Kauntry
Posts:72
 |
| 04 Feb 2012 04:22 PM |
�
|
You know I don't mind selling my brass or taking it to the recycler, but has anyone ever melted their old brass and made it into bullets? |
|
|
|
|
TGJ
Posts:187
 |
| 05 Feb 2012 12:11 PM |
�
|
I have never heard of anyone doing it. My thought is a lot of work for little return and you end up with a few brass solids. |
|
|
|
|
fast*eddie
Posts:45
 |
| 05 Feb 2012 08:23 PM |
�
|
Never heard of Brass bullets |
|
|
|
|
grandpops
Posts:426
 |
| 06 Feb 2012 08:50 PM |
�
|
Melting your brass into bullets would result in the bullet being too hard and cause chamber pressure to be excessive when fired. |
|
| Fred, Cleburne, Tx.
NRA Life Member, NAHC Life Member, DU, USN Vet, NRA Certified Instructor
"A gun is like a parachute.
If you need one, and don't have one,
you'll probably never need one again." |
|
|
Kauntry
Posts:72
 |
| 06 Feb 2012 09:44 PM |
�
|
Even if I used a mold with several cannelures? |
|
|
|
|
grandpops
Posts:426
 |
| 07 Feb 2012 03:06 AM |
�
|
Yes, still too hard for the rifeling to score the bullet. Brass is a hard material. |
|
| Fred, Cleburne, Tx.
NRA Life Member, NAHC Life Member, DU, USN Vet, NRA Certified Instructor
"A gun is like a parachute.
If you need one, and don't have one,
you'll probably never need one again." |
|
|
cbrown36
Posts:86
 |
| 07 Feb 2012 09:00 AM |
�
|
I know there is a expensive machine that you can make .223 bullets using .22 lr cases, and there a couple of videos on youtube of guys doing it, so I am not sure. I have read of this several time in gun magazines also. I would say the safest way would be to sabot a brass bullet, but again i don't have the cahoonies to try this one. |
|
|
|
|
Kauntry
Posts:72
 |
| 07 Feb 2012 10:01 AM |
�
|
Thanks grandpops for the info. I really was curious cause I want to make bullets for my .50 Beowulf, they have a 350gr brass spitzer for this rifle but I cant find who makes it. I'm with you cb I don't think I could try that with .223 |
|
|
|
|
grandpops
Posts:426
 |
| 07 Feb 2012 06:44 PM |
�
|
I found some brass bullets for muzzle loaders, but they are used with sabots to engage the rifling. I believe they were marketed by Knight. I found them on the Midway web site. |
|
| Fred, Cleburne, Tx.
NRA Life Member, NAHC Life Member, DU, USN Vet, NRA Certified Instructor
"A gun is like a parachute.
If you need one, and don't have one,
you'll probably never need one again." |
|
|
TGJ
Posts:187
 |
|
Kauntry
Posts:72
 |
| 08 Feb 2012 10:31 AM |
�
|
Unfortunately no. The bullet I'm looking for is a 350gr brass spitzer basically for the .500 S&W. The .50cal Beowulf is made by Alexander Arms and they say the bullet is made by Hornady but Jason Hornady has denied this and its not on the Hornady website. Thank you for the aid in the search fellas. |
|
|
|
|
snider
Posts:975
 |
| 08 Feb 2012 10:31 AM |
�
|
Here in MO, you could only target or plink with them as they wouldn't be legal to hunt anything with. |
|
|
|
|
Kauntry
Posts:72
 |
| 08 Feb 2012 10:33 AM |
�
|
why is that? |
|
|
|
|
ahoffman2
Posts:193
 |
| 13 Feb 2012 01:02 PM |
�
|
1--Remington Golden Sabre bullets are brass jacketed! 2--A company, I believe by the name of Lehigh, is machineing compatition bullets out of solid brass.
I personally do use brass for jackets on many of the bullets that I swage for my own use. I have seen no ill effects to the barrels of my guns!! Allen |
|
|
|
|
Kauntry
Posts:72
 |
| 13 Feb 2012 01:23 PM |
�
|
Hey Allen do you use standard lead mold equipment equipment to melt your brass or is it of some specialy type? Any and all information you have would be very helpfull |
|
|
|
|
ahoffman2
Posts:193
 |
| 14 Feb 2012 12:35 AM |
�
|
Kauntry, I don't try to melt brass. I just use certain cartrige caseings for jacket material. Such as, I will turn the rim off of .44 special cases, trim to the desired length, fill with lead and swage them. I also use .35 rem, and .45 acp brass, to swage bullets for my .45-70. The .45 acp some times is a bit hard to swage down, but I have a cure for that problem too. Allen |
|
|
|
|
grandpops
Posts:426
 |
| 14 Feb 2012 04:57 AM |
�
|
Lead melts around 621 F. Brass melts around 1600 F. Your lead mold equipment will not hold up to the temperatures needed to melt the brass. |
|
| Fred, Cleburne, Tx.
NRA Life Member, NAHC Life Member, DU, USN Vet, NRA Certified Instructor
"A gun is like a parachute.
If you need one, and don't have one,
you'll probably never need one again." |
|
|
snider
Posts:975
 |
| 14 Feb 2012 06:08 AM |
�
|
Must be expanding type or hollow points to hunt with here in Mo. |
|
|
|
|
Kauntry
Posts:72
 |
| 14 Feb 2012 08:01 AM |
�
|
Thanks guys, it seems like this is an impossible task. I guess I will just have to wait till I get the proper info on the bullets they use from Alexander Arms or the right part number from Hornady. I hope everyone has a great Valentines Day with their loved one. |
|
|
|
|
David Asche
Posts:64
 |
| 04 Jul 2012 03:26 AM |
�
|
Casting brass for such a small object as a bullet is not worth the time and effort, and a steel bullet mould will not be adequate for a brass casting. Brass does funny things when it is molten. Zinc and other alloyin materials burn out of it, and the slag produced melting brass would interfere with the casting process for a bullet. You would also have to use a fluxing/eutectic material to clean the metal, as well as allowing for shrinkage of the metal as it solidifies in the mould. You could not get any kind of production or quality trying to cast brass bullets at home, or even in a fairly good shop. I don't know of any foundries who would take on the job either. Too small a mould cavity and the risering/gating systems would defeat any cost effectiveness. Better to buy bullets made on an automatic screw machine or similar process and get the consistency the process can give. |
|
|
|
|
finepoint
Posts:131
 |
| 12 Jul 2012 11:39 AM |
�
|
Agree with David above. Brass would have to be cast oversize and machined to final dimensions. |
|
| First Law of Heredity: You can't get out of your genes in a hurry, even when you really want to. |
|
|
Bill Davis
Posts:380
 |
| 26 Jul 2012 02:46 AM |
�
|
In the case of swaged bullets, I have a Corbin S-Press and FINALLY bolted it to a bench a couple days ago. I want to make some .223 bullets and maybe some .308 caliber stuff or .45 caliber pistol bullets. I do not have the 800+ bucks laying around for the jacket maker, but I DO have a crapload of .22 brass and some other assorted caliber cases here that I don't use too often that I would like to make something of (.38 special cases for instance, could be perhaps be made into .45's??). I understand the process for filling the .22 with lead and just swaging it to a point, that is straightforward (if I had dies). Where can I locate or make a jacket forming die for those .22's? I saw someone who made one with a Lee Sizing die set and some carving on the pushpin, I am considering such an event in fact...
|
|
| What can go wrong? Just a sec, I gotta bait this hook.. |
|
|
Bill Davis
Posts:380
 |
| 26 Jul 2012 02:56 AM |
�
|
or can those .38s be drawn into .308's?? |
|
| What can go wrong? Just a sec, I gotta bait this hook.. |
|
|
PA RIDGE RUNNER
Posts:94
 |
| 26 Jul 2012 05:42 AM |
�
|
I do make 22 cal bullets with very old presses and dies. It is all cold swaging. I got the copper jackets from sierra and they are already mostly formed resembling a rimless 22lr casing. Making a bullet is a 4 step process after cleaning the lead. Start with 5/16 wire lead cleaned. Use a special cutting tool to cut lead slugs to a specific length. Insert the lead slugs into the first die and it forms and sizes the lead slug to the inside demensions of the jacket and makes a specific weight. Next insert the lead slug into a jacket and insert into the next die which presses the lead into the jacket to eliminate any voids between the lead and jacket. Finally place the lubed jacket into the forming die and that die forms the front of the bullet. I use these bullets in my 222 rems and 219 Donaldson Wasps. I got this equipment from my father-in-law who participated in benchrest shooting back in the 50s. Back then you could not buy good enough bullets so most benchrest competitors made their own. I do not know who made the first two dies but the bullet ogive forming die is a Bieler and Astes (sp). I would imagine I could make different weights of bullets by adjusting the first two dies but without any instruction manuals for this equipment I let well enough alone and produce copper clad bullets of 54 1/2 grains that shoot great out of my old rifles. I also can only make flat based bullets without any cannular wihch most likely would take another die or piece of equipment. These are hollow point bullets and are a bit more explosive on a target but sure do a job on local groundhogs. |
|
|
|
|