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The copper cup simply repaced the grease grooves, making a nice half-jacket bullet.



I'm still optimizing the manufacturing process for consistancy. Preliminary results are promising with initial groups in the 6" range at 50yds. Hopefully the groups will get better as the uniformity from bullet to bullet improves with practice.



And the good news is: These bullets only cost me about .35 each, insted of $3.85 each for the Woodleigh bullets. However, I will say this, the Woodleigh bullets will be hard to match. My average groups using the Woodleighs, are averaging under 2" at 50yds, with several unter 1-1/2". If I can improvise my half-jacket bullets to shoot even double that ( 4" average ) I'll be happy. Plinking with 35 cent bullets will be very satisfying, even if the groups are bigger.

And, another factor driving this project is; I can't find any Woodleigh bullets for sale anywhere in the U.S. I bought the last ones and I'm told there won't be any more available until about July.

During my on-going testing, I discovered that the copper cups were a little loose on the cast bullets because the lead shrinks more than the copper when it cools. That might explain why I was getting 6" groups instead of 2" groups when I tested them yesterday.

Fortunately for me, my son-in-law is a Master Machinist. We spent a couple of hours in his shop today and he made me a pound die to "bump-up" my half-jacket bullets.

The pound die has a precision .700 hole drilled through it, into which you place the cast half-jacket bullet. Then you insert a .700 diameter nose punch, and give it a couple of raps with a 3 pound hammer. This compresses the bullet and expand the lead into the jacket. That eliminates all the looseness.

The results were GREAT! They shoot almost as good as the Woodleigh bullets.

Here is a picture of the pound-die with the nose punch. The die is kept heavy to keep if from sliding around when pounding.



The punch has the bullet shape ground into its end and fits snug in the .700 dia hole in the die. You insert the cast half-jaket bullet, strike 3 blows with a 3 pound hammer, and out pops a finished, sized, and shaped bullet with a tight copper jacket.