PPU blanks for reloading?

[PCIII]

I did a search but didn't find anything on the topic. So wondering if it would be possible to take PPU (or other brass blanks) and trim these down for reloading.

I'm not sure whether the cartridge body or head is thinner but I'm looking into reloading options for 7.62x39.

Steel ammo are still pretty cheap and have plenty in stock but want options.

Thanks in advance.

[SteelNWalnut]

I've been handloading for about 4-5 years now so I'm no expert on the subject but using blank rass for live fire ammunition doesn't make a lot of sense. Why not just go and buy brass from PPU? Consider the time and effort it would take to convert the brass which may give you out of spec ammunition. Since you're in the LA area check Phillip's Wholesale in Covina, if Rick doesn't have it he can probably order it for you. Also there is a reloading store at Angeles Shooting Range. https://www.phillipswholesale.com

http://www.reloadingstore.com

[Divernhunter]

I cannot remember exactly when but years ago(before internet and me having a computer) I read that they should not be used for loading with bullets. Something about how they were made.
With all the other options I see no reason to do so now days either. I have/had some 30-06 blanks but never have tried to load them with bullets. Just not worth the trouble/risk to me.

[pacrat]

I cannot remember exactly when but years ago(before internet and me having a computer) I read that they should not be used for loading with bullets. Something about how they were made.
With all the other options I see no reason to do so now days either. I have/had some 30-06 blanks but never have tried to load them with bullets. Just not worth the trouble/risk to me.

Long ago I was also advised by one of my mentors, Dean Grennell, to not use Mil blanks as loaded ammo. Case metallurgy being inferior was given as the reasoning.

I was given several hundred 7.62 grenade launching blanks. As a test of his advice I loaded a box of them [20] using light loads for my 308 carbine. The necks of the first five split down into the shoulder area. I broke down the other 15 to save the components.

Just maybe I could have annealed the cases and made them work for light offhand practice loads. But even back then, they just didn't seem worth the trouble. Or risk.

JM2c

[fguffey]

PPU blanks for reloading?

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I did a search but didn't find anything on the topic. So wondering if it would be possible to take PPU (or other brass blanks) and trim these down for reloading.

Your question is about PPU brass; I do not own one piece of PPU brass. Before the Internet and then there is the claims department.

I have purchased military blank ammo, I purchased three belts with metal links. Most of the cases had 1945 and earlier head stamps from Denver, Des Moines, Eau Claire, Twin City and Utah, what does this mean? It means at one time blanks were loaded from once fired cases. A good reloader should know and understand what anomalies are. Anyhow, I formed the blank cases into 8mm57; I had no problem keeping up with the cases because of anomalies.

And then many years later I say an add on Ebay for 8mm57 cases that were formed from 30/06 cases. The formed cases had the same anomalies I had when I formed the 8mm57 cases.

I know, everyone is so confused but the cases that were being sold on Ebay were formed from 30/06 blanks.

To keep up with the once fired and loaded as blanks the military marked the case heads.

F. Guffey

[bazineta]

Hard to say without knowing how the case was manufactured; could be that the brass is just fine, could be that it's dead soft and would result in the start of a Bad Day. Unless you've got the tools to test that OP, I suppose it's unknown and probably unknowable. Given that 7.62x39 is not exactly unobtainium, if it were me I'd probably pass on it just to avoid the effort involved in cutting 'em down, the normal ones being so easy to source.

[fguffey]

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Hard to say without knowing how the case was manufactured; could be that the brass is just fine, could be that it's dead soft and would result in the start of a Bad Day.

A reloader with discipline that did not include bad habits can determine if the case head is soft; but there could be another problem, the case head could be brittle. There is a difference between catastrophic and case head separation.

F. Guffey

[emptybottle151]

[pacrat]

I see what you did there.

[JagerDog]

Based on this I'd guess blank rifle ammo has coordinating changes as well.

https://www.starlinebrass.com/brass-cases/45-BLANK-45-colt-BLANK-brass/

[pacrat]

Based on this I'd guess blank rifle ammo has coordinating changes as well.

https://www.starlinebrass.com/brass-...t-BLANK-brass/

The .45 Long Colt Blank has the same external dimensions as the standard .45 Colt but utilizes a .140" diameter flash hole to keep the primer from backing out with blanks.

Whereas the military blanks I've seen have standard dia flash holes.

[bazineta]

I happen to have a fired blank PMJ 7.62 case on my desk, and it's got a standard sized flash hole. Sample size of one does not make a trend however.