hi
what about swaping the fmj bullets with the same weight sp bullets for hunting purpoe .like 3006 in 150 gr fmj swapped with the 150 gr sp or 8x57 198 gr fmj swaped with 200 gr sp? is it dangerous? or easy and cheap way to make hunting rounds from army fmjs?
regards
yes

In the 60's when cash to buy soft point ammo was hard to come by but G.I. ball was usually given to us for free, we ground or cut the FMJ tips off for enhanced expansion. This, of course, is not recommended. When we were fortunate to have a few bucks, we still did not buy the expensive commercial ammo at $3.70 a box. We, four of us, invested in a bullet puller and loading dies. We substituted soft points for the FMJ bullets. No problems were encountered, as long as the bullet weights were same or slightly less. e.g. 165 gr. soft point for 173 FMJ match.

Geoff

I've done this in the past. After pulling the bullets I weighed the powder charges from a few cases to get an average charge weight (sometimes found 2-3 grs difference). I then full length sized the brass (remove the decapping pin from the sizing die leaving the primers intact), and then charged the cases with the average weight of the pulled powder charges.

And surely you've all heard of "Mexican Match"? Involved pulling the 173 gr. bullets from issue U.S. GI ammo and substituting 168 gr.Sierra BT match bullets. Was very popular with hi-power shooters at one time.

(And WAS NOT intended as a nasty or racist remark. Was giving credit and a handy reference name to a method which shooters who were not rich could use to make pretty good performing ammo at a reasonable cost....just as less affluent immigrants often have to do with everything in their lives.)

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
And surely you've all heard of "Mexican Match"? Involved pulling the 173 gr. bullets from issue U.S. GI ammo and substituting 168 gr.Sierra BT match bullets. Was very popular with hi-power shooters at ine time.

(And WAS NOT intended as a nasty or racist remark. Was giving credit and a handy reference name to a method which shooters who were not rich could use to make pretty good performing ammo at a reasonable cost....just as less affluent immigrants often have to do with everything in their lives.)

The "Mexican" part of "Mexican Match" has nothing to do with ethniticity. The name comes from the practice occuring for the 300 meter matches at the (I believe) Pan American Games held in Mexico City back when Olympic type sports were still martial in nature. Of course now we have ribbon twirling, synchronised swiming, etc. instead of shooting so the real meaning of many terms is almost lost. No need to get PC about Mex-match ammo as it was considered quality stuff at the time. It also had nothing to do with less affluent shooters making "pretty good ammo". It had to do with shooting winning scores. It still isn't bad these days as some of us still mex-match Special Ball with the 175 MK. It shoots sub MOA in my match rifles.

Larry Gibson

You may well be correct about the origin of the term. However, among the shooters I knew when I first learned about Mexican Match...in the late 70's or early 80's (I don't recall for certain which), it definitely referred to making pretty good ammo at reasonable cost. So that is the reference that I used and still use.

I suspect when I first learned about Mexican Match was when I sponsored/ran a season of monthly "Palma-type" matches at Black Canyon (now Ben Avery) range on the north side of Phoenix, AZ ('82-'83). That was my first year back in the U.S. after a 16-year hiatus elsewhere...

I did it years ago for hunting with no problems. I still continue to do this for vintage military bolt action rifle matches. It usuall cuts the group size by 50%.

quote:

Originally posted by yes:
hi
what about swaping the fmj bullets with the same weight sp bullets for hunting purpoe .like 3006 in 150 gr fmj swapped with the 150 gr sp or 8x57 198 gr fmj swaped with 200 gr sp? is it dangerous? or easy and cheap way to make hunting rounds from army fmjs?
regards
yes

Since miltary ammo is rarely, if ever, loaded to absolute maximum pressures, this practice is safe enough. However, it is possible that the muzzle velocities of ammo altered by substitution of a different bullet of the same weight might be somewhat different than the original military ammo.

This works so well for me, that I've never bought any commercial soft point ammo in 8x57. I'm using a scout mounted scope so I don't have to worry about sight regulation.

I've mentioned this previously about an article in the March 1986 American Rifleman "Reloading For The M1 Garand" by John R. Clarke using military & commercial brass and match bullets with Fed 210M primers.I have this article that I've copied and sent to lots of other shooters .150gr,168gr,180gr,190gr & 200gr HP Sierra Match Bullets accuracy of 1,2 or 3 minutes of angle..If anyone wants copies I'll make some and send them if you send me your address.