I was reading the fatality review elsewhere in this forum thread and got to wondering. As a rule do you shoot someone else's reloads?

Some years ago a driller of mine had a .41 Mag. He got hard up for money and sold it, but the guy wouldn't take the 500 rounds of ammunition that Pablo had loaded. I bought the ammo off of him because I knew him and the loads were written on each box. As a rule though, I won't fire someone else's reloads.

As a rule, I don't reload for anyone, nor do I buy others re-loads.

The rare exception was my shooting buddy and I who had identicle guns, and wanted to chrono the same load in both guns, to compare. Of course his gun was 50 fps faster with my load.

I also often shoot friends guns and loads, and share mine as well.

Asside from that, sharing ammo is like sharing a toothbrush, or a pipe, or, well I won't go there, but anyhow, just a bad idea.

It depends on who the other guy is. If I didn't know a fellow and how he loaded, I wouldn't touch his ammo with a stick. Most of my life I've been the guy loading for my friends and they have shot up a ton of it without blowing anyone up........YET.

Bottom Line - It's not a good practice. It's a CRAZY practice if you don't know the person.

Kensco - Now ask me if I'll drink someone else's beer?

KENSCO,
Since I load my own, I wouldn't care to fire someone elses handloads. Back when I was just getting interested in loading I did. But if I hadn't known him real well, or been as dumb as I was back then, I wouldn't have. This from a guy that is currently loading for three other people.
Have a good day all.

Not generally. If we're at the range, I'll wait until they've fired a few rounds before I'll fire their gun (just in case). I also wear eye protection, and don't hold onto the forearm when firing their handloads in a rifle.

George

No, I just can't see doing that. Got too much $ tied up to ruin it.

kensco. few years ago I purchased a 44 S&W from a fellow it came with 4 boxes of reloads. I asked him why he wanted to sell the 44, he said it kicked to much for him.
i shot 4 rounds of the reloads which made a total of 11 rounds out of the box,
the 4 i shot I nearly had to drive them out of the chamber.the recoil was terrible!
tore down a few of the loads and found they were loaded with 21grs of 2400 240gr bullet. never again!!! wore out a bullet puller on 289 rounds.
Dave

I only shoot my own...

A number of years ago my father bought some reloads at a gun show for his 30-06. He fired several rounds- after each shot, we had a difficult time removing the spent shell. The pressures were far above maximum! He pulled the remaining rounds for safety sake and the reloaded mild for plinking loads. Basically, you cannot trust someone else to load a cartridge for you. After all, it is your life (or at least minor injury to the shooter and a damaged/destroyed rifle) in your hands every time you pull the trigger.

I must be the exception. Not only do I load for others but I also will shoot other reloads providing I know the reloader and have confidence in him. I don't see it much different that shooting factory ammo which most people do regularly. Been doing it for many years and never a problem.

In South Africa it is actually illegal to shoot ammo reloaded by someone else.

I have reloaded ammo for other people though. BUT I only load when that person is present and work on a safe load that I have helped that person to establish.

If someone should approach me with the request to load w gr of powder, with a w gr bullet, in a y brand case for a z make firearm, I will refuse.

I wil not fire ammo reloaded by someone else.

Johan

No. I've made mistakes, and the only guy I want to be mad at when a reload blows up my gun is me.

H. C.

I can`t say I never have, my father and I have shot each others loads in the firearm they were loaded for.
As far as others , NEVER shot theirs or loaded for them. If someone wants, I`ll show them how and let them use my equipment.

No!

In general, no. I seat bullets out to the rifling for my rifle, and it has a long throat. A friend once ran out of ammunition and used a couple of my reloads. When he ejected the last, unfired round, the case pulled out of the chamber and left the bullet behind. His chamber was a little shorter and was best used with factory ammunition ( tighter neck and shorter OAL ).

Tom

Well
It's like using someones else tooth brush or jockeys

You never know what you will get. I value my life much higher than that money I would save on buying other peoples reloads

Simple answer is NO NO NO

/ JOHAN

No! Never!
It raises issues of product liability...According to the law, you are a manufacturer of a product, and therefore warrant it's merchantability. Unless you are going to carry the right insurance you are just playing with fire!
I have seen best friends sue the hell out of one another just because.
When you sell a gun you are a user, and not in the "stream of commerce". If you sell your XYZ Boomer, and the fellow that bought it gets killed because of a defect which you were not aware of, you are not liable.
BUT, let it be because of ammo that you loaded even as a favor, and boy, just kiss the farm bye, bye. I also won't use anothers reloads as I don't trust some of these Yahoo's and I know most of them can't cover my damages in case of a problem caused by their negligence.
No, I learned way to many things in law school to do something that stupid.

Hans

[ 07-12-2002, 21:09: Message edited by: Hans ]

No. But not because I would be afraid to use others' loads. I just don't have any!

Not just no, but hell no!

Nope. Not me. Uh-uh.

Redial

NO and l doubt if anyone can run fast enough to give me their reloads.

NOPE! But I know that some folks do. I've even seen advertising in a local trader paper listing reloaded cartridges FOR SALE!! That guy will have ATF knocking on his door some day. And he probably does not even realize that he is doing something illegal and incredibly STUPID!!

It does not matter how close the friend is, or how much you trust them. It is similar to pulling out on to a busy highway. I still need to look at the oncoming traffic for myself, and don't trust my buddy saying "O.K. this way".

cwilson

I have several friends, one of which posts on this forum quite a bit, whose reloads I would shoot without giving it a second thought. Other than that they will be my own!

There is but one person's loads other than my own that I will shoot; and in his gun only; and that is after he has test-shot them himself.

My buddy and I always work-up loads from the minimum (or very close to it), and chrony them prior to considering them "production" fodder.

Other than that . . . NO !

It's scary - before I started loading my own and I think back to all the reloaded rounds I (ignorantly) bought at guns shows . . . I've been very lucky. Ignorance isn't bliss - it's STUPID !

Not to say that there aren't many (probably) qualified reloaders/resellers out there, but I had NO clue who they were when I bought them !

Nope. Never again.

[ 07-13-2002, 01:15: Message edited by: Dino32HR ]

I think this is actually 3 questions

1: would you shoot someone else's loads in YOUR gun (assuming it's for their gun)

and

2: would you shoot someone else's rifle with their loads.

3: would you load for someone else

to 1, above, HELL NO!!!! not even if I taught the guy to load, or watched him load it..

2: sure i would, after I saw him shoot several, and examined the cases

3: I have reloaded for others, but I DRAG my feet about it, and make them come and help, and approve the load. and it's NEVER anywhere near a hot load.

just my 2cents
jeffe

Last week we had an incident at my Rod and Gun Club indoor range. A fellow was firing a S&W Mod.29 44Mag. He was using his brother in law's reloads. After firing 1 round the top strap and top 3 chambers of the cylinder blew off. Luckily no one was injured. The top strap inbedded into the ceiling and the two pieces of the cylinder top went into opposite walls of the range. Upon pulling the bullet off of one of the rounds we found the case full of powder, compressed by the bullet. Not sure of the type of powder but the pressures must have been astronomical.
Moral of the story, don't fire ammo from an unknown source.

With one exception, no, I don't shoot other people's reloads. The exception is my dad, who's as compulsive about safety as anyone I've ever met. I can't recall ever shooting any of his reloads in my gun or vice versa, simply because we load for the gun in question (neck sizing, load development, etc) and it wouldn't be worth the time to shoot them in another gun, and in some cases, I'm sure that you couldn't get the cases to chamber, anyway. Other than him, not just no, but HELL no.

Chad

I agree, too spooky to shoot someone elses work. And the typical re-loads for sale use the fastest powder to save money, and means there's potential for the dreaded "double load".
And for me the whole point is that I did it myself, I don't do it to save money.

I do let friends shoot mine, but no hi-power experiments.