In fact, I have one spam can of Brass cased Chinese 7.62x54 left that I have to start pulling down.
The powder in those is like IMR 4350 with a 147 Steel core bullet.
I also will run some of the .310 Steel Core bullets thru my .308 Lee Lead Bullet Sizing die set up and shoot them in the .308 and .30-06

 

[longhill]

With the surplus 7.62x54, I pull the bi-metal steel bullets and replace them with a lead core and copper jacket of the same weight. That way I can shoot these at the outdoor range were steel bullets are not allowed.
Then I resize the surplus bullet down to .308 and use them in the 300AAC Blackout at the indoor range where steel bullets are allowed. The 7.62x54 bullets are really long and work great in the Blackout. Win, Win for me.