Reloading Your Own Defensive Ammo

[Kdubya]

Yeah. I'd load for a while, read, learn... sort through any bad advice/dogma... load more... learn... and then maybe you'll get to where you want to load defensive ammo. I'd be fine buying defensive ammo too. But I have the tools and experience to do it a little cheaper than buying.

Thanks for the sound advice! I plan to start slow. Read a reloading manual a couple times. Single stage press. Low volume. Given the current events and political climate, I probably need to start sooner rather than later. I'm looking forward to reloading. I like to tinker with and clean my firearms. So, hand-loading will be an extension of an already fun hobby. I'll be sure to frequent the reloading forum, study up, and ask some questions.

[w3453l]

Sorry to bring the thread back up to the top, but I have a relevant question.

Does anyone use any pulled bullets as components? I see some dealers selling pulled projectiles, but I'm not sure that these are something worthy of using for serious use?

I'm just going to start reloading as I've mentioned before, so I may be wrong with what I'm about to say. Would it sound reasonable that pulled projectiles can get some kind of a deformity during the pulling process?

The dealer I'm looking at claims that they are pulled surplus rounds and not factory seconds.

If it's not wise to use these for defensive ammo, what exactly is the lure to them? If using for training then doesn't it make sense to just buy new Hornady 55 gr FMJ, or other cheaper alternatives? The pulled pullets in question go from anywhere from $0.08 to about $0.10 per bullet, so price ends up about the same as the Hornady's.

[jbdesigns]

Reloading by itself results in significantly cheaper round cost compared to defensive rounds. It isn't that much to buy high quality bullet for self defense and still be way cheaper than factory defense round. I wouldn't use pulled. Someone pulled them for a reason


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[ww2farmer]

I load my own carry/defensive ammo.

in 9mm I like the Hornady 115 grain XTP's over 4.7 grains of bullseye seated to 1.075............this is a warm load..........work up. If I am out of bullseye my "backup" powder for pistol loading is 800x. Same bullet, same seating depth, over 6.5 grains. I switch to magnum primers with the 800x as it has a slower burn rate and large flakes. 800x works fine with standard primers, but better with magnum.........again this is a warm load, (esp w/the mag. primers) so work up.

For 45acp, I do NOT get fancy with bullet choice. 230 grain round nose plated ball type round are all I load. Over 5 grains of bullseye seated to 1.250, or over 7 grains of 800x seated to 1.250, and with a magnum primer.

223 get a 55 grain Hornady soft point, seated to the cannalure, over 25 grains of BL-C(2) or 23 grains of IMR 4895. I use the same loads, but with a FMJ bullet for plinking, and the soft point for home defense, and critter control.

I only load 150 grain FMJ bullets in 308 or 30-06......usually the Hornady, as I get them cheap in bulk at the LGS. Seated to the cannalure in both, over 42 grains of IMR4895 in 308, and 46.5 grains of IMR4895 in 30-06..

I subscribe to the K.I.S.S. method for reloading, as I don't shoot matches, nor do I like to set behind a bench making holes in paper seeing how small I can get the group sizes. My guns are working guns, and I load working, reliable ammo.

[markm]

I subscribe to the K.I.S.S. method for reloading

There's certainly value in that approach. I was that way for may years. But I now enjoy the challenge of discovering that optimal load.

[williejc]

I have but no longer reload personal defense ammo but have a suggestion for he who does. In the distant past I reloaded a very few 1000 round batches of handgun ammo for a brother and a best friend. I used a technique that would work well in producing reliable defensive ammo. If I were loading a 1000 batch for Tom or Dick, then I cranked out 1200 rounds, and he and I fired 200 of these in his gun and in my several different ones of the same caliber. If the sample was ok, then I presented him with a batch considered tested, tried, and true. It goes without saying that I had stringent controls in place. In each case I used once fired brass, and if a primer pocket was too tight or too loose, the case was discarded. Any other defect real or imagined resulted in disposal.

So, if I were loading defense ammo, I'd load a big batch, shoot many, and set aside the rest as good stuff if the test sample was ok. In the above example, I used a single stage Lyman Spartan press that I bought new for $12.00. I cast the bullets and processed these one a time. By now it's apparent to all that each round required many single steps, but the result was excellent ammo.

[Pappabear]

Sorry to bring the thread back up to the top, but I have a relevant question.

Does anyone use any pulled bullets as components? I see some dealers selling pulled projectiles, but I'm not sure that these are something worthy of using for serious use?

I'm just going to start reloading as I've mentioned before, so I may be wrong with what I'm about to say. Would it sound reasonable that pulled projectiles can get some kind of a deformity during the pulling process?

The dealer I'm looking at claims that they are pulled surplus rounds and not factory seconds.

If it's not wise to use these for defensive ammo, what exactly is the lure to them? If using for training then doesn't it make sense to just buy new Hornady 55 gr FMJ, or other cheaper alternatives? The pulled pullets in question go from anywhere from $0.08 to about $0.10 per bullet, so price ends up about the same as the Hornady's.

We have shot a lot of pulled 175's.

[markm]

Does anyone use any pulled bullets as components? I see some dealers selling pulled projectiles, but I'm not sure that these are something worthy of using for serious use?

Depends on the method used to pull the bullets. Like Pappabear said, our 175 gr SMKs shoot like new bullets. But I've seen bullets with nasty dings from mechanical pulls. Serious use? Buy new bullets.