My collection of Sniper Bullets

[BT Sniper]

I'll list calibers and weights in next post.

Good shooting,

BT Sniper

[BT Sniper]

OK left to right

425 grain .458 or 405 grains with the rim machined off. Still a work in progress. Just have to make a new die and I will be good to go. from 45 ACP
255 grain .429 from 40 S&W
220 grain .410 from 9mm
185 grain .400 from 9mm
180 grain .357 from .223
150 grain .308 from 5.7x28
22 LR for size compare

All from CH 101 series dies except the .458

Good shooting

BT Sniper

[NSP64]

BT, have you done any expansion testing of the bullets? I was just curious as to how the brass reacted. Do you anneal the brass before swagging? They look good.

[legend]

BT,they look great,i cant wait to try them.

nice work!

legend

[Echo]

+1 on the great looks, BT. But - how do they shoot? Pretty is as pretty does...

(At the Air Museum where I volunteer, we have a Brit Fairey Gannet, which is universally described as just about the ugliest modern airplane there is. But - it was operational in the Royal Navy for 19 years! So - pretty is as pretty does.)

[mac0083]

The boolit in the center (185 grain .400 from 9mm) is the best looking one to me. I like how it's all jacket, no lead on the tip. Great job BT! Looks like a Factory-produced bullet.

[BT Sniper]

Only tested the 44 so far but here is what they have done for me from my AMP at 30'. They are all constructed the same and hope for same results from rest of them.

Any of them could have the jacket to the tip. I just knew most of the 40s out there are semi autos and need a good feeding bullet.

We will see what the .308 150 grain can do from my 300 WM soon.

BT

[BT Sniper]

Expansion testing with the 44 yes. Even notched the jacket and enlarged the HP. Got a good mushroom and 90% retension.

Annealling the jacket is a must and does allow for a bit more expansion. There is quite a few pics I have scattered about the forum with recovered bullets.

Good shooting.

BT

[kawalekm]

Good job Brian! I liked your .30 caliber bullet. Glad the 5.7 X 28 idea works. I got my .30 dies but haven't found any 5.6 brass yet so I haven't done anything.

Will start working on a tubing jacket project shortly. Will post some pictures when I accomplish something.
Michael

[BT Sniper]

Hey Michael,

Haven't seen much of you lattly. Probably pretty busy down there I'm sure. I am thinking of making a jacket die as well, someday.

Hey take a look at those .357 bullets that exit the CH die. Do they look like they have a longer nose on them? Probably just me and used to the big 44 stuff but it seems like there is a straight taper nose and then transitions into the ogive curve about half way up the nose. Not sure if this is the way they are supose to be. I'll take a close up pic of it later.

The .308 ch dies and a 5.7 jacket will not turn out much above 170 grains. Runs out of die. Might be able to get a bit more but it is a bit of a challenge. I have only made a few but it looks like it will make a good bullet for anything less then 165 grains. I'm going to try some at 3000+ out of my 300wm soon. Going to try sizing down a 3006 case in a 284 die and see if we can get a long neck out of it. Cut it off and use for 308 jacket. Then the shoulder and little off the body for 44s or 41s and base for my 44 AMP or even a .458 jacket.

Lots of projects not enough time.

[kawalekm]

Hi Brian
Yes, my list of things to do is so long I don't even want to look at it. I haven't posted anything lately because I haven't even had a chance to go in the garage. I did want to complement you on your work, especially after the tantrum that gjb had.

Your .357 bullet looks great to me, sort of Sierra'ish if that's a word. You could probably get a ballistic coefficient for it out of the Sierra manual.

I was wondering if you could make a slightly heavier bullet with your .30 caliber die if the nose punch was hollowed out to make a soft-point rather than a flat point. You may not need a heavier bullet anyway, considering how thick a case jacket is. Wait till you shoot something with it before passing final judgment. Bet it will perform just fine.
Michael

[BT Sniper]

I'll have to see just how heavy I can get with the ch 308 dies. I think I was trying to get up tp 200 grains and was having problems. Makes me think we should be able to get some 180s. Yah I'm thinking about hollowing out the nose punch just a bit, probably just enough to make it a little round rather then flat. I'm sure it would only be a couple grains though if that much.

I still have a lot of experimenting with the 308. Only made a hand full so far.

No need for acknowledgement or compliments just like to share the the possible ideas and motivate others.

Thanks though I'll keep everyone posted. Good to hear from you, try not to work to hard.

BT

[warf73]

OK left to right

425 grain .458 or 405 grains with the rim machined off. Still a work in progress. Just have to make a new die and I will be good to go. from 45 ACP
255 grain .429 from 40 S&W
220 grain .410 from 9mm
185 grain .400 from 9mm
180 grain .357 from .223
150 grain .308 from 5.7x28
22 LR for size compare

All from CH 101 series dies except the .458

Good shooting

BT Sniper

I;m interested in the .458" set up. What dies did you use to make since your post said all CH 101 expect it.
What did you use for a core on it also... sorry for the all the questions but I'm getting pretty close to getting into this swagin game.

Thanks Warf

[BT Sniper]

Warf,

Sorry I missed your reply, been out hunting a lot latly. As far as the .458 goes I have not perfected it yet and the one pictured was made from my "unusable sucess" (check the thread) first attempt at making my own die.

The core was a bored out $15 lee boolit mold and a 45 ACP for a jacket. I'm close but still need to make another die.

If your going to get into the swaging game I think the easiest bullet to make is a 40 cal 190 grain from the 9mm case and then the 44 cal from 40 S&W brass. The .458 is going to take me a bit of work yet and even the so called easy bullets can cause frustration at times. Of course it may be better if we used actuall comercial jackets made for the caliber bullet we are trying to make but what fun would that be:)

BT

[jhrosier]

BT,
What does a set of those .44 dies go for?
Do they work in a regular reloading press?

Jack

[BT Sniper]

$135

Yes work in regular reloading press all though a good one is recamended like a RCBS Rockchucker or Lee clasic cast iron.

Check out CH4d Tool and Die co.

[jhrosier]

Thanks.
Can you dump a bunch of brass in an empty lead pot to aneal or in the toaster oven at 500 degrees for a few hours?

With the current cost of jacketed bullets and considering that .40S&W brass is pretty much free, this is starting to look like a good deal!

Jack