Pulled bullets & Reloading

[T.R.]

I bought 3 boxes of PMP (South African) 243 hunting ammo for cheap. Then I pulled the bullets and re-weighed each powder charge for consistency. Lastly I loaded 95 grain Nosler Partitions which is a favorite long distance hunting bullet.

The original 100 gr PMP bullets did not penetrate as well as the 95 gr partitions in a water jug lined up test. PMP not as accurate either. In contrast, the Noslers are very accurate and out-penetrate any bullet I've tested.

-- Results: I rec'd Premium ammo performance from cheap factory ammo and a little of my time.

Anyone ever tried pulling FMJ .308 bullets from NATO surplus? Difficult at best; seems like the bullets are glued into place. Perhaps because ammo intended for heavy automatic fire.

TR

 

[ny32182]

I have pulled a few surplus 308s to check for consistency; as you state there is some kind of sealant in the neck, along with the crimp, which makes it a major PITA. I wouldn't buy a lot of it with the intent of pulling it all, but some might be more patient than others. Specifically what I did to try to improve the accuracy of some Paki surplus was pull the bullets, weight the average powder charge of the group (varied widely), then reload each with exactly the average charge, and reseat the bullets. The bullets were inconsistent as well, but I didn't bother sorting them or anything. Accuracy increased some, but was not good either before or after, and was really not worth the trouble.

 

[redbullitt]

Most of the military stuff is sealed like that. I see it a lot in military brass, especially 50 bmg. You need to remove it from the case for the case to load well, which is a pain in the butt. I use steel wool and a drill, so it is some serious stuff. It is often on pulled API rounds too. I use a rotary tumbler to take care of that, but it takes a while.

Simply put, I just would not go to the trouble for most caliber loading. BUT if you have the time and dont mind doing it, I do not see a problem with it at all, especially if it gets you results.

Also, it might be a good idea to run them through a sizer die. It will probably help with consistency.

 

[gamestalker]

Why bother rebuilding a factory round. Go buy a single stage press, dies, and other necessary tools of the trade and reload.

 

[FROGO207]

I agree with you gamestalker in most instances. That said I had 5K 303 Brit POF rounds on hand and wanted to use the brass/primers to make some hunting ammo for cheap. I removed the FMJ bullet and Cordite. Used the lee collet die to resize the neck and put it back with new propellant and some Hornaday soft point bullets. I made some great rounds after working up to an accuracy load with mildly corrosive primers. When I purchased the POF ammo it was for 5 cents each or so, I think that it is in this instance worth the trouble to build this ammo. I am now starting to work up loads with 7.62X54 surplus brass ammo that I paid 6 cents each for way back when.

 

[aka108]

Why not simply shoot the milsurp stuff then either neck size or full length size the cases depending upon what rifle it will be used in?

 

[Strongbad]

One way to break the bullets loose is to run them through a seating die and push them into the case slightly. Then run them through the puller.

 

[FROGO207]

aka108 All the rounds that I am refering to are Berdan primed with corrosive primers. I remove the corrosive propellant and the poor quality bullet and turn the unused casing into something that the rifle can shoot with accuracy. I did not bother telling about breaking the bullet loose before removing it. My bad. I usually do it with the Hornaday Cam Loc puller. I lock the bullet in the puller and push it into the brass slightly to break the seal then lower the ram to remove the bullet. This is the best way for me to do it so far.

 

[BCRider]

I guess I just don't see the point. My first thought was "OK, he's going to a lot of trouble but at least he can re-use the brass". Then you tell us it's Berdan primer so for most folks the brass isn't reloadable. It seems like you paid a LOT, despite getting it for cheap, to buy cases with primers for a one shot use. Would it not make far more sense to just find some Boxer primer brass and reload from scratch? Or did you get the rounds for basically the cost of the primers?

 

[desertfox2001]

I have not done it with 308, but had/have a large quantity of 8mm ammo with old/bad primers. 90% failure rate, and when they did fire, the primer was brittle enough to blow a hole in it.

I have been pulling the bullets, measuring every powder load and saving the powder. forming 30-06 brass down to 8mm and reloading the powder and projectiles into the new brass.

I also use the Hornady collet puller in a single stage, push it just a hair and then pop them right out.