Thread: Reloading military ammo

I have an opportunity to purchase some cheap Milspec 55grn 5.56 the problem is 55grn doesn't shoot well in my rifle.
How feasible is it to pull the bullet and load in something heavier?

Pretty straight forward, you will need a different charge weight of powder.
It would have to be a sharp price as you are essentially only gaining a primer. potentially the powder if you can re jig the charge using existing propellant, and maybe off set the cost of projectiles ( but need someone that wants 55 grain FMJ)

Interesting your rifle doesn't like 55 grn. More than abit weird to be honest. In theory any .223 should. How bad is it?? Have you tried other brands,speeds,seating depth??? Is rifle happy with different weight?? If so what's the single biggest difference, speed,seating depth or is is purely weight related....eg projectiles over stabilised...bit of an oxymoron that one if talking fmj.

How is it primed? If it's berdan primed it's likely not worth the effort as the cases are scrap metal after the first firing. Most 5.56 wasn't from what I've seen of it and is reloadable with standard small rifle primers but I have seen Berdan 5.56 cases. I think you'd want to be getting it near free cheap anyway, as by the time you press the pill in a few thou to break any sealant then either whack it out using an inertia puller or set the press up again and clamp the pill and pull it using a collet setup in the press that is a lot more time to invest.

My mate use to do it all the time for his BRNO 223, pulled 55 FMJ's and reseated 55gn in the exact same case on the downward stroke. Seemed to work judging by the groupings he was getting and the animals he shot.

As MD has alluded to, most 223's will shoot 55's ok, sometimes they prefer flat base, and sometimes they prefer boat tail, just gotta play with a few to find out. Or the 52gn HP.

I've done quite a bit of it, pull and replace the projectile . I had 500 rounds of Lapua FMJ, it was "happy" to have the 55 pulled and replaced with 62s but it was done with the benefit of knowing it was reasonable by working up from a 15% reduction just in case it was 5.56.

Thanks to everyone posting in this thread.
What I know about reloading wouldn't fill a postage stamp
The ammo is M193. By the sounds of it I don't think it's going to be as straight forward as I thought to simply pull the old bullet and load a new one.

Whats the rifle?

Have done a bit over the years, I can't stress enough about reweighing the powder and casting an eye over the case. I always keep an eye out for FMJ ammo at good prices, then I re-purpose them. I have had nothing but good results, most of the time I don't bother picking up the brass.

Ive done it but swapping 55fmj for 55 vmax

Looking at the adi data for bm2, 2206h and 2208 all popular powders in the 223 if the charge isn't reduced you'll be somewhere between 5 and 11 percent over maximum just swapping the projectile. Add to that the projectile is 20% heavier and has a larger bearing surface and I'd approach with caution. I realize the powder is unlikely to be one of those 3 but the principle of reducing charge with increasing weight still applies.

Originally Posted by Jhon

Whats the rifle?

UTAS straight pull.

I pulled some 7.62x51 147gr fmj projectiles this morning and swapped them with 125gr seirra sp
After neck sizing. Just fired 6 and surprisingly all 6 are within 1" . Good way to use some ammo up thats no good for my purposes.
Definitely wouldn't go heavier than the original projectile though, not worth loosing your face to save a few bucks.

I have changed heaps of 55g Belmont ammo to 60g Vmax. I use them in my Tikka Ruger American and Strightpull. I have also done it with Bvac ammo. No over pressure signs with the primer and no sticky bolt.
Maximum Load data on the Hornady app is within 27.5 for the 55 and 27.7 for the 60 CFE .