May be a stupid question about 30 cal

[Kmcinnes]

I am new to reloading as of this past year, I have been manly reloading common calibers....380, 9mm, 38 spc, 357, .223. and 308. My father in law gave me a whole bunch of old live ammo. calibers range but I have quite a lot of 30 cal, 30-30, 30-06 and 303.

So my question is......they are all 30 cal bullets, I do not have those caliber guns, I do not trust the ammo to be fired so selling them or getting rid of them would be a bad idea! Can I pull the bullet and load them into my 308 brass since they are 30 cal bullets? What are your thoughts, maybe this is commonly done.......and maybe its a no go, I just have not been around it enought to know the answer.

 

[SSGSAD]

NOT the .303, the bullets, are USUALLY .310, or .311..... Use a caliper to check.... the others should be ok .....

 

[LarryC]

I am new to reloading as of this past year, I have been manly reloading common calibers....380, 9mm, 38 spc, 357, .223. and 308. My father in law gave me a whole bunch of old live ammo. calibers range but I have quite a lot of 30 cal, 30-30, 30-06 and 303.

So my question is......they are all 30 cal bullets, I do not have those caliber guns, I do not trust the ammo to be fired so selling them or getting rid of them would be a bad idea! Can I pull the bullet and load them into my 308 brass since they are 30 cal bullets? What are your thoughts, maybe this is commonly done.......and maybe its a no go, I just have not been around it enought to know the answer.

Unless the ammo your Grandfather gave you is corroded (greenish deposit on the case) or really badly dented, it would be fine to use as live ammo - The .303 is not the right diameter for your purposes. Depending on how old it is, it may even have collector value if it is in the original box. Don't know where you are or how much you have - you might want to take it to the GS, I'm sure you can sell it. If you were closer to me I would buy it. I am using .303 and 30-06 ammo right now that is at least 50 years old - and have fired a lot of 80+ year old ammo with Zero problems. Do use 30-30 but most is fairly new > 20 years old.

 

[Broom_jm]

The 30/30 and 30-'06 bullets will both be .308" diameter, but the 303 bullets are likely to be .311" bullets. You would not want to shoot those in your 308 Winchester rifle.

Further, all three of these bullets are likely to be different weights and designed for different velocities. If you knew exactly which bullets you were getting from the '06, you could maybe buy more of them to load for your 308, but otherwise, how do you know what you're working with?

You state that it's a "whole bunch of old live ammo" and you somehow feel it is unsafe? The odds are incredibly high that it IS safe to shoot, in firearms chambered for those respective rounds. I'll buy the 30/30 and '06 rounds from you, if the price is right. Not sure if you'll find someone to take the 303 off your hands. Actually, now that I think about it, contact Andrew at Profire...he may be interested in the whole mess.

 

[Kmcinnes]

Unless the ammo your Grandfather gave you is corroded (greenish deposit on the case) or really badly dented, it would be fine. Depending on how old it is, it may even have collector value if it is in the original box. Don't know where you are or how much you have - you might want to take it to the GS, I'm sure you can sell it. If you were closer to me I would buy it.

None in any boxes, just in about 20 large zip lock bags, some cases look pretty good, others have corrosion on them, some bullets are real loose, some have cracks in the brass, and so on. I took a few apart and there is a white clumpy powdery (almost lke mold) substance in them, bowder still burned though.

 

[SSGSAD]

None in any boxes, just in about 20 large zip lock bags, some cases look pretty good, others have corrosion on them, some bullets are real loose, some have cracks in the brass, and so on. I took a few apart and there is a white clumpy powdery (almost lke mold) substance in them, bowder still burned though.

If you want to pull the "bullets" they can be tumbled, and then reloaded in the other brass .....

 

[Kmcinnes]

So the condition is as follows

O.K.-I assume

Bad

Real Bad

Here is just a short list of Rifle Calibers I have found so far


300 sav
30 usg
35 rem
303 sav
30-40
30 wcf (winchester?)
303 British
8mm mouser

222 rem
17 rem
22 hornet
351 slr
32 slr

And bunch of misc that I haven't identified yet because of the stampings.

 

[Broom_jm]

Wow, that IS some old, jacked up ammo!

I retract my earlier statement about it being "OK" to shoot. That stuff is almost certainly handloads and it should all be pulled down. The powder should be sprinkled over the lawn, the bullets should probably be tossed, and any brass that is reused should be carefully inspected, first!

My offer to buy some/all of it still stands, but the price may have come down, after seeing these pics.

 

[Kmcinnes]

Wow, that IS some old, jacked up ammo!

I retract my earlier statement about it being "OK" to shoot. That stuff is almost certainly handloads and it should all be pulled down. The powder should be sprinkled over the lawn, the bullets should probably be tossed, and any brass that is reused should be carefully inspected, first!

My offer to buy some/all of it still stands, but the price may have come down, after seeing these pics.

Lol, Most of it looks to be in pretty decent condition, but not all! Thats why I say I dont feel cofortable shooting any of it, I just dont know the history.......is this the batch that he learned how to reload with and had issues with......or are they old and just not been stored properly and so on. I dont want to let it go to waste lol.

 

[red_zr24x4]

Pull them, dump the powder in the lawn. Scrap (most of)the brass, sort the bullets, use what you can and sell the rest on here.