Bullet Making 101

[Iowa 409 Guy]

This is long. I couldn't find the thread about what we are doing during the quarantine so here goes.

Using Berger jackets right now in bucket. I measure out 1,000 and then wash them in camp gas. First one jar, drain, 2nd jar drain, ect. 3 jars. Then put on towel and dry overnight. I always leave the temp at 70 degrees in my shop when making bullets. The next day put the jackets in a jar, place the 1 grain of lube in with them and tumble for 15 minutes. I take them out and start filling my bullet boards which hold 252 pcs. Once the boards are full I put the blind piece on top of them and the border on top and dump a bunch of lead cores on there and shake them around until all the holes are full. Then I pull the blind piece out and the cores drop down into the jackets. Now we're ready to core seat.

 

[IMBVSUR?]

Cool. I know nothing about reloading or making bullets except how to make them go down range.

 

[Fathead Racing]

Screw that, he's sniffing camp gas.

 

[Iowa 409 Guy]

Note the press with the core seated jackets. When setting up the core seat die you need to have the correct size punch that squashes the lead into the jacket. Very important and you never want the punch touching the sides of the jacket. Several things come into play in the making of a bullet that shoots. The stretch of the jacket length is important. There must be sufficient pressure to form the boat tail and fill the lower cavity of the jacket with lead. IMO the measurement of the base and the pressure ring part way up the bullet are critical. Note my measurements of those are exactly the same to the tenth. Also inside the jacket the punch creates a little lead donut that shows the jacket cavity is completely filled. I check this out with my bore scope. I also record the lead height inside the jacket. You have to adjust your die to get along with several of these things to make it all come together and you are still not assured of making a good bullet. I always check a new lot of jackets for their TIR at the base. I check the TIR at the base again after core seating. I like see less than .0002 TIR. Sometimes you can change that number with the amount of lube used.

After all measurements are taken and recorded I wait 24 hours and re-measure the base and pressure ring and record that. Usually they shrink a tenth or two. Next I put them back in the tumbler and put a measured amount of lube on them and tumble for 5 minutes. Then fill the bullet boards again and head back to the press where I have put in my point up punch and die. The die has to be set up so the point is not closed up to much causing what is called a fish mouth. Too little pressure and you have a big hole in the end and the bullet won't come out of the die correctly. After they're all pointed up I measure TIR at the base again. Usually the point up die has taken the measurement down to less that a tenth. Then I measure base diameter, length, bearing length (ogive) and record. Recording all these things becomes very important when you find a set up that works and you want to repeat it. I put them in a towel and swish them back and forth several times to clean off the lube. Then I package them in a baggie and put in boxes of 500. And you'd never guess what they are named.................CRUSHER. I'll probably have to revise this as it looks too easy. If I made any mistakes Tenxal can correct me as he's been making bullets longer than I. I guarantee you it is not as easy as it sounds.

 

[409newby]

Dave quit speaking Chineese

 

[IMBVSUR?]

Dave quit speaking Chineese

Is that the first sign of the Chinese virus

 

[IMBVSUR?]

Screw that, he's sniffing camp gas.

Better than hanging out with Mongo, he would be smelling camp a**

 

[rstreet]

Aah the heck with it. Just call Georgia Arms and order .223's by the 1,000's like the rest of us Dave!.
Robert

 

[rstreet]

Seriously Dave a friend of mine here (409 owner) loaded his bullets and I used to "help" and I've always been impressed with the precision of your type of work. Sort of reminds me of being in Hendrick's engine shop in Concord NC.
Robert

 

[Fathead Racing]

It all has to be a partnership between the rifle, bullet and the shooter. What is the weakest link here Dave, I mean what is the most likely to cause a miss of those three?

 

[Iowa 409 Guy]

Aah the heck with it. Just call Georgia Arms and order .223's by the 1,000's like the rest of us Dave!.
Robert

I've got a couple thousand of those for the AR I bought when the half white guy went into office. Still haven't fired it.

It all has to be a partnership between the rifle, bullet and the shooter. What is the weakest link here Dave, I mean what is the most likely to cause a miss of those three?

Possibly this guy

 

[La Hot Rods]

My experience with target shooting and ammo, was with a 22 pistol indoor shooting range. Shooting match ammo was close to a 50% increase in my score. Trying to save money on ammo didn't pay off for me.

 

[Iowa 409 Guy]

It's all about the ammo for the guys that compete with .22 rifles. They have 4-5,000 dollar rifles. They try several different lots of ammo in them, hopefully find what a particular rifle likes, and then buy all of that good lot they can afford if someone else hasn't snapped it up.

 

[Iowa 409 Guy]

Anyone ever use one of these for reloading shotgun? I bought this Lee handloader in 1963. Dad bought me a 20 gauge Harrington and Richards the year before for my 14th birthday. I'm giving it to a young kid in Michigan. I used to get a quarter a rabbit from the old widows in town to help fund my habit. Delivered Grit magazine and sold Cloverine salve also. Address before zip codes.

 

[MRHP]

Never saw one.

 

[Iowa 409 Guy]

Before your time you Pup.

 

[La Hot Rods]

I bought two Lee Loadalls for 12 and 16 gauge, think some of that stuff is still around.

 

[Toms63SSQB]

I went from that to a Mec to a Ponsness Warren. That P/W could spit out the shells.

 

[tenxal]

Good stuff, Dave!