Can .30 M2 Tracer rounds be pulled down and the primed brass reloaded?

[Gray Fox]

Last year, I bought a sealed can of linked 250 .30 M2 rounds (FN 58) in the 2xball, 2xAp, and 1xtracer configuration. The ball shot a 3/4" group at 100 yds out of my SAKO '06 last week. My question is, can I use a kinetic puller to break down the tracers and reload the primed brass without problems? If so, how should I safely dispose of the tracer projectiles? I don't know what I'm going to do with the 100 AP rounds. GF

[challenger_i]

You may find Military Ball can be rather "exercising" to pull the bullets with a kinetic device... :) Between the sealant and the crimp, that bullet is THERE!

[G W Wade]

Years ago, some shooters would use "mexican match" ammo. It consisted of pulling original bullet and replacing with a better bullet of similar weight. Better method was to use your seating die to seat original bullet a little deeper to loosen the seal and then pull. GW

[GONRA]

GONRA sez - sell the tracer bullets ata gun show....

[15meter]

Years ago, some shooters would use "mexican match" ammo. It consisted of pulling original bullet and replacing with a better bullet of similar weight. Better method was to use your seating die to seat original bullet a little deeper to loosen the seal and then pull. GW

This!

Seating the bullet even just a couple of thousands deeper will make pulling them much easier. Or just shoot them. Shooting paper targets with the bullet going into a standard sand backstop will do nothing that is dangerous. We've had a fair amount of AP and steel cored ammo shot into the club's backstop with no ill-effects that I'm aware of.

I would think that tracers into a clean sand backstop would not present a problem either. We've had some tracers on the range. We have some thin grass/weeds that started a small fire, small enough that it was tamped out with shoes in short order.

[M-Tecs]

As stated breaking the seal by pushing the bullet a couple of thou deeper helps greatly for pulling the bullet. Both the AP and Trace are very salable.

[BLAHUT]

Last year, I bought a sealed can of linked 250 .30 M2 rounds (FN 58) in the 2xball, 2xAp, and 1xtracer configuration. The ball shot a 3/4" group at 100 yds out of my SAKO '06 last week. My question is, can I use a kinetic puller to break down the tracers and reload the primed brass without problems? If so, how should I safely dispose of the tracer projectiles? I don't know what I'm going to do with the 100 AP rounds. GF

Send them up here to me and I will deal with all this for you ?? and send the primed brass and powder back to you ?? PM me ???

[Winger Ed.]

Sell 'em.

Even the links are valuable to the Class III guys.
Also, the brass may be Berdan primed.

[Charlie Horse]

Choot'em!

[ebb]

Gonra is right some people think the tracers are worth their weight in gold

[country gent]

Before shooting them up check with the range a lot dont allow tracers armor piercing ammo. Pulling them is faster with the redding/ foster puller its called a super fast puller. It screws in your press and a bullet is pushed up into it to the neck then pulled the next pushed the bullet out and is pulled. Seating them slightly deeper also helps with a lot of pullers.

Loading the cases "as is" is fine but on the next loading you will need to deal with the crimp in the primer pocket.

[Gray Fox]

Thanks for all the input. I think I'll try the pushing the tracer bullet back into the case and then using a kinetic puller. Also, I've got the Dillon primer pocket swager that I used on 1,000 pieces of LC 7.62x51 brass. Now that was a chore. I've got all the new links saved, but here in the Atlanta area I have avoided gun shows like the plague. There have been so many ATF agents prowling the parking lots taking down plate numbers and walking around the shows "talking" on their cell phones that it's just not worth the risk to me. GF

[higgins]

I hope you properly cleaned your SAKO after shooting what is probably corrosive-primed ammo. Best way to do it if you don't have old GI solvent formulated for corrosive primers is to use some concoction that includes warm water; Ballistol and water, soap and water, dishwashing detergent and water, Windex, etc. After dissolving and flushing out the corrosive salts you can clean with your usual solvent to go after jacket fouling. Don't rely on Hoppes, Shooters Choice, etc. to dissolve and remove corrosive priming salt. There's plenty of suggestions (and arguments) about it on websites.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Careful with those tracers, long time ago I started a range fire using .308 tracers to get scope 'close' before sighting in with 'good' bullets. Had help getting the grass fire stopped before it did any damage. I did shoot some later, fire forming into .358 by shooting into deep snow on a hillside.My tracers were LC 74 so non-corrosive.

I pull military ball with a hoof nipper in a press, careful use of a side cut pliers pulls bullets with little damage, seating bullets a touch before pulling does help.

[Gray Fox]

Thanks for the warning about corrosive primers, but I checked and the FN 58 was the first full year that they used noncorrosive primers. Began to do so late in '57. GF

[lightman]

I would love to have a belt of those to string under or above my cartridge collection cabinet!

Yes, they can be pulled. Like the others have said, you can break the seal and make them easier to pull by seating them a little deeper. Its still going to be a job! Try to not disturb the paint on the nose as there is a market for pulled military bullets.

[ddeck22]

The different companies (Hornady, RCBS) have a bullet puller based on a collet system, which I find much better than kinetic removal for larger batches.

[Gray Fox]

Thanks for the advice, folks. I just ordered the RCBS collet puller with .30 collet. Any advice on the easiest way to use it? GF

[ddeck22]

Thanks for the advice, folks. I just ordered the RCBS collet puller with .30 collet. Any advice on the easiest way to use it? GF

I put mine in a single stage press, adjust the height of the die with the collet so it doesn't grab too tightly (or not enough) and then just start pulling them. I have the Hornady one. The only issue sometimes is differing bullets and having to readjust the height, but with them all the same, you just start working after you set it the one time.

[gwpercle]

You may find Military Ball can be rather "exercising" to pull the bullets with a kinetic device... :) Between the sealant and the crimp, that bullet is THERE!

Seat the bullet about 1/16" deeper in the case with your seating die ...
... This breaks the crimp and the sealants grip on the projectile ...
After that use your kinetic puller , it must be used on a "Solid" surface ...
Big solid block of wood on a concrete slab ... 4 medium hard whacks will pull the bullet almost out ... keep an eye on bullet's progress ... make the last "whack" a medium light hit so the powder doesn't go flying everywhere .
Easy to recover primed brass , powder and bullets if you know the "Trick " .
The kinetic puller leaves no damage or even any marks to the projectiles ... Sweet !
Gary

[GONRA]

Over the decades GONRA has found one should hava variety
of "bullet pullers" to satisfy the particular project needs ......

[SSGOldfart]

Seat the bullet about 1/16" deeper in the case with your seating die ...
... This breaks the crimp and the sealants grip on the projectile ...
After that use your kinetic puller , it must be used on a "Solid" surface ...
Big solid block of wood on a concrete slab ... 4 medium hard whacks will pull the bullet almost out ... keep an eye on bullet's progress ... make the last "whack" a medium light hit so the powder doesn't go flying everywhere .
Easy to recover primed brass , powder and bullets if you know the "Trick " .
The kinetic puller leaves no damage or even any marks to the projectiles ... Sweet !
Gary

Yep he'll know the trick by the time he gets the second box done [smilie=b:[smilie=f:

[clearwater]

Cautionary tales-

Heads up for Californians- up to 10 years for possession of a tracer bullet.

Also nearly lost a local commercial range near Spokane, WA to wildfire from rifleman shooting up a box of old ammo someone gave him that had a tracer in the mix. Now they check all ammo with a magnet as steel core also can create sparks.

[McMullen759]

I'm assuming OP has resolved the issue however had a few points for anyone who stumbles across this post in future with a similar situation.

I've had people ask me questions over the years about barrel damage from AP and Tracer rounds, generally not a concern. Tracers ignite from friction between the air/bullet and typically are well clear of the barrel before this occurs. Even if ignition happens in the barrel it is there for such a brief moment in time it won't hurt anything.

AP rounds are typically no issue either as they have either steel or tungsten core surrounded by lead/copper jacket. They may induce a TINY bit more wear than a normal round as the hard core will somewhat affect the way the lead squishes and add resistance to that process but the difference would be negligible unless you were firing insane amounts.

They do have a different point of impact in both cases as they are lighter in weight (due to less % of lead. Tracer will be the lightest, AP somehwere in the middle and ball heaviest) so if sighting in with them expect to make adjustments to your elevation when you switch back to regular ammo, especially at longer ranges.

So if anyone ever gets a bunch you can always just go shoot em rather than pull bullets, just be mindful of your local laws and regulations and take appropriate safety precautions. Don't shoot AP at steel as it can ricochet like a bugger and be mindful of fire potential with tracers.

Just thought that could be helpful for some to know.

[Barry54]

I’d trade you some brand name bullets or buy outright for the AP bullets. I don’t shoot on a public range and they would be fun to try on old junk cars and other ornaments we collect in Tennessee.
Private message me if you wanna do some trading please.

[Outpost75]

That FN58 ammo is Berdan primed. Not worth the effort.

[GONRA]

GONRA sez:
US ORANGE TIP delayed ignition tracer bullets function like this:
Heat from hot burning powder gas is conducted thru the brass base seal disk
and lightsoff a GASLESS DELAY MIX that burns REAL HOT
forming a molten slag but no gas.
Some distance out of the gun barrel, molten slag ignites the usual tracer ignition mix, etc.
Nowyasee it! !! ("delayed tracer")
Brass base seal disk is long gone (somewhere).

Have phun (trying to) make delayed tracer bullets in yer basement. guys/gals...

[poppy42]

If you’re gonna break them down I would strongly suggest you pick up the Hornady cam-lock bullet puller. It is the best polar I’ve ever used. Once it’s set up it’s a breeze to pull a large quantity of bullets. In addition it does so without marking up the bullets. I’ve actually pulled my own Cast Boolets and use them over again that’s how good of condition they were in. I think the actual polar is about 30 bucks and then you have to buy the collet for 25 or something like that. There’s not many colleges as each college fits a range of projectiles. Trust me I don’t usually recommend one manufacturer over another but in this case I think it’s well worth it. I’ve owned and used kinetic pullers, RCBS collet pullers, herters pullers, Frankford arsenal, and a few others. The Hornady is by far the best and easiest I’ve ever used! Once it’s set up for a specific bullet it’s just a matter of slide the new bullet in the shell holder raising the ram, pushing a handle down to lock the collet down on the bullet, and lowering the ram! And repeat for the next one.

[gishooter]

Still have a lot of tracer and AP. Shot a bunch over the years. And started a bunch of fires also. Even being careful. shooting after a decent rain is about the safest.

I'd use a collet style puller. I'd wear my arms out trying to remove more than one or two with a kinetic puller. Been there done that!

The asphalt sealant around the case mouth or pulled projectiles are a pain to clean off on most surplus. I've done it carefully outside with gasoline and rags. But really just isn't worth it. Haven't done it in years.
Shoot it up on a wet day. Even better if it is a bit foggy out. Or just sell it.