Absolutely.If one is not comfortable doing this, by all means please don't.
Absolutely.If one is not comfortable doing this, by all means please don't.
I don't think anyone is arguing with you about that, but the OP said he has no idea what the factory charges weighed.You use an unknown powder ever time you use factory ammo. If you pull and reload an unknown powder to the same (or slightly lower) charge, with the same (or lighter) bullet, you're taking no remarkable risk. You do in fact know everything you need to know about the powder. . . just call it George.
An oversight for sure but not insurmountable. We can state with certainly that the load fit in the case; with nearly as much certainty we know that it occupied more than 50% of the case volume (for industrial repeatability and combustion mechanics). Experience will tell you that even the slowest rifle powder will clear the bore at a 50% underload, so you're unlikely to need to remove a stuck bullet There's your Start.. . .the OP said he has no idea what the factory charges weighed.
That says it all. I personally would just dump it. The main problem being you don't know what the loads actually were as to a charge weight.I have no idea what kind of powder it is or how many grains were used
I pulled a bunch of herters 7.62x39 bullets to reload in brass
Not to sidetrack the OP's question, but I'm curious why someone would pull factory loads just to reload them? I understand that the 7.62x39 Herter's bullets are steel cased, but I wouldn't hesitate to shoot them in an AK, SKS, etc, those guns will eat just about anything. May be different in an AR platform where the tolerances are tighter and they don't feed or function properly, or a bolt gun. I once had a box of Herter's 45acp that wouldn't feed in my Kimber, and would barely chamber. After fighting three rounds, I put the box away and later got rid of it. Had I been reloading back then, I may have pulled them in order to reload them.
As for reusing the powder, that's a personal decision based on what the OP knows. IF I knew the charge weight, THEN I might, but I probably wouldn't. But I've only been loading for a couple of years.
chris
Aha! Yup, that makes some sense, now. I ran into that with my CZ 527 bolt action carbine in 7.62x39mm also. It wouldn't shoot the Chinese-made Norinco steel-cased ammo worth beans - the same spec' Russian and Bulgarian ammo works fine. I didn't get failures to fire but I did get hang-fires and horrible groups. CZ said it was the ammo and to stop using it. It shot fine in a buddy's SKS - which did NOT like his white-boxed Winchester USA brass ammo - so we traded. Win-win.I have a single shot rifle that does not like the hard primers of factory steel cased ammo. I might get 3 misfires out of five shots. I have brass, primers, and powder but, I am low on projectiles.
---I've pulled down some military surplus 30-06. Its headstamped wcc 53. Got 400 rnds of it cheap. I was having problems with burn holes and case head separation. Weighed the 1st 10 rnds and took the average charge weight. Loaded it into new brass and it worked great. From what I've been able to find their were some bad batches of brass in the 50s. I still have some of that ammo and every time I pull it apart I weigh the 1st 10. Usually reload 40 at a time.
I also buy reloads at estate sales and pull them down. Dont use the powder on these but use everything else.
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IMR 4895 (Bruce Hodgdon's label for it - IMR means Improved Military Rifle) was used for nearly all of the .30 US M2 Ball military loads from 1938 to the end of M2 Ball production. Hodgdon's bio and how he got started is a fascinating read. So is the history of how M1 Ball, M2 Ball and the Cartridge, Ball, Caliber .30, Model of 1906 cartridge were developed. If you pulled US-made cartridges (wcc is Western Cartridge Company, Olin) then it was probably loaded with IMR 4895. Probably.
---Hey all. I pulled a bunch of herters 7.62x39 bullets to reload in brass. I kept the powder and I was wondering if it would be a good idea to reload it or dump it. I have no idea what kind of powder it is or how many grains were used. Whats the general feeling about using unknown powder?
Would you eat or drink something of unknown origin? Sprinkle it in your victory gardenHey all. I pulled a bunch of herters 7.62x39 bullets to reload in brass. I kept the powder and I was wondering if it would be a good idea to reload it or dump it. I have no idea what kind of powder it is or how many grains were used. Whats the general feeling about using unknown powder?
Curious if this started in the single base nitrocellulose era was no the new double base powders are bad in the garden. Just a thought.... its snowing so I'm bored alsoNot being a "true fact Nazi", but I have read that the gun powder use as fertilizer started from someone saying the high nitrogen content of smokeless powder might be good for plants. Others, knowledgeable gardeners have said that gunpowder will "burn" plants and is just so-so as a fertilizer. (not a know it all, just early in the day and I have nuttin' else to do right now!)