- Thread starter Brownie38
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I run pulled 175 SMK 's in my REPR, can't tell out to 600 yards shooting steel under field conditions. I get an unexplained flyer once in a while in my bolt gun. I now run only 175's from the big green box for my bolt. J
I run them for practice and, like Silverbullet2, I get the occasional flyer which is probably more my fault than the bullet. I save enough on them though that I'll keep using them however I do toss the ones where the tip is distorted.
I reuse SMKs I pull myself. Despite the collet marks, they still shoot the same. Although they don't seat as concentric.
What kind of pricing have you seen on pulls?
I am looking at the grafs seconds, which by all acounts are 175g SMK's. The price difference between them and the new 175g SMK's is only like $5 per 100 when buying in 500 round quantities.
If I could find some pulls that were say 10 per 100 cheaper I would probably go that route. Im not sure if $5 per 100 is cheap enough to not just buy new.
I am looking at the grafs seconds, which by all acounts are 175g SMK's. The price difference between them and the new 175g SMK's is only like $5 per 100 when buying in 500 round quantities.
If I could find some pulls that were say 10 per 100 cheaper I would probably go that route. Im not sure if $5 per 100 is cheap enough to not just buy new.
I personally have never run pulled or seconds. But know a few guys that so and have no complaints. They don't run them in their comp loads because they don't spend that money for the fee to take that chance. But for weekend practice or plinking they seem to be happy with them.
After their feedback I wouldn't mind running a few batches my self if I came across a good deal.
After their feedback I wouldn't mind running a few batches my self if I came across a good deal.
I picked up 1k or so last year, ummm... I wouldn't buy them again unless I was looking for blasting ammo and they were price accordingly. Most of the bullets I got were no longer round and many have burrs in the bearing surface from the pulling process. Pulls may not all be the same but this has been my experience. I have several 308's and fortunately one of them must have a tighter bore or something as that one rifle doesn’t care and shoots them almost as well as new 175's. I will still get a flier here and there but not like my other 308's. I agree with the poster above that said when he pull with a collet die they are fine, as are mine and would pass for new. But on the mil-surp pulls, care was not taken...
I know you are talking about SMK but, I pulled 50 Blitz Kings the other day. They all looked like these and they shoot like new. Normally on pulled bullets I put them on the backburner but, with NO bullets to be found on shelves I'm using them right away.
I shoot them all the time, but I do run them all through a 308 sizer die. That helps smooth out some of the inconsistencies sometimes, AND it makes sure you do not have an oddball diameter one in there. The other thing I do that seems to help the most is sorting them by ogive. Remember, these bullets are from many many different lots from many different years. The ogive length will tend to vary a good bit because of this.
I measure and then sort them all into groups of .005 or .010 depending how much time I have on my hands… I have seen them vary as much as .085 from high end to low end, so that is a big deal if you are loading anywhere close to the lands. It is really easy to get jammed deep and not even know it.
Once I get those inconsistencies taken care of they shoot very well for me.
I measure and then sort them all into groups of .005 or .010 depending how much time I have on my hands… I have seen them vary as much as .085 from high end to low end, so that is a big deal if you are loading anywhere close to the lands. It is really easy to get jammed deep and not even know it.
Once I get those inconsistencies taken care of they shoot very well for me.
Where are you finding the pulls at? I got 1K for Northeast Reloading in 2012 for about $200 shipped. For that price I would pick up more. Haven't had a chance to load them yet, hell I ain't even opened the box they were shipped in yet.
I bought some last year from a fellow member here. Most of them have pretty deep gouges. They shoot okay, but not as good as bullets without the gouges. (No big surprise.) I've had to pull .30 caliber bullets myself (reloading mistakes) and didn't do nearly as much damage to the bullets. (I used a Hornady collet puller.) Really, considering all the time/effort/money spent shooting, I wouldn't buy them again. That said, the question is: how much damage is there to the bullets you're thinking of buying? If they aren't too bad, then fine. If they have big gouges in them, I'd look elsewhere.
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