Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Swapping bullets in factory loaded ammo

No, but a factory loaded round is loaded with a known powder to the maker. One round over a chronograph after swapping bullets will tell you what you need to know

Would I swap bullets in factory loads, no. Not because it can't be done safely, but because it is too much trouble. First you have to pull the bullets, then you have to resize the neck, you have to save the powder and put it back into the case and then seat the bullet. It is simpler to shoot and reload IMHO

Exactly

As always, I'll be contrary to the flow around here....

I've done plenty of this over the years for friends...

I take in the points you folks make, and work around to get a solution...

If a Barnes is going to need less powder to not have an issue, then I just reduce the powder charge when I put the round back together with the new bullet....I have a Barnes manual or two to use as reference.. a shot over a chronograph will help using a guestimate on what powder they are using, from the factory load..compared to what is listed in your reload manuals...

most of the guys I've done it for tho, usually have just wanted Nosler Ballistic Tips or Partitions around here...

I always tell them they are going to get 19 instead of 20 rounds back, as one round is sacrificed to uniform the powder charge in the other 19.

most factory ammo buyers aren't as overly concerned about "accuracy" as a handloader is...and accuracy has different meanings to each person...heck minute of paper plate satisfies most hunters sighting in their rifles at our local range... some of them at only 50 yrd, and some pickier doing a paper plate at 100 yds...if 2 shots out of three hit the paper plate, they assume they are good to go..

I've done some of the TTSX and TSX for friends also... just pay a little closer attention to the powder parameters...

If the neck needs resized, I'll full length size the case... just spin your decapping pin higher in the die, so it won't punch out the primer...

none of this is rocket science... just tell them the Remington or Federal ammo they buy, has the same weight of bullet they want to put on top,
so that shouldn't be an issue.... if the store doesn't have it, then buy a box of ammo with a heavier bullet on it... say if they are loading a 165 grain bullet on it, then buy a box with 180 grain bullet on it... . first one you disassemble, weigh that charge and that is your bench mark...that is your sacrificial bullet.... sync the other 19 bullets to the same charge...

I'm sure folks will come up with a million objections, trying to disprove and claim this is unsafe... but hell reloading is unsafe period.. you're dealing with explosives.... but on the other end, use your head... you have to use it when you are loading a fresh new piece of brass, so what is different here?

I'd bet I've done this on at least 250 boxes of ammo plus....with no one experiencing any issues...

I've done the same when I've been given someone elses reloads... I disassemble, lower and uniform the charge, resize the brass to get the neck back in shape and then test chamber a blank cartridge in my rifle intended to shoot them....and there is your standardization...

if the guy wanting it done, wants to put a different powder charge, then pick up the powder and I'll do that for him...

a reloading bench is no different than having a drivers license... first of all its dangerous out there... more so if you don't use your head..
if you do use your head it makes it more safer.. driving or reloading...

The only real mishaps at the reload bench are when people don't think or get distracted....

and then there are plenty of folks that just shouldn't be reloading.... or having a drivers license for that matter...

The question isn’t as stupid as the answers and the question shouldn’t even be asked.

I do it often enough. Last project was replacing 220 soft point grain bullets from my 30/06 and replacing them with Hornady 220 grain round nose full metal jacket. I wanted to have a box of "factory" 220 grain fmj just in case. The ammo companies stopped producing this load 50 plus years ago. I enjoy hunting with old style bullets of the past. I want fresh ammo though, so I find old factory loaded ammo with the bullet I want to try on game and load it in fresh factory ammo. I have a process I use that works. I inertia pull all the old bullets first. Then I take a round of new ammo, pull the bullet, remove the powder, then take the decapping pin from my full length sizing die. I lube and resize the case, wipe the lube, deburr, then pour the powder back into the case and seat the bullet. Nice tight new ammo with an old style bullet.

The only “factory ammo” I use is manufactured in my own little factory (my reloading room). I would not do what you are asking. Can it be done? Sure! But why? Too much trouble for so little gained.

The biggest issue would be going from C&C bullets to the Mono. Were it just swapping out a 150gr soft point bullet for a 150gr Accubond then I'd say sure. Id try that and see how it worked.
But I 100% agree that the Fusions are an excellent bullet and seem to shoot pretty accurate in most rifles. Deer are not hard to kill and most bullets designed for use on them will get the job done. But I also love the Barnes bullets because I've experienced how well they work on Deer and hogs.

What an odd way to spend your time.

Maybe some of us enjoy spending time at the reload bench... especially come winter time...

Hit and Run's post was kinda condescending to say the least....
If someone doesn't want to do something, or doesn't know how, why slander in general those that do,
or even respond to a post someone asks a question...

I say that in general, as too many of us are guilty of that.... me included if I do a little soul searching once in a while..

And yes the answers continue to be more ridiculous than the question.

Sure thing, many an hour spent at a reloading bench like a kid with a chemistry set. To do what was asked would require a bullet puller of some sort, emptying the powder into some vial or container so the case could be resized, then the powder put back in the case with no loss of powder to maintain the integrity of every round that was reloaded and then reassembled with the hope that the ammunition will function better than what it was to start with.

There are Phillips head screws on the cabinets of personal computers, but that doesn’t mean you should open it up and try to work on the computer. Some things were meant to be left alone.

This is how I look at it. I also like to swap bullets that are a bit lighter than what came in the factory load. This said years ago I decided to swap out the 150 gr FMJBT from some Steel cased Norico 7.62x51 with a Sierra Gameking. It locked the bolt on my Mauser. Turns out the Chinese bullet was ..304 diameter(probably why it shot so poorly) and it's bearing surface was much shorter than the Sierra Gameking. So put some thought into it before you do it and you will be okay. One of the best loads I put together doing this was by replacing the 190 grain bullet from some 8MM ammo with a 185 grain Remington Corelokts. I did pour the powder out on these and work up to the factory charge first before I just started switching bullets.

Not sure that you really need to do this at all. The TTSX might make sense for shooting elk or hogs but pretty much every 130-grain bullet ever developed for the 270 Winchester was developed specifically for hunting white-tailed deer. You could end up moving backwards.


Okie John

LOL.

A PC with a cabinet is one of the most modular and upgradeable things there is in this modern world. It's designed to have components swapped. Kids build PCs from components the way ARFcommers build rifles.

At least we know where you're coming from.



Thanks for your thoughtful and considered post. I found this thread by searching, thinking about replacing one 139gr Hornady cup and core bullet with another 139gr Hornady cup and core bullet that has a 24 percent better BC. They are listed with identical load data in the Hornady manual. Seems pretty feasible.

I concur with the "don't do it" advice, you have no idea what pressure could be with the swapped bullet. Outcome could be disastrous.

The question is not ridiculous, and I'm not referring to the rhetorical rejoinder, "there's no such thing as a dumb question." It'd be an awesome world if 'people' (and I'm being generous with that word, both as identifier of genus and species, but also in assigning the idea of the social animal) would approach the curiosity of another with a forthright and honest intent to address it.

Sure, it's really comfortable to presume you are a level 7 bad boy in your own little world, and it might even be true that making others feel stupid because they asked a question, takes you to a level 8 bad boy on your little game board, but the whole act says more about you, than your current level of 'awesomeness' will ever be able to convey through the mirror, once your gameboard falls apart.

Thank God for people like Seafire and the others on this thread that actually bothered to state 'how you could', or, 'why you shouldn't', or, 'watch out for this'. They are precisely the kind of human beings that forward the idea that curiosity is the kernel of discovery. This idea applies just as much to the very first person that looked up and asked if we could go to the moon.

This, the fusion ammo / bullet is perfect for deer and from my experience very accurate.
No way I would pull factory ammo and seat another bullet.
Way too many variables.