copper tubing

[Mike 50]

Hello to all,

I am new to the forum and scoping things out. I am a long time bullet swager. I am trying to fing a source for 5/16 copper tubing type L for .308 jackets in straight sticks lengths. Please help. Thanks folks
Mike

[ANeat]

Mike if you get a chance sometime I would be interested in knowing how you do the 308's

Im a soon to be beginner/swager and hoping to try some 308's


I havent looked myself but have you tried Mcmaster Carr for the tubing??

[Mike 50]

Dear ANeat

I haven't tried Mcmaster-Carr yet. Hmm, but what the heck. I'll check it out. What would you like to know about .308 swaging it is fairly easy. The hardest part is getting started for the first time.

[ANeat]

Here is one place... dont know if its a good price or not.

http://plumbing.hardwarestore.com/52...ng-632354.aspx

[Mike 50]

ANeat

the soft copper will do it sort of. But you are much better off if you use staight tubing in stick of 10 or 20 feet in length and cut it to length with a small chop saw for the job. It should also be type L for the best result that has to do with the wall thickness ( 0.035). When use that and solder the core to the jacket. ( very cool) and then load it in a 300 Win mag. Watch out

Mike

[phil218b]

You might try a local HVAC company they use copper in odd sizes for line sets for heat pumps and refridgeration lines.

[Acronn]

Just a thought, perhaps you could freeze the more common 1/4" copper tubing into 5/16.. It happens naturally up here every winter if there is water in the tubing.

[rbt50]

i get all my copper tubing from mcmaster carr they carry all the sizes you need for bullet swaging.
i never been able to find the right size in hardware stores or pumbling stores.

[mac0083]

I'm in the HVAC industry and we use 5/16 and 1/4 all the time. The local HVAC supply warehouse carries these in soft copper Rolls and hard copper straight Pipes. Actually, i don't think i've seen the straight pipes in that small diameter, but they'll definitely have the tubing rolls. You can roll the tubing out in nearly straight lines and take the curve out very easily, but i think it might be too soft? What do you guys think, is the roll a bit softer/ too soft for making jackets?

When you're up and running, you have to post pics so we can see how the jackets turn out. Good Luck!

[Bill*]

McMaster-Carr shows their 5/16 copper tubing ships as "coil", even in the 10' lengths. Dont know where else to look for straight lengths!

[fj3fury]

I know 5/16" l copper is non-existent in plumbing applications. You can prolly make a mandrill to straighten roll tubing in smaller lengths though.

[Red River Rick]

Soft copper tubing will not work, well. One end must be swaged to form the base of the jacket, and due to fact that coiled copper tubing is too soft, it will not support itself in the jacket forming die. You'll end up with all sorts of problems.

Hard rigid copper tubing works the best for making jackets.

RRR

[mac0083]

If I understand correctly, the harder the Lead, then the less lead fouling in the barrel. The softest copper is still going to be harder than the hardest lead! So there shouldn't be a copper fouling problem.
But as for the soft copper not being strong enough to form well in the jacket die is something i just dont know about. If i had the press and dies in front of me, I'd go for it and see what happens.

[MIBULLETS]

I have used both soft coiled and hard tubing. The hard does form a little better but is harder on my press. The finished jacket will also end up softer with coiled tubing which I like since I don't have anything other than a torch to anneal them, so currently I am using the 3/8" refridgeration tubing. It is a little harder than soft type L but softer than hard type L and it comes shrink wrapped with the ends plugged to keep it clean at the local Home Depot. I think I payed $16.50 for 20 ft a month ago.

[mac0083]

Thanks MIBULLETS, I am also thinking that soft copper jackets might expand better on impact, but that is not really my concern. I just want great looking ammo that doesn't foul my bore. May I ask, what swage press are you using and what brand name are your dies? I am really interested in Swaging and honestly considering it. Are you making full jackets/ hollow points/ or lead tips?

[MIBULLETS]

I am using a Corbin CSP-1 S-Press with an old set of Corbin 35 cal M-dies. I got the dies during Corbin's Christmas specials. I would rather have the S-dies, but for the price I couldn't resist. I normally make 225 gr lead tips, but have made open tips as well.

[bohica2xo]

Copper & copper alloys work harden. If you want a copper part harder, push it around more.

Drawing .375 copper tube down for .308 jackets should stiffen things up a bit. Reducing the wall thickness will help too.

Frank Hempstead made all of his jackets from coiled tubing. Every one I loaded had a .062 hole on the base showing lead. His .429 bullets were made from .500 tubing, and the jackets were great performers. Always engraved well, and never failed to take down a big hog if you placed the shot well. Frank sold those bullets for a long time.

B.

[JohnM]

MIBULLETS is right bohica2xo unless M/V is very low. I make 53gr 224 bullets out of rimfire cases and don't recommend firing them out any faster that 2800fps. I also recommend that they be coated to help stop fouling.

I’ve looked at making copper jackets. Copper tubing was decided against because it was too soft. Work hardening it too much just makes it brittle!

We are looking at sheet copper. Our thinking is perhaps trying a roller type die….

John

[schutzen]

You list your location as SE MO; try Guy Gray Supply Paducah KY 270-554-4206 or Cape Electrical Supply in Cape Girardea MO. (they handle HVAC supplies).

[bohica2xo]

MIBULLETS is right bohica2xo unless M/V is very low. I make 53gr 224 bullets out of rimfire cases and don't recommend firing them out any faster that 2800fps. I also recommend that they be coated to help stop fouling.

I’ve looked at making copper jackets. Copper tubing was decided against because it was too soft. Work hardening it too much just makes it brittle!

We are looking at sheet copper. Our thinking is perhaps trying a roller type die….

John

Huh?

"right" about what? That refrigeration tube is softer than type L sticks? Of course it is.

Anybody with any sense knows the rimfire jackets are too thin for high velocities. We are discussing copper tubing in this thread.

Who said anything about work hardening to full hard - or beyond? Annealing during processing is just part of making jackets. The order of operations determines the final jacket hardness.

Making jackets from sheet can work harden copper just as much as reducing tubing - it is all copper. Draw them from sheet, or draw them from tube. Two different processes, with the same general result.

Tubing jackets exist because there are dies for the manual presses to make them. It is well documented method, and requires a certain hardness to get the best results from a particular die design. For some dies it may be necessary to reduce & work harden material before forming the base. Some dies may need a wall thickness reduction as well, if you plan to use tubing not as specified by the die maker.

B.