Time to make the donuts....

[AlNyhus]

Al

With your dies do you strive to have the pressure ring and base the same dimensions?

I've got two point dies, both are a tangent 7 ogive. One makes a .3084 shank/.3086 pressure ring bullet. The 'Big Girl' die makes a .3087 shank/.3089 pressure ring bullet. Depending on lube amount, I can juggle the pressure ring a tenth less but with a bit more ejection force needed. Too much lube and the shank dimension starts wandering around like Moses in the desert.

Again, that's only pertinent to this setup. It may or may not have any bearing on a more traditional setup with carbide dies.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Al, I love this thread. It helps me wrap my head around why good bullets aren't inexpensive.

So, a few decades back I had Steve Kostanich build a nice 6-BR for me.
Being the guy I am, I didn't want to shoot what everybody else was shooting. (Okay, I've learned since then) So, there was this fella that lived in Bulls Gap, TN (Kirk Etheridge) who was making some 66gr 8s ogive bullets. So, I ordered a few of them.
They shot very well. The big surprise came every time I shot then at 200 yds, they just made little round holes. I have no idea why I didn't order more of them, but I didn't.

Time has passed, Kirk is no longer in the game as far as I know, but his bullets are tattooed on my memory.

Al, I hope your bullets shoot tiny little bug holes on every target.
From what I've seen, they are pretty damn good.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Oh, BTW, I was fortunate to find 4k of these in a small gun shop.
I bought all of them.

 

[jackieschmidt]

Was making bullets for 5 years. Thought I could do a better job but could not. Had the best dies and the best presses made. Ultimately I came to the conclusion that it is a whole lot easier to buy them. Mine were very competitive but there was no distinguishing difference in performance. Buy from those who truly know what they are doing and enjoy the sport of shooting. I have made new friendships along the way of the transition and would not trade it for anything. Unless you some innovative bullet design and a die maker willing to work with you, just buy your supply for the year or years to come.

My dream was to make a 30 Caliber bullet as good as Randy’s BIB.
While I think I am close, I really don’t think I am quite there.

But I choose to keep trying.

 

[DShortt]

My dream was to make a 30 Caliber bullet as good as Randy’s BIB.
While I think I am close, I really don’t think I am quite there.

But I choose to keep trying.

If you aren't dealing with a problem, what are you learning?

Nothing.

 

[D Coots]

My dream was to make a 30 Caliber bullet as good as Randy’s BIB.
While I think I am close, I really don’t think I am quite there.

But I choose to keep trying.

Word on the street is that Randys starting to get the hang of it.... Possibly the reason his 1 arm is twice as big as the other...

Later

Dave

 

[tclaunch]

As long as Charlie Hood will make cores I'm not playing with my core cutter.

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

great thread here. Thanks a bunch for posting this.

 

[urbanrifleman]

3,000 cores ready to go:

1,000 J4 1.00" .30 jackets fresh from an acetone rinse.

Jackets will get lubed in a rotational tumbler next.

Hot rods rule.

 

[AlNyhus]

Al, I love this thread. It helps me wrap my head around why good bullets aren't inexpensive.

So, a few decades back I had Steve Kostanich build a nice 6-BR for me.
Being the guy I am, I didn't want to shoot what everybody else was shooting. (Okay, I've learned since then) So, there was this fella that lived in Bulls Gap, TN (Kirk Etheridge) who was making some 66gr 8s ogive bullets. So, I ordered a few of them.
They shot very well. The big surprise came every time I shot then at 200 yds, they just made little round holes. I have no idea why I didn't order more of them, but I didn't.

Time has passed, Kirk is no longer in the game as far as I know, but his bullets are tattooed on my memory.

Mike, Kirk was also a 2 time World Champion and 10 time National Champion in Indoor Archery. His book, 'Professional Archery Technique' was quite revolutionary and is still considered required reading by many archery coaches. My oldest daughter's first job after receiving her Doctorate in Pharmacy was in Bristol, Tn. at a facility where Kirk was also practicing as a Pharmacist. Quite by accident, he mentioned he shot Benchrest and they connected names...quite a coincidence. On a trip to see her, Kirk and I had dinner one evening. He'd just gotten a set of .30 cal. dies and was interested in jumping back into the VFS game.

Good stuff. -Al

 

[AlNyhus]

Lubing core seated jackets prior to pointing.
This pic needed a bit of help as the display didn't photo well. The piece of waxed paper weighed 1.3 gr. and I was lubing 500 with .6 gr./100.

Applying the lube to the jar.

The 'schmere' of lube. Apologies to my Yiddish friends.

In they go.

The rotational tumbler I use gets a layer of padding so the jar isn't just banging around in there. The padding overlaps so the jar isn't centered which keeps the jackets tumbling. There's padding at the back that gives the jar some compression when the lid of the tumbler is screwed on.

Then I turn the timer to 30 minutes and go do something else.

 

[tclaunch]

I have 3 sets of dies, 1 short range and 2 long range, only load for fun for myself. Very satisfying hobby. 1 set was used and possibly my favorite set, the short range. These dies came with lots of extras. I tried using the jar and lube, but never got happy with results. Smallest amount of excess lube leaves what I call striations in the ogive area. The correct amount leaves hardly any. I am new at bullet making on my 5th year. I lube with my fingers one at a time. I am ready for the flames...lol

 

[WayneShaw]

Mike, Kirk was also a 2 time World Champion and 10 time National Champion in Indoor Archery. His book, 'Professional Archery Technique' was quite revolutionary and is still considered required reading by many archery coaches. My oldest daughter's first job after receiving her Doctorate in Pharmacy was in Bristol, Tn. at a facility where Kirk was also practicing as a Pharmacist. Quite by accident, he mentioned he shot Benchrest and they connected names...quite a coincidence. On a trip to see her, Kirk and I had dinner one evening. He'd just gotten a set of .30 cal. dies and was interested in jumping back into the VFS game.

Good stuff. -Al

I bought quite a few bullets from Kirk. Still have about 3 pill bottles of them left.

 

[Stumpy1]

Al,
Thank you for showing this in such detail! Holy Cow! That is a bunch of work.
Satisfying, I am sure, but a bunch of work none the less.

Writing a check to your favorite Berger supplier is a lot easier.
Not as cool, or as satisfying, but a lot easier.

Thanks again for the education!!

Frank

 

[D Coots]

My dream was to make a 30 Caliber bullet as good as Randy’s BIB.
While I think I am close, I really don’t think I am quite there.

But I choose to keep trying.

If you aren't dealing with a problem, what are you learning?

Nothing.

Possibly learning that bullet dies, like barrels ect. aren't all created equal......

I have had my share of problems, no doubt.

I belive there are more good dies out there than there were 20 years ago, but it seems that the number of suppliers is dwindling....

Later

Dave

 

[jackieschmidt]

Possibly learning that bullet dies, like barrels ect. aren't all created equal......

I have my share of problems, no doubt.

I belive there are more good dies out there than there were 20 years ago, but it seems that the number of suppliers is dwindling....

Later

Dave

Dave, I might have left the impression that I am not happy with my 30 caliber bullet. Truth is, it shoots pretty darned good.

 

[jackieschmidt]

Al, here is my Tumbler. I fill the jar with 3 1/2 inches of jackets with .5 tenths of pure lanolin. I screwed the jar back on the cap attached to the gear motor, secure it with a wind of duct tape, and tumble for 30 minutes. The gear motor turns 30rpm.

After core seating, I re- tumble the seated cores with 5 grains of lanolin for the same 30 minutes. This lube gives the bullet I want.

One thing I learned is getting the exact amount of point up in the die is a lot like finding the correct seating depth in your rifle. This simple tool measures the Ogive to Base, and of course the shank is measured with a good tenth micrometer. The green marked seated core and finished bullet are my “masters”, I strive to duplicate these with every batch.

 

[David Conder]

The lube is one of the secrets to making either good bullets or bad bullets Guy Chisim made the best bullet lube I have used to bad he passed wish I knew how he made it I think his daughter has the formula if she would tell please !!!

 

[Schippergreg]

Thanks to all of you sharing information in this thread. One day I’d like to venture into making sr bullets.

 

[P1ZombieKiller]

Thanks to all of you sharing information in this thread. One day I’d like to venture into making sr bullets.

Have your head checked first so they have some type of a baseline to do comparisons when you get too deep into it.