DILEMA SOLVED - old 1974 "dealer reloads" - what to do with them?

[cmansguns]

First let me say I am NOT a reloader, just never found the time or money and now retired can find the time...but just not the desire to get into it properly, and my opinion is that a half-baked entry into reloading could spell disaster for me and/or my firearms.

With the above said I'll also state that I have never shot anybody's reloads in my guns. I always use factory ammo and have had years of fun so not changing now.

I've got literally thousands of rounds stashed that will last me years so I'm not worried over the shortage either.

Anyway.......to the questions, geared towards those of you that DO reload, and I am sure you do it very religiously because your safety depends on it.

1. With a Model 14 purchase years ago the sale came from a non-gun person trying to dispose of his dad's stuff. Along with the gun came 2 boxes of Remington ammo. One box was 95 grain, Semi-jacketed, hollow point. This box was given to another ammo collector on this forum years ago simply because of the labelling on the other box...I didn't trust it to be as the factory box said.

The box I still have has a "reloaders sticker" stuck on one of the end flaps and it says: "5.1 grains Bullseye, CCI SP primer, 1400 fps". The factory box end flap reads 158 gr LRN.

So my basic question 1 is does this claimed velocity match up to anything you guys see or have ever loaded for? ALL of my stash of factory ammo in 38 (Remington UMC, American Eagle, Fiocchi, Winchester, Magtech, PMC Bronze, etc.) is at 800, 810 and these are mostly 130, 132 gr. FMJ, or 158 gr. FMC-F at 755 fps.

Question 2; What to do with this stuff? I don't want to just dump questionable loaded rounds on anyone. i.e. if I won't shoot it....I don't think anyone else should either, which leads to question 3: Is it even safe in your expert opinion to shoot at the listed charge (don't know how the reloader came up with 1400 fps).

I hate to invest in a bullet puller just to dump the powder and dump the empty brass in the range bucket my next trip but is that's the only safe way....I'll probably go that way.

Sorry for the long epistle but this box of 50, dated 1974, sits in my stash of 38 and I really don't want sons or daughters grabbing it by mistake some day, so I'm going to dispose of it some way.

P.S. If there had been 1 round missing from the box I would have surmised maybe the guy (or gal) blew up their 38 revolver, and that is why the Model 14 was unfired and pristine but alas all 5o look alike.

Thanks in advance from you expert reloaders to a non-reloader.
Any of you in or around central Virginia can have this box for free if you want to come get it. The box of 95 grain that I sent to another collector cost $10.98 for UPS but that was when I worked at a company that had twice daily UPS pickups and I could just reimburse the company.

 

[Nevada Ed]

The box I still have has a "reloaders sticker" stuck on one of the end flaps and it says: "5.1 grains Bullseye, CCI SP primer, 1400 fps". The factory box end flap reads 158 gr LRN.


that bullet with 5.1grs of Bullseye powder is data for a .........
.357 Magnum weapon.

Have fun.

 

[mikerjf]

I'm not an expert but I've done a lot of 38 Special Bullseye/158g LSWC, usually around 2.8 grains. 5.1 sounds like a lot more.

If you're not trying to save components, maybe you could just use a visegrips or pliers to pull the bullet out of the case?

 

[ralph7]

That amount of Bullseye in a .38 special case with a 158 grain jacketed bullet is about 900fps.
I wouldn't trust anything about those reloads.

 

[Rule3]

Where is the picture of the "reload label"


Just because someone used an original box, they are still "reloads" I have used factory boxes for reloads.


A reload is a reload. If that data is correct, it is a pretty stout load. No way would I uses a 38 +P load someone else loaded with BULLSEYE Very fast powder in a large case. You would have to pull several and weigh the powder. Then it is still a gamble.



Do you feel lucky? Well do ya"

Alliant data for a 38+P 158 gr LSWC bullet max is 3.9 grains!

Alliant Powder - Reloader's Guide

 

[mtgianni]

Knowing they are probably junk a friend from the range should be able to run them up in a press, grab the bullet with vicegrips and lower the ram, which would pull the bullet. The time might be worth the brass but probably not.

 

[Gunhacker]

I was given a sporterized P17 Enfield chambered in .30 Gibbs with 3 boxes of very old handloads. I did not trust that ammo any farther than I could throw them, so I took the ammo to my local PD and they accepted it for disposal.

Most PD's will do that as a public service for unwanted guns and ammo.

 

[Drm50]

Well so far we have a tie. We have a major problem with the disposition of empty powder containers. Now with a box of 50 questionable reloads. I think the guy that couldn’t make up his mind about junking or selling his spent primers is still the winner.,

 

[Bastogne71]

The only safe load with 5.1 grains of Bullseye in a 38 special I can find in a half dozen manuals is in the Lyman #49 with a 90 grain cast bullet at 1168 fps. All the rest of the data I can find says 5.1 grains is either an overload or a dangerous overload. There is no way that I would use these or want to be close to anyone who was going to try them.

Hopefully there is a forum member around Richmond that will help out and break this ammunition down for you. Or you might ask the Hanover sheriff’s department if they could safely dispose of them.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Being a 38 case in a 38 special box..........

but with a 357 load.......

I would pull the bullets or at least destroy those handloads, so they don't find their way into a 38 special weapon, for everyone's safety !!

Saving the case and primers is an option.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

A reckless person might dispose of the questioned ammo by firing them in a .357 Mag, preferably a Ruger Blackhawk. A careful person would pull the bullets.

 

[glenwolde]

Bury them, chuck them in the lake, or turn them into the police department.

 

[otisrush]

I'd not shoot them based solely on the fact they're someone else's reloads. I inherited a pistol last year and it came with reloads that a friend of my relative had given to him. I pulled the bullets and tossed the powder.

I know you don't want to pull them. Makes sense. Police department is a good idea. Your local recycling center might take ammo as part of their hazardous waste program.

 

[rockquarry]

Give them to a handloader / bullet caster if you know one. With that small amount of ammo, he could pull the bullets with a kinetic puller and put the bullets in a lead scrap pile for use in making cast bullets. If the brass looked okay and wasn't mixed, he could knock out the primers and use the brass. Everything can be reused, but I'd probably pass on the powder and primers.

 

[moosedog]

Give them to me. I'll give them to my brother in law and tell him their for his Airweight.

 

[DWalt]

Depending on the quantity involved, I would simply use my inertia puller to disassemble the cartridges, salvaging the primed cases and bullets. Then reload them with a known propellant charge. If for some reason I couldn't do that, I'd just throw them in the garbage and let them get landfilled.

I recently came into 100 rounds of reloaded .45 Colt cartridges, labeled as to the bullet and charge weights, very well done and probably using new cases, as they looked new. I took two rounds, weighed them (digital scale) pulled the bullets and weighed the powder and bullets. Dead on as to what the label said. No way to determine what the powder was, but the propellant charge would have been safe for even a very fast powder, like Bullseye, etc. (in fact I think the label said that the powder was Bullseye). I then weighed every round, and every one was the same weight within a couple of grains, quick to do with a digital scale, took maybe 10 minutes. When I fired them, no mishaps.

No way I would have thrown away perfectly good primed cases and bullets.

If I didn't have an inertia puller or digital scale, I would have probably just put them in a box for possible future disassembly, along with a note saying not to shoot them.

 

[mikerjf]

Our local sheriff won’t take ammo any more. Used to... No mo.

 

[cmansguns]

update on "hot" reload disposal

Well.....................duh..........dumbo me! As Rule3 posted above (#5) "where is the pic of the sticker?"

I spent so much time composing the backstory...I didn't even include the right pics!

OK......so below please see 3 pics of the questionable reloads, or more better term would be "home-brewed" loads, because the box containing them is actually a Remington components box of empty cases, that I assume were then home loaded to the data on the sticker (i.e. the 1400 fps). Please note these are brass cases.

The other 2 photos are of a box of what appear to be Nickle or steel case 158 gr, LRN factory ammo so now I remember why I sequestered all 3 boxes that came with the gun from a guy who was not ever into guns, just wanted to get rid of dad's stuff found in an attic. Again the long tom Model 14 was mint and unfired but no one had a clue where or when this ammo came to be in the same old paper shopping bag as the gun, wooden presnetation case, docs, a Buckheimer holster that never had a gun inserted, and these 3 boxes of ammo. Anyway, the 95 grain stuff was shipped of to a vintage ammo collector on this forum some years ago. Because of the reload sticker seeming way out of line for a 38 Special, I just sequestered both boxes away from my normal ammo stash.

I did get a PM from a Member last night wanting me to ship to him, however the only UPS Terminal hub is not even close to me, so I'm probably going to either pull-em and junk the stuff, or try the local Sherriff to see if they will junk em.

The factory ammo just appears vintage, not reloaded..so old but should work...just to be sure maybe I'll run it through my Model 28-2, or 27-2, or Model 66....what do you all think?

By the way.........thank you to all for the many replies..I really had no clue about hand loads and reloading and even though I hate to see any box of 50 go to waste...it looks like the better solution for safety.

 

[Rule3]

Just save them (especially the box) and put them in your gun room or whatever. It's only what? 1 or 2 box of bullets??
You belong to a range, give them to someone?

 

[mikld]

If I were a non reloader, I would find a friend that does reload and ask him to disassemble the reloads and dispose of the components or return them to you for future use. Or I would just put them in a box and store them near your shooting stuff to give to a friend or in case you try reloading, you will have at least some brass. (I have a box labeled "Deal with later" where I put my questionable handloads or mistakes. When I have nothing else to do I'll deal with the cartridge/components in the box, most often just pulling bullets and saving or disposing of components).

I have been reloading for a very long time with very, very few mistakes along the way and fortunately zero dangerous mistakes. The most common mistake is a "typo" when filling out my "load labels". Ninety nine percent of my errors are caught at time of happening, and all are normally caught before boxing up my reloads. Personally I won't shoot other's reloads, not that I don't trust my reloading friends, but just a quirk of mine and I certainly would not shoot old, unknown, possibly mislabeled reloads...