Cutting jackets made easy

[BT Sniper]

Hey guys,

Took a break from busy schedule and put together a jig of some sorts to cut my jackets for .429 bullets from 30-06 brass. It worked incredibly well and was very fast. I was able to maintain within +or- .005 on cut length easily and probably a lot better.

I must say the Harbor Freight Mini Chop Saw for $20 has been a must have for me in this hobby. Have made several thousand cuts now.

So I took the saw off of it's base and remounted it backwards. Then mounted the whole thing to a wooden rail that I borrowed from my fishing pole making jig. The rail is secured to my table and by loosing the 2 screws I am able to adjust the length of cut on my jackets easily and pretty precisely too. The case trimmer is sucured to the table as well and is parell to the rail. It holds the 30-06 case secure and square to the cutting blade.

When I got a rhythm I was able to make a cut just about every 6 seconds, maybe faster. Did the math and was able to cut almost 1K worth of jackets in a little over an hour.

Also pictured was the bullets I made from these jackets. I'll start a new thread for those.

Good shooting,

BT

[ETG]

I must have got a bad saw. I got it to cut 1/4" x 1/2" aluminum and it would stop no matter how easy I tried to cut or lube! I returned it. I may have to try another one and see if it was just a bad saw.

[BT Sniper]

Tubes or solid aluminum? It is not a strong tool by any means but for cuting thin tubbing it has worked very good for me.

[MIBULLETS]

I have used one of these for cutting my copper tubing for jackets. I made a stop for adjusting cut length by mounting a little bracket on and putting a bolt and jam nut on it. It works OK, but the blades seem to dull quickly and I could use a little more power. I have purchased some blades from MSC tool and they didn't seem much better.

ETG, did you find a better option for the aluminum?

[ETG]

Yeah, but a lot of waste. I use the same blade I use for 3/4"x 3" aluminum bar stock - a 10" x 40 tooth TIN coated carbide tipped blade I got from HF (it's really for wood not metal). Sucks because I want a 3/4" piece and waste at least a 1/4" cutting it!!!

[BT Sniper]

Had some intrest come up again on this subject so I reposted the pics. Basicly a movable board with the chop saw mounted to it and the case trimmer securly mounted to the table. I'm able to maintain .01 or better with it in cut lengths.

Still using it today and has made atleast a few thousand cuts.

Good shooting

BT

[yuthh]

BT
Great idea.This is what I need to know.By the way I making .40 cal out of 9mm brass(Thanks Kawalekm and Freakshow10mm for helpful information).Thanks again for the pics
Yuth

[BT Sniper]

Depending on the final weight you want to make in 40 cal you may not need to trim the 9mm brass.

If the brass is good and soft it will make 180 grains just fine with out any triming. I have even done so while skipping the core seating step. Used a .355 2R 125 grain cast boolit for a core.

Give it a try see what happens.

Good shooting

BT

[bullet maker]

Hey Bt sniper
What type of blade do you use on the saw, and how long does it last?. Do you use any oil while making the cuts?

[TAWILDCATT]

glad to see your using the mini saw.I thought no one was interested.
cutting alum you should use wax. we used johnsons stick wax made for just that purpose.oil is messy.I have been using it for converting cases to another cartridge.

[BT Sniper]

2" blades I have got from harbor freight. Have had friends tell me they are the same thing as jewelers saws. I do try and use a lube of some sort on the blade. Found somthing a while back at home depo. A stick of some sort of wax suposed to make better and easier kits in metal. Depending on how thick the brass is (mill vs. commercial brass) one blade may last me 500-1K worth of cuts if I'm lucky. They still cut afterwords just slower. This may be on the high side as I have gone threw probably 8-10 blades.

It has become one of those tools that I just could not live without when it comes to making jakets from scrap brass or triming the long necks after forming say 6.5x55 from 30-06 brass. It really makes it easy for me to cut my 44 AMP brass from 30-06 cases and can be pretty tight on tolerance too.

Hope this helps.

BT

[sisiphunter]

Hi BT and all......I am new to this site but really enjoy it.

anyway, this is a great topic and I've been kicking this idea of using brass casing for bullets recently, just never bothered doing it...anyway, brass is harder than copper I believe, so does shooting a brass jacket bullet cause excessive or premature wear to your barrel??? How about fouling in the rifling???(worse or better than copper)

Thanks for the great site and threads, I've learned alot already and barely looked through the site...

Edit::: I am using the 40 S&W and 30-06 brass for .429 (44mag) in a marlin rifle
Matt.

[BT Sniper]

There is a commercial operation out of Montana making brass jacket bullets. Montana gold bullets I think is the name. Discussion has been brought up reguarding brass vs. guilding metal (copper jackets) and from what I got out of it they are both made from same material, copper and zink with brass having 30% zink and guilding metal 5%.

Fouling, premature wear........... I have asked the same question and from what I have got back in reply and experienced myself so far no difference.

Good luck with making bullets. It can be frustrating at times I have found. The rewards are greater though.


BT Sniper

[sisiphunter]

Yeah I really enjoy the make it yourself idea....I have been reloading and (on a different note) tying flies for fishing for years now and love the feeling of catching a fish on a fly pattern I designed, so I'm excited about the casting and shooting my animals with my own bullets......Do you anneal the brass at all??? I've heard of folks baking the brass for a while for the 22's will this soften the brass??? how hot and how long???

Sorry for all of the questions :)

[BT Sniper]

Yep have to anneal it. Boy there is a lot to learn and it seems I did most of it the hard way, tryle and error.

I found the best way for me to anneal a lot of brass was in a stainless steel sink colender in a gutted out gas BBQ grill. Make sure they slightly glow then dump in cold water.

I too tye flys, make fishing pools, build RC airplanes and anything else I can think of. It took me 2 years to catch my first fish on my home made flies.

[sisiphunter]

Well I lucked out a little earlier on the flies then you I'd say.....I did live in Bozeman, MT for a bit where the trout were plenty though, so I guess the odds were a bit better :) Now I live in Saskatchewan, so no trout around here really, but the pike sure are fun...

Is there any prescribed temp or time for the annealing???? Will my oven work or will it stink up the house or ruin the oven or something???

I am very new to this but what will this annealing do??? just in simple terms for my simple mind :) basically softens the metal is the impression I get...

[BT Sniper]

yep softens the brass so we don't break our dies. Not sure about the oven unless it gets above 700 f.

[sisiphunter]

K, thanks for all of the help....I"m sure I will have a ton of more questions through my trial and error as you did.......I'll stick with the grill...thx. Matt

[BT Sniper]

I'm sure there is probably better ways this is just what worked for what I had avialable.

Lots of info here. Have fun.

BT

[MIBULLETS]

Back to the stick wax someone referred to. How often does this need to be applied to the blade? Does it keep the blade from getting dull as fast or just to keep the heat down? As I posted up above earlier, I use this saw saw for cutting copper tubing for my 35 cal jackets.

Thanks,
Dan

[BT Sniper]

Bump for those interested.

BT

[Wayne Smith]

Back to the stick wax someone referred to. How often does this need to be applied to the blade? Does it keep the blade from getting dull as fast or just to keep the heat down? As I posted up above earlier, I use this saw saw for cutting copper tubing for my 35 cal jackets.

Thanks,
Dan

Dan, as long as it is a cutting blade and not a grinding blade the wax works as a slippery lubricant, just like it does on the back of my band saw blade.

[MIBULLETS]

Thanks for the reply Wayne!

[OneShotNeeded]

BT-

I see you were the one that had mentioned this earlier.. glad I remembered and thanks for posting those pics. I couldn't fid the info and couldn't remember how you'd done it. Awesome as usual!!

[BT Sniper]

No prob! I still use this set up to this day. Works very well. Maybe some day I'll design a better one.

Good shooting and Swage On!

BT

[Reload3006]

stick wax or any other type of lube is more (in non ferrous metal) to keep adhesion from happening. In other words Copper Brass and Aluminum will "weld" its self to the cutting tool. Lube keeps that from happening.

[stealthshooter]

Been thinking about getting this saw for my setup. http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-cut-off-saw-41453.html

[Wayne Smith]

Thats the saw I have. It uses an abrasive wheel rather than a saw blade. It is considerably thicker, leaving a considerable kerf. I have used it to trim .223 brass I'm making into Nagant revolver brass and to cut down 357Sig brass. With this blade cut before you anneal.