Factory procedure ??

[Bullseye93]

hi again ! :)

well... this question is a bit defferent from the previous ones but ... do you know how bullet factories make their cores ? i mean how do they get consisten core weights for match bullets (like the SMk for example) that vay as much as 0.1 grains ... I think they use a high speed pneumatic hammer (I think its called that way :P ) for many aplication but i dont really know how they do this step of the process ... do they use this tool ? or they use something similar at a lower speed ? or something totally different ?

I think they use something similar but at a low speed and they should run the cores twice to get that type of consistency ... but i dont really know

I ask because maybe there is a posiblity of buy one of this ... at a REALLY good price :D

thanks !

"Pneumatic hammer " here ... http://www.firmeproduse.ro/pictures/p1005/forginghammer1280831015.jpg

PS: excuse my english :)

[deltaenterprizes]

Too crude for fine work.

[secondshooter]

Just thinking out loud, maybe the select the match bullets after production, ie, weighing them and just taking the ones that conform to the spec they want, that way they can produce at the same speed as regular bullets, the law of averages say that some will be produced right on spec, you just have to find them?

[GRUMPA]

+1 on deltas comment. Having worked in machine shops all my life, as far as the cores go if I'm getting this right would be the lead that gets smashed into the copper jacket. All thats done with is CNC equipment. And they can go almost as fast as you want them too.

[MIBULLETS]

I guessed they used some fast automated machine like they do for their jackets. Production match bullets are pretty good, but not as good as you can make by hand.

Not to get off the topic of cores but, the biggest difference that Sierra and Hornady have between their standard bullets and match bullets are the jackets. They do use different alloys for some cores, but I'm guessing they make them all the same way.

[tomme boy]

They use a lead wire and it is cut to length for the weight. Not that hard to run a shear to cut to specific weight.

[ReloaderFred]

I've toured the Nosler plant twice and the Sierra plant once. The bullets and cores are made for the most part on punch presses.

When I toured the Sierra plant, when it was on Painter Ave. in Whittier, CA, the plant manager told me that they scoured the equipment auctions for old WW II punch presses that they usually picked up pretty cheap. They had two fulltime machinists who rebuilt the machines bought at auction and kept the ones on the production line in service. It was a private tour, with only my partner and me and the plant manager in 1979.

Nosler uses basically the same machines, but both companies have upgraded the feeding, etc. The cores at both Sierra and Nosler are made from lead wire that is alloyed to their specifications, cut into precise lengths and then swaged to the proper shape and weight. I have some samples of the Sierra cores in my collection, along with each step of the jacket forming process. My tours of the Nosler plant were in 2001 and 2007.

The jackets are made from strips of jacket material, again alloyed to each company's specifications, cut to a precise size and then drawn in several steps to form the jacket. The core is swaged into place in the final steps.

At both plants the inspection is done just prior to boxing by both weight and vision. The women at the inspection tables can spot an out of spec bullet in an instant, just like a good machinist can tell you within a couple thousandths the thickness of a piece of steel by looking at it, or feeling it.

The machine in the picture is a modern version of the old trip hammer that was common in some of the more modern blacksmith shops around the turn of the 20th Century. They're not very precise for this type of work, but sure come in handy for blacksmithing.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[MIBULLETS]

There was an article in a Shooting Times mag some time back that had pictures of Sierra's process. Shows pretty much what Fred describes. I remember some pictures showing the boattail pre-formed in the jacket and the core before they were swaged together. I had never seen that before. Wish I could find it now...

[ReloaderFred]

The sample core I have from Sierra is a boattail, and so is the jacket. They're a pretty close fit by the time they get to the final swaging. Nosler won't give out samples of the steps involved, and I think the only reason I got samples at Sierra was because it was a private tour.

Fred

[BT Sniper]

There was an article in a Shooting Times mag some time back that had pictures of Sierra's process. Shows pretty much what Fred describes. I remember some pictures showing the boattail pre-formed in the jacket and the core before they were swaged together. I had never seen that before. Wish I could find it now...

I saw the same artical a while back and also a pic of the Hornady .510 750 grain amax bullet steps. There was a lot of step to making that bullet and yes the core was swaged with the internial BT shape of the jacket. Pretty cool stuff.

BT