Other people's reloads

[fatelk]

I helped a friend set up and learn to reload for his .500 S&W magnum. He had a box of 50 rounds of nice looking ammo, handloads with new Starline brass and 500gr JSP bullets.

He got the ammo from a friend who bought it from an estate. He said the old guy was famous for "hot-loading", and his buddy said it was loaded too hot and cracked the brass when fired. He was smart enough to not shoot it, and we pulled it apart. For you .500 loaders- how does 40 gr. of H110 behind a 500 gr JSP sound? WOW! From the load data I've seen, he was lucky to not pull the trigger on one, could have been bad. (Disclaimer- not a load recomendation. We pulled them all down because it was a dangerous overload)

On the other hand, we worked up a SAFE load with a lighter charge, and that thing is just an over-the-top cannon! Huge, ridiculous, and impractical, but sure a lot of fun!

[9.3X62AL]

On the other hand, we worked up a SAFE load with a lighter charge, and that thing is just an over-the-top cannon! Huge, ridiculous, and impractical, but sure a lot of fun!

Elk, that is a pretty succinct description of the 500 S&W and a few other monster-stopper wheelgun calibers now extant. Far be it from me to be a spoil-sport, and more power to anyone who chooses to herd such a beast. Full-snort 44 Magnums or Ruger-level 45 Colts are about as much recreation as I care to undergo in a revolver, thank you. But I'm old and very set in my ways.

[fatelk]

I agree with you there. I'm a fan of the .44 mag; a couple model 29's and a Marlin 1894. Personally I think it's about the largest practical handgun round, at least for me.

Practicality aside, I might be tempted if I found a S&W X-frame for a really good price, though I know I would rarely shoot it and can't justify such a beast. :)

[warboar_21]

This is something I always tell friends who are not big into reloading or shooting. Never! Never! Never! shoot anyone's reloads from your gun unless you are present in the reloading process. I have been given loads by some who are reloaders and still pull down the ammo and start over. In fact it made one of my friends so angry that I pulled down his reloads that he didn't talk to me for quite awhile. I tried to explain that his loads were developed for his rifle and not mine so they may or may not be safe even with a known book load. Didn't matter to him as he was insulted.

[Clay M]

The 500 S&W is a fantastic gun. There is no law that says you have to run top end loads in the gun. Load it down with 2400 and you have a very fun,and accurate gun that will still kill anything in North America.
BTW....I don't shoot other peoples handloads, unless it is a close friend and I know what they do.

[762sultan]

Never..never..never is good advice. I have fired several rounds loaded by a friend that were questionable and have pulled the rest. It's not that hard to do and I know what I have when I load them myself.

[jsheyn]

There is only 2 peoples reloads I will shoot; mine and my shooting buddy's. We reload together and cast together. I know his loads, I know his methods, accuracy, and adherance to specs. Any other re-loaded ammo is nothing more then brass and lead to melt.

[Matt85]

shooting other peoples reloads can be risky business and your story only adds yet another good example. the only exception ive ever made to that rule is with black powder cartridges. if i know the person who loaded them and i don't hear the powder move when i shake it next to my ear then ill shoot it. this only applies to solid BP loads (no duplex loads) simply because they will not overpressure a gun.

-matt

[Silver Jack Hammer]

For as much work as I go through researching loads I never x3 shoot other peoples reloads. I witnessed a buddy of mine blow up his Uberti .45 revolver using another buddy of ours Ruger .45 loads. I receive a lot of handloads that the community turns in, grandpa dies and the family turns in his ammo. I've worn out one bullet puller already but never would I shoot it. Recently two boxes of .38 wadcutter with 2.8 gr of Bullseye written on the box were taken it. These will be pulled and reloaded.

[Clay M]

The bottom line is that some people don't have any business handloading ammo.
I won't even shoot any of the aftermarket loads from the basement companies on the internet. I won't name names, but my sons friend blew up a Glock with some of their hot loads.We pulled some of their bullets and there was several grains difference form bullet to bullet.

[40-82]

My nephew gave me over 300 .357's loaded with commerically cast bullets. A friend of his at work bought them at an estate auction, and he couldn't use them because they would not chamber in his gun. Some of them would chamber in some of my revolvers, and to save myself from the task of pulling the bullets I thought about shooting them, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. When I pulled the bullets, I couldn't identify the powder, but I found a live primer inside of one of the cartridges. I full length resized the cases, reloaded them with a light .38 charge, and used them for practice. Even then, about a dozen of the primers misfired. Some of the primers were crushed in the seating and some of them were high.

Even if you know a little about the person doing the reloading, you'll eventually learn that there are more people out there who know how to convincingly talk about safety than there are those who understand the process of reloading.

[Bonz]

The 500 S&W is a fantastic gun. There is no law that says you have to run top end loads in the gun. Load it down with 2400 and you have a very fun,and accurate gun that will still kill anything in North America.

+1 on the fun of shooting the S&W 500 magnum. I'm up to 24gr of PowerPistol under a 350gr J-word and thats as far as I am going to take them. Odd that no one at the range wants to give it a try...

[376Steyr]

Learn my lesson a long time ago. Bought a used post-64 Model 70 in .458 that came with brass, dies, factory ammo, and a box of "reduced" cast bullet reloads. First shot with the reloads pierced the primer, sprayed hot gas around, and in general ruined my faith in my fellow man. I had glasses on and wasn't hurt, rifle didn't break anything either. Since then I always pull down any handloads that are given to me.

[375RUGER]

sounds like a 60kpsi+ load.
40 would be about right for a 325g load, if you want fast.
I tried some 12ga field loads that someone gave me and could hardly extract them. Cut the other 100 open for the shot and wads.

[km101]

There is only one other who's reloads I would shoot, but I don't think HE has loaded anything recently!

I have been given LOTS of ammo by friends and relatives. When I first got into shooting, I would shoot up this ammo and save the cases. This continued until I had to send a new S&W model 19 back to Smith with a cylinder that was swelled so badly that the cases would not extract. Smith fixed it and returned it free of charge. But I have not shot anyone else's reloads since.

I have pulled down cases that had double charges, rifle cases that had full cases of ball powders, and other horror stores that I wont even mention. My hands, my eyes or my life is worth more than the small amount of labor needed to break down the ammo to components. I will continue to abide by my policy, unless He sends me some reloads.

[Love Life]

I have pulled down cases that had double charges, rifle cases that had full cases of ball powders, and other horror stores that I wont even mention.

I don't understand the emphasis on ball powder there. I stuff the 308 with BLC-2 and it is a ball powder.

I also do not shoot reloads. I learned a ways back when I shot 1 38 special loaded with a HBWC by a friend...

Almost everybody in our group who shoots long range has their loads either at the top end or darn close. Not only that, but the loads are tailored to those rifle. They may be .001 off the lands in one rifle, and then jammed in another. Bad news...

[Clay M]

Novice reloaders seem to think that hotter loads always = better loads.

[Love Life]

Gotta push them hard to get them far. Something about becoming unstable as they cross through the transonic barrier...

However (pause for effect) Cartridges that start out with enough horsepower to get your bullet as far as you want it to go, and be stable at that distance, often have a sweet spot that is below the max load or ragged edge.

[Clay M]

I had a friend that told me that my .308 was no good because the velocities weren't that impressive.He never would shoot against me on paper though.

[Love Life]

The 308 is fantastic. Hands down one of my favorites. Pushing 175 gr SMK or 178 gr AMAX to 1,000 yards requires quite the initial bump.

I am sending that 308 rifle off to Goodsteel to get a new barrel put on and chambered in .243 winchester. I'll be pushing 107 gr and heavier 6mm bullets hard then. 20 ft less drop, less recoil, cool factorish, varmint and dog hammer, what's not to like? Once I burn the throat out I'll send it back to be cut and and brought back to life with the same reamer.

But I am off topic now.

[Clay M]

Off topic ,but that same guy always loaded his rounds a few grains above what the books say is safe.

[Bent Ramrod]

I got a double handful of .45-70 jacketed reloads as a gift. I broke one down, and it had a stiff, but not over-max, load of what looked like 3031 behind a 350-gr RN softpoint. All the other cartridges looked the same from the outside but I broke them down as well. All had the same near max charge of 3031 behind the 350-gr softpoint except one that had the same charge behind a 500-gr softpoint that looked exactly the same, when seated in the shell, as the lighter bullets.

Talk about Russian roulette!:shock:

As far as I'm concerned, the generality that nobody but me knows how to reload ammunition for my use is as valid as the one about never pointing a gun at something I don't plan on shooting. Why take a chance that maybe it's loaded or they're incompetent?

I had a factory .250 Savage round burst by the head in my somewhat loosely (factory) chambered Savage Model 20 once. Trust Nobody!

[wv109323]

A few years back I ran across some 220Swift brass at a gun show. I hammered out a price for the brass and then the guy offered me 20 rounds of reloaded ammo. I got it for a song and brought it home also. I pulled one of the bullets in an inertia hammer that saves the powder also. I measured a load and it had 64 gns. of powder. I did not know the powder but I could find no load that used near that much powder.
The powder became yard fertilizer and the brass was loaded with my data.
Never shoot something unknown to you.

[km101]

I don't understand the emphasis on ball powder there. I stuff the 308 with BLC-2 and it is a ball powder.

Poor choice of words. I should have said handgun powder. I load BLC-2 in both .223 & 6mm and love it.

[NHPaul]

500 S&W is a great gun to shoot, I dont own one but a friend owns both the little shorty and a 10 1/2 inch performance center . I dont shoot the shorty much but the 10 1/2 inch is a blast to shoot, its accurate and very predictable. I have loaded many rounds for him and he trusts me now to do them for him but I insisted that we work together to work up new loads and that he learn the whole process and get comfortable with how I work. Slow , methodical , double and triple check all along the way and careful final inspection, including a check on finished weight which will not tell you exactly how much powder is in there but it will tell you if you have a squib or a double charge.
Its a well made gub too and I think it would take a lot to kaboom it.

[shorty500M]

i dont believe in shooting someone elses hand grenades because have been there when some guns blew. the .500 and other large cases should most definitely be loaded with charges that will overflow case if double charged but that doest protect anyone from the idiots that believe they know more than anyone else including the ammo manufacturers and loading manuals.

[Tom Herman]

To date, I haven't fired anyone's reloads. Haven't found anyone I trust as much as myself.
I've been given all sorts of stuff from Estates, or with unknown histories.
Every last bit gets pulled down... It's amazing what goes into other people's reloads!
Just looking at what other people do is a big clue: If someone doesn't take the time to clean the anvil that seats the primer and it has crud that imprints on the primer, chances are they aren't doing much of anything else right either.
Fortunately, the brass gets saved, the bullets recycled ( no lead goes to waste!), and the powder winds up as fertilizer.
I do custom reloads for friends, and any "run of the mill" ammo I have is always gladly received.
It is understand that I am absolutely anal when I do anything, and reloading is no different (I occasionally invent industrial processes, and the key to success is consistency and repeatability).
All powder levels are checked on each round, and everything is labeled as to bullet type and weight, bullet lube, powder type and weight, and primer type.
All my usual reloads are mid range target, and everything has been fine for over 100,000 rounds.

-Tom

[Mk42gunner]

In days gone by it didn't bother me to shoot other people's reloads, either generic bought from a gunshow in a ziplock bag or the indoor ranges reloads.

Then one day a friend of a friend gave me a box of 243 Winchester's to shoot in my Browning B-78... I wish I had had a chronograph for the ONE round I fired. It felt more like I had grabbed my B-78 in 7mm Rem Magnum than a .243. Wish I had both of those rifles back.

Robert

[rintinglen]

I shoot other people's reloads --IN OTHER PEOPLE'S GUN'S.

[olafhardt]

I got squibs from two different gunshow retailers and high primers from another. I no longer buy reloads. These seem to me to be the mistakes of.someone in a hurry or distracted.

[Clay M]

The main reason I handload ammo is for accuracy,and to taylor a load to my gun.Most people reload for economy or to make up some atomic load to kill paper.I don't want to shoot other peoples atomic loads in any of my guns.

[9.3X62AL]

The several shooters whose reloads I trust enough to run through my firearms all seem to belong here. Funny how that works out. :)

[WilliamDahl]

Kind of makes you wonder whether you should leave out a decoy box of ammo that is loaded so hot that it would guarantee that the thief would blow up his gun (and hopefully his hand) if he chose to use it. Maybe some 9mm ammo with a compressed case full of one of the faster powders (e.g. Norma R1) with a really heavy bullet? Considering the cost of ammo these days, maybe the thief would fall for it...

[dougader]

It's beyond me why someone thinks they need to load over book max on a S&W 500. :shock:

I don't use other's loads, either.

[TXSlade]

I am a big fan of the 454 Casull. I like the Freedom Arms brass, just a habit I guess.

Around Christmas I bought a bunch of FA brass and in the collection was 58 rounds of reloads. I bought a kinetic bullet puller just for those reloads. The j-words were FA as well, rated for the full power loads, thick jackets. So I wanted the brass and bullets. Out of curiosity I weighed the powder from the different rounds, huge variation. The powder was of a composition I didn't recognize. I've seen the FA powder, it wasn't that mix. This actually looked like they mixed a small ball powder with a flake. So, it really looked like so home-brewed nightmare. The variation in powder weight was about 30% from lightest round to heaviest.

Can y'all imagine firing that stuff in your gun? I trust only my hand loads and when my father was alive I trusted his without question. He is who taught me how to be so cautious.

[MT Gianni]

The several shooters whose reloads I trust enough to run through my firearms all seem to belong here. Funny how that works out. :)

Yes it is. I have enjoyed shooting others loads in their guns at the NCBS and loaned someone some 9mm when they had none and asked me.
I have been given loads from others that get broken down into components.

[MT Chambers]

Some early .454 loads published were duplex and even triplex charges, I would only duplex if using BP.

[fatelk]

I always remember the second-hand story I heard of a guy who accidentally grabbed 231 instead of 296 when loading his .44 mag. Way back in the day I would shoot other folk's random reloads and estate mystery rounds, but now I'm much older and a little wiser.

I finally got around to looking up some data, and that .500 load looks to have been about 7gr over max. I hate to think what would have happened if he had pulled the trigger on one.

Off topic but kind of funny: I was sorting through some .40 S&W range brass a few days ago and came across one that seemed slightly different. The case mouth had what appeared to be a slight roll crimp left to it, and as I looked closely I saw a small crack in the end. Then I looked at the headstamp. I didn't even know it was possible to fire .357 Sig in a .40 chamber, but I think I now know what the resulting empty looks like. :)