Aluminum bullets?

[indoorsoccerfrea]

what effect would casting aluminum bullets have on a gun? im certain that there would be high fps out of the barrel and fragmentation on impact, what other effects does the high road commonwealth of information predict?

 

[Jim Watson]

The only reliable report I have of naked aluminum bullets showed high velocity and very poor accuracy. A dealer here also had a complaint from a customer of aluminum fouling in his barrel from the aluminum jacketed WW Silvertip .45s.

 

[gvnwst]

It may laso be (depending on grade) that the aluminum could start to melt, due to barrel and air friction, and the hot gasas pushing it. This would make for poor accuracy, but high velocity.(melted metal would act like lube)

What a copper jacketed aluminum bullet would do is something to be looked into.

 

[The Bushmaster]

Fast from the muzzle and fast slowdown due to light weight. Might get 100 yards with enough hitting power to piss some one off...

 

[taliv]

the ss190/192/195 rounds in 5.7x28 are aluminum core but not naked

 

[Jim Watson]

I think the first iteration of the 7.62 CETME had a copper jacketed aluminum cored bullet, too. But that isn't the same thing as casting aluminum.

 

[indoorsoccerfrea]

so it sounds like the general consensus would be to coat the aluminum in some other metal such as copper? would the aluminum have to be even all throughout the inside of the bullet? for instance if while casting the copper around the aluminum core the aluminum melted. the outside would still be copper, but the aluminum would not be in the exact center. would that throw off the balance of the bullet in flight?

 

[ProCarryNAustin]

I would think that the round would shed velocity too quickly to be effective. If I want to leave a welt, there are plastic sabots already out there.

Daniel
Austin, Texa

 

[indoorsoccerfrea]

does anyone know where i can find molds for 223? i cant seem to find them.

 

[CYANIDEGENOCIDE]

Lead has a much lower melting point than aluminum, I don't see it melting in this application. Something to think about is the fouling, lead fouling is slick. Aluminum on aluminum has an extremely high coeffiecient of friction; maybe enough for a pressure spike.

 

[indoorsoccerfrea]

i cast aluminum as a hobby, getting it to melt wont be a problem as i have a full size foundry. i also have a 2 gallon capacity graphite crucible.

 

[benEzra]

the aluminum would not be in the exact center. would that throw off the balance of the bullet in flight?

Yes. And depending on how bad the imbalance was, it could really screw up accuracy, if it caused major nutation to develop.

BTW, at one time there was ultra-lightweight aluminum-bulleted ammunition for .38 Special called "Thunderzap," I think. It doesn't appear to have been a commercial success. From what limited info I have, I think it was something like a 47-grain aluminum JHP traveling at very high velocity (for a .38).

The low density of aluminum would allow you to make a 30-grain .223 bullet, for example, that you could drive at insane velocities. Alloying and/or heat treating might be necessary to prevent bullet disintegration at high RPM's and/or excessive leading, and it would lose velocity quickly. You would also need to be careful about the 1986 AP bullet ban; per the BATFE, .223 Remington falls under the following regs:

http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/legal/armor.htm

 

[greyling22]

in the movie Eraser I believe they used a railgun to fire aluminum projectiles "near the speed of light" and they were devastating on expendable bad guys. it was in a movie with the Govenator , so you know it has to be feasible and realistic.

 

[MD_Willington]

aluminum oxide... where have I seen that before.. oh yeah, blasting media... !!

Aluminum Oxide is a sharp, long-lasting abrasive sandblasting cutting media that can be re-used many times for grit blasting. As an abrasive blasting media, it is harder than most common dry abrasive blast media and will cut even the hardest metals and surfaces. This particular abrasive blasting media comes in a wide range of sizes.

 

[The Deer Hunter]

Since aluminum is so light, there won't be a lot of penetration.

 

[gvnwst]

If you ahd a equivilant wieght (super long bullet) it may work. Best to be jacketed, but it would be the definition of VLD

 

[rcmodel]

I think it would be a total waste of time.

Aluminum is so light the sectional density of the bullet would be dismal.

Poor range, poor penetration, and in general, just poor performance.

Existing rifling twists designed for lead bullets would be unsuitable for stabilizing aluminum bullets, so they would be very inaccurate, and probably tumble before reaching the target.

BTW: Jackets and cores are not "cast" during the bullet making process.

An aluminum core would be cut off a section of aluminum rod or wire of the proper diameter.
Then placed in a formed copper jacket and swaged into shape.

 

[WardenWolf]

Aluminum will BURN at the high friction and temperatures inside a barrel. When it burns, it produces nasty black stuff and a highly toxic gas. It also smells REALLY bad. You really do NOT want to do it. Aside from depositing all kinds of nasty stuff inside your barrel that normal gun solvents aren't designed to clean, the potential for toxic gas when the breach opens along with the nasty smell ought to be enough to change your mind.

 

[alemonkey]

I'm still waiting for Hornady to come out with depleted uranium bullets.

 

[rcmodel]

Heck, we can already get Extreme Shock Nytrillium bullets.

What could depleted uranium do that Nytrillum can't do better!

rcmodel

 

[C-grunt]

^^^Actually work???

HA HA HA

 

[benEzra]

Nytrillum

I guess that's kind of like unobtainium, only more tactical?

 

[JohnKSa]

Before you spend the time getting set up to cast aluminum you should work out the difference in the coefficient of expansion between aluminum and whatever metal the mold you find was designed around. If there's a significant difference then the bullets you make will be the wrong size.

 

[rozziboy18]

i have played with this for a while. i took a hollow point 165 40 preloaded and heated it and poured out most of the lead leaving a thin film on the walls of the inside of the copper jacket, then slowly mealted in aluminum from a aluminum alloy brasing rod. it took a cupple of trys to keep from melting the copper but i finaly sat it in a shallow pool of watter and pulled it off. much more accurate than aguila iq's 3 shots 4inch spred at 25'' could probly do better after some fine tuning. the ol' chonograph said 1850 fps on the first batch and no sign of over pressure so i dosesed it up a bit and got to 2013, 2043 2020 on the last three. i havent totaly turned them into hollow points but more or less a copper jacketed alloy bullet. i think after some light machine work it will make on hell of a personal pretection round

 

[telomerase]

Unless you live on the Moon, you don't have any aluminum (at least not on the outside, five seconds after it touches the air). You have aluminum oxide, which is about as hard as sapphire. That's why they coat aluminum bullets with copper or something...

IIRC, the British used aluminum-nose bullets to make them tumble, before WWI. That's why they tricked the other powers into signing the "no hollow points" codicil. (And it's one of the thousands of reasons that no one trusts the Brits )