OKay maybe this is a crazy idea, accurizing surplus

[akolleth]

Got thinking about this, I have heard tell that many surplus rounds are as innacurate as they are because of inconsistant bullet weights and charges. So I am wondering if I can increase the accuracy of the surplus rounds by pulling them, and reloading them with consistant values of their orignal componants.

1- Pull 10 rounds, one at a time, measuring grains of powder used in each case to get a base charge range for the powder used in the cartridges(that way I know how much of the unknown powder was in each case, and therefore an acceptable range to put back into the cases)

2-- Pull rest of them, dumping all the powder in a hopper

3- Weigh all the bullets, and segregate based on weight variances.

4- Reload using consistant charges of the pulled powder (ONLY in the range of charge values found from the 10 pulled original cartridges), and creating batches of similar bullet weight.

I know many would say its alot of work just for surplus, but I don't know, it seems like it could be a lot of fun for me.

Any issues that you can think of?

 

[cracked butt]

I've done that exact thing with reloading turkish 8mm ammo several yeras ago- I got somewhat better accuracy and downloaded them by about 2 gr as well.


The biggest thing I'd worry about is using different lots of ammo which might have different powders in them.

 

[HJ857]

We are brothers in arms my friend.

There are a few of us that follow this trick to varying degrees. From simply replacing the factory bullet with a better bullet to fully customizing the load.

When I've relayed information on this there are always folks that think it's a waste of time. But if you reload brass cased ammo, you'll find that customizing surplus ammo is a LOT less work.

What you have listed is a perfectly good procedure. However you'll find that the bullet weights are all over the place. If you sort to matching weights, you'll end up with fewer bullets than empty cases.

I customize 7.62x39 and find that 123.5grain bullets are the most common and also shoot the best.

But to get a decent quantity of them I allow for a variance of 123.3 to 123.8 grains. My next sort batch is from 123.9 to 124.7 grains. These shoot very close to the same as the 123.5 bullets, everything else becomes a plinker or practice bullet.

I dump the powder and load with IMR 4895 with a reduced load and it's a great deal more accurate than the factory stuff. Ramshot TAC also works very well for a hotter load at the same weight charge.

I experimented with neck sizing and also trimming the cases to a standard length but ultimately I determined that it made no appreciable difference in the final load.

In my view, consistent bullets and better powders make a lot of difference.
Or, consistent bullets and a consistent powder charge will make a noticeable difference.