As society gets more violent and tries to move the blame away people to any tool that can be used to harm others, we are going to see more and more shortages of those tools. Most guns will last a life time, but as we have seen ammo and components will be attacked next. Some at Cast Bollits are working on primers and compounds to reactivate them. Lead bullets would seem obvious, but they are going to be problematic over a certain speed. What would the next step up from lead bullets be? I have heard that some of the cast bollit people are experimenting with Zinc. That is a natural because they sort wheel weights and cull the zinc because they don't want it mixed with their lead alloys. Is Zinc the answer or do we need to look farther? Since I am contemplating a home-built bullet, extreme temps are a no go the only thing i can see is copper or power coated zinc, or aluminum? I am not here to argue about one or the other i just want opinions, as i have no idea what would work best. Or is there something better that I have missed?
homemade bullets
- Thread starter ebb
- Start date
Casting bullets gets iffy when the temps get so high as to be dangerous So I think that lets cast brass out and aluminum may work but I think that the material need to be heavier than aluminum to get a decent BC. I may be wrong about casting brass and copper but I looked at the temps required and they pretty scarry to me. yes i have looked at swaged bullets and I don't see myself doing it unless I can get or make a decent jacket. Some of the stuff they do with mashing a bunch of lead in to a case and using that as a jacket and loading into another cases is not for me. Lathe turned bullets would be the ticket but an automated screw type machine would be mandatory, I could spend all day on my lathe and might not be able to make 100 bullets.
If you have access to lead, in any form, then start pouring and storing. If not, then why not start building a supply of cast and/or coated bullets, for your weapons, by buying from the sources around NOW.
This way you can have on hand what you need to defend and/or hunt and supply food for you and yours.
This way you can have on hand what you need to defend and/or hunt and supply food for you and yours.
The Mighty Mite press, dies, punches, cores, and 22 LR cases was popular many years ago...
I spent a day the old man who made the dies & presses before Corbin produced it. I have s book he authored on making dies for making 22 LR brass into bullets. You can swage a variety of range brass into bullets.
I have made .338 dia 280 gr grooved copper HP bullets on the lathe for subsonic use. I did not use the mill to slit them but I have on some....
Brass is easy to machine bullets and copper is good too. Wouldn't use aluminum, too light. I hsve a high tech salvsge yard a mile from my house, where a variety of metals and used tools, gears, electronics, lead screws, even old reloading presses are found...one very expensive, super precision old auto indexing press, obsolete with a few parts missing...but he wouldn't come down on the price.. or it would be mine...it was there along time before it vanished...
I make dies, of many varieties for various uses. Like sizing bullets forming hard to get cases out of common cases.
But other than casting bullets out of lead ....most of the bullet making ideas are a waste of time, for me...unless its a specialty item, or has requirements like expanding at subsonic speeds.
Lead bullets are very effective... don't need high velocity to get the job done. Long Range get a Sharps with big heavy bullets.The US Army took the 45-70 to two miles in 1879 and felt it sn effective 1 mile rifle.. Custer feed the 7th calvary with game killed with his 50-70 when in the field.
For hunting big caliber & heavy lead bullets have gotten the job done for many years...almost killed off all the game animals in North America and Africa by 1900, including elephant, with black powder and lead bullets. So I'm sticking with what works, lead....plus it's easy. ....and I have a lifetime supply of lead & jacketed bullets, in most calibers I use alot. But new things like caseless ammo and plastic cases for rifles have been developed... technology moves us along...except caseless ammo was around during the Civil War...paper cartridges.
I spent a day the old man who made the dies & presses before Corbin produced it. I have s book he authored on making dies for making 22 LR brass into bullets. You can swage a variety of range brass into bullets.
I have made .338 dia 280 gr grooved copper HP bullets on the lathe for subsonic use. I did not use the mill to slit them but I have on some....
Brass is easy to machine bullets and copper is good too. Wouldn't use aluminum, too light. I hsve a high tech salvsge yard a mile from my house, where a variety of metals and used tools, gears, electronics, lead screws, even old reloading presses are found...one very expensive, super precision old auto indexing press, obsolete with a few parts missing...but he wouldn't come down on the price.. or it would be mine...it was there along time before it vanished...
I make dies, of many varieties for various uses. Like sizing bullets forming hard to get cases out of common cases.
But other than casting bullets out of lead ....most of the bullet making ideas are a waste of time, for me...unless its a specialty item, or has requirements like expanding at subsonic speeds.
Lead bullets are very effective... don't need high velocity to get the job done. Long Range get a Sharps with big heavy bullets.The US Army took the 45-70 to two miles in 1879 and felt it sn effective 1 mile rifle.. Custer feed the 7th calvary with game killed with his 50-70 when in the field.
For hunting big caliber & heavy lead bullets have gotten the job done for many years...almost killed off all the game animals in North America and Africa by 1900, including elephant, with black powder and lead bullets. So I'm sticking with what works, lead....plus it's easy. ....and I have a lifetime supply of lead & jacketed bullets, in most calibers I use alot. But new things like caseless ammo and plastic cases for rifles have been developed... technology moves us along...except caseless ammo was around during the Civil War...paper cartridges.
Andy Work
Gold $$ Contributor
I believe Joyce Hornady got started by using 22 rimfire cases for bullet jackets. The thing to do is to stock up now when components are available.
Hornady and Speer were the first or close to it, to make "commercial bullets" from 22 LR brass cases for reloading especially on a large scale...used to have a couple laying around..
I doubt they were the first to home swage the 22 L R cases into bullets for their individual use, or make the tools for other individual reloaders just for doing that.
It was fairly common and done during WW2 when all bullets were for the war effort. I doubt anyone alive knows who got the idea first and tried it, probably some good old boys from down south. ...You couldn't even buy new pistons for your auto engine...and guys fashioned them out of hard wood...and ran their engines on wood gas as gasoline was heavily rationed when available... hard times. Yes definitely stock up on things you need...hard times appear to have a hold on returning...again, and it could be much worse.
Sharing ideas old or new may help get folks through. Like reloading primers seems to be a labor intensive task for the return...but it's good to know just incase....and I may reject doing it now...but desperate times require desperate measures.
brokeasajoke
Silver $$ Contributor
Larry Koch
Silver $$ Contributor
Roll your own Jacket bullets.
brokeasajoke
Silver $$ Contributor
I got 500 pulled 9mm nosler hollow points delivered for $39. Deep crimp marks, but hey $39.
Maybe looking back to days of flint locks with crushed charcoal
Or sticks and stones.
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