Reusing powder?

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Mr_Flintstone

Mr_Flintstone

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I have some Sadu 170 gr 8mm that I bought a couple years ago, but I had difficulty using it.

C3D17ECF-8B83-428B-8BB3-5BC0816CFA72.jpeg B924D6B0-47FD-449C-913D-72C665F5C81A.jpeg 87054F1E-D503-437B-81CA-3B77866B6525.jpeg

The bullets, or the cases, or something is too big to chamber without forcing the bolt closed.

I measured the bullet diameter at the case mouth, and they measure the same as my Hornady bullets. I also measured the case length, and that was 2.225 which is less than Hodgdon’s trim to length.

Can I pull the bullets, reuse the powder, and use different brass cases; or should I just use new bullets too? These have just been sitting in a box in a drawer for 2 years, and I don’t know what else to do with them.
 
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Sure. Weigh 5 or 10 of the pulled powder charges so you know what the charge weight is. When you reload them into new cases I'd reduce the charge by 5% just to be safe because of internal capacity. PS Have you used this gun with other factory loads with no problem? Just making sure you don't have tight head space or a short throat. What if you seat the bullets a little deeper on one of those rounds to see if it chambers ok. Or use a match to smoke the bullet and see if it's running into the lands when chambering.
 
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Scooter22 said:
Sure. Weigh 5 or 10 of the pulled powder charges so you know what the charge weight is. When you reload them into new cases I'd reduce the charge by 5% just to be safe because of internal capacity. PS Have you used this gun with other factory loads with no problem? Just making sure you don't have tight head space or a short throat. What if you seat the bullets a little deeper on one of those rounds to see if it chambers ok. Or use a match to smoke the bullet and see if it's running into the lands when chambering.
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Yes. I’ve used PPU and S&B 196 gr ammo, and it chambers just fine.

Just on a hunch, I measured the shoulder at the highest point. Spec shows 1.933 and my S&B measures 1.930, but these steel case rounds measure 1.951. The lowest part of the shoulder measures to spec at 1.825. I think the shoulder is what’s keeping the round from fully chambering.

Is there a good way to pull these bullets without destroying them? I thought about using vice grips to hold the bullet while lowering the shell holder on my press, but I think that would deform them.
 
TheDomFather said:
How would you know what kind of powder it is to develop your load from?
Dom
Click to expand...

I think that's why Scooter22 said to weigh the existing loads. I SHOULDN'T matter what the powder is if you're returning the loads to the same weight.

Now, I'm not advocating this, and probably wouldn't do it except in circumstances that I don't want to think about, but what Scooter22 said makes sense as you're returning the load to what it was not trying to make a new load.

As always don't mess with explosives, things that can explode in your face and harm or kill you without doing the proper research. Opinions on the Internet are strictly of those playing experts. Resemblance to actual experts may or may not be coincidental, and identities may or may not have been changed to protect the guilty, not guilty, and confused. etc, etc etc.
 
Mr_Flintstone said:
Is there a good way to pull these bullets without destroying them?
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Sure, you can pull them with a bullet puller. They're not very expensive, and you can find them in most any store that has a good supply of reloading equipment.
I'm sorry if that sounded like I was trying to be a wise guy or smart-mouth. I wasn't. It's just that you're obviously new to handloading. I'd guess most of us old handloaders have spent hours swinging inertia bullet pullers due to the mistakes we've made.:oops:
Hint: Put a foam ear plug in the bottom of the bullet puller to avoid damage to the nose of the bullets.:)
 
I took a black sharpie and marked the bullet and shoulder of one of the rounds, and tried to close the bolt (but I didn’t force it too hard).

36113AAC-B5EE-40BA-8907-FEC646814D16.jpeg

You can see a ring around the top of the shoulder. That must be where it’s binding up. I think that if I measure the OAL, pull the bullets (without damaging them), reuse the powder and bullet in a new brass case, and reseat to the same OAL, it would be OK. Anyone see a problem with that?
 
Mr_Flintstone said:
Yes. I’ve used PPU and S&B 196 gr ammo, and it chambers just fine.

Just on a hunch, I measured the shoulder at the highest point. Spec shows 1.933 and my S&B measures 1.930, but these steel case rounds measure 1.951. The lowest part of the shoulder measures to spec at 1.825. I think the shoulder is what’s keeping the round from fully chambering.

Is there a good way to pull these bullets without destroying them? I thought about using vice grips to hold the bullet while lowering the shell holder on my press, but I think that would deform them.
Click to expand...
You are correct, the shoulder was the problem with the ammo. There was a recall on it within a few months of it hitting the market..
Just buy yourself one of these. The cost from $16 to $20.
96DC34FE-E6C2-4AD2-A3B2-28B9DD63E0FD.jpeg
 
I would pull the projectiles and work up loads in new brass cases with new powder that I have load data for. Then I would have load data that could be used with other 170 gr projectiles. I may be paranoid, but I don't like re-using powder unless I am absolutely certain I know what it is.
 
Mr_Flintstone said:
I took a black sharpie and marked the bullet and shoulder of one of the rounds, and tried to close the bolt (but I didn’t force it too hard).

View attachment 788676

You can see a ring around the top of the shoulder. That must be where it’s binding up. I think that if I measure the OAL, pull the bullets (without damaging them), reuse the powder and bullet in a new brass case, and reseat to the same OAL, it would be OK. Anyone see a problem with that?
Click to expand...
Pulling bullets for Surplus ammunition and reusing the bullet and powder in a new case is something that has been done for years. The most common reason for this is to avoid corrosive primers.
 
Scooter22 said:
Sure. Weigh 5 or 10 of the pulled powder charges so you know what the charge weight is. When you reload them into new cases I'd reduce the charge by 5%
Click to expand...

I've done this, but started at 20% reduction and worked up. Worked fine, just time consuming.
 
Mr_Flintstone said:
Anyone see a problem with that?
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I don't. And I'm cheap enough that I might try resizing those cases, setting their shoulders back just a little. If their OALs aren't affected too badly from the resizing, those cases are probably reusable too.
You can resize cases without decapping them - just remove the decapping pin from the stem in your resizing die.
 
.308 Norma said:
I don't. And I'm cheap enough that I might try resizing those cases, setting their shoulders back just a little. If their OALs aren't affected too badly from the resizing, those cases are probably reusable too.
You can resize cases without decapping them - just remove the decapping pin from the stem in your resizing die.
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I guess that’s essentially what I did with the first box of these. After they wouldn’t chamber, I started googling, and read somewhere that the Germans had trouble with improperly sized cases in the latter parts of WWII, and that they would put boot polish on the rounds and chamber them anyway. I did this with some clear Johnson’s wax, and the bolt would close. I guess I was sizing in the chamber.
 
GunnyUSMC said:
You are correct, the shoulder was the problem with the ammo. There was a recall on it within a few months of it hitting the market..
Just buy yourself one of these. The cost from $16 to $20.
View attachment 788678
Click to expand...

I’ll add Shop around when buying one.
I’m pretty sure the same factory in China make them for several brands. When I bought mine the Lyman was the cheapest at the Sportsman’s Warehouse. So that’s what I got. I couldn’t see any difference in the other ones they had that were priced more.
 
Hokie_PhD said:
I’m pretty sure the same factory in China make them for several brands.
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Could be. Mine's a Midway brand. I bought it after breaking the handle on my RCBS bullet puller. Not that I'm putting the RCBS puller down though. I got my money's worth (and a lot of exercise;)) out of it before it finally broke.
 
GunnyUSMC said:
You know that the RCBS puller has a lifetime warranty. I still have the one I bought in 1984.
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No, as a matter of fact, I didn't know it was warrantied.:uhoh: It's a little late to find out now - it's probably been at the dump for 10 years, darn it!
 
I don't. And I'm cheap enough that I might try resizing those cases, setting their shoulders back just a little. If their OALs aren't affected too badly from the resizing, those cases are probably reusable too.
You can resize cases without decapping them - just remove the decapping pin from the stem in your resizing die.
Click to expand...

hhmm, try pushing the shoulder back with them live or pull them first???
I have seated bullets deeper, Use the FCD all time, one would think you could push the shoulder back with them live, but I suppose things could go wrong doing that.

You know that the RCBS puller has a lifetime warranty
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First one I bought was Cabelas brand 1 year warranty, next one was a RCBS. just in case.:)
 
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You can use a body die and size with the bullet in place. You may have to seat them a little deeper to break any sealant before pulling to make it easier. My vote is for the Hornady cam-lock puller over a inertia if you have more that a few to do.
 
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