Another Bullet Making Thread (lots of photos & video)

making everything yourself is really the way to go if you're just making your own bullets. The time and energy saved by getting cores from charlie hood is tremendous if you make a lot of bullets. "bullet count wise", it may actually be cost effective but i don't know....somebody knows if they will post.
i made my own core cutter with a old washing machine motor an old water pump pulley 14 inch 1 inch on motor bought a v belt clamped cutter in small vice hoocked it buffer stand on to buffer stand hooked cutter to other end of buffer stand cuts 140 strokes a minute when i make cores at 26 minute.
 
step 6 - lubing the jackets

the jackets are first cleaned with acetone. For the record, i’m using hines tactical 0.820”s from bart sauter. They’re very high quality with respect to concentricity and composition. I’m told the gilding metal’s properties are as critical, if not more important than wall uniformity. Of course the latter is still needed for top precision. To date i’ve been shooting bart’s 68 gr ultra fb and they’re killer. No surprise i’m buying jackets from him for my home spun 67’s.

I decided to run my bullets in batches of 500. Two jars are filled with that quantity and acetone is poured to the top of the jacket line. The jar is gently rolled by hand for two minutes and drained. All 1,000 are spread out to dry.





prior to core seating the jackets are lubed. Many concoctions will do such as anhydrous lanolin mixed with vasoline, neatsfoot oil, or castor oil. A 5:1 ratio seems common. However george ulrich prefers straight anhyrdrous lanolin and he sent me a few ounces to try.



if you’re wondering about the source of lanolin it’s natural. Sebaceous glands of wool-bearing animals like sheep secrete it.

The lanolin is carefully weighed and smeared on the walls of a mason jar. Consistency is a must here. Not only do you want to use a minimal amount for the job, the weights should be identical batch-to-batch. First we tare the electronic scale with a piece of wax paper.



a small, and i repeat small dab of lanolin is added with a knife. I’m aiming for 2.0 grs so this is heavy by a ½ grain.



with a knife i’ll cut a little off the top until i hit 2.0 grs. The lanolin is then smeared inside the jar by hand. Be certain there are no visible globs on the glass. A jacket’s edge could grab this solid mass and get inside. We only want it on the outside of the jacket. Once applied, the jar looks hazy with no signs of yellow. 500 jackets are poured into the two and separately placed in my rock tumbler.





the jars are tumbled for 30 minutes a piece. Here’s some video of that step:


using plastic tweezers i place them in my trays. Dedicated bullet boards are faster and save a lot of time when dropping cores. I almost made one from delrin on my bridgeport but these .22 ammo boxes work well. Each holds 100 and they’re only $35 for ten.





-lee
www.singleactions.com
the new shaker boards i made lets you put 1000 jackets and 1ooo leads in the boards in 30 minutes saves time then lay jackets on lightly treated cloth and coreseat.. Then 3 drops of laoli and neatfooton inside of zip lock 400 jackets heat 30 seconds with hair dryer then spinj for 30 minutes and point.;
 
the new shaker boards i made lets you put 1000 jackets and 1ooo leads in the boards in 30 minutes saves time then lay jackets on lightly treated cloth and coreseat.. Then 3 drops of laoli and neatfooton inside of zip lock 400 jackets heat 30 seconds with hair dryer then spinj for 30 minutes and point.;
now or later.
 
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