Today was windy and wet, so I spent most of the afternoon making some 60 gr. bullets. These are made from 22 LR cases. I did up 500, but the RF cases were already made into jackets, so that sped up the process. All I had to do was seat the cores and point them up.

With them made, I just weigh and sort. I pkg them 200 to a box, in plastic bags, and label them.

59 3gr. to 59.7 gr,
59.8 gr. to 60.2 gr. and
60.3 to 60.7 gr.

Most are 59.8 to 60.2, but slight differences in the core weights and/or the jacket account for differences in the total weight. For the math junkies, the weight difference is held to less than 1%.

For this batch, the weights broke down as follows:

418 were 59.8 to 60.2 gr.
36 were 59.3 to 59.7 gr.
46 were 60.3 to 60.7 gr.

...

(left) tumbled bullets, just prior to weighing -- (right) cores inserted into jackets, just prior to seating them.

That’s pretty neat for sure. Wondering what is involved to tool up for a certain caliber and weight. This is something I might be interested in doing?

Steve, what is the lead composition?

You can read about the process here. There are varying levels of expense when making bullets. Like other hobbies, I suppose.

http://303british.com/id79.html

I use pure lead for my bullets, Dan. I forget what the max BH of lead is that you can use in bullet dies, but its not much. 8 maybe.

Dang! A new Vernon Speer..... LOL! Happy Trails

It ensures that I always have bullets and the designs are what I want.

Bullet making, Pts 1 and 2.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...lets-are-made-with-pix-pt-1#Post13586886

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...lets-are-made-with-pix-pt-2#Post13586929

bump

More 65 grainers made from rimfire cases.

Thanks Steve, I figured it would be soft but wasn't certain.

How does the brass jacket hold up compared to copper jackets, speed-wise?

The jackets made from rimfire cases are thinner and not as strong as regular bullets jackets. The general consensus is that bullets made from rf cases shouldn't be fired at more than 3200 fps. This is especially true with faster twist barrels. They can spin apart.

I make 60 and 65 grain bullets from rimfire cases. They aren't good for the 220 Swift or the 22-250 unless they are loaded down a bit. For the 222, 223 and 225 Win though, they are great. I have several rifles in these calibers, and all will shoot .75 inch, or a bit less, at 100 yd.

Vernon Speer and Joyce Hornady started their companies using spent 22 rimfire cases as bullet jackets. WWII made it almost impossible to get the supplies needed to make cases, but Speer realized that his bullet jackets were lying all over the ground at the range. Hornady worked for Speer for a while, so there's no doubt that he learned a few things there.

I also buy Berger J4 jackets. They are also good for varmint bullets. The picture below is a 66 gr. home made bullet with J4 jackets. The cartridge is a 225 Win.

I have never suffered from bullet shortages because the tools to produce 224 bullets, and other diameters, are in my workshop.



This is the bench where my bullets are made.

I guess I'm the only Cdn bulletmaker on this board.