45 acp

[par0thead151]

how long does it take to make 100 of these projectiles?
is there a long learning curve on how to operate it?

[randmplumbingllc]

how long does it take to make 100 of these projectiles?
is there a long learning curve on how to operate it?

The learning curve is pretty quick. I had some bullets made after a few days of trial and error. Was kinda fun trying to get the process down.

As far as your other question........it takes some time to make the 45's. I can't say how long it takes to do 100, because I never have sat down and did 100 straight through.

I do it in steps. I do these steps until I get sick of doing them, then I switch to another one. These are the steps that I do.

1- Sort the brass by headstamp.

2- Cut the brass

3- Anneal the brass

4- Cast the cores

5- Seat the cores

6- Notch the cores

7- Swage the cores into bullets

8- Deburr the bullets

9- Round over the nose of the bullets

10- Deburr again

11- Tumble, to clean them up

12- Quality control, to weed out any mistakes

So....I can't tell you exactly how long it takes to make a 100 bullets. I can tell you that it takes "a while".

I can also tell you that it the "cool factor" rating is a 10+, don't you think ?

[par0thead151]

The learning curve is pretty quick. I had some bullets made after a few days of trial and error. Was kinda fun trying to get the process down.

As far as your other question........it takes some time to make the 45's. I can't say how long it takes to do 100, because I never have sat down and did 100 straight through.

I do it in steps. I do these steps until I get sick of doing them, then I switch to another one. These are the steps that I do.

1- Sort the brass by headstamp.

2- Cut the brass

3- Anneal the brass

4- Cast the cores

5- Seat the cores

6- Notch the cores

7- Swage the cores into bullets

8- Deburr the bullets

9- Round over the nose of the bullets

10- Deburr again

11- Tumble, to clean them up

12- Quality control, to weed out any mistakes

So....I can't tell you exactly how long it takes to make a 100 bullets. I can tell you that it takes "a while".

I can also tell you that it the "cool factor" rating is a 10+, don't you think ?

agreed, the cool factor is most certainly there.
im just trying to get a handle on how long it takes to do the entire process after the cores are cast.
i can cast very fast with a 6 cavity lee, so i dont really count that. plus i really enjoy casting.
just trying to gauge how long it takes to make these.
would you say a hour to do 100?

[BT Sniper]

I would agree, about an hour per 100 with the complete process as rand mentioned above.

I made 400 the other night in 40 cal in a little over two hours. Got a new insert for the universial die that speads things up a bit. Like belling the mouth of the case but better. Expands the entire jacket just perfect to drop in core then use same thing to push the core in place a bit. A simple core seat I guess you would call it.

So in 2 hours I did,

1. expand 9mm brass
2. drop in and seat core
3. XTP notch
4. swage final bullet
x 400

pic of the loaded rounds with airsoft BB crimped in HP

[randmplumbingllc]

agreed, the cool factor is most certainly there.
im just trying to get a handle on how long it takes to do the entire process after the cores are cast.
i can cast very fast with a 6 cavity lee, so i dont really count that. plus i really enjoy casting.
just trying to gauge how long it takes to make these.
would you say a hour to do 100?

I guess, if you already had all the brass sorted, cut, annealed and ready to go, it would take an hour or so, to do a hundred.

Like I said, if you are looking for fast.....this probably ain't for you. You can knock off some of the steps( like notching, deburring, sorting brass by headstamp, etc) and it will make the procee alot faster.

I, personally, want to make the looking and shooting bullet possible, so I don't skip any steps,......but that is just me.

.

[par0thead151]

I guess, if you already had all the brass sorted, cut, annealed and ready to go, it would take an hour or so, to do a hundred.

Like I said, if you are looking for fast.....this probably ain't for you. You can knock off some of the steps( like notching, deburring, sorting brass by headstamp, etc) and it will make the procee alot faster.

I, personally, want to make the looking and shooting bullet possible, so I don't skip any steps,......but that is just me.

.

what is the benefit of sorting by the brand of brass?
for plinking rounds i would skip the notching.

[BT Sniper]

I made a video of the steps in making "simple" 45 cal bullets with lead tip HPs. Should get you a better idea. Posted in a "just that simple thread".

BT

[Daywalker]

what is the benefit of sorting by the brand of brass?
for plinking rounds i would skip the notching.

Depending on what your looking for, seperating the brand of brass will give you a better consistant in weight. Each case can weigh different, however, each brand can weigh differently by more...

I try to group all brands with each other. I find that Winchester 40 brass works better than Remington and Federal. They trim better in my case trimmer and doesn't want to gall up or anything.

I also get more consistant weight out of Winchester brass...

[randmplumbingllc]

what is the benefit of sorting by the brand of brass?
for plinking rounds i would skip the notching.

Daywalker is right. If you want an accurate bullet, you need to be as consistant as you can be in making them.

Different headstamps in .40 brass can vary as much as 10 grains, or more.

I do it the same way as Daywalker. Even though the brass is the same headstamp, the weights still can vary from different lots of brass. They seem to only vary about a grain or two by sorting this way.

That is good enough for me.