just a query

mjd237

Well-Known Member
Ok folks heres a question i find myself wondering
Has anyone ever pulled a factory round and replaced the bullet with another?
For example take a PPU .270 130grn pull the bullet and replace with a Nosler.
Now i know some will be saying but you dont know what the powder is etc but thinking along the lines of the powder amount is safe for the factory bullet then surely it should be safe to replace with a similar better quality bullet.
 
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Yes, I have pulled a FMJ from a military round that shot very small groups in a rifle, and replaced it with a SPT hunting bullet seated to the same ogive, and it shot well. 8x57JS is one of those.

I have also had some corrosive ammunition which shot very well, but I did not want to use it beyond one try, so I pulled the bullets, weighed the powder and reloaded new brass with Winchester primers. This was German flake powder in 8x57JS; every round had exactly 44.8 grains. The new loads shot sub moa with two of my 8x57s, both with iron sights.
 
Friend of mine in Germany buys PPU 30/06 with 170gr Grom's. Pulls the bullet, replaces the powder with a weighed/developed charge and reseats the Grom bullet. Gets great results.

Also cheaper than conventional reloading.
 
Yes, I have pulled a FMJ from a military round that shot very small groups in a rifle, and replaced it with a SPT hunting bullet seated to the same ogive, and it shot well. 8x57JS is one of those.

I have also had some corrosive ammunition which shot very well, but I did not want to use it beyond one try, so I pulled the bullets, weighed the powder and reloaded new brass with Winchester primers. This was German flake powder in 8x57JS; every round had exactly 44.8 grains. The new loads shot sub moa with two of my 8x57s, both with iron sights.

Likewise with 30-06.~Muir
 
Oh, yes, the .30-06. I had several thousand rounds of Korean M1 Garand ammunition from the 1990s which was good enough to shoot in matches ( I friend took a can of mine and shot it at Camp Perry). Being for the Garand, you know the pressure in low enough, and when I replaced the FMJ with a Hornady 150-gr Interlock, they shot superbly in every .30-06 of mine. Cheap and quick reloading, and good brass.
 
It's been widely done with match ammunition (or more precisely, ammunition to be used in matches) in the days when major disciplines used military calibres and cartridges. When 150gn .30s were widely used in match shooting, take one 7.62 NATO and replace its 144-147gn FMJBT with a 150gn Sierra MatchKing, Lapua Lock-Base etc. Going further back, many US cadet, OTC, National Guard etc units were supplied with 173gn FMJBT 'match' ammo in .30-06, and a common practice was to pull the bullets and replace them with 168gn Sierra MKs. A popular method for bulk bullet exchange is reputed to produce the nickname for this practice - the 'Mexican Reload'. A number of reloading presses were lined up along a bench with volunteer (or otherwise) operators. No.1 press had a 30-06 bullet seating die installed which had been set on the deep side and the factory cartridges run through it, their bullets pushed marginally deeper into the neck (to break the crimp and asphalt seal). Number 2 press had a collet bullet puller installed to remove the factory bullet. Number 3 press seated the Sierra. when all presses were going full tilt and cartridges being passed along the line, it was supposed to make people think of the 'Mexican wave', hence the nickname.
 
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