Question

[LEP]

A local has 1500 loaded 30-06 rounds available. He only knows they are 150 grain bullets loaded at 2600fps for a Garand.
I would never shoot them, but wondering what you guys think they would be worth for the components (especially considering the time it would take to pull them down)!

[62chevy]

What would once fired brass, primers and bullets cost. don't add the powder because you have no clue what it is. The most I would pay is 25% of that cost.

[Point-Man]

Estimate of components.

1500 bullets- 24.00 per hundred x 15 = 360.00

1500 primers @ .034 ea = 51.00 thats with regular large rifle primers. Nato 34 primers .050 ea

brass 12.00 per 100 x 15 =180.00

Powder- ? I load my 30-06 for my Garand with 46 gr of H4895. So 46 x 1500 = 69,000 gr divided by 7,000 = 9.875 lbs of powder. No way am I going to dump almost 10 lbs of powder. 10 lbs @ 28.00 = 280.00

Total 871.00 That is what it would cost to load 1500 rounds.

[gandog56]

Am I missing something here? Is H4895 the powder HE used in those reloaded bullets? Or is it just what YOU use? If he reloaded them with H4895, yeah I would save the powder unless it smelled kinda funky.

[LEP]

I ballparked current prices as well, but here is where it gets interesting. These rounds are from his late father's estate (he already sold the guns). The only load data he could find consisted soley of bullet weight and velocity. In addition:
The bulk of the primers were WLR in the white and red box. Cases are any headstamp you could think of-S.A. Corp., Super Speed, FHA Match, Super X, Win, FC, R-P, and military going back to the 1950's.
That's a lot of powder and 150 grain tips, for sure.

[gandog56]

I my self fail to worry much about velocity. I don't even own a chrony to find mine. Accuracy is my supreme test, which I rarely find anywhere near any max loads.

[Point-Man]

Am I missing something here? Is H4895 the powder HE used in those reloaded bullets? Or is it just what YOU use? If he reloaded them with H4895, yeah I would save the powder unless it smelled kinda funky.
Just using H4895 as an example. But that is what I use. My manual shows 46.4 gr of H4895 @2600fps. I have no idea what what kind or how much powder he used. I would start pulling bullets and weighing everything .Just saying I would do some checking before I dump the powder. OP doesn`t say how old he thinks this ammo may be. If the rounds aren`t corroded and the powder is not clumped and smells like powder , more than likely its good. I shot some 8x56r head stamped 1938 last Sunday. Shot fine. A lot depends on how the ammo is stored.

On most ammo that fails to fire is because of a dead primer not bad powder.

[tsubaki]

I'd have to use Point-Man's numbers, 62chevy's multiplier, and exclude the powder from the price. So we talking about $150. Unknown primers, unknown bullets and mixed brass and having to pull it.
I inherited a couple thousand rounds of .223 that I helped reload some of. Problematically the previous owner did not feel the need to separate the SP, SPT, SX-SPP, or PSP from each other being he did not hunt. Being visually unable to distinguish these bullets from each other after being loaded makes them unusable for varmit or deer hunting purposes.
Same is the case for the 1500 Garand rounds. Chances are the bullets may look the same but likely are different manufacturers. And you can't depend on the powder being the same either.

[LEP]

After further contact, he has decided to pull them himself and re-list the components. Good luck with 1500 rounds, I say.

[tsubaki]

My sentiments exactly!
Me being faced with a similar situation, I'm got a reasonable quantity of blasting ammo for a while.

[gandog56]

Just using H4895 as an example. But that is what I use. My manual shows 46.4 gr of H4895 @2600fps. I have no idea what what kind or how much powder he used. I would start pulling bullets and weighing everything .Just saying I would do some checking before I dump the powder. OP doesn`t say how old he thinks this ammo may be. If the rounds aren`t corroded and the powder is not clumped and smells like powder , more than likely its good. I shot some 8x56r head stamped 1938 last Sunday. Shot fine. A lot depends on how the ammo is stored.

On most ammo that fails to fire is because of a dead primer not bad powder.

If you can't identify the powder (And I think that's strange, every box of ammo I load has what powder and how much I used on them) I would NOT reuse the powder. Use it for fertilizer on your lawn.

[LEP]

Agreed. The '2600 fps' could be nothing more than load data for that velocity from different powders using a hand load manual's recommendations.

[Mbaker78]

Everything I load that goes in a cardboard type box has basic load data on it (bullet type and weight, powder and weight), plastic boxes get a load card, but 223 goes on stripper clips and into bandoliers or ammo cans and sometimes I use different powder based on what's available. If possible I write the powder type on the side of the box the stripper clips are in. But all of my working loads get full data written in my book.

[SSGOLDFART]

I'd wish him luck and move on Never trust somebody else reloads

[LEP]

He pulled all the rounds down and is now trying to sell the components, locally.

[gandog56]

Too bad on the local, I could use 1500 .308" bullets.

[LEP]

I'll contact him and see if he's willing to be bombarded by you guys:D