Casting FMJ ?????????

[therealsteamer]

My father-in-law has recently come across a large quantity of pure lead sheet.. As I already do his reloading for him he has asked me to look into casting a few different bullet types for him. No problem! Then he tells me he wants me to do FMJ and jacketed hollow point projectiles. IS THIS POSSIBLE???? He said he has seen this capability years ago, you bought the thimble like jackets to go with a corresponding mold. The molds were for FMJ or HP. I have searched all over the net for this and can find nothing similar. If anyone knows of this or anything of the like, please let me know. I am only aware of regular lead casting... Thanks........

Steamer

 

[snuffy]

Casting a fmj? Nope never heard of a jacket that could have lead poured into it. You COULD cast a lyman 230 grain round nose that is real close to GI ball. However that pure lead sheet will have to be alloyed with a little tin and antimony to lessen the leading that would occur. Also pure lead is damn hard to get to fill a mold properly. If you could locate some linotype, a pound of lino in 10 pounds of pure lead would be enough for bullets used in a 45 auto. Also a pound of tin,(95-5 solder for copper pipes is 95% tin) in 20 pounds of pure lead results in a 20 to 1 mix that's fine for .45's below 900 fps.

I'm assuming you're talking about .45's. If however you're talking about 9mm, then you will have to go harder than 20-1 lead, more on the order of wheelweight metal.

 

[Chawbaccer]

Jacketed bullets are swaged. It is true that you can buy the copper cups but you need a set of dies to make them into the bullet you want plus the sheet lead would be of no use,. Swaged bullets use lead wire, the length of the wire regulates the weight of the bullet.
http://www.corbins.com/

 

[therealsteamer]

and......

I have yet to see the lead... I was told that it was from the walls of the radiology dept. at a local hospital that was expanding. It's supposed to be a few feet wide and several feet long, then rolled into "tubes", supposed to be 100% pure. The pop-in-law says that if we add a pound of some kind of plumbing solder to several pounds of lead we will have a good to go mix?????

As far as the FMJ thing he has reiterated that the process he is aware of has you putting a certain copper jacket in a corresponding mold, "squeezing it in place", and then pouring the lead in the rear. It is supposed to work the same way for the HP as well. Is this a practice that was a "fad" at one time or maybe went out the window when cheap commercial jacketed bullets became plentiful?

Also, does any one know of a PROVEN lead to whatever ratio for casting .45acp, .45colt, .38 spl. (9mm as well but I would rather buy those for myself than bother with the casting thing)

 

[Vern Humphrey]

As has been mentioned before, jacketed bullets are swaged, not cast. If you go to www.corbins.com they have all the equipment you need for swaging jacketed bullets.

 

[RyanM]

Yikes. I don't know if I'd want to be working with lead that's been bombarded with radiation for years. I especially wouldn't want to be melting the stuff, and inhaling all those radioactive vapors. Though I guess the walls don't get as much radiation as the "aprons" and stuff.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Years ago I was given some of the pure lead canisters the radioactive material for those labs was transported in. They were cast into bottle shapes about 6" across and about 10" high and had a thick lead cap that set on top. I had access to a geiger counter, so we tested them. We got a higher reading off my luminescent watch than we did off the canisters and I had to remove the watch to test the lead. It was perfectly safe to use, but I can only vouch for the actual lead that we tested at the time.

I've been loading ammunition since 1963 and casting bullets since 1967, and I don't recall any process where molten lead was cast into jackets. The problem would be that unless the jackets were preheated to the same temperature as the lead, when the lead cooled, it would shrink and not adhere to the jacket. In effect, this would allow the core to rattle around inside the jacket.

It would be cost prohibitive to set up for swaging them bullets. Depending on who's equipment you purchased, you're looking at anywhere between $200 and a couple thousand dollars to set up for it. I swage some bullets, but it's slow and labor intensive work. If you value your time at all, it's not worth it for "plinking" bullets.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Mikee Loxxer]

Lead exposed to radiation is not radioactive!!!

Lead exposed to radiation is not radioactive. The only exception to this would be if the lead were exposed to neutrons (which would only occur if nuclear fission were present, none of which would be happening in hospital where there is not a nuclear reactor or nuclear explosion). In these cases neutrons from the split atomic nuclei will tend to latch onto the nuclei of the atoms of the material they are passing through. These atoms then become heavier and thus unstable. These unstable atoms will them emit either alphas particles, beta particles, or gamma rays until they are stable again (non-radioactive). These atoms which had been made unstable by addition of neutrons are called activation products. My impression is that they generally have very short half lives.

Materials that are exposed to radiation do not become radioactive (outside of those exposed to neutrons). That is not how radiation works!:banghead: If materials have radioisotopes physically stuck to them then of course they become hot.

 

[Rottweiler]

Mikee Loxxer is correct. Lead that has been exposed to the radiation emitted by an x-ray machine will not be radioactive.

BTW Mikee, welcome to THR

 

[Mikee Loxxer]

Thanks for the welcome Rottweiler.

 

[larryw]

A buddy showed me a setup he used to use to do this. He had a mandrel that would form a 22 case into the jacket and then he would pour the lead (wheel weights) into it. Another manrel would trim and fold the jacket over the heel of the bullet and make things nice and even.

It was more of an exercise in "I have a Bridgeport mill and can make any stupid tool I want" than practical. But it sure was neat to watch him crank out about 50/hr.

These tools are sitting idle now because of things like this:
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=643626

But in the event of TEOLAWKI, he's golden.