old reloads

[jatx]

My wife is helping someone clean up an old house. She brought me a RCBS Jr press that was rusted solid on a Midway stand with a Redding case trimmer that was also rusted solid. She also brought home a huge box that contained several containers of powders and several plastic cases the kind Midway sells that had several different loads. The guy who owns the house has moved out and does not want any of the reloading things. This guy at one time was reloading 22-250, 7.62X39, 9mm, 40cal, 357, 38, 45, 223, 243, 30-06, 50ae, 308, 270,and 380.

The roof to the addition of the house where the reloading equipment was had a hole punched through by a tree and stayed that way for about 6 months so the room was open to the elements. I gave away some 7.62X39 that was in a plastic case and some 22-250. I told the people that the ammo was old and that I had no idea if it had gotten wet or not.

I had about 50 rounds of 30-06 and I used a bullet puller to pull one apart to check the powder. One of the rounds had clumps in the powder so I took all 50 rounds apart. The rest of the rounds had no powder clumping and the powder looked and smelled OK. So my question is other than the one round that had clumping powder do you think that the primers are OK or should I get rid of those also.


Joe

 

[Sunray]

Primers might be ok. The powder is not. The brass should be ok too.

 

[rfwobbly]

It doesn't matter. It's simply bad form to shoot other people's reloads.

 

[Jesse Heywood]

It's not just bad form, it's downright foolish. Salvage the components and throw the powder on the grass. If you want to salvage the tools, start by applying Kroil.

 

[Border Hopper]

+1 on the Kroil.

Order some elbow grease also, maybe Midway or Graf's.

Remember that "free" stuff can be very expensive. You did the smart thing with the old reloaded 30-06 ammunition. You will feel better if you can do the same with the 22-250 ammo, even though it is no longer in your control.

 

[jatx]

I was never going to shoot the reloads I was concerned about the brass and primers. I do not have a 30-06 but was planning on getting an M1 this year.

I salvaged the JR press and the Redding case trimmer by soaking in Evapo-Rust and using a wire brush. They both work great and cleaned up real good. I also salvaged several sets of Dies but there were about 4 sets of dies that I could not save. The outside of the dies cleaned up real good but the inside was pitted and I threw them away.

I was able to save a Lee Speed Die in 45 and one in 9mm. I was able to save a set of Lee 380 dies and a set of Lee 40 cal. I also saved a set of 308 and a Lyman universal decapping die. There was a set of 10mm dies that did not need any work at all.

I have a sizing decapping die for 357 and bullet seating die both part of a 3 die Lyman set the other die was pitted inside and could not be saved. I saved an RCBS 30-06 full length sizing decapping die but the other die was useless. I also have a lee universal decapping die that was saved.

There was a Lee press the little cheap one that sells for $24.00 that could not be saved. There is also some type of shot gun press I have not tried to do anything with that yet.

I threw out all the containers of powder the only date that I could find was 1992 on one of the containers and they all smelled like ammonia so they went in the grass. I have a large assortment of bullets from 380, 9mm, 45 up through 22-250 but they are in a plastic bag and mixed together with no labels.

There were about 2000 rifle primers and about 1000 pistol primers but the boxes were wet and smelled of rat urine so I threw these out. I also have several shell plates from Lee and RCBS.

There are about 30 plastic cases from Midway in pistol sizes and about 10 in rifle sizes and my wife said that there are more in the house along with several wood reloading trays and some brass.

The only thing that I am concerned about is the primers that are in the brass that took apart I have discarded the bullets and powder just did not know about the primers. I am leaning toward taking them out and just keeping the brass so when I get an M1 I can load for that rifle with the proper components.

Thanks

Joe

 

[jatx]

The guy that got the 22-250 has already pulled them apart and reloaded the brass for his son he had told me that that was he was going to do. The guy who got the 7.62X39 said that the round were not reloads and were Wolf brand purchased rounds. he show me some that he had and they looked just like the ones I was giving him.

Joe

 

[KosmicKrunch]

Kudos to JATX for being smart and doing the right thing. I also use Kroil in a large deep pan for larger items, smaller piece parts I use kroil in my ultra sonic cleaner, rust dang near jumps off.

 

[rfwobbly]

I was never going to shoot the reloads I was concerned about the brass and primers. I do not have a 30-06 but was planning on getting an M1 this year.

M1 Garand uses a specialized 30-06 load and bullet weight to get it to function. Not just any old 30-06 round will work, and some 30-06 loads will actually break gun parts. A quick check of your reloading manual will usually show a special section just for M1 Garand loads.