Alternate Core Materials

[Valornor]

Just curious to see what other people have tried in terms of core materials. Has anyone had experience using powdered metals such as tin, copper, lead or tungsten?

I've play around with powdered tin/copper core awhile back in .308. Wasn't able to get it to group well but I think that's more due to me using too much seating pressure rather then a flaw in the materials them selves. I've heard that's what Barnes uses in their varmint Grenade and RRLP bullets, so I was trying to replicate that.

[uncle dino]

I've had the best luck with lead bird shot swaged into jacket shot as far as accuracy. I have not done it in anything smaller than 45 though. D

[clodhopper]

Barnes does say that the core of varmit grenade bullets is powdered tin. I have seen what a mess they make of ground squirrels. The ricochet potential is very low and powdered tin cores are useful.
Hope you can get them to work and look forward to reading about your process to make them.

I have done some casual research in alternate bullet core materials as a cost saving measure and nothing comes close to lead for it's weight, formability, and cost. All, well know facts from generations back.
Just in case anybody is trying to go cheap, clay would be very formable, and inexpensive, but I really do not was to give up the mass.

[mckenziedrums]

I believe David corbin has quite a bit of information available on powdered cores... There was a thread a few months ago here discussing powdered tungsten for instance.

[DukeInFlorida]

Trying to find powdered metals is tough. Scientific supply sites are a way to get them. BUT... wow are they expensive..... Wayy too rich for my blood.

Also, keep in mind that the ATF has a clear definition as to what constitutes legal bullets, vs illegal. I am not going to lecture on that subject. I suggest that before venturing too deeply into that arena, you revisit the ATF definitions.

For my uses, I'll stick with lead cores. Cheap, readily available, and shoots everything that I am aiming at.

[Wolftracker]

Bismuth might be an option, powdered or in shot form. The shot is fairly heavy but hard to mash and I'm toying with the idea of mixing plastic buffering into it, just to see what happens. I've played around a little with powdered copper. It's very messy if you don't have equipment like David Corbin sells--the funnel and long punch used to get enough powder swaged into the jacket to get sufficient weight. I gave up on it for fear of scratching my dies. At some point, I'd like to try lathing pure copper or brass bullets. Also an expensive proposition!

[rmatchell]

I have a decent amount of powdered nickel that I haven't tried yet. Im kinda nervous about using the powder in my dies

I could probably be talked into trading for some.

[DukeInFlorida]

Robert, nickel is softer than the steel in your dies. Nickel plated brass is very reloadable, with or without carbide dies. However, someone in a previous post wanted to use powdered carbide as core material. Thats very hard and abrasive, and i saw that as a recipe for disaster

[rmatchell]

Robert, nickel is softer than the steel in your dies.


Im just paranoid about doing it.

[rickv100]

British 303 bullets used aluminum,wood, wood pulp or plastic in the tip at various points in production. The goal was to move the center of balance back further in the bullet.

Is that the goal with the powder metal?

[Reverend Al]

Years ago Lapua offered a lightweight .308 diameter HP bullet for reduced loads in .308 Winchester (primarily). From memory it only weighed about 73 grains, but was about the length of a standard 150 grain HP target bullet. They used an aluminum core to reduce the total weight of the bullet, but kept the longer jacket. I think I still have a few of them stashed away in my bullet inventory. If I can find them I'll post a photo ...

[Valornor]

ATF's regulations concerning bullet construction are pretty vague. About the most detailed explanation of what is or isn't allowed is outlined in what the ATF defines as armor piercing. Who ever came up with that definition is a special one. Frangible ammunition is specifically exempted, which if your making bullets with a powdered core, it's likely a frangible round.

The biggest hurdle of that is the phrase "if the bullet may be chambered in a handgun" in this case that's what has killed a lot of brass solid bullets. Also the definition of brass isn't defined. Since it's an alloy of zinc and copper, at what point is it brass? Is 5 or 10 percent gilding copper brass since it is technically a copper/zinc alloy. If it was the GMX bullets and other gilding copper monolithics are suddenly illegal. You might be running afoul of this law if you are using spent brass as jackets, or if you are using copper tubing as a jacket. If the jacket weight is greater then 25% of the total weight of the bullet, and it is intended to be used in a handgun, then it's considered armor piercing.

Powdered tungsten cores have been used in bullets before, if you looks at Barnes MCX, that had a powdered tungsten core. It was legal, they stopped making it because of production costs and really it didn't consistently hit the performance criteria.

So while there is laws that govern the production of bullets, they are centered on what is defined as armor piercing. On a side note Corbin's tips are steel. I don't know what kind of steel but I do know I shot a bowling ball within 100 yards with my .338LM, using a bullet I made and his tip and I was very impressed by how well that tip stayed together. A tip is not a core, however the ATF doesn't specifically define what the core of the bullet is, and I have seen some fairly large tips that are seated deep in to the bullet core.

I have toyed with the idea of using poly balls, Airsoft BB's or even .177 copper washed steel BB's to adjust center of gravity or to initiate expansion at low velocities. Especially when building bullets for subsonic rifle calibers like 300 BO and 338 Specter.