Economical Copper Tube Jacket making (224)

[-Mischief]

Who has available, the most economical, wallet friendly, quality tools and dies to make jackets from copper tubing? I already dropped BT and I know he makes some great stuff....just curious to know who everyone would recommend.

[Prospector Howard]

Economical and copper tube don't go together in my mind. Free .22 rimfire jackets and economical makes sense. If you add up what you'd spend per jacket with copper tubing, you might as well just buy bulk 55's.

[-Mischief]

Let me specify..by economical I mean the best bang for the buck in DIES to make copper jaclets. I want to start with 224 as I already everything else to swage the bullets from start to finish. I'm not trying to make economical bullets. You are correct about the 22LR brass as jackets. I do that already. I want to start working on making nice jackets to make some nice bullets. I've got 40 years of future to to get my monies worth out of my equipment.:D So, just to clarify, I'm looking for the best dies for the money. $200 vs $300 but they have the same end product so buy so and so's for $200. That type of thing.

[Zymurgy50]

With what you would spend on copper tubing, and having to use soft tubing to boot (I currently know of no readily available hard drawn tubing in a suitable diameter to swage up to .224) you would be better off buying premium hunting or target bullets.


I can make jackets for 45 pistol or rifle with 1/2" type L hard drawn copper. 20' would cost +/- $20. at .750" long with a 6" stub left over (jaws on the automatic screw machine have to hold something), not considering saw kerf nets me 312 jackets. for a cost of 6.41Cents per jacket (not counting paying the ASM guys). I have shot 250gn bullets made with the cu tube jackets and at 1200fps these DO NOT expand.
Richard Corbin currently offers J4 jackets at +/- $60/thousand and I dont have to pre-form, anneal, draw down, and flatten the base to use the J4 jackets. With the added bonus of having expanding projectiles if I so choose.
Or I can buy 40S&W cases at $35/thousand and anneal and use as they are for 300gn bullets, or cut down and use for 250gn bullets.

[-Mischief]

I look at it this way...I have, like most people, hobbies. Most of these hobbies cost money and you never really get anything out of them other than enjoyment from what you are doing. (ie. golf) I look at this as a hobby that can give a little back. What happens when all ammunition is band by the government? I want mine!
I am already working with BT on the dies to make 40 cal and 45 cal from spent brass. I currently have over 9000 pieces of 40S&W and over 13000 pieces of 9mm brass. I hope to eventually be able to make ammo for any firearm I own.
So again, I'm just wondering who makes their own jackets from something other than 22LR brass. Even if it's for a 257, 30cal, 6mm, etc. and what/who's dies do you use?.....and what is the cost of them?

[Wolftracker]

I make tubing jackets for .375 and .338 with Corbin dies and 3/8" tubing, also from Corbin, as I haven't found a good local source. This is very good equipment for the job. I can make acceptable bullets with it but wouldn't call them match grade by any means. Good enough for hunting at responsible distances. Tubing for something as small as 22 caliber might be a problem but you may be able to reduce a basic 1/4" jacket in a couple of steps to make an extremely thick walled 22, I don't know but you likely won't produce the accuracy of drawn jackets IMO. I do know you can make Tubing jackets for .257 on up, I have some 1/4" tubing for that but don't have the rounding die or punches yet. Cost for an H style jacket maker set (rounding die and punches) is $659 and you'd need the Corbin press for that style, plus maybe a jacket reducer or two and a core seat die for the jacket caliber you are making. This is also available in the smaller S style. Another option may be to lathe them from solid stock. That way, you can take on a second hobby!

[Cane_man]

i make my own jackets for 7mm and 30cal using 9mm range brass, draw it all the way down to .280! I am my own die maker, cost is probably about $100 worth of materials.

[aaronraad]

I'm thinking drawing tube down Fred Barnes style...1 x towbar(attached to neighbours Oldsmobile/D10/Massey Ferguson) + 1 x draw plate + 1 x length of tube, a clear path, a bit of traction, and a heavy right foot.

and to close the end...something like a tube spinner http://www.t-drill.com/tmp_t-drill-usa_site_13.asp?sua=2&lang=9&s=250 but a drill press and bench-vice could probably do the same job, if you can get the RPM. Maybe add a little heat to get the party started with a propane torch.

Just the YouTube hit alone of the video should be enough to cover the costs of the tooling, maybe not the damage and hospital bill.You did specify the most economical, not the least risky?

I must admit though, I'm still completely lost when you used 'quality', 'jackets', and 'copper tubing' in the one sentence.[smilie=b:

[kawalekm]

Here's a link to a you tube video of a guy making bullets from brass tubing. He's making 40 caliber bullets, but his techique can give you ideas on how to do it easily with CH dies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8LDGMTA5WE

Basicly, you cut the tubing to the approximate bullet length you want, you insert a core into the tubing, and you SLIGHTLY seat the core inside the tubing with a punch the freely moves inside the jacket. The tubing gets pushed up to the top of the die, and the core gets wedged (not fully seated) into that top end.

You then eject the slightly seated core/jacket and turn it upside down so the open mouth is facing up. You slightly taper the mouth of the case inwards. I've done this with the concave core-seat die in my CH sets. Once tapered, you turn the core/jacket around again and run it fully up into the core-seat die so that the tapered end butts up against the base punch. Pressure will flatten the tapered edge down flat to make the base of the bullet. You then invert the fully seated core into the point forming die to complete the making of the bullet.

[bullet maker 57]

I make jackets in .224 as well as other calibers.

[-Mischief]

bullet maker 57 - Where in NY are you? Do you make them for yourself or for resale? Any methods or techniques you'd care to share?