Several years ago I bought a 25-2 off a private party.

With the transaction, he threw in 500 rnds of 45 Autorim reloads.

He said he used the gun in club shooting event with the Autorim loads.

He said he reloaded for other people in his club.

The reloads are in plastic boxes of 50 rnds each with the loading recipe on each box on a neat typed label.

Seems like an organized guy, but I never met him before or since.

The problem is I hesitate to shoot reloads from a guy I don't know from Adam.

I just put them in the back of a cabinet and forgot about them. Jokingly called them my SHTF stash.

Back then I figured SHTF would never come.

Well, I'm not so sure of that these days.

And I remembered my reloads.

The question is, what to do with these reloads.

Any ideas?

Generally speaking, reloads from an unknown source can be a good source of components. 500 rounds of .45AR brass is nothing to sneeze at in today's market. Pull the bullets (reusable if you have a good collet-style puller, or discard if not), the powder makes very good fertilizer for house plants. Good brass will still be good brass.

Pull several apart and see if the data and powder amount line up....if it is a powder that is commonly used like Unique, Red Dot, Bullseye then check in the manuals to see if there is a huge variance....ie. 5-6 grains of Unique with a 200-230 bullet...no big deal

If you find that they are in line........shoot them!!

My comments are based on what "I" would do.....you will hear from many to NEVER shoot reloads EVER......you do as you see fit.....

Randy

I understand the fear of "the other guy's reloads". I just can't agree with the idea that a person that documents their loads, has fired them in the gun, and sells the reloads with the gun would make the ammo "unsafe" because you now own the gun and ammo.

__________________
S&WHF 366

I would never sell or give ammunition to anyone to use that I reloaded. I’m super anal, been reloading for years. But it all stays in my firearm. My advice is do not use that ammo.

Best case... pull the bullets and have primed sized cases and bullets to easily reload.

Worst case... Kaboom...

Unless you are there making each and every cartridge... verifying there is a proper powder charge in the case...you don’t really know for sure.

Ive been reloading for forty years without a negative incident. Take my advice.

I’d disassemble a few and check if it has amount of powder listed, also check if double charge of that powder would be possible and if not I’d probably shoot it. If powder used is some fast one like TG or BE I’d probably disassemble all of them.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I usually break them down. Once I got a number of 41 mag reloads. I weighed one, then broke it down and weighed powder by itself, bullet, and brass: it was as advertised. Then went ahead and weighed each cartridge,if there was any deviation I pulled them, otherwise I shot them without a problem.

I don't know what the charge weight for that round would be but I'd imagine a half pound of powder wold re-charge them all.

So for $12 to $15 worth of powder, you get 500 rounds of ammo and peace of mind.

I'd break them down.

__________________
Just Say No - To Social Media

Sounds like a lot of work to take down 500 rounds, but no one says you have to do it like a job. Take a few down now and then any soon you will have that pile of primed brass and and a box of bullets for remelting or possibly re use. Thats what will give peace of mind as has been mentioned already.

Ideal practice:
Break it all down and reuse bullets and brass. The safe play.

Practical application:
After sizing the guy up and forming an opinion on his practices, I would take a random sampling of say a dozen or so rounds and break them down to verify. Are these mid-range loads or just off MAX? If risky load or SD on drops is high...break em all down.

If all above passes muster and matches his load label details, I would shoot them.
Know it is a risk, though. I'm just being honest about what I would do, as opposed to what I should do.

Putting it simply, I'd break them down as I wanted to reload some, say 50 at a time. Use a collet type puller as someone has already suggested and you can reuse the bullets. I'd dump the powder and reuse the primed brass. If you think you should resize the brass just remove the de-primer rod from your sizing die and resize. 45 Auto Rim brass is not readily available in any of the shops so you surely want to reuse what you have. I just got 500 pieces but I had to order directly from Starline. Another thing to remember when it comes to reloads is that no matter how careful someone is, they can always make a mistake.

__________________
Ed

That is based on you never make and error and perhaps the guy that reloaded them has reloaded for 50 years and may be a better reloader than all of us



Yes the safe practice method is to never use someones reloads, but as mentioned above if the dat is recorded and several rounds spot checked it is a safe bet they are OK. I also agree that if they are a real fast powder I would be more hesitant.


If pulling them, only a collet type puller make sense unless they are LEAD bullets.

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

One major reason is quality control. For factory ammo every step in the manufacturing process is checked, and double checked. Everything is inspected, and tested from the metallurgy of the raw brass to the size/weight of the components, to testing of powder performance, every assembly process and testing finished ammo. Home reloaders, while each step may be checked while reloading and low volume comparatively, mistakes can happen. It's been reported many times that an experienced reloader grabbed the wrong jug of powder, misread the label on their primers, misread manual specs, had equipment failures (bridging in a powder measure happens and no and over charges possible) etc. Its not disrespectful to the original reloader nor is it "Chicken Little" fear to pull handloads. I have never used any handloads other than my own...

I find it interesting that the NEVER USE RELOADS unless "I" reloaded them seem to portray that THEY and THEY alone are the only competent reloaders ever. Seems very egotistical to me.

Randy

Maybe it is egotistical to think that way, but much safer than to trust someone you do not know. There are several folks that I know that I trust enough to try their reloads (usually in their guns). I also know a few, whom I do not trust at all, due to past performances (blown up guns).

Just got a couple of thousand rounds of reloads from the local gun shop ( gratitis ), just to get rid of them. Spent the time to break them down and ended up with a couple thousand primed cases and bullets, the powder went in the flower beds.

__________________
USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

One good reason for the conservative position asserted by some, that is not arrogance: If the mistake is MINE, I have to own it. (I don't yet reload, it is a hypothetical.) Having seen how sloppy people can be in various parts of their lives, I understand why most are pretty cautious on this topic, and I agree.

__________________
NHI, 10-8.

There are several reloaders on this forum that I would shoot their reloads no questions asked. But then there are many that I would not.

__________________
Still Running Against the Wind

Like many Who have posted, I would break down a couple from each box and if the reloads measure up to the written data, I would not hesitate to shoot them.

else's reloads, don't care whose they are. My dad learned a very valuable lesson regarding that years ago.

Sure you can possibly get a double charged factory load, but at least you can probably go back to the manufacturer. Get a double charged load from an individual, he'll probably tell you to go pound sand.

Lots of trusting souls here................. I prefer to keep my guns in one piece and all my body parts non perforated.

__________________
USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

I never shoot anyone else's reloads, period. As said, salvage the components. You will have some primed brass and maybe some usable projectiles.

Bob

__________________
Sag Harbor & Manhattan, N.Y.

There are a couple of my friends that I'll shoot their hand loads and My bil, sil and grand boys all shoot mine. I'd probably check a few and shoot em. That guy loaded those for his own use and was probably reasonably careful. If he had kept the gun they would have been fired in it............

__________________
dd884
JMHO-YMMV

500 auto rim ... I would at least pull the bullets for the primed brass.
Tip on pulling: seat the bullets just a little deeper , this breaks the crimp and loosens the brass case's grip on the bullet .
3-4 medium whacks with a Kinetic Puller , on a firm surface, will have the bullets out and you can even re-use them.
Doing it this way saves you the primed brass & bullets .
Remove decapping rod from reloading dies and reload them with your powder charge .
Gary

__________________
Certified Cajun
NRA Member

I'd check them as suggested and probably shoot them. Normally I wouldn't but given the circumstances and quantity...that's a lot of work to pull all those bullets.

Better to pull them then to loose a gun or a finger or more to a defective round...........

__________________
USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

WELL, as for me, first I would make sure they all use the same manf. brass.
If not separate by manufacture. Then I would check to see if all the bullets are the same, if not separate. Then I would weigh 50 of each cartridge and note the weight. They should be very, very close in weight. If you come up with a weight, High or low, I would set aside for pulling.

Disagree. Not using some one else's hand made ammo is no reflection on the reloader or egotistical thinking about one self. Reloading is easy, but also can be dangerous and taking a chance, even if the odds are waaay low, is plain old stupid. I know my equipment is working correctly. I know my references are good/safe. If I blow up a gun from my brain fade or lack of attention, I have no other to blame, so I take extra care. I know my friend reloads his handguns to max and has never had a Kaboom, but I'd just as soon not use his handloads, and he chooses to not use mine (I had a squib in 1970 and no Kabooms ever). Maybe if I watched the ammo being produced and I had no other alternatives, I might shoot someone's reloads. Ego and disrespect, questioning another's abilities, have nothing to do with not shooting handloads assembled by another...

I agree with the others. I'd never shoot someone else's reloads or (for liability reasons) give or sell my handloads to someone else.

I probably won't shoot them.

On the other hand, I don't reload and don't intend to start.

I'm far from rich, but I used to reload and found it's not worth my time. Not really fun.

I bought enough ammo during the Obama crisis that now I can ride out the current ammo shortage and not run out.

So if I pull all the bullets I'll just end up with a bunch of empty cases and bullets I will never use. So all the effort is wasted.

Probably I'll just keep them in my cabinet for a while longer, or if I get tired of looking at them throw the whole lot into the landfill.

I would break them down also. It only takes one round to create a problem that could be a disaster. Not worth the risk to you or anyone around you while shooting, not to mention your gun.

__________________
Sal,
SWCA #2768

Like others, I would brake them down and use the brass and bullets with my powder.

FYI: My BIL will shoot my reloads but I will not shoot his.

Yeah, tear them down. If the crimp wasn't too heavy you can re-use the bullets. Certainly re-use the primed cases, just flare them again or take your primer pin out and resize then flare them. Toss the powder in the garden.

How many rounds did you get? How many didn't weigh correctly? In other words, what was the fall out rate?

__________________
Regards,

Tom

This guy sounds like he knew what he was doing. Fire one and go from there.

Tom,
It's been awhile if I remember correctly it was 400 to 500 rounds. I am on the cautious side when reloading so if off by very much I pulled them. Am thinking maybe 5 out of 50 met my pulling definition and that could have been a bullet weight variation as far as my needs are.

I've been reloading for 46 years, and I'll do it my way. Shoot the ammo. While doing my reloading, I shot a S&W M52-2 enough that the slide followed the hammer forward. S&W rebuilt the pistol. The rifling in a TC .222 Rem, S&W 1500 .222 Rem, and 25-06 SS Shilen barrel on a Remington 700 were all shot out at about the same time. Certainly did shoot a lot of prairie dogs. Must have been doing something correctly.

__________________
S&WHF 366

Yep, and the ammo seems to be of no use to you. I would probably do the same, put it away somewhere. This is a much overlooked factor in reloading, I like to reload so I do, but there are many others that don't care for reloading and has nothing to do with time or money, they just don't like reloading. No big deal and no one needs to justify their reasoning...

I never understood how my reloads that I trust and are safe will somehow turn into grenades if someone else shoots them. I don’t transfer my reloads to others . Just something I always wondered.

There was a gentleman named Philip B. Sharpe who wrote "COMPLETE GUIDE TO HANDLOADING". The first edition was dated 1937, my edition is a Third Edition, Second Revision dated 1953. It came to me via my Father. In the SUPPLEMENT section on Page 226 is Chapter XIII and it is short (I guess for those who don't really care) only 2 pages. It is titled "AND THE ANGELS SING....". It is about things that can and do go wrong in handloading. Murphy has laws, and the first one I was ever taught is "If it can go wrong, it will go wrong". Just trying to say is be careful in what you are doing. And yes, I do refer to this book from time to time.

__________________
USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

AJ- I have the 1949 edition. Some intersection reading therein. I am right now in the process for dismantling 10 boxes of my OWN reloads. While known to me to be safe in the gun I used them in I would never pass them on to anyone else. Who known what condition their gun might be in or the quality of such. I sold my 38 SUPER and these have been sitting on the shelf since '01 -- Due to my handy Hornady Cam Lock puller, I am able to save the powder, which will get me 20 boxes or so of 38 S&W and the bullets. Leaving only the CCI primed brass, which I will offer to my local reloading shop for use as I am not about to deprime live primers and wouldnt trust them if I could. I will next week receive several boxes of reloads than came with my new Victory-- While I am sure they would be fine, I gave my word not to fire them, and THAT was the condition in which they were sent. Why take the chance to save a buck or two -- yes you may color me a---l

This is EXACTLY what I would do.

308S

Perhaps your reloads are safe, but if someone doesn't know you, perhaps you could be dyslexic and transpose a load now and then? Maybe you had a headache one day and skipped checking powder levels in a few handloads. Maybe you are (no personal attack!) a sloppy reloader and few of your reloads are the exact same. I don't know that, don't know your reloading habits or methods, so I won't shoot any of your reloads. Simple and not a reflection on you personally...

I'm in the "I don't shoot anyone else's reloads camp" All my friends that reload drink!