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Making Bullets - Q & A with those that know
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Mike Marcelli
1. What makes a bullet benchrest quality?
Consistency.
2. What equipment is needed to make benchrest quality bullets and where can I get the equipment?
Niemi for carbide. Blackmon for steel. I also have an excellent Speedy die, but they are difficult to find. I've not used anyone else's dies, so I cannot comment on them. You should avoid buying used dies unless you can verify, with samples, that they make bullets that shoot to BR standards.
3. What are the essential techniques for producing benchrest quality bullets?
There are a number of factors that make a bullet BR quality. I would rank clean components as the biggest factor. I clean with methylene chloride. I used to be a synthetic organic research chemist, so I know a lot about commercial solvents. Methylene chloride is the only non-regulated commercial solvent that will clean the lube off of jackets and cores and not leave a polyolefin film. Leave any other solvent to evaporate in a glass. At the end of the day, you'll see an oily film in the glass. Methylene chloride, on the other hand, will either leave no film, or a fine white powder (dissolved silicates) which can mechanically lock the jacket and cores together. (Of course, the down side is that methylene chloride is a known carcinogen). All components should be cleaned twice to assure that all traces of lube are eliminated.
(editor’s note – Do NOT use methylene chloride if you don’t have the training needed to handle, store, and dispose of it properly. Besides yourself, you are also potentially exposing your family and others to the chemicals you use. Read the label and treat all solvents with the proper care.)
The second most important factor is that the bullet maker establishes a protocol to assure consistency. Consistent lube. Consistent core seating pressure. Consistent point up procedure.
I use a mixture of 50:50 vaseline:lanoline for jacket lube. I make batches of 1200 bullets. I use 1 gr. of lube per 1200 jackets. I weigh the lube on a piece of wax paper -- a trick I was taught by Speedy. I tumble the jackets inside a clean dry J-4 bucket, inside a Thumler's tumbler barrel. The tumbling time is dependent on the temperature, colder temperatures require longer tumbling.
Consistent core seating. One key factor is determining the proper core seat punch. I try to select a punch that allows a minimal amount of lead to leak around the punch during the core seating operation. If everything is matched properly, one should see a thin, width of 2-3 hairs, uniform line around the outside of the jacket at the lead line. The line should be faint, not bright. If too much lead sneaks around the punch, the line will get wider and less distinct. If the punch is too tight, the line will become wider and shiny. Neither of these situations is acceptable because the jackets can fail at the lead line and this is bad juju for accuracy.
Once the die is set up, the bullet maker must strive for consistency. The core seating pressure must be the same. If it fluctuates, bullet dimensions will change. If a core seats easier or harder than the average core, it must be culled. I have a large reject ratio. That's why I start with 1200 cores to make 1000 bullets.
Consistent point up. I try to center the seated core on the point up punch. I do this by raising the core partially into the die, then letting it fall back onto the center of the punch before ramming it home. This eliminates the situation where a core is partially unsupported during the point up process and eliminates "banana bullets" -- bullets where the ogive of the unsupported side of the bullet is greater than the supported side.
Mike
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Comments
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Comment #1
(Posted by Bill Townsley)
I have lead squeezing out one side when coreing and have not had this problem before. Can anyone provide me with some ideas or feedback to solve the prolbem Thanks in advance for your help....Bill
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Comment #2
(Posted by Bill Townsley)
I have lead squeezing out one side when coreing and have not had this problem before. Can anyone provide me with some ideas or feedback to solve the prolbem Thanks in advance for your help....Bill
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Comment #3
(Posted by bill brawand)
bill you may have punch off center try leaving it loose core seat then tighten
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Comment #4
(Posted by Bob)
Hello, good site
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Comment #5
(Posted by E. Weinsteiger)
Out of curiosity, is it possible when making bullets to get lead poisoning? Thanks, great site.
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Comment #6
(Posted by pts)
Has anyone ever tried cryogenically stress relieving match bullets?
Results?
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Comment #7
(Posted by John Dumas)
When Bryan talks about teadiousness in bullet making he isn't foolin, I recently dove into bullet making an really never realized how mundain it can get at times, especially with all the cleaning an re-cleaning that is involved, but to make benchrest quality bullets I quess that th's what it takes. I think that if your gonna make your own bullets you've got to make it fun.
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Comment #8
(Posted by Adrian)
I am 30 years old and looking to make bullets for my gun hobby. Is there anyone with a step by step list to get started?
Very serious about this......
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Comment #9
(Posted by Lee Whiteley)
This is excellent information from a variety of guys who know their stuff. Keeps the new guys from making alot of mistakes and provides a guide to start making your own bullets.
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Comment #10
(Posted by Gabriel J)
what machine do you guys use ??
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