using pistol brass for a .308 jacket

[acemedic13]

Anybody use pistol (or rifle) brass to make a jacket for 30 cal. bullet?? I saw some really cool bullets made into 44 cal. from 40 s&w cases. Got me thinking if it could be done for 30 cal also. I wanna make a 168 gr. bullet for a 308 rifle. I dont really care if it is a up in the 180's or down in the 150's. I just want to be able to use available material to swage decent ammo. Thanks. Joel

[Bullshop]

Maybe FN 57

[onceabull]

Ace: somewhere out there floating in internet land is info.on making "plinking" wadcutters for 375.Cal rifles using 380 pistol brass..don't recall ever seeing anyting re .308..but concept is viable..Onceabull

[acemedic13]

I have been looking for that info you left for me, onceabull.I can't seem to find it. I will continue with this little quest. It seems like a worth while venture. Thanks. Joel

[Red River Rick]

25 ACP brass will work.

RRR

[acemedic13]

Thanks for the info rick. I am going to do a little research and then get this moving forward.

[wiljen]

could a 22 mag casing not be expanded to create 30s? I would think they would be more plentiful and alot cheaper than 25 acp brass as a starting point.

[acemedic13]

I dont know wil.......I am still in the question asking phase. Will they?? If you have any links or info i would really appreciate it. Joel

[clodhopper]

Like bullshop says check out the F-N 5.7 brass. Fired cases I have measured are about .318. It has a slightly rebated rim which could cause trouble. At my local range enough are left lying around to keep a M1A happy.

[onceabull]

acemedic13: In a thread titled "'Copper jackets" started here 3/07, your concept is discussed at some length.. On 3/15/07 ,a post by "trk" talks of using EMPTY 380 cases in 375 H&H..I have a post in the thread with esentially the same info prev.posted here,so must have seen the original source before then,and not necessarily on this forum...May well have been something from Ed Harris on the CBA site, or @ Paco Kelly's "leverguns"..good luck.. Onceabull

[acemedic13]

Thanks for the info onceabull, I am going to go check it out now.

[TylerR]

I am interested in this project as well. I am trying to find a way to produce jacketed .308 and .223 bullets that wont cost me thousands of dollars. Corbins dies look sweet, but I really cant afford $900 to start making jacketed .223. For the same money I could buy over 10,000 jacketed bullets from Wideners.

[shooterg]

Larry Blackmon's press and 3 die swaging set was $520 last flyer I had. At $10/100 and a LOT of your time, 5200 55gr. .224 bullets would about break you even. I was lucky and found a Corbin press used and bought Blackmon dies. I need to make about 4000 more to break even and I'm sure the dies will get me that far ! My biggest shortage right now is .22 LR casings for jackets- somebody at the local range started emptying the brass buckets of everything, but I pick 'em up when I shoot 'em now - hate to think of the 10's of thousands I've left behind...hoping to get some .30 dies this year.

[bohica2xo]

FN 5.7 brass works well for 30 cal jackets - if you take the right steps.

Anneal first. Then taper expand the neck to remove the shoulder - this can be as big as .330, you still need to size the jacket.

A final push through a die (head first!) will size the "jacket" down to fit in standard bullet dies.

Jackets made from cases have some of the attributes of high end bullets. Tapered walls, solid base. A 5.7 case comes out about 1.14 long, and may need trimming depending on the bullet weight you desire.

B.

[TylerR]

Any more word on this? Does anyone sell dies to do this?

[elk hunter]

I don't know that anyone sells dies to make 30 caliber jackets from 5.7, but I doubt it as the 5.7 appears to be a fairly new round and there has to be time for demand for something before it appears on the market. I'm sure one of the die makers would be happy to make you a set.

I wish there were more 5.7 shooters in my area as I would sure look at making bullets out of the brass. I've been trying to find some 30 carbine ammo that is berdan primed to make 9.6 bullets out of, that way I wouldn't keep hording them for my carbine.

There are several cases that can be used for jackets, one that I use that I haven't heard mentioned is the 30-30 to make .416 400 grain practice bullets. I use them for practice and wouldn't be too afraid to use them on thin skinned nondangerous game.

[rockrat]

When I get around to taking some pics I will give a longer report, but I took my 38-72 to the range today to try out some bullets made from 9mm luger cases. Some not too bad groups and a couple of suprises mixed in. Bullets were .380 in dia. as that is the groove dia of the NEF barrel.

[azrednek]

Years ago at a gunshow I saw 30 cal bullets that were swaged with shortened 30 Carbine brass. The seller also had various 22 cal bullets made from 22LR cases.

[BT Sniper]

Elk hunter,

Good looking bullets. Can't tell from the pic but what happened to the rim.

[elk hunter]

BT;

A brief explination of what we do.

We cut the case to length, 1.635", and then turn the rim off to .413 diameter. Next we anneal it and push it through a ring size die to take the body to .413, next we drop in two .357 diameter 148 grain soft cast wadcutter bullets and then heat the jacket until the lead melts, clean them, lube them and put them in the point forming die which bumps them up to .416. We don't shoot a lot of them but a couple hundred a year really saves on the reloading budget when factory bullets can be up to several dollars each. In the Rigby with 95 grains of 4831 behind them they make a good practice bullet and shoot very well.

We also just made some 486 grain .475 diameter bullets from a 45 ACP case and a cast bullet for the 45-70. The brass becomes a half jacket and the lead doesn't touch the bore. We're waiting for the weather to improve so we can go shoot these in the Ruger #1 470 Nitro and see what they do.

Hope this was informative and useful.:confused:

[BT Sniper]

Awesome.

You melt the lead. I have tryied this in the 40S&W case but the core was to tight and formed airpockets which popped when heated. Your cores must fit loose or have you experienced anything like this.

I have some 30-30 cases with no gun to shoot them in I can send them your way if you like. Maybe 30 or so. NSP64 sent me some 30 carbine for a project of mine with nothing requested in return. May be a nice way for me to "pay it foward" if you want them.

Centrel Oregon huh? I grew up in LaGrande and probably been around your way. Nice Elk in the pics. This is a great hobby for this time of year around here durning the rain and snow.

good shooting,

[elk hunter]

BT;

Yes, we melt the lead in the jacket, so far it hasn't been a problem. We at first tried to use flux to bond the core to the jacket, that did cause them to burp lead, so we just went without as they really are just practice bullets. I've given some thought to making a special dipper to pour precise amounts of melted lead into different jackets but haven't gotten that far.

As for the 30-30 cases I have a five gallon pail about half full, so I'll pass for now, but I do appreciate the thought.:)

It looks like you're an Auto Mag shooter. If so and it's a 44 I have a handfull of brand new factory brass. If you ever get to the East side of the mountains, you know the sunny, dry, right side, I'm in Bend, Look me up and I'll give you the brass as I have no use for it.

Regards