Custom made BR bullets 6mm

J

Jim Gartrell

Guest
Question about custom made 6mm short range BR bullets by custom bullet makers. I really don't want to start a war about who's bullet is better but am asking why their bullet is better.

Is it fair to assume that all custom bullet makers use J4 jackets? And is it also fair to assume that all custom bullet makers buy their bullet making dies from the limited number of custom die makers?

If that is the case my question is if bullet maker "A" is using J4 jackets and dies from die maker "D" why are his bullet better? different from bullet maker "B" who uses J4 jackets and dies from die maker "D"? This is taking into consideration that they both use the same ogive and overall die design.

Like I said, not trying to start a war just looking to understand the differences.

Thanks, Jim
 
1. Different lot of jackets.
2. Different lot of lead (probably least important)
3. Procedure

Not all custom bullet makers are using J4's. Most do. Sierra has started selling jackets again.

Hovis
 
Rumor i am hearing, is that the J4 jackets going around at the moment, have some issues? I wouldn't know personally. The last batch of current, custom made bullets i got, were made on sierra jackets. They shoot fantastic! Lee
 
Jim. Yes. Yes. And Yes.
The big thing is trying to get Custom BR Bullets. When you buy them. Try to get as many as you can afford. Buying 1K at a time was very frustrating. You would spend too much time and Money trying to tune your rifle.

Jackets vary from lot to lot.
Lead varies. There are a million ways to make bullet lead.
The dies can be carbide or steel. And there is wear and tear on the dies. Even carbide wears out.
And the procedures, air quality(temp and humidity), mood of the bullet maker, knowledge of bullet making(some bullet makers may not recognize a problem), wear and tear of the presses, set up of the dies, lube(can be different. lot to lot.), etc.

And yes. I make bullets. Learned from a Master Bullet maker. Tools made by a Master Machinist. BUT, only my 2nd winter making bullets.
But, still the hard part is getting them to shoot. My smallest groups last weekend was .202/100 y. and .396/200y. :)
But, the conditions were tough. And the competitors were even tougher.
Joe K. shot a .165" @ 200.
 
I don't know of any issues as of yet with J4 jackets Thye last ones i bought January this year , were excellent.
Some makers are switching to Sierra jackets, for their own reasons. Both jackets are excellent Sierra jackets are a bit thinner , Both are very uniform. Maybe it's the lack of a small discount from J4 or something of that nature.
I know Sierra has a different marketing aproach. As for me i'll stick with the J4 for now and hope that in the future the jacket prices may come down or some kind of discount is offered to us small guys.
 
Most custom bullet makers have good tooling (dies), use good components (jackets and cores) and have the skills to produce a quality finished product.

You can't really say which bullet(s) are best. It's which bullet(s) shoots the best in your barrel.

Good shootin'. :) -Al
 
So basically it comes down to the usual suspects. Human element, attention to detail and what bullet just won the last big match. Perhaps in this my first full year of BR shootin I should keep my earplugs in far enough so they almost touch and watch.

Thanks, Jim
 
Jim.
Your human element, would be the person touching the trigger.
Whatever happened at the last big Tournament, is gone. Done.
Every time you touch the trigger. The range has changed. The rifle has changed. The barrel is different. The person touching the trigger is different.
Go to the Super Shoot. Every time you sit down. You are on a different range. Because we change benches after each target. :)
 
Jim,
If you like I can bring some of the bullets I had purchased when I had dreams of a switch barrel 30br/6ppc rifle and stuck to the 30br. I have some bruno OO's and some barts ultras. You are welcome to them as I won't be seriously shooting a ppc for a while. If I do get a barrel I have plenty of other 6mm's laying around and I don't see my range time opening up to allow serious testing of another caliber for a while.
Mike
 
Al Nyhus said:
Most custom bullet makers have good tooling (dies), use good components (jackets and cores) and have the skills to produce a quality finished product.

You can't really say which bullet(s) are best. It's which bullet(s) shoots the best in your barrel.

Good shootin'. :) -Al
Click to expand...

I'm goin' with Al on this one.
 
Hi Mike,

You know where to find me, so if you want to drag them along I'll grab some Grant's.

Zippy, as far as the Super Shoot, I've been to several in Ohio when I shot x-course and long range, I understand completely what you mean about the "human element". Different venue but it's the same

Thanks, Jim
 
There is one thing that really isn't discussed on here about bullets. They are kind of like rimfire ammo....lots mean A LOT !!!

Hovis
 
HovisKM said:
There is one thing that really isn't discussed on here about bullets. They are kind of like rimfire ammo....lots mean A LOT !!!

Hovis
Click to expand...

In my limited BR experience no truer words have been spoken regarding custom bullets.............
 
i'm new to this site and enjoy the topics and info. i'm a varmint /target shooter and have been using benchrest shooting techniques for both and have been buying custom 22 cal and 6mm bullets from several makers and have noticed one significant difference from the bulk producers...QUALITY!! measuring base to ogive on many name brand bullets is almost comical. the variation is sometimes so significant that you can hold two bullets side by side and they look like a secant and tangent ogive! "replacement" bullets from a a major bullet maker promised 3 months ago are still not delivered. custom bullet makers are truly nice people to deal with. measuring and weighing their bullets is deja vu all over again. guns that shot so so now bughole repeatedly. i'v also noted, to my initial surprise, the cost is VERY reasonable. most, if not all, custom makers are or were benchrest shooters and this is very important. thanks.
 
Bullet maker "A" places an order for 1000 jackets . Bullet maker "B" places an order for 20 000 jackets .
Who do you think will have the most pull with the manufacturer to get the best most concentric jackets available ?
Makers talk about how concentric it's jackets are and has it in print but they will not put that in a written guarantee to the customer or even verbally guarantee it at order time .
If you get good jackets you can make good bullets .
 
got "replacement" bullets and measured them...same problem..some are .035 thous different in base to ogive. i'll stay with customs.
 
That seems like a big variation . Maybe they are mixing bullets made on different transfer presses . They should try not to do that but I think it does happen. However one would think that they should be able to adjust the punch and die systems to a closer tolerance than that .
 
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