Are these RF Jacketed bullets safe to shoot?

[pertnear]

I just got through swaging about 400 .22RF jacketed 55gr bullets - my first batch! My quality control inspection rejected about 40 bullets, almost all from Federal cases. Are these safe to shoot? Could they come apart in the barrel? The air? I'm thinking plinkers for an open-sighted AR(?) Any thoughts or what do you do with these or do you never get any? Hate to just trash them!
http://i62.tinypic.com/350th6o.jpg

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

Choot 'em!! Choot 'em!!

Folded noses, dimples on the ogive, and rough noses will not damage you gun.

I have found that when I point form, if I use a steady, slow pace as I raise the ram I get my best results. Consistency is the key with swaging.

Other than that it looks like you got the hang of it. Dimples are probably from a bit too much lube. More experience will teach you how much lube is the right amount. I basically get two fingers lightly lubed and roll the bullet in my fingers a bit before point forming. I then apply more lube to my fingers when it runs thin.

[xman777]

Yes, Fire at Will. Just don't let him know that he'll be shot at. I measure my lube to about 2.5-3 gr of lube per 1000 jwords. That's all it takes to keep the dimples away.
I tumble lube the bullets in a rotary tumbler
If you want to get real fancy, I have a hoover tipping die and meplat trimmer. That'll fix up the rough opening and increase the BC of the bullet.

[danthman114]

i didnt think anyone made these anymore. how much was the tooling if you dont mind me asking? great skill if shtf for trade. you wont be winning any matches but it could get some food on your plate...

[tiger762]

What ICH is spot on. As long as they are 0.224" diameter, you're fine. We all get the folded nose and dimples. You can sometimes even feel the exact moment when the nose is folding. It'll be like a "crunch" sort of feel. Hard to explain to someone who's never done it. It's as if the resistance on the handle has a sudden change in resistance. Slowly building to the point the metal yields, then a sudden drop in resistance. Very subtle. Anyway, you've correctly noticed that these are almost always with Federals. All is not lost, however. Just don't try to point up the Federals as sharp as CCI/Rem/Others.

The dimples are definitely due to the hydraulic / incompressible nature of swage lube. The pressure tried to squeeze the lube, and the thin metal behind the lube is where the failure occurred.

I believe the "blowing up in flight" is a bit of an old wives' tale. The theory is that the bullet is spinning at 4000 times a second and balloon's out under centrifugal force. A thicker jacket supposedly will contain the force better BUT a thicker jacket is heavier (per unit area) and has more force to contain.

I don't worry about it. You'll be fine with yours, even if they might experience more nutation in flight.

[MUSTANG]

i didnt think anyone made these anymore. how much was the tooling if you dont mind me asking? great skill if shtf for trade. you wont be winning any matches but it could get some food on your plate...

Danthman114:

1st: Welcome to the forum. I note you joined a little over a month ago. You should get quite an education as you read both the Boolit and Bullet portions of the forum.

2nd: Do not limit yourself to recent posts. The search engine is your friend to locate a vast amount of wisdom that has been accumulated in posts over the years. A lot of good information that is overlooked by those looking at the immediate postings instead of searching the older threads.

3rd: Swaging is what this series of threads is all about. Many of the members posting here are building their own swage dies, but there are multiple opportunities for those like myself who do not have the machine shop, equipment, nor skills to be a machinist. Making your own is at a much higher level than ever before. Some opportunities to further educate yourself and even order your own Swage Dies, but be prepared for a wait when you order:

BTSniper in this forum (many posts, an example: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?124157-BT-Sniper-22-cal-swage-dies!)

Corbins - http://www.corbins.com/corbin.htm

The other Corbin brother: http://rceco.com/

Another list (repetitive on some)
http://algunjunkie.webs.com/Downloads/Bullet%20Swaging%20Die%20Makers%203-21-2012.pdf

[ARKANSAS PACKRAT]

I had nose folds, better annealing got mine to go away, the softer cases did not fold.
Not rushing the point form process seems to help also, slower steadier pressure.

[fredj338]

The dimpled ones will be fine. The folded nose ones may not make it to the target, depending on vel & twist rate. I had a couple that just disappeared from a decent 1 1/2" group.

[pertnear]

...you wont be winning any matches but it could get some food on your plate...
This is my first attempt at shooting some of my RF bullets. This is an un-tuned load that I just picked out of the loading manual for initial testing. No, this won't win any matches but I've shot many premium bullets that don't shoot this good. I'm tickled & got the bug now!
http://i61.tinypic.com/2d6ofp.jpg

[anotherred]

Thats some really nice shooting for just getting started.

[smilin jack]

What ICH is spot on. As long as they are 0.224" diameter, you're fine.

We all get the folded nose and dimples.

You've correctly noticed that these are almost always with Federals.



Hi, I'm Dave. I haven't swaged any boolits but have loaded and fired many "seconds" that my hunting partner makes.
I have also noticed the WW Super X and Federals are often folded. The Remington brass has no noticeable defects but may have the hollow point tip a little crooked. He gives me 55g slugs so I load and shoot them. They seem to shoot as good as his "premium" slugs.
He was casting the cores with a self built mold using soft lead for several years. Now he's made a swaging die to make lead wire from cast round ingots that are about 1" diameter and 5" long. He uses stainless pipe that is polished inside for the molds.
His lead wire die fits in a 30 ton press that has an air powered bottle jack for power. The wire feeds out the bottom into a bucket and coils up. This die is a about 10" long piece of 3" shaft stock from his work recycle bin. The bottom has a threaded hole for bolts that are thru drilled to several different wire sizes so he can gear up for other calibers.
He made a little sheer that cuts the wire to length. He got the ideas for these tools after we toured the Nosler factory in Bend Oregon. He just made smaller versions to work in his garage.
I give him scrap roof lead flashing when my other friend hands some over.
We figured out the Lee factory crimp die for 223 really helps to get smaller groups.
I'm using a Ruger 77 youth model and he's using a couple AR's he's built. Long range jack rabbit hunting is fun.

I'm using Rx7 at about 20 grains with the 55g slugs. He's using Varget but don't know the amount.

Dave