Time to make the donuts....

[AlNyhus]

Good stuff, like drill and tap the bottom of a stuck case in a sizing die.

You bet Wayne. The pucker factor is a bit higher, though.....

 

[JoeDuke]

Here's what to do when your best pal gifts you a die he made that makes killer good .30 cal bullets....and you stick one. Titles could be:
'How To Be A Double-dumbazz And Survive'
'How I Spent Saturday Morning'

-Put everything down and walk away.
-If the electric control box on your lathe is off getting fixed (it is), think vertical.
-Screw a 7/8-14 coupler nut on the die.
-Push a 5/16" O.D./1/4" I.D. nylon sleeve in the die to protect it. Don't screw up worse than you have.
-Put it in the mill vise and use a 1/4" transfer punch to locate the center of the sleeve.
-With a good drill chuck in the mill, drill a hole in the base of the bullet.
-Screw in an aggressive screw...like Jackie's deck screw example.
-Tighten the chuck around the screw head.
-Face Easterly, make the sign of the cross and reflect on your past deeds.
-Lower the mill table.
-Breathe a sigh of relief.

[/QUOT


You got luckier than i did. I swelled a ring in my steel die.

 

[liljoe]

Here is a jacket spinner that is owned by a bullet making friend.
He has no idea who made it. His father is the one that got it.
Anyone have any ideas who might have built it? The quality is very nice.
Joe

 

[D Coots]

Red Green?

 

[brcman]

looks about like RCBS color. Maybe Fred Huntington?

 

[WayneShaw]

You bet Wayne. The pucker factor is a bit higher, though.....

No question about that!

 

[geo.ulrich]

Here is a jacket spinner that is owned by a bullet making friend.
He has no idea who made it. His father is the one that got it.
Anyone have any ideas who might have built it? The quality is very nice.
Joe

It was made by Hart

 

[liljoe]

It was made by Hart

Thank you George.
Joe

 

[geo.ulrich]

Thank you George.
Joe

its a bullet spinner not a jacker spinner someone has added the male mandrel

 

[geo.ulrich]

And if you wish to have the Rolls Royce of jacket spinners John Eaton made these years ago, motorized and all pin surfaces ground concentric just drop a jacket on and push the button it makes one revolution and stops

 

[Mulligan]

And if you wish to have the Rolls Royce of jacket spinners John Eaton made these years ago, motorized and all pin surfaces ground concentric just drop a jacket on and push the button it makes one revolution and stops

If many of these tools are no longer made, does that also mean that there isn't a market for them? Are the majority of jackets today of such good quality that testing isn't necessary?
Clay

Edit
What I should have asked is, Why are bullet spinners and jacket tester's no longer being produced?
Clay

 

[jackieschmidt]

If many of these tools are no longer made, does that also mean that there isn't a market for them? Are the majority of jackets today of such good quality that testing isn't necessary?
Clay

Edit
What I should have asked is, Why are bullet spinners and jacket tester's no longer being produced?
Clay

Just my opinion, but I think it’s the idea that why worry about things you can’t do anything about.

At this time, it takes a year to get jackets from the time you order them. When you finally get them, you test them, and they are out of specs. You call the manufacturer, and yes, they will replace them……..in a year.

The way the market is now, you get what you can, and be happy with what you got. In short, it’s a sellers market.

 

[geo.ulrich]

Jackie, that is somewhat true as you said what you get for jackets its whatever you get, now a bullet spinner is a whole different story spinning bullets is pretty much a waste of time except for setting up your dies.....

 

[brcman]

Thanks for that posted picture George, it may give someone an idea to make one- or mybe more?

Wayne

 

[jcarpen]

I thought a bullet spinner was used primarily to determine the roundness of a finished bullet roundness being determined by the die itself, proper lube, proper core seating pressure, or a combination of the above.
What are you looking for on a spinner in setting up the dies? Someone mentioned a sweet spot in core seating pressure shows up on a spinner.

 

[jackieschmidt]

I thought a bullet spinner was used primarily to determine the roundness of a finished bullet roundness being determined by the die itself, proper lube, proper core seating pressure, or a combination of the above.
What are you looking for on a spinner in setting up the dies? Someone mentioned a sweet spot in core seating pressure shows up on a spinner.

All jacket spinner does is recognize variations in the wall thickness of a jacket. This number is expressed in .0001 of an inch.
the trick is to get an accurate measurement in spite of the inside of a jacket being tapered.

You want jackets with a minimum wall thickness variation so the bullets will be balanced in rotation.
Picture the lead core not being exactly in the center of the bullets OD as the bullet rotates.

There are a few other reasons to strive for jackets with no wall thickness variation, but this is the most important.

 

[jcarpen]

I agree with you on the jacket spinner and have experimented with a homemade one myself. On a bullet spinner I’m not sure I’d know what to look for, particularly when setting up your dies?

 

[jackieschmidt]

Just for everybodies info that is not quite into this endeavor, Jackets have always been a big topic among custom bullet makers. Back 20 years ago, when you could call J-4 and have a couple of cases in a couple of days, bullet makers would, to the best of their ability, check lots to see if they were within that magic +-.0002 in wall variation. Back then, it was easy enough to get more.

The big controversy would arise when certain shooters tended to get preferential treatment. One very well known shooter actually went to J-4 and talked them into letting him go through various lots and pick out the best.
Needless to say, this did not go over well with the rest of the Benchrest Community. it was one of those things you simply did not do. I can’t be sure if it gave him an advantage, since he was winning before. Suffice to say, it sure didn’t hurt.

Sometimes I get aggravated when I hear a competitor say he has a lot of jackets from way back when that are just about perfect, and more ore less is telling you that you are starting two steps behind before you go to the line. But that’s the nature of this game.

Even the finest bullet makers are at the mercy of their components. It all starts there. This is why you can be shooting a particular lot of bullets at a championship level, but then order some more and despite your best efforts, they simply will not be as good. Through the years, I have had this happen several times. Any competitive shooter will tell you the same thing.

In short, bullets are just like barrels. You are always hoping for the best. Sometimes you get chicken, sometimes you get feathers.

 

[Mulligan]

As an "apprentice" level bullet maker......... I have asked a few questions on the thread.
I very much appreciate the replies I have received. This thread is very informative.

Above George replied to a question about bullet spinners,

My experience:
Just for background-I make long range 6's, I have never made a short range bullet or flat base bullet.

I borrowed a bullet spinner from a good friend, took it home and made all the necessary adjustments to move all the widgets from short bullets to long. I then started measuring bullets until I could get the same reading time and time again.
Feeling like I was schooled in bullet spinning I grabbed a handful of custom bullets off the shelf and measured each one and noted the results. I then did the same for another brand of custom bullets.

I reached in a bucket of my own bullets and took the same readings.
MY bullets had a bit more "runout" than the other two. I adjusted this and that and kept measuring and seen some improvement but still wasn't quite there yet. I sent a text to George and thank goodness he replied.
He had me send a pic of my setup, which I gladly did. George then called and suggested I take the die out of the press and remove a lock-ring and a few Skip Otto shims I was using and only use the ground flat lock-ring that he supplied with my dies.
I did all he suggested and got the presses and dies readjusted and made a few bullets.

YEP..... the bullets were the best of the batch now!

That bullet spinner may not have much value to the average knuckle-dragger but to me, It (with the help of my good friend George) allowed me to see the error of my ways and likely saved me a ton of frustration..... That has Value!

I haven't touched the spinner in a while but I smile every time I look at it.

Thanks for the wealth of information on this thread.

Clay

 

[jcarpen]

As an "apprentice" level bullet maker......... I have asked a few questions on the thread.
I very much appreciate the replies I have received. This thread is very informative.

Above George replied to a question about bullet spinners,

My experience:
Just for background-I make long range 6's, I have never made a short range bullet or flat base bullet.

I borrowed a bullet spinner from a good friend, took it home and made all the necessary adjustments to move all the widgets from short bullets to long. I then started measuring bullets until I could get the same reading time and time again.
Feeling like I was schooled in bullet spinning I grabbed a handful of custom bullets off the shelf and measured each one and noted the results. I then did the same for another brand of custom bullets.

I reached in a bucket of my own bullets and took the same readings.
MY bullets had a bit more "runout" than the other two. I adjusted this and that and kept measuring and seen some improvement but still wasn't quite there yet. I sent a text to George and thank goodness he replied.
He had me send a pic of my setup, which I gladly did. George then called and suggested I take the die out of the press and remove a lock-ring and a few Skip Otto shims I was using and only use the ground flat lock-ring that he supplied with my dies.
I did all he suggested and got the presses and dies readjusted and made a few bullets.

YEP..... the bullets were the best of the batch now!

That bullet spinner may not have much value to the average knuckle-dragger but to me, It (with the help of my good friend George) allowed me to see the error of my ways and likely saved me a ton of frustration..... That has Value!

I haven't touched the spinner in a while but I smile every time I look at it.

Thanks for the wealth of information on this thread.

Clay

Thanks for the example. Sounds like the bullet spinner won’t tell you HOW to make good bullets, but can tell you WHEN you’re making good bullets; in this case via indicating improved
(Zero or near zero) runout after findin/correcting a die misalignment problem.
I’ve never owned a bullet spinner so am not familiar with their use. I can see their Value in this case.
After almost 30 years of bullet making I still consider myself a “student” and learn something new almost every day, particularly through a great thread such as this. Hope it keeps on going.