• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

homemade bullets

I know what u are saying is true but $1900 in 22 caliber bullets does nothing for my 25, 6.5, 7, 30. and 338 rifles. or anybody else in the neighborhood. I have a bunch of lead 38, 9, 45 and 30 caliber molds. I am at the threshold of doing something better. I've been casting and tumble lubing for my handguns, but I am trying to decide if i want to get a lubesizer or powder coat, but maybe there is something even better I don't know about. Swaging is nothing more than making a bullet with pressure rather than casting with heat. Swaging with jackets seems like a lot of slow tedious work with a bunch of expensive dies and an expensive press. And i don't think I am near as smart as Bart. Lead alloys with a small amount of zinc in the mix are ok and most likely the best of wheel weight sorters get a zinc every now and then. But zinc melts at a higher temp than lead and very much zinc does not melt to the consistency of water like pure lead, it looks like oatmeal. It will not cast a bullet because it won't flow into the mold. But pure zinc in a very good steel mold at a higher temp than most pots will achieve will made a hard bullet capable of high speeds. If that bullet had a high tec or Powder coating maybe even faster. This may be good enough for social work or hunting. I am trying to determine if there is a home expedient way to make a bullet 60% as good as Barts. I think before long the antis will outlaw lead bullets completely and the shortages, we see now will seem like nothing cause the whole industry will be trying to play catch up. i am trying to see into the future, but my vision is not that good. And the hunt for lead goes on, as does a better homemade bullet.
 
I make my own gas checks using soda cans. Worked really good on my 450 bushmaster running 250 grain hard cast lead. I was averaging about 2200 feet a second. I know you can use the same thing for 30-06 up to about 2600.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ebb
Please continue hoarding production bullets and leave the pure lead scrap scrounging, BP making, and flint purchasing to the guys who do it because they love flinters. There really is no need to create a worldwide shortage on those 3 items. For defense and survival you'd be better off hoarding 22LR rounds to last your lifetime than go the old school route.

One option I didn't see mentioned here is rotometals bismuth/tin mix. It's really hard and pretty dense. I'm not sure what kind of speeds it would hold up to in a CF round or if it would create massive fouling in a bore without lube. It is sometimes used as a bare lead bullet or round ball for California muzzleloader hunting.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ebb
Shake and Bake powder coat is easy but maybe in an ultimate hit the fan scenario you won't have an electric oven with an easy adjustable thermostat like I picked up at local resale store for $10
 
Muleystalker there isn't a most today, there is a whole bunch of different methods in use, and none is the majority. A lot are steel, and the magnet eliminates those, and they go to recycle as steel, some are zinc, and they are mostly clip on. They as a small amount that are some sort of plastic with something to make them heavier. I get mine from a custom truck place, and they are into huge fancy aluminum wheels and use stick on lead. The stick-on lead are pure lead and are good but they are not hard lead like clip on lead weights. There is a tutorial with many pictures on cast bullets, I've read it twice and i still make mistakes. If you drop zinc on the concrete floor it will ring, lead makes a thud. A pair of side cutters will try to cut lead but not zinc. Pure lead doesn't fill the mold well because of something called surface tension adding tin to the mix at 20-1 helps with the surface tension but does little to make a hard bullet. It seems like witchcraft.
 

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
165,626
Messages
2,199,853
Members
79,028
Latest member
Stanwa
Back
Top