Swaging plated bullets?

[GarrettJ]

I've got an idea to try some of these Berry's .32 cal bullets and size them down to .308 to run through a Contender in .300 Whisper. I figure they will make a dandy subsonic round for rodent control. I was thinking I could try them in a Lee push-throgh die. If people do it with jacketed bullets, I didn't see an issue with a plated bullet. Berry's tend to have a pretty soft core anyway. But I thought I'd check to see if anyone has tried doing this, and how well did it work?

Berry's lists them as being discontinued, so I figured I'd get a couple thousand while they're available and I'd be set for years... if they work.

Thanks.

[runfiverun]

garret that's sizing not swaging.
swaging is up.
sizing is down.

[Nickle]

From what I know, "copper" jackets (usually gilding metal) tend to spring back slightly after sizing, unlike the lead in the core. You want to reduce the diameter probably more than prudent.

That said, you could size down some smaller than 308, then bump them back up to 308. That would solve that issue.

[Prospector Howard]

As far as I remember, Berry bullets are those ridiculous electroplated things. Trying to reduce them in a smaller sizer will probably scrape the thin copper coating right off of them.

[Nickle]

You know, this got me thinking.

I cast boolits for use in 7.62x38R and use those same boolits for making squib loads for 30 caliber rifles.

100 gr wadcutter (approximate weight). Yes, it's a lot of sizing, and yes, it almost certainly won't group well. But, it's probably more than good enough for rodents at short range, or for putting holes in paper (target practice) at 25 meters.

75664

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/246137/rcbs-2-cavity-bullet-mold-32-098-wc-32-caliber-314-diameter-98-grain-wadcutter

[MUSTANG]

GarrettJ:

I believe that sizing the Berry's .32 cal bullets to .308 will not pose a problem in theory. As to accuracy, only testing will tell.

1. The electroplating is only about .003 or so thick; so I do not foresee "Spring Back" as a problem when compared to a thickness of almost 10 times that, a nominal jacket thickness of about .03 for various jackets where spring back is a reality.

2. Possibility of scraping the plating off in sizing is reduced with correct lubes. Also, plating occurs at the molecular level if the recipient boolit is cleaned properly, further reducing the possibility of stripping the plating off. I have never used Berry's bullets, but know several shooters who vouch they are good for their needs as designed.

3. This site is about experimenting and seeking new solutions to old and current problems. Your postulation meets that criteria.

I would buy some and "Go Fer It". If it works in a smaller test, then lay in a store before they disappear. If they do not work, then use them in trade for other items. Best of luck.

Mustang

[DukeInFlorida]

I have produced some plated swaged bullets. Here's my take on them:
1) They didn't all fill out to the proper diameter when swaged.
2) The cannelure was more difficult to produce.
3) Because the cannelure wasn't as defined as it was for the brass jackets, the plated bullets were more difficult to crimp into.
4) The plated cases seemed to split more than the brass ones during the expansion step (prior to inserting the cores)
5) Where the plating is somewhat thin, as was previously mentioned, the plating process itself does impart some embrittlement (specifically called hydrogen enbrittlement), in the brass, which causes the brass to be more brittle. Possibly the cause of #4, above.
6) Nickle is harder than brass, but softer than the steel for any barrel. I wasn't really worried about any abrasiveness from the nickle. But the other factors, above, lead me to decide not to bother with the nickle plated cases.

THat's my 2 cents worth.

[GarrettJ]

The bullets sized very well with no issues. The plating did not rip, and does not appear to have any issues. According to my micrometer, they came out at a consistent .3085". (sized bullets on the left, unsized on the right)

76984

I tried loading them both ways, hollow base and hollow point.

I used a starting load of 4.0 gr. of Trailboss. This turned out to still be a little fast for these lightweight bullets. Shooting suppressed, I was still getting the occasional sonic crack. Velocities were around 1100 fps. As expected, expansion when shooting as a hollow point was violent. The front half of the bullet broke off into several pieces, leaving the base (roughly half the bullet length) intact.

76985

Unfortunately, accuracy was poor. At 100 yds, I was getting groups from the bench of around 1.5'. Moving up to 25 yds. you can see how it was doing. The 90 gr. Hornaday XTP load does much better. Not shown is the 220 gr. SMK, which does better still.

76986

[fredj338]

I've done this with 300gr 44mags to get a 0.423" bullet for my 404jeffery. I did it in two steps; 0.427" then down to 0.423" in Lee dies. They shoot 1.5MOA, which is good enough for plinking & it saves me about $1 a bullet to feed that big rifle.