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Posted: 1/21/2012 5:45:55 AM EDT
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Morning all,
Quick question from a newbie. I haven't been reloading long, and what I have been loading has been from scratch. My question regarding pulled bullets and components is as follows: Some time last year I made a purchase of 500 rounds of 9mm 115gr fmj from USA Ammo. Obviously most of you know their current reputation. I actually suffered a partial case head separation (Gun and I are both fine.). Because of the failure, the company replaced all the ammo. I didn't even bother trying to sell it because I didn't want anyone else to have to deal with it, and I refused to shoot it, so it's been sitting in my safe. Now that I'm more comfortable with reloading, I've been pulling the lot apart. So now I have a lot of 500 primed unused brass and 500 115gr fmj bullets. The charge isn't the issue, however my question is more along the lines of, I have no information on the make of the bullet, nothing at all. I've attempted contact with USA Ammo to find out and they haven't replied. Since I can't just go to one of my manuals to identify the bullet, can I just use a generic 115gr FMJ recipe with them? Probably a lame question but, because I'm newer to this I've been going strictly by the book. I know nothing about this bullet outside of what I can visually see. And my trust for USA Ammo is well... non existant. Also to follow up on that question, the bullets that were pulled have a minor indentations from the case. Will that affect anything? I'm assuming it's from their crimp or something? Thanks in advance for any help you all can offer! |
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Thanks for the quick reply. I didn't really expect these rounds to be too precise since they're pulled. They'll just make some decent reloads for friends/family to shoot.
At the very least, I'll get some use out of the components instead of just letting them sit! |
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"Pulled", shmulled. Are the bullets chewed up? If they are fairly clean and unmarked (crimp rings are OK), then they are "generic" bullets, and you can expect generic bullet accuracy from them. Depending on your pull method, you might just have pristine bullets, or bullets with a couple of marks on them. Inertia pullers leave unmarked bullets, but sometimes collet pullers can leave marks-and as long as they aren't really bad, those shouldn't be a problem.
Of course I'm assuming you're talking about 9mm 115gr bullets; you didn't actually say... On the other hand, those PRIMERS are unknown, so when you load those cases, you should treat them that way-use a modest load. Finally, inspect that brass thoroughly, both before you load it, and after you collect it. While I haven't heard too much about their brass, since you had a head separation there could be some question of the quality of the brass. |
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I have found pulled pistol bullets to be moderately accurate to 50 yards and rifle bullets to be accurate to 400 yards. If I had access to longer ranges, the results may have continued.
All of my bullets were collet pulled by me. I would expect impact pulled bullets to be a touch better. |
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Quoted:
"Pulled", shmulled. Are the bullets chewed up? If they are fairly clean and unmarked (crimp rings are OK), then they are "generic" bullets, and you can expect generic bullet accuracy from them. Depending on your pull method, you might just have pristine bullets, or bullets with a couple of marks on them. Inertia pullers leave unmarked bullets, but sometimes collet pullers can leave marks-and as long as they aren't really bad, those shouldn't be a problem. Of course I'm assuming you're talking about 9mm 115gr bullets; you didn't actually say... On the other hand, those PRIMERS are unknown, so when you load those cases, you should treat them that way-use a modest load. Finally, inspect that brass thoroughly, both before you load it, and after you collect it. While I haven't heard too much about their brass, since you had a head separation there could be some question of the quality of the brass. Yes, I apologize, they are in fact 9mm rounds and I've edited my post to specify. I am using a kinetic puller, so they are very clean in regards to any work I've done on them. I've attached a few quick cell pictures. Nothing amazing but you can see the ring on them. I plan on inspecting everything I've got from them and so far what I've gone through looks great in regards to the brass. I understand what you're saying about the primers, I'll definitely work the loads up slowly with these. 
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Those look like plated bullets, use lead bullet data for them. Keep velocity around 1000-1100 for a good shooting load. TiteGroup, W-231, Unique, True Blue, Power Pistol, would all be good powders to use. Use any SP primer you have, follow the OAL used in your data. Also lots of on line reloading data to look at. Look for links up in Links, under Reloading Refrences.  Some 9mm p0rn for your thread.
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Which headstamp separated?
Go through all the brass, pull out all Amerc brass, salvage the primers from those, then toss the Amerc brass into the recycling bucket. While you're at this exercise, measure the diameter and weight of the bullets. That way you'll know what you have. If you feel ambitious, cut one in two so you can learn the jacket thickness. |
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Dry, thanks for the pointer, I'll try to find some different data in my books.
Aeroe, the case that separated was actually a federal case oddly enough. I've begun pulling the new lot apart and I'm seeing the bullets consistantly weigh 114.9gr - 115.1gr. Their diameters are all approximately .353" to .354", which I assume is due to their previous crimp. The brass so far from the few hundred I've inspected is all either Winchester or Federal and looks new, unused. I haven't cut a bullet in half yet. Any suggestions on what to use? I'm definitely curious to see the results. |
| I've done the same using 'generic' load data for 115gr HP 9mm Zero bullets that had no published data. I just copied the data from a known manufacturer whos bullets I had on hand and matched nearly identically. There's not too many ways to shape a round nose 115gr 9mm, so as long as your conservative with your loads you should be fine. |
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