Author Topic: two things wrong with powder tungsten bullets. (Read 1100 times)

Donna · « **on:** December 14, 2003, 01:14:24 PM »

Hello Boys and Girls,

I have noticed two things with making my powdered tungsten bullets: first is that they do not like to form the rebated boattail nicely and second is the braking up of the powder when forming the ogive.

I have been thinking about this, behave your selves, I know you can smell smoke so can I, and one way is to swage a small amount of lead in the base to form up the rebated boattail and another very small piece of lead at the nose to hold the powder in a compressed form better and give the formation of the ogive some structural support.

This will decrease the overall mass density but you have to do what you can, :roll: even if you increase the mass density by 1.5 that is still significant and can win matches.

Donna :wink:

Grey Dog · « **Reply #1 on:** December 17, 2003, 02:00:02 PM »

So what you're saying is you'll perform 3 core seating operations? Under pressure the lead becomes quite fluid. How does the powdered tungsten act? What we need is a gold core at a lead price! GD

Donna · « **Reply #2 on:** December 17, 2003, 04:19:41 PM »

Metal does not become fluid under pressure along (without heat) but is will flow, it is still a solid like bending a piece of metal wire. The powder tungsten will embed itself into the lead or the lead will flow around and into the space not occupied by the tungsten particles but does not penetrate very far into the compressed tungsten powder. Tungsten powder that I use in an uncompressed form has about a mass density of 11.3 and will compress to a mass density of about 14.5.

Your right, we do need a gold core at a lead price. LOL

Donna

hubcap · « **Reply #3 on:** January 01, 2004, 05:33:09 PM »

Seems to me you'd have to work awful hard to not have concentricity (of weight, not shape--actually balance would be the better word) problems,

Donna · « **Reply #4 on:** January 01, 2004, 07:24:57 PM »

Why do you say that?

Donna

hubcap · « **Reply #5 on:** January 02, 2004, 07:50:35 PM »

cuz it'd be nearly impossible to get the 2 pieces of lead perfectly centered over the axis of the bullet.

hubcap · « **Reply #6 on:** January 02, 2004, 07:56:31 PM »

PS Check your dictionary. Metals DO become FLUID under adequate pressure even tho they are not in LIQUID form. :oops:

Donna · « **Reply #7 on:** January 03, 2004, 04:43:35 PM »

Actually it is quite easy, it centers itself under the pressure. The basic law of pressure states that in a confined space the force of pressure acts on all parts of the container equally. A solid metal is always a solid metal if there is no heat. By applying pressure only a solid metal can flow like a fluid but it will not be a liquid. We are not talking about laboratory conditions or theoretical pressures; were talking about the pressures involving in swaging of bullets, these pressures may be in the tons of pressures but no were near turning a solid metal into a liquid which would require tens of thousands of tons of pressure.

Donna