Author Topic: Update (Read 1909 times)

Rick Teal · « **on:** November 29, 2002, 09:08:21 AM »

I've been sitting back, waiting for someone else to post here, but I guess I'll have to try to get the ball rolling myself.

Maybe this would be a good time for each of us to update the others on how things have been going with our bullet making endeavours.

I didn't shoot anything with my bullets (or anyone else's) this year :cry: , so I don't have any more results to add to the lightning kills of the two deer I shot with them in the two previous seasons.

I carried my Whelen for moose, and used a 220 grain bonded version of my bullet loaded to 2645 fps. (I've made some 245 grainers, but wanted to see how 220's worked first.)

For deer, I carried 220 grain standard core bullets in my .358 loaded to 2318 fps. This is the same load I used on my doe last year, and it was probably the most impressive bullet performance I'd ever seen. The deer was hit so hard she seemed to "fold away" from the point of impact.

My backup for deer was my .35 Remington with 200 grain standard cores loaded to 2056 fps. It only got into the field for a couple of days, but I was hoping for bang/flop performance similar to what I got from the 197 grainers I used in my .358 2 years ago.

I guess I'll have to wait another year to get some more actual on-game results.

I'm still waiting for my first shipment of .35 calibre jackets from Butch Hairfield so I can do some testing with bullets made from them. I hope he gets his equipment up-and-running soon.

Anyone else?

talon · « **Reply #1 on:** December 03, 2002, 07:14:40 AM »

Apparently I'm having problems using my ID of talon and had to use "talon1" to post as a guest. Perhaps it's because I use different ISPs from time to time. I had problems signing on to this new format several weeks ago and maybe my input didn't take.

Rick Teal · « **Reply #2 on:** December 10, 2002, 12:38:20 PM »

Advocate:

You can do almost anything with the right equipment. The Corbin website is an excellent source of info (www.corbins.com) as is the series of books he sells. His brother at www.rceco.com also has a lot of info on line.

Corbin sells a core bonding flux you can use to make bonded bullets, and he has a procedure for making a partition-type bullet - this entails the insertion of a smaller jacketed core backwards in the base of a bullet.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult (and - when possible - expensive) to obtain commercial jackets over .30 calibre, so Corbin sells kits to make jackets out of tubing. This results in thick (though soft due to annealing) copper jackets. Butch Hairfield who I mention in my initial post is starting up a jacket business, and offers .35 calibre jackets in 3 thicknesses .030 (similar to tubing jacket thickness), .018 and another that I can't recall right now, but it is thinner than .018.

If you use different thicknesses of jackets, you will need additional core seating punches. Possibly you may need additional core swaging dies and punches, and you may have to use different wire diameters.

Rick

Rick Teal · « **Reply #3 on:** December 12, 2002, 08:09:32 AM »

Advocate:

My father was a bolt man (he'd had an autoloader blow-up on him when I was less than a year old), and got me started hunting with one when I was young. I hunt the thick stuff in Ontario, and here, a still hunter can lose up to 75% of his shots to unseen intervening brush.

Many times I would watch an animal get away while I was working the action (after a lost shot). Finally, during my short lived magnum days, I wounded the buck of a lifetime that got out of sight while I was working my mauser action.

As soon as I got the money, I bought an autoloader (to my father's horror), and haven't worried about follow-up shots (when needed) since. I now use levers and pumps, but still long for the confidence I felt using an auto.

Rick

bulletmaker · « **Reply #4 on:** December 19, 2002, 02:09:47 AM »

I'm glad to find a forum on swaging. I've been at it for about 2 years, but the last 6 months my equipment has been in storage due to a move.
Haven't been able to hunt with my bullets yet, but the the 375 tubing bullet out of my Ruger #1 will group under an inch at 100 yards.
I also make 30 cal and a 38 HB WC.
Anyone had any success with Corbins Base guard bullets?

Donna · « **Reply #5 on:** December 19, 2002, 05:03:03 PM »

Hello

I put together a lot of base guard 45's for a friend to check out a long with what I call my LadyHawk bullets. One friend said they shredded a phone book while his factory bullets just put a hole in is. I guess that’s good, specially the next time he’s ever attacked by a phone book. My .451 caliber bullets are of my own design, with a large hollow point .3 inches deep and half as wide as the bullet is round. It comes up to a truncated conical about .3 tenths of an inch with an assume hexagon hollow point and a saber-toothed cut at the corner of each hexagon, looks mighty mean.