Using fire cases as bullet jackets.

[crazy]

I have been reading about this and watching videos on youtube and find this very intriguing. When time are good and bullets just flow out of the tap for mere pennies, this seems like a lot of work. But when you don't want to touch what you have stored for fear of no replacement, it may not be a bad way to load ammo. I know that you can use 9mm for a .40 cal bullet. A .40 cal for .45 acp and so on. It is something I might try. The one thing that I am concerned about is what it will do to your barrel. I tried to look up whether brass was harder that copper online but all the answer I see are from a used car salesman. It is a non-answer answer.

I understand that if I anneal the brass, it will make it softer. Does anyone know the temperature that is needed. I have mucho brass and mucho mucho lead. So this might be a fun project. I will post a .40 cal case slid into a .44 mag case for reference.

[bohoki]

powdercoating cast lead seems much more easy

rimfire cases to 223 sounds like a neat idea though

[Bumslie]

Seeing the cost of equipment, it would take a long time for return on investment.

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[JackEllis]

I tried to look up whether brass was harder that copper online but all the answer I see are from a used car salesman. It is a non-answer answer.

Do a search on "hardness of common metals". The first hit leads you to this link.

Steel is harder as one would expect for no other reason than brass is used for jags because it's unlikely to harm the inside of a barrel.

I'm guessing your experiment would be both fun and interesting, but f I wanted to do something like that, it would be with a firearm I didn't care about. I'm also guessing one of the problems with brass jackets is they will not engage the rifling the same way lead and copper do, which means they're probably not going to be terribly accurate because they won't be spinning (fast enough) when they exit the muzzle.

[tabascoz28]

powdercoating cast lead seems much more easy

rimfire cases to 223 sounds like a neat idea though

I've never tried powder coating, but yes, I'd try that first before trying some kind of brass jacket procedure.

[the86d]

Fill them with hot glue, to prevent used-primer blowout, and weigh them?

A .380 case in 9mm MIGHT make .380 brass worth a crap? NOPE .374m, not .355-.356...
BUT what if they were SWAGED? Hmmmmm...

[MARKFP]

OP, you caught my interest here. If I'm understanding you, you are using brass cases for bullets. If you were able to pour a measured amount of lead into case it would stop spent primer blow out. I mess around with wad cutter loads for fun. Could be a good experiment. Can you post links to articles you read.
Mark

[Sky_DiveR]

Once you swage/cast lead into the annealed case the used primer won't blow out. Anneal cases at 1200 for ~30min. or so depending on size and quantity.

It does take along time if ever, for a return on investment but usually those that do this really aren't in it to save money.

[Sky_DiveR]

http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/

AKA Swaging

Not for the faint of heart or light of pocketbook

[Cowboy T]

During the Obama-era ammo drought, this idea was discussed on the now-defunct Ammosmith.com Web site as well. It is possible, and yeah, it's kind of a cool idea that does work. But now we have powder-coating, which is much easier and considerably less expensive, so I would go that way if I needed to "jacket" my cast bullets.

Even .223/5.56 is questionable now, because as we've learned, if .223/5.56 dries up, so will .22LR. That means no .22LR cases to swage to make the .223 bullets. Ouch.

[choprzrul]

https://www.swiftbullets.com

Scroll down their home page to "About Us" section:

Back in 1982, Swift started out making component bullets in Quinter, Kansas, using C&H dies in a loading press. The rifle bullets were made from 22 rimfire hulls with Corbin tools.

By the way.....I submitted a question to Swift regarding jump to rifling. The next day, Bill Hober (CEO) himself called me to discuss. Wow....

.

[slamfire1]

I think Speer started out taking 22lr jackets and making bullets

Here is someone selling equipment to take 22lr jackets to make 22 and 6mm bullets

http://www.corbins.com/kit-224.htm

Centerfire rounds of all types have very solid case heads and I would be worried about damage to barrels. Barrels are soft steels, not heat treated. Jamming a hard brass device down the bore, don't know what is going to happen/

[sofbak]

^^^From Corbin's FAQ at the link tou posted:

"Rimfire jackets are only about .010-.012 inches thick, made of 70% copper and 30% zinc. Most commercial jackets are around .018-.022 inches thick, and are made of 5% to 10% zinc with the balance copper. These two facts lower the friction of the rimfire jacket, so that it is actually easier on the barrel than a commercial jacket. Zinc lowers the co-efficient of friction, and the thin jacket engraves easier by the rifling."

[crazy]

Thank you for all the input. I had a post typed out last night but poof, it is now in space.

Anywho, I know any topic will have naysayers, but this is a valid option. If you feel it is not for you, no problem. I know tons of range brass goes to the scraper. It just seem that it can be repurposed for making jackets. I have watched some videos about powder coating also. That seems like another option I will look into.

The website that Sky Divr posted is one that I have gotten some ideas for. As to MARKFP's questions for me, I have not done any of this yet. I was putting out there to calguns because my search did not turn up what I was looking for. I remember what it was like during previous ammo panic turmoils. I don't want to go on gunbroker and get into some crazy bidding war. We have all heard the saying(I hope I don't screw this up), "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." How'd I do?

I want to feel like this when I go to the range,




not like this,




That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

[Cowboy T]

Not so much being a naysayer as pointing out that there's now an easier way to get similar results. The idea is sound. Before we learned about powder-coating, swaging an annealed shell around a lead core was indeed the "best" way to get a "jacketed" bullet. This was and is especially important for ranges that didn't and don't allow cast bullets. If we didn't have powder-coating, then yep, the swaging method would still be our best way.