yes it can be done, as long as you do not get carried away with the loading, and provided they are the correct kind of blanks.. do not think you can get away with this using the plastic blank cases or the super thin ones that have the star crimp. and please do not use the powder from the blanks, this stuff is more like flash powder than gunpowder and is too fast for loaded ammo. also if you decide to try this then you are doing so at your own risk. by attempting the here mentioned information you agree that the CastBoolits website, owners, moderators, and everyone connected, and the author of this thread will not be held responsible for any damages, deaths, injuries occured by doing said project. if you do not agree to these terms then do not attempt. by attempting then you agree to the terms outlined herein.
but down to business. im using the LC71 blanks that have the extended case.
i then saw off the extension right in front of the case mouth where the thing necks down.
i then deburr with a few twist of a countersink tool with a 60* taper, lube them up, then run them through the FL die with the decapper backed up just enough where it does not contact the primer... the expander ball is needed in this step to iron out what little bit of crimp is left and to make the neck uniform.
after the first time the case is run through the FL die, the entire expander/decapper is removed and the cases are then run through the FL die again so that the outside is the correct size but the inside of the mouth is now too small. the case needs to be reamed.
im using my lathe on the lowest speed to ream the cases with. you want to measure a factory case to get the dimensions to ream the case to. i measured a WRA69 7.62X51mm NATO case for my dimensions.
after the case are reamed then you run them through the FL die one last time and then trim the cases to length.
the only thing you might run into as far as the brass quality i have found is that blanks are usually not annealed and can crack at the newly formed mouth. i usually anneal them after the first firing as i hate to waste the primers that are already in the cases. if you are not intending on using the primers then you can just pop them out and anneal the case and then reprime.
but after trimming the cases to length you can clean the cases up if they are a little tarnished. not a requirement, but they look a lot better if you do. do not use a vibratory tumbler if you intend on using the primers that are already there. i used my rotisserie motor tumbler with rice as the polisher. just left them in overnight.
but if everything has gone well then you can load them up like normal.
these are some new 130gr Hollow Point Flat Base bullets that i swaged out with a new die.
the cases still need a little more polishing. need to replace the rice as it is saturated with **** from the thousands of jackets i have run through it. im gonna wait till i fire them as they are just discolored and not corroded. ill just anneal them after the first firing and polish them and they should be good to go.
but they fire just fine.
you can see there is no splitting and the primer looks like it should with the loading im using. i even too measurements off the cases b4 and after firing, the things expanded to fit the chamber and that wa as far as they went.
the target below was at 50m to see if there was any deviations from these rounds and the ones i have been using.
there is hardly any difference in the POI at all. maybe about 1/8-1/4in down and about that to the left. i might have pulled a little on the windage. not sure as i was just propped up on the fence. but each square is 1inch and has a line at 1/2inch. for my rifle the 1/2in line is about correct for a 100m zero at 40m/50m. so really not that much difference at all. but still got to take into account that these were different swaged bullets using a new die too. so in reality the POI is not that bad for not even touching the sights for the new loading.
the loading was just 47gr of vintage H414 (i say vintage as it was bought in the early 90s). according to QuickLoad that should be around 40,000psi and 2,656fps.
a good velocity for my area and not so much that i am hammering the rifle or eroding the barrel with every shot.
but as to the question of "can it be done?" id say yes.. yes it can be. and the performance is not that far off from the regular rifle brass from what i can tell.
but as to the "that is too much work and is time consuming" and the "why don't you just buy the brass already made, derptiy derp derp" crowd.. not really that much work or time consuming. 20rnds don't even take an hour from beginning to end, provided you have tools. now if you are doing it all by hand then it will take a bit longer to do. and i do it because i can, and because i got a 5gal bucket full of blanks that are doing me no good like they are. like i already have them, so why the hell not convert them.