Unchained Preppers
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Grudgie on September 21, 2018, 03:11:52 PM
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I came across this rough looking .308 ammo for cheap. What do you guys recon, would it be all right to shoot after throwing it in the tumbler with some cork?
https://www.centerfiresystems.com/p-61457-component-grade-308win-1980s-production-100rd-pack.aspx (https://www.centerfiresystems.com/p-61457-component-grade-308win-1980s-production-100rd-pack.aspx)
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I am not sure I would try just a tumble of the loaded shells unless I went with the fairly clean ones to start with. The real dirty ones I would look at as possibly salvageable parts.
Pull the bullets and discard the powder. Those will give you a reasonable return on cost to start from there.
Deprime it with universal deprimer so no sizing attempt issue, tumble it and inspect the hail out it. Lube it, size it and inspect the double hail out again. Try a first random pick of 10% with 10% under powder load and see how they react.
Nemo
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Boy, I don't know if it would be worth the effort or not. They're telling you up front that some of the cartridge won't be usable, and they're saying that the cases are tarnished, so you know you'll be cleaning cases, and de-priming. They also mention that the bullet weight is going to vary too, so you'll need to weigh individual bullets. It sounds like a lot of work.
Personally, I do buy once fired cartridges, in fact here's some .308: https://www.oncefiredbrass.com/federal308winf-c.aspx (https://www.oncefiredbrass.com/federal308winf-c.aspx) I have used this particular vendor, and the brass comes already deprimed and tumbled clean. It's an inexpensive way to acquire a lot of brass that's ready to load. It's the best way to go if you're re-loading the .50 BMG. There's lots of businesse selling once fired brass.
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I'v seen first hand what happens when old ammo blows up in a rifle and both of us were VERY lucky to walk away with nothing more than scratches on the face and hands.
Pull the bullets, soak the brass/primers in IPA or water for a few days in order to deactivate the primers and then toss them in the trash.
Better safe than sorry
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Grudgie
Dont do it. If there is that much corrosion there is a good chance that many of the primers have been contaminated as well and the primary charge. Not worth the risk.
Chris
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I bought 1000 rounds and I have been tumbling them. Most of them look brand new. Some of them are turning pink in spots as the brass has broken down into copper. I've thrown out about 150 and there are maby 50 I am iffy about. Here are some before and afters:
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I hear you guys' concerns. I'm still debating on whether or not I should shoot them. I will shoot a few iffy ones through a Lee Enfield Ishapore I have and if they are fine throught that then the rest will be good to go. I might tie some chord around the trigger and fire from a distance.
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Tie the rifle to a spare tire first. Then the string to the trigger. Make sure cord is 10 yards long and goes off the stock at 90 degrees. So the bolt doesn't come back like bullet at you.
Nemo