Brass casings molds?

[maximus]

I was just wondering is there any way that you culd make a mold to make no bullets but brass cases? like i need 7.62x54R brass but is very hard to find brass is not that hard to melt, a good torch shuld do the trick since the melting point is lower than gold.

[onondaga]

No, brass is made into cartridges by repeated steps of pressure stamping and annealing. Brass will not cast well at all into thin wall thickness needed for cartridges, but it is very malleable so forming and annealing does work well.

Gary

[runfiverun]

how would you harden the base and soften the neck of a casting?
cartridge brass has three or so different hardnesses along it's length.
and norma has 4-5 airc

[Texasflyboy]

I was just wondering is there any way that you culd make a mold to make no bullets but brass cases? like i need 7.62x54R brass but is very hard to find brass is not that hard to melt, a good torch shuld do the trick since the melting point is lower than gold.

In order from most likely to least likely if I were in your shoes I would:

A. Try to find Boxer Primed brass in 7.62x54R and reload using a good cast bullet.

or

B. Load Brass cased Berdan primed brass

then

C. Load Steel cased Berdan primed cases

In the past, I did manage to reload steel cases for one or two more firings before the necks split. Berdan primers are out there.

I would try A, B, or C before I ever got to the point of trying to forge or stamp my own 7.62x54R brass.

FWIW

[deltaenterprizes]

One of the large ammo component manufacturers, I think it was Speer made brass cases by machining brass rod during WWll when components were hard to aquire.
He did it manually but with modern CNC equipment it would be fairly easy but not cheap due to the large amount of waste generated.

[NoDakJak]

Rocky Mountain uses CNC to turn cases and will turn them to your specs. Neil

[bhn22]

Here's what you're up against:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/cartridge_case.htm

Brass cases are drawn, not cast, and require some sophisticated machining to produce. As R5R said the are sequentially hardened from one end of the case to the other.

[MtGun44]

The only way to harden brass is to deform it. This means that to get the head portion hard
enough to withstand firing pressures in a modern high powered rifle cartridge, it has to be
worked into shape. The exact amount of working is a critical part of the manufacturing process,
and the front portion of the case is less worked, so less hard and the neck/shoulder area is
heated to remove hardness (anneal).

If you cast a case it would be annealed everywhere (dead soft) and even if it was dimensionally
perfect, it would be dangerously weak. Forming from another caliber brass is the only practical
way for the amateur to make his own cases. Machining from brass bar stock has to start with
the correct hardness brass for the head, then anneal the middle and neck portions to
different hardnesses (softer).

Bill

[theperfessor]

+1 to what MtGun44 said.

[maximus]

Jesus! nvm too much science behind brass casings.

Thank you anyways.

[nanuk]

all the cartridge conversion books I have read pretty much rule out making your own EXCEPT for VERY LOW PRESSURE or BP loads, using the lathe and bar stock.

even then, many, (Most?) do not recommend the practice.

the cost benefit does not appear to be on your side if you cannot do the work yourself.
Spend your money on factory boxer primed brass cartridges. They are available

[Doc Highwall]

The only way to get the proper grain structure for brass cases is to draw the brass cups into the case shape with some annealing between steps. Machined brass will not have the proper grain structure no matter what you do to it and will only be good for a few very light loads.