Time to make the donuts....

[jackieschmidt]

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 !!!

If you have a sample of Guy’s best bullet, you can experiment with different lubes to duplicate the size.

I went back to just pure lanolin after trying several concoctions. It’s less messy and once you arrive at the correct amounts for core seat and point up, it works fine.

 

[Schippergreg]

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

I shoot benchrest, there’s obviously not much going on in there already.

 

[David Conder]

I still have 3 left of his bullet lube

 

[AlNyhus]

Once I'm done with the core seating, I jot some notes on the punch size, etc. I use these Skip Otto shims for fine adjustments without loosening the lock ring.

Good shootin' -Al

 

[AlNyhus]

Now it's time for the fun stuff...pointing up the cored jackets and making a real deal bullet. Before this step, it's good to remember the words of Ralphie in 'A Christmas Story' :
"Sometimes, at the height of our revelries, when our joy has reached it's zenith, the most unthinkable disasters decend upon us."

The point form die is threaded into the ram. The point form holder and punch is at the top. The punch for these cored jackets is .3075. The rubber cap is a protector from double dumbazz mistakes.

The ejector pin. These are like race car stuff...have spares.

The die should move over the punch with no appreciable drag. I put an 'o' ring between the die and the ram. A cored jacket is placed against the punch.

The die is advanced over the jacket, the point is formed and the cored jacket is slightly expanded in the process.

The die is moved back and the ejector punch pushes the bullet from the die and it rolls down the spillway.

When the lube is dead on and the core seating pressure is right, this die makes a .3084 shank bullet with a .3086 pressure ring.

This will give a b-o measurement that's very consistent. As long as they're +/- .002" from the mean average, I'm happy.

 

[AlNyhus]

Some setup stuff for pointing. I use more Skip's shims to easily juggle how much the bullet is pushed into the point die. I'll normally stack about .030 and juggle as needed. This lot of jackets liked a .012 stack.

When you push the bullet too far into the die, the hollow point forms around the ejector pin and it won't eject. Adjust the shims.

If the bullet isn't pushed in far enough, the point looks all raggedy and gets what's called a fish mouth appearance. Adjust the shims.

 

[RGRobinett]

"A bolt from the blue!" Stay tune with Al, for, "the rest of the story" . . . or, "wat dat gotta do wid it?" A collaboration of lost souls . . .
RG

 

[AlNyhus]

A couple thoughts on jackets. Both of these are 1.00" J4's from different lots. They weigh within .1 gr. of each other but have different characteristics when pointing. On the upper jacket, there's a very clear line around the mouth and extending rearward about .015", which I assume is from the pinch trimming process. The lower jacket also has that, but it's less apparent.

Both make up into very good bullets. The upper jacket has less of a 'sweet spot' for pointing. By that, I mean there's .004-.005 from sticking on the ejector pin to fish mouthing. Consequently, the b-o number tends to remain consistent. The lower jacket is more 'forgiving' in that I can vary the b-o fully .014" before getting fish mouths or pin sticking.

That's no knock on the upper jacket....it's just an example of how different lots can act. It's possible that this is more pronounced with steel dies than carbide due to the extra pressures needed to both point and eject the bullet from the die. Both jackets produce bullets that show the same excellent accuracy on target.

For what it's worth.... -Al

 

[AlNyhus]

"A bolt from the blue!" Stay tune with Al, for, "the rest of the story" . . . or, "wat dat gotta do wid it?" A collaboration of lost souls . . .
RGView attachment 1613564

Good Lord....do you need another jaw on that chuck to hold that hunk of slag?????

 

[durand mortenson]

Dave. It takes a lot more effort at the handle to make the 30’s. I use the regular RCBS Presses to make my 68 grn 6MM. I use the big modified Lee 50 cal presses for the 30’s. And the point up even has the handle extended.View attachment 1613011

The process you guys go through is much more involved than I imagined.
Mort

 

[David Conder]

Hay RG is that your core seating punch your working on

 

[durand mortenson]

"A bolt from the blue!" Stay tune with Al, for, "the rest of the story" . . . or, "wat dat gotta do wid it?" A collaboration of lost souls . . .
RGView attachment 1613564

That looks like something we would have used or made at the shipyard !

 

[RGRobinett]

Good Lord....do you need another jaw on that chuck to hold that hunk of slag?????

Al, one slot North West of fly-over country, jaw quantity doesn't matter . . . "ya justs gots get 'em tiit"! You'll, "get used to it". If you keep after it, HE might show up and ruin the whole deal. On second thought, maybe I'll conjure HIM up to turn the piece into something useful. RG

("Hay RG is that your core seating punch your working on", David Conder)
David, making them a little over-sized, accommodates some "wear". . . . RG

 

[AlNyhus]

"A bolt from the blue!" Stay tune with Al, for, "the rest of the story" . . . or, "wat dat gotta do wid it?" A collaboration of lost souls . . .
RGView attachment 1613564

Randy, first it was Dave Coots "...naked cat" stuck in my brain. But now, your "...collaboration of lost souls" comment has Pink Floyd's 'Wish You Were Here' rattlin' around up there.

 

[AlNyhus]

Here's how I know progress is being made....a nice lube path build up from bullets rolling down the spillway.

Into a clean J4 bucket labeled with pertinent poop. The lube is left on until it's time to use 'em and they they get a quick acetone rinse.

 

[Bc'z]

Here's how I know progress is being made....a nice lube path build up from bullets rolling down the spillway.

Into a clean J4 bucket labeled with pertinent poop. The lube is left on until it's time to use 'em and they they get a quick acetone rinse.

I see your core weight but not overall weight written on lid ??

 

[AlNyhus]

I see your core weight but not overall weight written on lid ??

They are 117's. -Al

 

[AlNyhus]

To finish out this thousand jackets , I pointed 500 using the 'Big Girl' die. This makes a .3086/.3088 bullet. The b-o will be in the .368-.372 range, depending on the jacket lot.

 

[J.J. Coe]

Here's how I know progress is being made....a nice lube path build up from bullets rolling down the spillway.

Into a clean J4 bucket labeled with pertinent poop. The lube is left on until it's time to use 'em and they they get a quick acetone rinse.

Hey Al, how about room temperature? Do you notice a difference with how the lube acts when it's cooler vs warmer? Is this something you track?

 

[AlNyhus]

Hey Al, how about room temperature? Do you notice a difference with how the lube acts when it's cooler vs warmer? Is this something you track?

Where I make bullets is 70-72 degrees years 'round so it's probably not a good example. I do warm up the dies for a minute or so with a small hair dryer before starting. It's 8 degrees here today and everything is covered with some icy sleet. Good time to make extra ejectors.

J.J., your bullet making efforts and skills have yielded some impressive results!!

Good shootin' -Al