For the frugal shooter - .308 shooting has just got cheaper (for me anyways)

[d_man2]

So, after a VERY long cold winter (worse than normal) up here in Canada, spring has finally sprung! The better weather has finally got me to the range! I was not planning on any new projects but one came to me today as I was checking and placing my targets at the range. Before you read any further, for all of you cast boolit purists, you might want to stop now and not read any further. While placing my targets, I could not help but notice all of the 123gr 7.62x39 bullets that were just lying there in the berm. It got me to thinking (it does happen every now and then) that they all looked in surprisingly decent shape other than the rifling cut into the copper jacket over the steel core. I picked up a bunch of them and when I got home, I immediately threw them in my tumbler with some stainless media, dish soap, and some vinegar. They came out clean and shiny and looking a whole lot better than when they went in. I have used pulldown bullets in my .308 in the past from 7.62x39 (yes I know they are .311 and NOT .308) but before I load them I put a little Lee resizing lube on each on and run them through a .308 resizing die. So, the first step I did was I ran my newly acquired once-fired jacketed (yes I know evil word here) bullet through a .311 Lee sizing die which started the swaging process of getting rid of some of the rifling. I then ran them all through a .308 sizing die and lo and behold they came out looking incredible! I do not know how they will shoot, but I really cannot see them being too bad....I don't mind shooting someone else's jacketed bullets! It saved me some casting work and or a lot of money. I would never use them in a competition, but for some fun at the range they will be great I am sure! I also found sixteen 185gr jacketed bullets which I threw in as well and will no doubt make some loads for them too! I thought I would share this with anyone else who likes to save a bit of money (or rather likes to shoot more for the same money). I just hope no one else from my range reads this thread! I have included some before and after pictures. I really need to get some REAL work done, but this is just so much more fun!

[Old School Big Bore]

Reduce, reuse, recycle. Good on ya.
Ed

[dbosman]

Reuse them a couple of times and you can still recycle the lead in them.

[shredder]

That is great! Most of my cast boolits that get fired during winter wind up in a snowbank between the target boards and the backstop and are accessable in spring having stopped in the snow in perfect condition. Until now I never considered shooting them again!!

[C. Latch]

I had a 115-grain 9mm FMJ end up in a box of empty brass a couple of weeks ago (range pickup) and then it made its way into a box of cast 158 SWCs for my .38. I was loading some .38s the other day, tried the 9mm FMJ, and it fit, so I seated it, crimped it, and stuck it in the box with the rest of them. I have tons of old 9mm FMJs laying around the range. May have to start picking them up.

[d_man2]

Yes, I think the key is to make sure that whether you are shooting boolits or jacket bullets that they have been re-sized. It just swages most of the rifling off which will keep the gasses from blowing out in front of the round as it travels down the barrel. Obviously it also keeps them a little more on the round side! Glad you guys enjoyed this....wasnt a huge project like some I have done, but it has been fun and it is something I will be doing from now on for sure!

[d_man2]

Just got back from the range, thought I would give a little update on this....the rounds worked fairly well, shot 20.... they grouped about 1.5 inches at 50 yards. It was foggy this morning so I couldn't see out to 100 yards so I stuck to within 50. Shot a few a 25 yards, managed to actually hit one bullet on top of the other as you can see in the photo. That was more luck than anything but as you can see they do work fine. I managed to dig out four of the rounds I shot. They do look kind of strange with lots of rifling on them!

[Outpost75]

Back in the day we would walk the grass fields downrange after the pistol leg match at Camp Perry and pick up. 45 hardball slugs by the bucketful, which we would wash, tumble, size to true up, and load for practice ammo. I must have shot over 100 pounds of them over several the years and never had a problem. They were match bullets, so even reused still not better than regular ball.

[JeffinNZ]

I recall reading about a local shooter recycling .308 target bullets with rather good results. Just shows how forgiving a gilding metal jacket is.