Steel bullet dies?

Al Nyhus said:
Here's my 2 cents worth on it.

To start with, there's no way I'd allow myself to be at the mercy of import/export laws to participate in a hobby that I enjoy. Period. That's the hard headed German in me. ;) If I was in Canada, that would mean making my own bullets.

With a 7 ogive , the options of using either the .925" or 1.00" are both open. And I don't like not having options. The BIB 118 1.00" 10 ogive bullets shoot like the Hammers Of Hell and have a base to ogive in the .325 range. My 7 ogive 1.00" 117's have a base to ogive in the .370 range. A few taps on the calculator tells us the base to ogive on a 10 ogive .925" jacket is going to get pretty short. How short is too short? Darned if I know as I've never been there. Randy could offer some guidance there.

Steel or carbide? That's a question only you can answer. I'm a believer in starting at the start on things...start with your budget since that's the 900 lb. gorilla in the room. Since great bullets can be made with either, drop everything else in order after that...availability, availability of replacement parts/pieces, delivery time, support, etc.

Other than occasionally working with Randy's dies when I'm at his place, my practical knowledge of working with carbide dies just brings the needle slightly off the '0' mark on the scale.

If you go with the Blackmon setup, I'd be happy to offer whatever help I can.

Is your 30BR up and running?

Good shootin'. -Al
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Its getting the final inletting and bedding done now.
 
TrxR said:
Its getting the final inletting and bedding done now.
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I would start with an available, known-quantity bullet (the BIB or the Berger 115) and get a base line. Then, get your hands on some bullets made in the dies you're interested in. See how they shoot for you against the known-good base line. If they measure up, you can confidently order your die set up.

Good shootin' -Al
 
Al Nyhus said:
I would start with an available, known-quantity bullet (the BIB or the Berger 115) and get a base line. Then, get your hands on some bullets made in the dies you're interested in. See how they shoot for you against the known-good base line. If they measure up, you can confidently order your die set up.

Good shootin' -Al
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I can get some BiB's from a fellow shooter, Not sure which ones yet. I would have to find out which ones he has. I think they are the 118gr but not sure which ogive. Berger's shouldn't be too bad to get. Ive got 50 Sample bullets from Stinger Ballistics from here in Canada to try as well. They are a 115gr 7.5 ogive on a .925 jacket. They are the only bullet maker that I know of left in Canada so trying bullets from different dies isn't all that easy :(

I probably should have bought a set of 10 ogive dies that George Ulrich had last year but I was a little short of cash at the time.

Thanks
 
Good advice from Al: "With a 7 ogive , the options of using either the .925" or 1.00" are both open. And I don't like not having options. The BIB 118 1.00" 10 ogive bullets shoot like the Hammers Of Hell and have a base to ogive in the .325 range. My 7 ogive 1.00" 117's have a base to ogive in the .370 range. A few taps on the calculator tells us the base to ogive on a 10 ogive .925" jacket is going to get pretty short. How short is too short? Darned if I know as I've never been there. Randy could offer some guidance there."

For thirty Cal. bullets based upon the .925" long jacket, especially in combination with the typical 1.5 degree leade angle, I would not want a longer nose than produced via 8 caliber tangent ogive/.0625" me'plat (K-O pin) diameter.

Via a Sinclair comparator, bullets based on the .925" long jacket, pointed with my Niemi 7 ogive typically feature a 0.360" long cylinder/shank - that is 0.030" LONGER than the Niemi 10 ogive die makes using 1.00" long jackets. While all of our numbers are simply reference points, these length represent LONG-TERM base-lines/targets.

Seated to just contact the lands in a ZERO free-bore, 1.75 Deg (1 Deg, 45 Min.) leade angle chamber, the base of a 7 ogive/.925" jacketed bullet will be about 1/2 way between the NK/shoulder junction and case mouth, or, roughly, 0.160" into the neck. With equal land contact, a 10 ogive bullet, based upon the 1.00" long jackets, will intrude about 0.030" less, or, "a fat 1/8" below the case-mouth. Some people are unable to, "get their head around this" . . . I like the extra space for more powder.;)

Trust me, in combination with .925" jackets, you would not be happy with a tangent 10 ogive . . . and probably, not even a 9!:eek: Don't ask how I know . . . Oh, the shallower 1.5 deg. angle moves the bullet [even further] AWAY from the bolt-face . . . Good shootin'! RG
 
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Randy, when I looked at your 10 ogive I thought the same thing for a .925. so I moved radius forward .060 which worked out perfect for .925's I think from memory it gave a .330 straight shank....
 
Though neither as professional, nor, organized as Al Nyhus, earlier this week, in preparation for a tournament, this weekend, I made time to tune a George Myer built 30x44 Hunter Class rifle, featuring a Lilja 1:17" twist barrel. This rifle was originally built by George for my PAL, Tom, then sold to Tim G., then, to me . . . I'm a sucker for nostalgic ties . . .

I broke out a keg of OLD military surplus H-322 and began at a powder charge weight from a far gone era - upon opening, the oder and appearance, are, "just like new"!:eek: All , except bottom center, are three-shot [100 yd.] groups (prior to those five, barrel was 'cleaned'). Via the slightly <10Lb. Hunter Rifle/6X Burris scope, this was scanning for vertical . . and a little wind cutting . . . inner area 1.0" diameter - red ring width , .375". The initial group was first three shots following swapping the barrel, thus the initial 3-shots printing HIGH.

The shooting sequence - I hope - is noted in Roman numerals (well, except for the IV:eek:): the intent is to display how typically difficult it is to tune ten ogive bullets . . .:p The 40.0 Gr. charge repeated fairly well - failing to park bullets in the 10-ring will amount to pilot error. Of note, that OLD School reamer features about 0.030" of free-bore - the seated bullet base barely abuts the powder column. :D RG

P.S. The 112-10 ogive are, "left-overs" from a bunch I made in 2016, for Ralph Stewart and Mike Stinnett - a pair of wayward Texans . . . I "found" the bullets stashed in, "an obvious, but safe place" . . . oh, based upon the 1.00" jacket. :p
 

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R.G. Robinett said:
....the intent is to display how typically difficult it is to tune ten ogive bullets . . .:p The 40.0 Gr. charge repeated fairly well - failing to park bullets in the 10-ring will amount to pilot error. Of note, that OLD School reamer features about 0.030" of free-bore - the seated bullet base barely abuts the powder column. :D RG

P.S. The 112-10 ogive are, "left-overs" from a bunch I made in 2016, fro Ralph Stewart and Mike Stennett - a pair of wayward texans . . . I "found the bullets stashed in, "an obvious, but safe place" . . . oh, based upon the 1.00" jacket. :p
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Now that's just crazy talk:eek:, buddy.

Six year old bullets, 10 ogive, powder that hasn't been made since Jesus visited Omaha* and moly coated, to boot!

It'll never work! :cool: -Al

* Made me think of this ZZ Top song...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7zpc0bKB6M
 
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