Pulling then reseating a factory round

D

Doyle

New member
I've got an interesting problem to solve. I picked up 5 rounds of Barnes Vor-tx loaded ammo (TTSX) in .35 Whelen. I've been wanting to try reloading TTSX in this caliber and I picked up those rounds just to see how factory ammo groups. Problem is, I don't know whether those rounds are 180gr or 200gr. Seeing as I only have 5, I really hate to waste one by pulling the bullet to weigh.

If I were to pull the bullet (being careful not to spill any powder). What is the chance I could reseat it and have the round group somewhat close to the other 4? Or, would I be better off abandoning my attempt to reseat and just toss that bullet into the box with the other pills?

I guess I could always reseat and just use that one bullet as a fouling round.
 
Reseat and mark it for a fouler or zero check. It’ll probably be fine and have enough neck tension, just not as durable as the other rounds so you wouldn’t want to take it on a hunt or something where it could go bouncing around
 
If you have sizing dies you can neck size the case after pulling it down. Place the powder in the cup on your scale...carefully. Set the neck expander/deprimer high enough that you don't touch the primer. Size the case and then reload it. Neck tension is no longer a concern.
 
pull the round and measure the ID of the neck to determine how much neck tension you have. Best way to do this is measure the OD of the neck and then the wall thickness with a ball mike. Subtract the wall thickness x 2 from the OD. On a fully annealed neck you should still have .002 - 003 neck tension. If you don't have a ball mike just use your calipers.

I can pull .243 and .264 rounds on properly prepared brass and the necks will spring back to what they were before a round is loaded and no resizing is needed.
 
You can simplify that by measuring the OD of the neck where it is over the top of the cylindrical, full-diameter portion of the bullet (aka, the bearing surface) and then again after pulling the bullet. The case neck may no longer be perfectly round without the bullet, so measure several places all around and average the result. If that average is at least 0.001" smaller than it was before you pulled the bullet, you are good to go.
 
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