[Trapper6L]

I guess I'm the King of Cheap as I'm always looking for a cheaper way to shoot more. A couple of years ago I came across American Reloading which has a lot of different pulled, new, and blemished bullets for cheap. One of the good things about them, shipping is FREE. I like that word.....FREE. While the shipping is probably included in the asking price, I've been able to find common bullets cheap, some of premium bullets for cheap, and some of the high performance bullets for dirt cheap. Some of those high performance bullets are generally not for sale to the public except as loaded ammo. Having gotten the pistol shooting bug, I've found the Federal HST bullet for my 10mm for cheap and other than they were ugly dark bronze looking, shoot like a high performance bullet should. After being in the tumbler for 30 minutes, they look like new. I bought some of the 124gr 9mm V Crown bullets from them. This is the Sigs answer to a high performance bullet. I'm going to assume it is a Sierra made bullet for Sig. Sierra has a V Crown line of pistol bullets. The bullet is the only one I've found that actually rolls back, picture perfect, at 9mm velocities. It hits a coyote pretty hard. After decades of using the Remington 115HP for the 9mm and never seen one actually open up, this is the bullet now for the 9mm. I got some of their 22 caliber 62gr SS109 bullets for the AR. Shoots little cloverleafs at 100 yds. So my experience has been a good one with pulled bullets and blems. How many of you ever buy pulled or blem bullets? Ever had any bad ones?

https://americanreloading.com/en/
http://www.evergladesammo.com/

Only thing that I think might be a problem is that they don't always have the same inventory. While I try to buy a lot when I do buy, most likely later on that particular bullet won't be available. Some times all they have are bullets of a specific caliber that are mixed together in regards to weight. You might see a 40 caliber bullet mix of 165 and 180 gr bullets. You have to separate them yourself. While I've never bought any of the mixed weight bullets, since I'm retired, I don't see it a problem.

 

[TinMan]

Twenty years ago, I used to live about two hours away from Sierra's factory seconds store in Sedalia, MO. I made the trip two or three times a years, and usually bought a couple hundred bucks worth. I have shot lots of Sierra's seconds, usually rifle bullets. Back then, they were sold by the pound, not by count, so you could sort out any culls, bad bullets, etc. Sometimes the SP tips were long "squirts" that could be trimmed off easily, sometimes the plastic tips were missing, or big or little HPs, or simply discolored. Sort them out and toss them. Sometimes, they looked great, but the weight was slightly off for their green box 1st quality specs, so they went in the barrel as seconds. I was never dissatisfied with their products or service. I have shot lots of Sierra's seconds in 223, 243, 7mm and 308 in the 0.5 to 0.75 MOA for 5 shots at 100 yds. Hope this helps.

 

[dk17hmr]

I have shot several thousand pulled, blems, overstock, and seconds from various suppliers.

https://www.reloadingvalley.com/Projectiles-s/110.htm

https://www.rmrbullets.com

http://www.shootersproshop.com

No real reason to avoid them unless you are shooting in matches. For general blasting and varmint shooting might as well run with the cheaper bullets.

 

[Terry N.]

As stated, pulled bullets are okay for plinking or shooting varmints. I would NOT use them in a match, because they are frequently not straight. Pulling with a collet puller can cause some distortion of the bullet, which results in larger groups or sometimes flyers.

 

[mrmurl]

Like Tinman; I live about an hour away from Sierra factory and make the trip a few times a year. As it happens it is usually a special trip up there, because most of all my other business is to the south of me around Springfield.
I use a lot of the seconds out of the barrels there. I probably use around 90 percent of my shooting is with their seconds. Rifle bullets and pistol bullets. Sometimes it quite difficult to get pistol bullets there. They run out of them quite often. One of the Techs there is a friend of mine and can call and see if they have a supply of stuff that I am interested in before I make the trip. I have never had a bit of trouble with their seconds. I do sort through them and check them over before I start to load and anything in question gets a hard check. Most of the time the pistol bullets will have a little spur of lead stuck down into the hollowpoint and that is all that is wrong with them. The rifle bullets will on occasion have a green tip stuck in backwards and just cut it off or pull it out. I am usually pleased with group sizes of the stuff that I get there.

 

[Trapper6L]

FWIW, Midway sent me an email saying they had a bunch of factory seconds on sale. Mostly rifle bullets in 22 caliber, 6.5, and 308 was the bulk of them.

 

[Holedigger]

Cant help you on shooting pulled bullets much yet, but I've been collecting a bunch, mostly from American Reloading cuz their prices are the lowest, but havent worked loads up w/ them yet. Far as I can tell, most of their stuff is pulled from culled factory ammo of some sort - could be for any reason that the ammo didnt meet spec. Their inventory rotates a lot as they get this and that in, and others sell out. Midway and current Mid South Shooters factory seconds/blems always cost more, but have never been loaded nor pulled. Theres some VERY good deals in some of this stuff for everyday shooting needs....I dont wanna hear ANYBODY complaining when the next shortage comes along......at these prices you should have enough to stock Gunbroker full the next time around.

 

[Paul Workman]

i guess I don't get to shoot enough to want to compromise when I do get the chance. So, I shoot match loads at PDs too. And, besides...I enjoy shooting for % kills/shot rather than #s of (PDs or whatever), OR group size (e.g., competition).

The book "One Shot One Kill" and books featuring Charles Hathcock have been an inspiration to me. It got me started on precision shooting, decades ago, and what pulls me from Illinois all the way to Somerset KY to shoot with the best group of shooters anywhere.

I can sit all afternoon on a PD town and go home totally satisfied after a single successful long shot on a PD. I get a certain satisfaction after first ranging him and dialing in the elevation from a graph specifically printed for the conditions of the day, and accounting for wind drift by reading the mirage. Tipping over that one PD in particular (I'll never forget) at 720 yards with a single shot was the highlight of years and 1000s of rounds on other dog towns.

So, my point is...NO BLEMS FOR ME. I just never know when I'll need to muster all my meager skills to pull off that one shot wonder...again!

Your mileage may vary!

 

[Greyfox]

A local reloading supplies shop here in Nashville bought quite a bit of rejected Hornady ammo several years ago. The owner hires his friends to use a hydraulic collet puller to pull the bullets. He dumps the powder and sells the primed cases and pulled bullets for very reasonable prices. For the past several years I've used his .204 VMAX bullets in both 32 and 40 gr. Since the .204 are seated very deep in the case, they look like they have been pulled with vice grips. However I can tell little, if any, difference in these bullets and pristine ones off the shelf. I have shared these as well as 224 & 243 VMaxes with friends and they have found them to shoot very well. While I wouldn't shoot any competition with these bullets, the prairie dogs don't notice the difference.

Rick

 

[George Foster]

I was going to reply the other day and then forgot to. I have used a RCBS collet puller since '76 when I needed to. I have always reused any bullets that I pulled and never seen much difference in accuracy but I am not shooting registered BR.

 

[Trapper6L]

I'm shooting mostly pulled bullets for pistol. Anything I've stuffed them in shoots as good as any premium first run bullet. Sometimes though, I get to pickup real high dollar bullets for cheap. Same story, still shoots like a first run bullet. The only pulled rifle bullets I've shot out of one of my ARs is the 62gr Penetrator steel cored jacketed bullets. On most days, they all go thru the same hole at 100yds. Who would have ever believed any steel cored bullet would shoot that good. Certainly not me but these do. I shoot them at paper matches. I won't shoot them at steel. Talk about tear up some steel, these things hit hard.