Sometimes we find a factory load that seems to work well in our hunting rifle, but maybe wish to tighten the group a bit. We all know that factory ammo will be seated to a short COL (cartridge overall lenght for newbies). Has anyone ever played around with pulling a factory shell just a bit, and re-seating it to a longer COL to get it up closer to the lands? Kinda making a semi-custom load?
Modifying factory ammo
- Thread starter gitrdun
- Start date
Ive taken Federal factory loads for a 243 apart, and re-seated the bullet over a weighed charge of a different powder & bullet seated out closer to the rifling. In both 80 & 100 grain weights, group sizes were half of what the factory ammo did.
I'm with Joe on this. If you have the reloading equipment to do that you might as well do the whole thing and save some money and not buy factory ammo. I mean if you had a hammer type bullet puller you could try "pulling" it out a bit long but you would still need a seating die to push it back in. And if you accidently pulled it completely appart you're going to loose some of the powder.
Best to use factory ammo AS factory ammo.
I think seating depth should be the last thing one fine tunes on a load. Correct me if I am wrong.
Fudd
Best to use factory ammo AS factory ammo.
I think seating depth should be the last thing one fine tunes on a load. Correct me if I am wrong.
Fudd
Hey, no problem, I"ll correct you. Seating depth is only but one factor playing into accuracy. Seating depth is one of the last variables that I play with. I wasn't asking if you thought that it was correct or incorrect anyways, I was asking if anyone had toyed around with the idea and what their results were, Not asking for opinions, just result..,... understand?
Pssstt! That's called; reloading!
hmmm, no kidding
read the topic post, its about modifying factory ammo. and its posted in the reloading forum 
nothing gets past you tonight! 
I think I have pulled the bullet in a factory load before and seated it longer, but cant remember the results. Most likely, accuracy will improve.
hmmm, no kidding
I think I have pulled the bullet in a factory load before and seated it longer, but cant remember the results. Most likely, accuracy will improve.
Yup, for sure....sounded like a simple question to me. Can you guys answer intelligently?
"...pulling a factory shell just a bit..." You can't pull it just a bit. It's all or nothing. You can pull the expensive factory ammo and reseat the bullet by running it through the seating die. However, as mentioned, buying expensive factory ammo to reload it with the same bullet and powder defeats the purpose of reloading. You're still using expensive factory ammo that isn't tailored to your rifle.
We used to call it Mexican Match Ammo. When the DND ammo grant for the DCRA was at it's end, handloading was something new to most fullbore shooters. There was still tons of free IVI stockpiled, but shooting IVI against handloads was a waste of some servicable components. The simple and cheaper method was to pull the IVI bullets, re-throw the powder about 2 grains less and stuff a 155 SMK into it at OAL you needed.
The primer on IVI usually always went bang. The powder was OK even though charges varied 2-3 grains and was mixed between ball and stick powders. The IVI cases were a little on the heavy side, varied in weight greatly, but were servicable none the less. With free primer, powder and case the only cost was the match bullets.
It didn't take long for most fullbore shooters to figure out there was better brass and powder available. That plus making Mexican Match was just a time consuming as starting with fresh components.
If you are working with 20-40 rounds and re-seating bullets to tune the ammo to your rifle it won't be too time consuming. If you are working with 300-400 or a 1000 rounds, best to start from scatch.
The primer on IVI usually always went bang. The powder was OK even though charges varied 2-3 grains and was mixed between ball and stick powders. The IVI cases were a little on the heavy side, varied in weight greatly, but were servicable none the less. With free primer, powder and case the only cost was the match bullets.
It didn't take long for most fullbore shooters to figure out there was better brass and powder available. That plus making Mexican Match was just a time consuming as starting with fresh components.
If you are working with 20-40 rounds and re-seating bullets to tune the ammo to your rifle it won't be too time consuming. If you are working with 300-400 or a 1000 rounds, best to start from scatch.
troutseeker
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I remember in the movies one guy filing some x's in the tip of bullets... Another one filled pistol bullet cavities with cyanid or something....
