Shooting Others Reloads

[KAC1911]

I know most guys prefer to shoot factory or their own reloads. That being said I inherited a few hundres rounds of 223 in Lake City Brass. They all look good and mic out consistent oal. Am I foolish (to cheep to disgard ammo) really putting my gun at risk by shooting this stuff?

 

[Quoheleth]

What kind of gun?

 

[KAC1911]

Spikes AR-15

 

[mcdonl]

What about pulling the bullet on one, measuring the powder and verifying it is in spec?

 

[Sidewinder72]

I would tear one down and measure powder and identify it. I do not shoot others reloads.

 

[KAC1911]

Good idea Mcdonl. I don't have a bullet puller, will have to start looking for one I guess. Didn't want to put pliers to the bullet. Any safe way without bullet puller?

 

[bullseye308]

First off see if you can find out what powder they were loaded with. Then pull some bullets and verify the weight. A bullet puller is good to have anyway, so it won't be a one time use thing. :banghead: If you can match the powder and the weight to a load in a manual you should be good to go. If not pull the bullets and replace the powder with your own at a reasonable charge weight and have at it.

 

[KAC1911]

Bullseye, from the boxes with reload info on them he used
27gr of 748 w/55gr fmj bt
27gr of 748 w/55gr spwc
27.6gr of 748 w/50gr sx
20.3gr imr 4198 w/55gr sp wc

So it appears most of the reloads were done with 748 powder.

When you use a bullet puller are the bullets reuseable?

 

[EddieNFL]

I can think of three guys I would feel comfortable shooting their ammo. I've known them all for at least 25 years. All others need not apply.

 

[KAC1911]

I understand Eddie. Can you tell by looking at IMR 4198 and 748 the difference between them?

 

[vulture]

Any good sporting goods store that sells reloading equipment should have pullet pullers. I use the simple kenetic energy type, lock the round upside down in one side and whack the the "hammer" side on something good and solid and the slug will pop right out, along with all the powder of course, but I simply dump the whole lot into a container, fish the slug out and either collect the powder for later use, or weight it, what ever my reason for tearing it down. No damage to case or slug.

 

[KAC1911]

Thanks Vulture, was wondering what type to use. I see ther are many types on the market.

 

[EddieNFL]

I understand Eddie. Can you tell by looking at IMR 4198 and 748 the difference between them?

Well, I've never used 4198, but I think I could tell the difference. One is extruded and the other a ball.

Was that a test?

 

[KAC1911]

No I'm not familar with either.

 

[oneounceload]

748 is ball powder, 4198 is a stick, or extruded powder. VERY easy to tell them apart from EACH OTHER, not from similar types.

You siad "inherited" - did you know that person? It seems his labels are very methodical.

An inertia bullet puller looks like a hammer and runs about $15. Good to have if you reload anything - there'll always be an OOPS now and again you need to take apart

 

[EddieNFL]

Gotcha. You'll see the difference as soon as you pull a couple of bullets.

I grabbed a manual and checked the loads you listed. All are under the max listed in Speer #13. Keep in mind, these loads were developed in a different rifle. They may be powder puff loads in your chamber or...

Odds are extremely long you'll encounter any problems, provided the data is correct and the loader had an eye for detail.

 

[KAC1911]

Thanks Eddie.

Oneonce, I didn't know him. But all the stuff was very orgainized. It appears he was either using a AR or mini. Also have some 7.63x39 he did. Will get a puller and examine a few.

 

[wilkersk]

Only squib loads I've ever had were 2 from a box of 50 9mm reloads I "borrowed" from a acquaintance at a USPSA match. I'm just glad they were no-loads and not double loads.

That being said, I inherited a bunch of reloads .44 Rem Mag from my father-in-law. They worked flawlessly in his BlackHawk.

I'd have to say, "it depends on who it is that reloaded it."

 

[buck460XVR]

I didn't know him. But all the stuff was very orgainized. It appears he was either using a AR or mini. Also have some 7.63x39 he did. Will get a puller and examine a few.

What will you have invested by that time......the cost of a coupla hundred cheap bullets? If you are not a handloader already(seems that way according to your posts) the investment of a puller will be just for this project. If you are not a reloader, do you have a powder scale to accurately weigh the powder and bullets? If you do not really know what powder is in there, what good does all this do? If you do not trust him enough to shoot his reloads, will you trust his consistency enough to pull only a few rounds and trust the rest are loaded the same?

It sounds as if the guy was organized and reloaded safely. My impression is you do not reload. His knowledge no matter how little is still more than yours. If he did something wrong, would you really know what it was? If you reloaded than you could pull the bullets and reuse the components with your own recipe. If you don't........IMHO, either you trust him or throw 'em all out.

 

[geigersd]

I was in the same situation and on advice, I pulled all the bullets, dumped the powder in my garden, and used the cases and bullets to learn how to reload myself. When I asked this question on another forum, they overwhelmingly said do not shoot 'inherited' reloads because you do not know what you are getting unless you do it yourself.

If you are going to make a mistake and possibly cause damage to your gun and yourself, it's best that you own the whole mistake!

 

[KAC1911]

Thanks guys. I do have all my reloading equipment that I used to reload 38/357 and 45acp. I haven't reloaded in years but still kept all the equipment. The straight wall cases I reloaded wern't as critical case wise as a bottle neck cartridge like the 223. I was in the guard when I received all this. My buddy in the guard received it from his deceased friends wife who I believe was also in the military at one time.

With all this on stripper clips I assumed it was used in a AR or mini 14 but wasn't sure if the mini used stripper clips.

Yes I am no expert hand loader either. I read how to and worked up my loads. I only used target charge loads and was always very carefull. I did it to save money on shooting. Now I've gotten back into shooting again more often and have been trying to learn some thing from guys here with more hand loading experience.

 

[Walkalong]

What do you think of the person who reloaded them. Do you trust them to reload safely? If so, go for it. If not, break em down & salvage the pieces.

As posted, those two powders are easily distinguished from one another.

 

[KAC1911]

Not knowing the person personnally I can't know. That being said I do know the person I received them from and he wouldn't have given them to me knowing his friend wasn't good at it. Also the way everthing was so organized and not just thrown together this person paid a lot of attention to detail which tells me something about him.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

It's your head that's less than a foot away from a controlled explosion. Your call.

 

[Walkalong]

That being said I do know the person I received them from and he wouldn't have given them to me knowing his friend wasn't good at it. Also the way everthing was so organized and not just thrown together this person paid a lot of attention to detail which tells me something about him.

That goes a long way. Sounds good if you ask me. Bottom line though, it is your call.