Shooting someone else's reloads

Not me
I've already had my go round with that
quicksand pit
All my reloads are meticulously recorded
and marked as to what they are for and
what I used
I'll not ever be using some pinhead's thrown
together "reloaded " crap again

I guess somebody could salvage
the components, but it'd be more
trouble for me personally than
I'd want to deal with
BTDT

barnfrog said:

That's an good point about marking them. The only labeling on the boxes of these is the caliber. No notes on bullet weight, powder type or charge weight.

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The best piece of advice I got from the man
that showed me to reload was to WRITE
everything down including the smallest
seemingly insignificant details
That's the first piece of advice I always
give out when I'm asked about reloading

barnfrog said:

Would you buy and shoot that ammo? I don't shoot .357, so I have no reason to buy it, but I have two friends who are interested in it. My advice to them is that while it's very tempting to get that much ammo for what will probably be around $0.30 a round, it's a pretty risky proposition.

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My opinion is that it's worth about a penny a round.

Why?

Because you'd be a fool to put any serious amount of money into something like that that you'll have to tear down for components and reload yourself anyway. That is, if you value your fingers, face, and eyes.

No I wouldn't buy or use it. Without the journal or labeled ammo boxes there's no way to verify. I'm a rookie and I mark every box with load data & date that corresponds with my journal. I don't think I want the liability of anyone shooting mine either.

I did that once upon a time, watched one barrel ruined then fired the rest through my Ruger, using a steel rod to ram out no charge and under charged bullets every 20th shell or so....
Edited cuz autocorrect interfered.

My son got some .38 Spl. ammo from his boss a while back, and he gave it to me.
I temporarily forget my rule about not shooting reloads done by anyone that doesn't have the same last name as me, and got a wadcutter stuck in the barrel of my S&W BodyGuard 38; luckily I had my aluminum ball starter for M/L in the bag, and popped it out back down in the case and opened the cylinder. I broke the rest of them down, all 140 or so, ( a couple cylinderfuls went off fine) and saved the 148 DEWC's for a rainy day.
Never again.

I would not buy and shoot them.
I am not necessarily in the camp of "I would never shoot someone else's reloads", but I also would not shoot those purchased at a garage sale where I did not know anything about the person who loaded them. I'm kind of in the middle on this spectrum.

The list of people I would shoot their reloads is short.

Arkansas Paul said:

. . .The list of people I would shoot their reloads is short.

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³

Yessir
I can think of maybe 3
The man that showed me, and only
2 that I showed.

I do know a couple guys who do not share my last name, but I would shoot their reloaded 12 ga. Trap loads, but only because I've seen them shoot thousands of them.

barnfrog said:

1200 rounds of reloaded .357 ammunition.

Would you buy and shoot that ammo?

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No.

Buy as components to be pulled if price is right.

I would test a few random, pull, weight, stuff like that… then shoot away

Unless I sat and watched the person do it no way would I shoot someone elses reloads. I always treat things as take down ammo when I get unknown loaded ammo now unless in factory sealed boxes.

I've shot countless 1000's of reloads other people have made. I'm in the process of burning up several 1000 reloads right now. Bought a bunch of reloading equipment/supplies and with it came reloads in 38spl/357/44spl/44mag/45acp. Don't know the guy I bought everything from but I do know how to take a hard look at how things were put together.

If it looks like the puppy played with the reloads for a week they get tossed.
If the oal's are all over the place they get tossed.
Dirty cases, raised/crooked/smashed primers, they get tossed.
There's a bag/box with 10/15 rounds in it next to an ammo can full of reloads, they get tossed.
I check the neck tension & crimps and have re-crimped other peoples reloads in the past.

Anyway if everything looks good I'll run +/- 20 rounds over a chronograph in a contender to see what's what.

I've never had an issue with other peoples reloads. But then again I stay away form the 5/10 of these in a box/bag or a mix of junk thrown in a container.

barnfrog said:

I know how we all technically SHOULD answer this question. I'm wondering how folks WOULD answer it.

As some of you know from the "Yard Sale Finds" thread, I just had the opportunity to buy a heap of stuff from an estate sale my brother in law is handling. Among the items are 1200 rounds of reloaded .357 ammunition. I obviously don't know the person who reloaded it. But he reloaded at least eight different calibers from what I can see, and he used a Dillon press to do it. Neither of those facts are definitive, but they SUGGEST that he was experienced.

Would you buy and shoot that ammo? I don't shoot .357, so I have no reason to buy it, but I have two friends who are interested in it. My advice to them is that while it's very tempting to get that much ammo for what will probably be around $0.30 a round, it's a pretty risky proposition.

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Well, that's a little over a brick of primers.

No way.

I’d take them for free to break down, but I wouldn’t buy them to shoot.

barnfrog said:

Would you buy and shoot that ammo?

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Unless I know the reloader, no. Even if the rounds were marked, I’d be skeptical. However, .357 cases are difficult to find even in the best of times and worth a bit, along with the primers. It wouldn’t take much to pull and stuff them again.
I’ve been on several auction sites where reloaded ammo was offered and did get top dollar, it was kind of amazing that it brought close to factory prices. Good luck.

I would buy them if they are cheap. A few evenings with a puller and you would have primed cases and bullets to load them yourself.

Not worth .30c a round.

The list of possible fatal mistakes is long and there are WAY too many variables involved for me to trust some estate sale reloads. The only thing they would be good for to me is to pull down for components. Even that would be a gamble and a buttload of work to find out.

I would explain to them the reason why they are not really worth much, and offer $40 so they don't feel like I was just trying to steal them.

I’ll also add that after a match some of us pick up brass and inevitably there’ll be live rounds included in various calibers. Without knowing the ancestry, I liken shooting these with Russian Roulette.

I use the reloads my brother makes on a regular basis. Buying some at a garage sale? I don't think so.

reloaded_in_pa said:

I would buy them if they are cheap. A few evenings with a puller and you would have primed cases and bullets to load them yourself.

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Wouldn't trust the primers either.

I've seen too many posts about using rifle primers in pistol cases and vice versa, then vehemently defending it.

For all of you that watched the destruction of the Serbu BFG in 50 BMG. That should answer all the questions that you have about shooting reloads or questionable ammo.

Why take the chance of shooting ammo that you know nothing about? If it blows your gun up, is it still worth the price? If it blows your gun up and you get injured, is it still worth the price you paid?

I would buy it and then break it down and save the components or just check it and stick it right back together.

Have fun and be safe!