Reloads, to use or not to use?

G

Gurkha

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi there,

Someone I know offered me a pretty large amount of reloaded .40s&w for free. They received it when working for Fish and Wildlife. It was loaded for them to use and they used it until one of the guys barrels blew up then they stopped allowing them to use it.

They have had the left over ammo quite a while now and they no longer have their .40s&w pistols so have no use for it plus were never comfortable using it after the said incident.

I have never bought reloads before or used anyone's reloads. Doesn't mean I wouldn't if I trusted the individual or company.

Should I take it and use it or do the risks outweigh the benefits?

Thanks
 
I'd take it. If nothing else, it's worth pulling and remeasuring new powder.

Nothing says the other gun blew up due to the loads either ... could have been a Mud/Debris Plugged barrel or something as well ...

Even if a person was to weigh each round, they would be able to find a double charge if any exist.
 
Okay, thanks guys.

I don't know much when it comes to this stuff but my understanding is you could get a squib (I think that is the term) so as long as you pay attention and don't shoot too fast then that would not be a huge issue. My understanding is that would only be an issue if it gets lodged in the barrel then you shoot another round, is that right?

What other problems can happen with reloads and what would be the reason for a barrel to split apart if it was due to the reload?
 
if i recall fish cops were getting factory reloads in an orange box of fifty rounds. mixed brass with montana gold fmj bullits. i shot a couple thousand rounds of these in my fourty with no problems.
 
If they are Factory Reloads, then I'd fire them off without a second thought.

Really, Reloads only have two problemsthat could cause a complete failure of the gun: Too much powder, or not enough powder.

It woudl take a LOT of powder to destroy a modern gun - iirc, most are teted with about 3x the recommended load at the factory.

a Squib (~no powder) however, can do serious damage if it is not caught immediately.

Assuming these rounds were for Official use (instead of someone making & using them for personal practice at home), I'd feel safe making the assumption that the failure in question was a fluke and not a sign of large batch of possible failures.
 
Gurkha said:
Hi there,

Someone I know offered me a pretty large amount of reloaded .40s&w for free. They received it when working for Fish and Wildlife. It was loaded for them to use and they used it until one of the guys barrels blew up then they stopped allowing them to use it.

They have had the left over ammo quite a while now and they no longer have their .40s&w pistols so have no use for it plus were never comfortable using it after the said incident.

I have never bought reloads before or used anyone's reloads. Doesn't mean I wouldn't if I trusted the individual or company.

Should I take it and use it or do the risks outweigh the benefits?

Thanks
Click to expand...

What you should do is contact me via PM so that you can get my addy and just send the entire lot over to me.
 
if commercial reload, you can shoot it, if its not then I would pull them and reload.

last time at the range, someone left 50-100 bad reloads in the squib box. pulled them all, reused brass and bullets, easy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom