Thread: bullet help please

Hi guys ive been given 168 rounds of 30-06 they are hollow point and I'm assuming they are military surplus? I've been told I need to replace the primers as they will be corrosive. what primers will I need to purchase ? i also need to buy some lee dies for the bloke whos going to be reloading them for me, cheers all

Just shoot it. It won't melt your barrel but clean it after you use it. Changing out primers will be a cluster

Changing primers means you basically got given brass. Dont worry about it. Make sure you clean it after using the ammo as kiwijames stated above. I thought Mil Surp would be FMJ so not sure about the hollow points. Looks to be a decent hole. Could be quite a hitter....

Greetings Blisters,
Looks like Military M2 rounds that have been drilled by someone. That it is a pretty big drill hole and there is a danger that the jacket could be left in the barrel if you fire them. The lead core will be exposed at the base, not like a earlier hollow point. The best option would be to pull the projectiles and dump the powder. The powder may or may not be something similar to the original Hodgdon surplus 4895. Have a good look inside the cases for any corrosion, common if the cartridges have been stored in too hot conditions. If all is well you can fire the primers in your .30-06 But remember to pour a jug full of boiling water through the barrel immediately afterwards. The primers are corrosive and normal cleaning will not remove the salt from the barrel. Rust will follow. The cases were made in the Des Moines Ordinance plant in 1942. There may be more info on the other side of the packet. The primer pockets will need to be reamed before re priming with standard large rifle primers. Annealing the case necks before reloading would be wise. I have used WW2 surplus .30-06 and Canadian .303 cases in the past with good results.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings Blisters,
Looks like Military M2 rounds that have been drilled by someone. That it is a pretty big drill hole and there is a danger that the jacket could be left in the barrel if you fire them. The lead core will be exposed at the base, not like a earlier hollow point. The best option would be to pull the projectiles and dump the powder. The powder may or may not be something similar to the original Hodgdon surplus 4895. Have a good look inside the cases for any corrosion, common if the cartridges have been stored in too hot conditions. If all is well you can fire the primers in your .30-06 But remember to pour a jug full of boiling water through the barrel immediately afterwards. The primers are corrosive and normal cleaning will not remove the salt from the barrel. Rust will follow. The cases were made in the Des Moines Ordinance plant in 1942. There may be more info on the other side of the packet. The primer pockets will need to be reamed before re priming with standard large rifle primers. Annealing the case necks before reloading would be wise. I have used WW2 surplus .30-06 and Canadian .303 cases in the past with good results.
Regards Grandpamac.

thankyou very much for the info I really appreciate it!

They may be a few click bangs in that lot. About 1 in 50 of the 42 cac 303 I've chewed through did that, it lets you see if you are flinching.
Yes the primers will be corrosive us military ammunition except 30 m1 carbine used corrosive priming up till about 1954, so a barrel rinse with hot water is a good idea.
Unlike the poms the yanks didn't use fulminate priming so the brass will be good to reload.
I don't think the hollow pointing is so extreme as to jacket strip but pull a few to see, the crimp cannelure helps hold the jacket to the core and the jacket base will be rolled over the lead cored slightly which also helps.
Pulling a few will also let you check the powder and case interior.

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

They may be a few click bangs in that lot. About 1 in 50 of the 42 cac 303 I've chewed through did that, it lets you see if you are flinching.
Yes the primers will be corrosive us military ammunition except 30 m1 carbine used corrosive priming up till about 1954, so a barrel rinse with hot water is a good idea.
Unlike the poms the yanks didn't use fulminate priming so the brass will be good to reload.
I don't think the hollow pointing is so extreme as to jacket strip but pull a few to see, the crimp cannelure helps hold the jacket to the core and the jacket base will be rolled over the lead cored slightly which also helps.
Pulling a few will also let you check the powder and case interior.

You’re right re jacket stripping, I read an article (probably Guns & Ammo) where they attempted to replicate jacket stripping, they cut the full metal jacket projectiles shorter and shorter until they cut one off flush with the top of the cartridge neck, when fired all projectiles left the barrel complete with jacket.

In the end they had to push a projectile up the barrel and use a gas torch to heat the barrel and melt the lead out of the jacket.

And when they fired another round the projectile just swaged the empty jacket into the rifling.

I'd do what James says and just shoot them. Get used to the recoil then deal with the primers and any dud primers later.

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

I'd do what James says and just shoot them. Get used to the recoil then deal with the primers and any dud primers later.

yeah I'm going to blast these down the range at akarana long range club out near orere point then build up hand loads for hunting

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

They may be a few click bangs in that lot. About 1 in 50 of the 42 cac 303 I've chewed through did that.

sooooo....only 0.8 of a bullet?
True though. had a couple of misfire on the military stuff myself with out shooting many at all-I'd say 2 in 20 of the 15 I fired lol.
One was definitely CAC too

@Blisters 50 years ago milsurp 30-06 was my main source of ammo for my 308W. At the time 308W was a prohibited import and only CAC factory was available. The govt of the day protected the local industry (CAC) by not allowing imported 308W. Once CAC folded imports began.

At the time you could buy milsurp 30-06 for 2 cents a round. I had a vast quantity of it, mainly TW, DEN, and FA head stamps. I used to pull the projectiles, recover the powder (IMR4895), punch out the existing primers (about 1 in 20 went bang). The primer pockets needed the crimp removed for which I made a fluted parallel cutter. I believe you can remove the crimp with a deburring tool. The cases were shortened and FLSized for 308W. The necks ended up being a tad thick but it didn’t cause me any problems in my old Sako.

As an aside I remember having a session stripping the ammo and tipping the powder out of a case into my container of already pulled and noticing a totally different powder to the 4895. On inspection I found I had just pulled an orphan tracer round which used ball powder not 4895. I used a pretty aggressive inertia system to pull the projectiles. Maybe young and silly, who knows.

The projectiles were then hollow pointed, same as in your photo, using a wee jig I made. I then reloaded up to 308W specs and used them to cull goats. The projectiles were very effective once hollow pointed. IIRC they were boat tail 150gr but could be wrong about the boat tail.

Many years later I trashed the remaing powder after it went off.

The issue of lead core stripping was seemingly a 303B issue, but also may have been largely an urban myth, don’t know. The 303B FMJ had a much more exposed base/lead core to the 30-06. The stories at the time were the cullers used to file the tips off or cut them back with pliers to increase their effectiveness.

I wouldn’t even bother to fire them. There is a risk of a squib load and maybe a projectile part way down the barrel. The brass should be OK once the primer crimp is removed and neck annealed. Also depends upon the condition inside them. Is it worth the bother? Just buy some new brass.
Pity they have been hollow pointed otherwise they would have collector value particularly if you have any intact boxes.

Originally Posted by zimmer

@Blisters 50 years ago milsurp 30-06 was my main source of ammo for my 308W. At the time 308W was a prohibited import and only CAC factory was available. The govt of the day protected the local industry (CAC) by not allowing imported 308W. Once CAC folded imports began.

At the time you could buy milsurp 30-06 for 2 cents a round. I had a vast quantity of it, mainly TW, DEN, and FA head stamps. I used to pull the projectiles, recover the powder (IMR4895), punch out the existing primers (about 1 in 20 went bang). The primer pockets needed the crimp removed for which I made a fluted parallel cutter. I believe you can remove the crimp with a deburring tool. The cases were shortened and FLSized for 308W. The necks ended up being a tad thick but it didn’t cause me any problems in my old Sako.

As an aside I remember having a session stripping the ammo and tipping the powder out of a case into my container of already pulled and noticing a totally different powder to the 4895. On inspection I found I had just pulled an orphan tracer round which used ball powder not 4895. I used a pretty aggressive inertia system to pull the projectiles. Maybe young and silly, who knows.

The projectiles were then hollow pointed, same as in your photo, using a wee jig I made. I then reloaded up to 308W specs and used them to cull goats. The projectiles were very effective once hollow pointed. IIRC they were boat tail 150gr but could be wrong about the boat tail.

Many years later I trassed the remaing powder after it went off.

The issue of lead core stripping was seemingly a 303B issue, but also may have been largely an urban myth, don’t know. The 303B FMJ had a much more exposed base/lead core to the 30-06. The stories at the time were the cullers used to file the tips off or cut them back with pliers to increase their effectiveness.

I wouldn’t even bother to fire them. There is a risk of a squib load and maybe a projectile part way down the barrel. The brass should be OK once the primer crimp is removed and neck annealed. Also depends upon the condition inside them. Is it worth the bother? Just buy some new brass.
Pity they have been hollow pointed otherwise they would have collector value particularly if you have any intact boxes.

legend cheers for the info, I just threw out 10 boxes.......

I recall being told the issue was the .303 rounds where you found red plastic inside tip....some had alloy some cardboard...if you trimmed too far they could seperate and leave core behind.....like finwolf...not sure if its a real thing or a one in couple of thousand occurance...maybe in worn bore or very nickled up barrel.....I would shoot them off at range being cautious of any that didnt sound/ feel right....
and yes a quick twirl of the inside case mouth deburring tool qill remove crimp from primer pockets and allow the new primer to seat with ease...I presume these arent berdan primed...

Originally Posted by Blisters

yeah I'm going to blast these down the range at akarana long range club out near orere point then build up hand loads for hunting

That'll be good practice.

How much is it to join? I want to get into long range shooting