Cheaper to buy Factory Ammo??

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AJC1 said:
The market is stupid right now. You can buy custom barts cheaper than hornaday. I'm basically poor so its lead or nothing.
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you try swagging your lead with a brass case? I seen it on youtube. Poor mans HP FMJ
 
Mark_Mark said:
you try swagging your lead with a brass case? I seen it on youtube. Poor mans HP FMJ
Click to expand...
Rumor is lead can be made to shoot as good as jacketed. There is a book that I'm trying to hunt down that details the process to meet those quality goals. 2200 fps seems to be a wall for some casters and big problem. My goal is to get a .309-310 plane base bullet that is consistently moat at 100 in the 2000 fps range. Feel like it's an achievable and reasonable goal.
 
AJC1 said:
Rumor is lead can be made to shoot as good as jacketed. There is a book that I'm trying to hunt down that details the process to meet those quality goals. 2200 fps seems to be a wall for some casters and big problem. My goal is to get a .309-310 plane base bullet that is consistently moat at 100 in the 2000 fps range. Feel like it's an achievable and reasonable goal.
Click to expand...
hard case with Steel!
 
My experience is limited but I think it can be done. For example, I would take a proven alloy for the base and a softer alloy to the front 1/3 of the bullet. Then, I'd soft jacket the bullet with paint and temper the whole bullet in cold water. This will raise the hardness. Then I'll size it. Afterwards. submerge the base in ice water and break the temper on the tip with a torch so it'll expand better on impact. With your properly alloyed bullet, add a copper gas check so the bullet can take additional pressure. It'll be like having a copper jacket on the base. With that soft point and a meplate, that bullet will hit hard.
 
BJung said:
You need special dies for that so it'll cost some additional $$.
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do you know what dies? I know this is a old school thing but I would love to try. My CZ97BD got discontinued so that frees up extra money
 
BJung said:
My experience is limited but I think it can be done. For example, I would take a proven alloy for the base and a softer alloy to the front 1/3 of the bullet. Then, I'd soft jacket the bullet with paint and temper the whole bullet in cold water. This will raise the hardness. Then I'll size it. Afterwards. submerge the base in ice water and break the temper on the tip with a torch so it'll expand better on impact. With your properly alloyed bullet, add a copper gas check so the bullet can take additional pressure. It'll be like having a copper jacket on the base. With that soft point and a meplate, that bullet will hit hard.
Click to expand...
OK!!! now you are talking!
 
AJC1 said:
Rumor is lead can be made to shoot as good as jacketed. There is a book that I'm trying to hunt down that details the process to meet those quality goals. 2200 fps seems to be a wall for some casters and big problem. My goal is to get a .309-310 plane base bullet that is consistently moat at 100 in the 2000 fps range. Feel like it's an achievable and reasonable goal.
Click to expand...

Powder coat. Be prepared for a bunch of trial and error. Be prepared to go as fat as .311.

I did a bunch of fooling around with a heavy bullet with a big meplat for deer in 30-06. This is a gas checked design rather than plain base, and I tumble lubed rather than coated. I left it at .311 and had to fool around with charges and COAL quite a bit, but I eventually got there. Only got to shoot a single doe with it (can't seem to get another rifle tag, only got ML the last 3 years), but a huge meplat on 200 grains doing 1900 FPS or so at the barrel puts the hurt on a 150 pound doe at 80 yards.

If you are looking for a target load and not hunting, I'd probably plump for a plain base version of a proven 150 or 170 grain 30 cal bullet design (311291, etc.), cast it hard, and powder coat it.
 
brewer12345 said:
Powder coat. Be prepared for a bunch of trial and error. Be prepared to go as fat as .311.

I did a bunch of fooling around with a heavy bullet with a big meplat for deer in 30-06. This is a gas checked design rather than plain base, and I tumble lubed rather than coated. I left it at .311 and had to fool around with charges and COAL quite a bit, but I eventually got there. Only got to shoot a single doe with it (can't seem to get another rifle tag, only got ML the last 3 years), but a huge meplat on 200 grains doing 1900 FPS or so at the barrel puts the hurt on a 150 pound doe at 80 yards.

If you are looking for a target load and not hunting, I'd probably plump for a plain base version of a proven 150 or 170 grain 30 cal bullet design (311291, etc.), cast it hard, and powder coat it.
Click to expand...
Congratulations on the doe with your own homemade bullet. My bullets are sized at .311 and I'm playing with the COAL now for a decent group at 100yds. I'm only printing 1" at 50 yards now.
 
AJC1 said:
The market is stupid right now. You can buy custom barts cheaper than hornady. I'm basically poor so its lead or nothing.
Click to expand...
Same with me except I live in CA so it's copper for hunting. That won't stop me from casting and experimenting, especially with pistol bullets. And yes, the components to me are expensive too, as far as I'm concerned.
 
BJung said:
Congratulations on the doe with your own homemade bullet. My bullets are sized at .311 and I'm playing with the COAL now for a decent group at 100yds. I'm only printing 1" at 50 yards now.
Click to expand...

Since then it has been home cast round balls taking deer. I am hoping to get a rifle tag this year so I can finally take a deer with Dad's vintage 35 Rem. If not, I am going to fool with minie balls in my musket and if I get them shooting well I will try to bag the next Confederate deer with a minie out of my Union musket.
 
Mark_Mark said:
you try swagging your lead with a brass case? I seen it on youtube. Poor mans HP FMJ
Click to expand...

Mark, while the finished product is "cheap", the upfront costs for the equipment to get there is not. Swaging dies, whether from Corbin or one of the smaller manufacturers are a steep entry price. And, in many cases you need a specialized or heavily modified press to handle the pressures. A lot of the standard reloading presses won't handle repeated swaging pressures. Wander over to the Cast Boolits site, there is a forum there just on swaging. A lot of information on dies, presses, etc.
I've looked into it, and the die prices for converting 22 LR cases into 223 would mean I'd have to make thousands before I could break even.
 
mstreddy said:
Mark, while the finished product is "cheap", the upfront costs for the equipment to get there is not. Swaging dies, whether from Corbin or one of the smaller manufacturers are a steep entry price. And, in many cases you need a specialized or heavily modified press to handle the pressures. A lot of the standard reloading presses won't handle repeated swaging pressures. Wander over to the Cast Boolits site, there is a forum there just on swaging. A lot of information on dies, presses, etc.
I've looked into it, and the die prices for converting 22 LR cases into 223 would mean I'd have to make thousands before I could break even.
Click to expand...
I could not find a price for the 3 set Corbin dies. You know how much they run? I got a spare Rock Chucker I don’t care about, add a breaker bar to the handle should work
 
Mark,
On the Corbin dies - here's a link to their dies (type R) that fit a standard press -- seems like a set would be (was) ~$580, with individual dies in the $175+ range. There is good info on the site. They have apparently discontinued the type R, in favor of the dies (type S or H) that fit their swaging presses. These run around 400 - 900++ depending on what type of bullets you want to make.
Over on Cast Boolits, there are a couple of guys that make/sell their own dies as well. BT Sniper is one.
 
mstreddy said:
Mark,
On the Corbin dies - here's a link to their dies (type R) that fit a standard press -- seems like a set would be (was) ~$580, with individual dies in the $175+ range. There is good info on the site. They have apparently discontinued the type R, in favor of the dies (type S or H) that fit their swaging presses. These run around 400 - 900++ depending on what type of bullets you want to make.
Over on Cast Boolits, there are a couple of guys that make/sell their own dies as well. BT Sniper is one.
Click to expand...
that’s alot of money
 
There are or have been other methods/presses and dies for swaging. C and H had a press and dies in the past. Herter's had a system for swaging with dies and all back in the 60's? It's called the 9 ton press and I picked up one of them and some dies, but need to mount it and try it out. There's a thread on it at Cast Boolits. It can use bullet jackets and cast cores or lead wire. Lead wire is not as cheap, from what I have found, as casting lead. Others have crafted their own dies and use a shop press. There's a member here who had a thread on it. You may want to look it up and read on it. Interesting reading.

So, while it can yield very inexpensive jacketed bullets from free brass and possibly free or cheap lead, the equipment costs to get there are steep.
 
I did not get into reloading to save money, I just could not factory ammo to shoot in upper end custom rifles. And a lot of what I reload can't be bought you have to make it:thumbup:
 
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