old reloads?

[Rageous]

Hey folks,

I shoot a 308 Norma Mag, and had an opportunity to buy some reloads for my gun a while back. 40 to be exact. Knowing that its getting pretty tough to find original cases, I decided to pick them up. They were cheap.

Ok, now what would be the smartest thing to do. Test shoot them at the range of course, or just 'how do you say' unload them for the shell cases only? Reason being I have no load data for these bullets. Is it safe to unload, If I did shoot them what would you look for at the range besides accuracy.

Nick

[Boxhitch]

If the loads were created specifically for the rifle you have, and you trust the wizard that created them, then you could use them.
But the best thing to do would be to pull them apart using the proper tools for the job, loose the powder and primers (or save for Halloween) and clean up the brass for reuse. Proper inspection of the brass is in order too, as you have no idea what abuse it has been subjected to.
Sometimes, even a deal turns out to be not.

[bushrat]

Boxhitch is right, you don't know what is in them, chances are they might be alright but that isn't a risk worth taking.

[Cariboo]

X3 Pull them down and reuse the bullets and cases if they check out OK.

Wear safety glasses and be very gentle when depriming the cartridges. I have taken live primers removed from cases and soaked them with WD-40 for a couple of weeks in a zip-lock bag in an effort to "kill" them before disposing of them.

[redmist25]

X4 pull them and use the components. You can chamber the empty brass and snap off the primers before sizing, great dry firing practice, if you don't want to wait for the WD40 to soak in.

[Downwindtracker]

If you don't have a bullet puller just use a pair of side cuuters or the wire cutters on pliers.But put a peice of rubber or something on top of your press to protect the area around the die threads.

It's kind of nice having brass that says 308Norma,most of us use brass that's headstamped 300Win in our 308s.

[Rageous]

Thanks for the replies...


You guys are right, taking them apart is the best thing to do. I figured that would be the right thing to do.

nick

[bcboy]

Before you go all out !! why not take one apart. First weight the powder and report back, maybe give some details on SC or ??? And maybe weight the bullet itself. Could be the previous guy was a dilligent reloader, still without the provenance it is a tricky ?? no doubt.. Also, what is OAL and does it fit your rifle .
Still dumping is the prudent thing to do especially since we are dealing on a internet and really dont know many factors.

And finally and most importantly what is thier primary use, you have to decide and you have to trust yourself not a stranger.

So X5 pull em...but for me pull one and weight the powder and tell us, at least for curiousity

[elkchaser]

No sense weighing the powder cause you don't know what kind of powder it is.. better safe than sorry..

[Joe-nwt]

Originally Posted by Rageous

Hey folks,
Knowing that its getting pretty tough to find original cases, I decided to pick them up. They were cheap.



Nick

You could always just run some 300WM through your die and trim to make some norma mag brass.....

[bcboy]

Originally Posted by elkchaser

No sense weighing the powder cause you don't know what kind of powder it is.. better safe than sorry..

I was just asking for a bit more info. I never said do anything than be safe.