Lee Loader

I once bought 1,500 rounds of M1 Ball ammo (30-06) still in the crate and tin can, EW 43 head stamp. Shot a few in a bolt gun. Pulled the bullets and decapped the rest because they were corosive primers. Did the nesasary primer pocket prep, sized the casses, primed them with modern primers. Reloded them with the powder and bullets I had removed from them. It's been about 8 years ago but I think I only had a couple primers go off when I was decapping them. It's like touching off a piece of history to shoot those rounds through the M1. I try to ration that batch of ammo out to myself.

I also have pushed good primers out of ruined cases, seated them in another case, all of them have worked. Probably reused about a hundred of them.

The craziest thing I have been doing as of late is pulling the bullet and powder out of Wolf 7.62x39 cartridges and reloading them with the powder and cast bullet of my choice. They are steel cases but the only die used is the bullet seating die with no case to die contact. Works well. I was given 1K cartridges but was not interested in shooting them and thought I might as well see if I can make them into something I did want to shoot. The primers are non-corrosive.

Ranch Dog wrote:The craziest thing I have been doing as of late is pulling the bullet and powder out of Wolf 7.62x39 cartridges and reloading them with the powder and cast bullet of my choice. They are steel cases but the only die used is the bullet seating die with no case to die contact. Works well. I was given 1K cartridges but was not interested in shooting them and thought I might as well see if I can make them into something I did want to shoot. The primers are non-corrosive.

That is an excelent idea for wolf ammo Ranch Dog. Thanks for planting that idea in my mind, it will probably be the only way I would use wolf ammo.

I've done it now and then over the last 36 years and have never set one off, even with crimped military primers.

You do want to wear safety glasses however.

With non crimped primers, if I notice a defective load with a cracked case mouth, I'll pull the bullet, then de-prime it, dropping the primer into an empty primer catcher, then re-use it in ammo intended for range use. I've never had one fail to go "bang", but I still won't use them in a hunting or competition load.