Does anyone make their own bullets?

[CSACANNONEER]

What about the weight difference? A factory .223 bullet is lead with a copper jacket. Making a solid bullet out of copper will be really light compared to the lead bullet.

Not really, they are just longer. Barnes has been doing this since the 1970's.

[Fjold]

GS Custom makes quality lathe turned bullets.

The original Nosler Partitions were all lathe turned when they first came out.

[dw1784]

Wow. A lot of info but I think some points are being missed. I have free time so I am not conserned about that. I am not looking into AP bullets, my friend mentioned that should it prove to be AP I may have legal issues. I was looking at lead casting but have heard it may foul up the barrel faster so I started thinking of alternatives. I have a machinist background so I know my way around a lathe. I can buy a yard of 5/16" brass stock for less than $3 online. I have the measuring equipment to get it within .0005".
It sounds like there is something that I am missing about the tollerances though. I am just thinking about making some plinking ammo in small quantities. 100-200 a month. Maybe I should ask - Where can I read about what it takes to manufacture a bullet and what materials (alloys of brass ie hardness, zinc, brass, lead or other metal contents) are needed?

first off 2/10 is really hard. Even a Walter cnc tool grinder have a hardtime holding that deadnut on a production level. When a customer request that kinda tolerance, they have to pay for it

as a contrarian by nature, I say GO FOR IT!
try it and find out for yourself.

I have lots of carbide sludge and cut off remnents and when I tried to make shotgun ammo and slugs with it, people poo-poo'd my ideas(since the sludge is actually various carbides and diamonds from grinding wheels). I tried it and made it work. People say I can't reload Wolf steel cases. Well, I tried it and it worked flawlessly in my Mini. Granted, I didn't reload it multiple times, and I chose to shoot it in a mini for multiple reasons. I just had to try it for myself.

as for mtl info, if you don't have your machinary handbook(you should get one if you don't already), you can always look for asme/sme online references. If you choose bronze, there's sintered alloys and self-lube variety. Chk the hardness and see if it's good4u. You don't necessarily have to machine it. A hole in block of steel and a 20ton press will work too. You can form it by cold/hot forging or use it as a mold to pour lead around the bronze.

if there's a will, there's a way. Have fun and be safe

[D.R.E.]

Very cool.


Great pointers and rundown...

Here's a couple local ones.

http://www.precisionswiss.net/

http://www.crosswindmachining.com/

I know a guy in Sunnyvale with a couple Hemburg lathes that will hold ~50 millionths on production parts. I've seen these machines used to turn optical lenses that are ready to go right off the machine with no polishing or grinding. The same guy has a few Studer cylindrical grinders that will hold about the same. A good CNC lathe will hold .0002" with a good operator, care, and good measuring equipment. There's a number of guys locally making parts for air bearings that are finished to flatness within fractions of a wave of light.

There's a lot of very high precision machining capability around here, some of the best in the world. The US may not be the powerhouse of manufacturing any more, but many of those who are left have adapted to survive by being the high tech leaders. That means having the best equipment and operators around.

Anyway, in SoCal machining is a little cheaper, but don't for a second think any of these guys are going to make you bullets any where near as cheap as you can buy them!

[freakshow10mm]

Like this?

Also note the licensing as a manufacturer requirements for bullet making for sale to others.