is there any way to tell if a round has been reloaded?

Beer_drinker

CGN frequent flyer
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
20   0   0
Location
Qc
I just received twenty 06 rounds as a trade, there are about 3-4 different types in the box but the original owner doesn't know if they were reloaded or not, he just knows that they are really old. Some of the primers even stick out further than the brass which I find really odd, it's something i've never seen before.

Is there something I can look for to find out of they have been reloaded? I wouldn't want to use them if I didn't even know who reloaded them...
 
if the primers are poking out, id guess reload, never seen it happen from the factory.

are the bullets all the same, and all mix and match cases? again, id lean on reloads.

good call, I took a second look and noticed a small difference in the same rounds.

Notice the 3 triangles around the primers? That must be from a press... correct?

rouinds004.jpg


rouinds005.jpg
 
Nope, seriously just clean one up, there will be marks stopping shortly before the case head if it's reloaded. Even tarnished you should be able to notice it.
 
those look like the winchester super x silvertips.

I agree. Also:
- There does not appear to be a factory crimp, which suggests they've been reloaded and,
- The primer should sit 0.003" to 0.005" below flush with the bottom of the case (according to my Lyman manual). If they're sitting above flush, again this suggests a reload.
 
No offense, but from the picture quality all I'd be willing to say is that some (not all) look to have punch-staked primers (typically military & commercial, never seen a home reloader do that), and the bullets do kinda look like Winchester SilverTips, which I'd never known Dominion Ctg Co. (DCC) to load with anything similar? Try taking a close look, magnified preferably, of where the crimp triangles are closest to the primers; does it look like they overlap or at least touch the primers? On a factory punch or stab-crimped cartridge they should, though when reloading, de-priming is often enough to push the edges back a bit.
Two things to consider:
1) while you should be able to identify sizing marks like others have said, if the outside of the case is too buggered up for you to be sure, look at the inside. Pull the bullet on the most suspicious-looking one or so (like with a protruding primer?), and look at the brass on the inside of the case. No matter how well you may clean a fired case (especially a bottleneck type), I've never seen a fired reload look anything other than pretty black inside.
2) You want to risk a rifle on some old shells of unknown origin that you got in a trade? I wouldn't. Re-using diamantled components? Done that, lots.
I don't fire other folks reloads either. I and others trust my reloading, and I trust several guys I know's reloads, but I don't fire them. It's kinda like 'what's good for them is good for them, & what's good for me is good for me. I was on an IPSC Black Badge course many many years ago where a guy borrowed a pistol from one guy to do the course (while his was out with a gunsmith for mods), and ammo (reloads) from another guy, because he wasn't set up for that calibre yet. End result; he ended up owing one guy some brass, and the other guy a barrel, bushing, link, and pin for a Colt Government model after clearing a misfire and splitting the barrel from the tip of the muzzle to the back of the lug when the next (possibly over-charged) shot apparently drove two bullets form the bore. Those reloads sure didn't save him any money. Not worth it...
-You rifle, your ammo; your call.
 
Staked in primers are original, I don't think the bullets are. Likely someone pulled the original fmj's and replaced them with expanding.

"Reloads" for all intents. IMHO
 
No offense, but from the picture quality all I'd be willing to say is that some (not all) look to have punch-staked primers (typically military & commercial, never seen a home reloader do that), and the bullets do kinda look like Winchester SilverTips, which I'd never known Dominion Ctg Co. (DCC) to load with anything similar? Try taking a close look, magnified preferably, of where the crimp triangles are closest to the primers; does it look like they overlap or at least touch the primers? On a factory punch or stab-crimped cartridge they should, though when reloading, de-priming is often enough to push the edges back a bit.
Two things to consider:
1) while you should be able to identify sizing marks like others have said, if the outside of the case is too buggered up for you to be sure, look at the inside. Pull the bullet on the most suspicious-looking one or so (like with a protruding primer?), and look at the brass on the inside of the case. No matter how well you may clean a fired case (especially a bottleneck type), I've never seen a fired reload look anything other than pretty black inside.
2) You want to risk a rifle on some old shells of unknown origin that you got in a trade? I wouldn't. Re-using diamantled components? Done that, lots.
I don't fire other folks reloads either. I and others trust my reloading, and I trust several guys I know's reloads, but I don't fire them. It's kinda like 'what's good for them is good for them, & what's good for me is good for me. I was on an IPSC Black Badge course many many years ago where a guy borrowed a pistol from one guy to do the course (while his was out with a gunsmith for mods), and ammo (reloads) from another guy, because he wasn't set up for that calibre yet. End result; he ended up owing one guy some brass, and the other guy a barrel, bushing, link, and pin for a Colt Government model after clearing a misfire and splitting the barrel from the tip of the muzzle to the back of the lug when the next (possibly over-charged) shot apparently drove two bullets form the bore. Those reloads sure didn't save him any money. Not worth it...
-You rifle, your ammo; your call.

The dents do overlap the primer, good advice, i'm not gona risk bustin up a brand new rifle.

My cheap father will gladly take them off my hands, i'll post the kaboom if it ever happens.
 
My advice, don't shoot them, period.
The markings of the head are CIL (Dominion Cartridge Company) 30 SPG. are comercial and nothing to do with military. That marking was used in the 1950s and those bullets are not Dominion bullets.
If you have a bullet puller, you could pull and save the bullets, but I would discard everything else.
I say again, don't shoot them. I know, they are some ones reloads and should be safe, but don't take the chance.
 
Back
Top Bottom