empty .22 shells for jackets

[magneticanomaly]

Don't know if this is the right place for this question....but has anyone tried stretching/re-forming fired .22 hulls to use them as jackets for new bullets? Anneal, expand with a rubber plug, re-draw, put in mold, pour, swage?

[rondog]

I've never done it, but I understand there's a whole bunch of people that do just that - use .22lr cases to make jacketed .223 bullets with. There's special tools available for this too, IIRC. Guys also use other types of cases to make other calibers of jacketed bullets. I "think" something like .40S&W to make .44mag bullets with, but don't quote me on that.

I'm sure you'll be hearing from them! Something I'm interested in too.

I also think there's a whole section here on this forum dedicated to this subject. The Swaging forum? http://castboolits.gunloads.com/foru...php?41-Swaging

[nicholst55]

What he said.

[Pipefitter]

The actual steps for a 22lr case are derim, anneal, cast core (or cut from lead wire), swage core to weight, seat core, and form point.
40S&W cases make beautiful 45 bullets, 380's can be made into 40's, and I am sure that the list goes on and on.

[Bad Water Bill]

Welcome to our happy home.

Look here and you will find answers to all of your questions.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/foru...php?41-Swaging

[mart]

I've got the dies, the core mold and thousands of 22 hulls. I used to make a lot of them when we lived in the lower 48 and shot ground squirrels regularly. We had four 222's at the time and those bullets worked great. They didn't always give the gilt edged accuracy of commercial bullets but at least one of the 222's shot them like a bench gun. All my rifles shot them more than well enough for squirrel shooting. And they were squirrel grenades. Running right on the edge of 3200 fps, the top end for that light a jacket, they were nothing short of devastating on ground squirrels. Worked well in the 222 as a fur bullet on coyotes also.

I still have enough 22 hulls to make jackets for close to 20,000 bullets. About half of them are copper cases. The fellow who had the dies originally ran a small bore club and bought cases upon cases of copper cased 22 match ammo. He save all the cases and I ended up with them with the dies. We'll probably end up back in the lower 48 when I retire and turning out bullets will be a great rainy day project regardless whether it's cast of swaged.

[lobogunleather]

This is exactly how Vernon Speer started out in the bullet-making business.

[magneticanomaly]

Thanks for the great replies and links.

Does anyone ever tin the inside of jackets (solder and flux? Electroplate?) and then cast the lead into them, instead of inserting a cold lead slug, so as to bond core and jacket?

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Corbin advise that they should be kept for moderate velocities (I would think the .223 being about ideal), and that they are too frangible for use on large game. I believe the thinness of the jackets would produce some risk of core melting at high velocities, even though brass is a poorer conductor of heat than copper. I think copper might lose less strength in the derimming process, but this doesn't seem to be a big issue.

The only limitation Corbin see to accuracy is in the firing-pin impression. I bought a large quantity of Winchester cases on eBay, apparently of the shotshell length, and there might always be more.

[mart]

Even the 223 when pushed to top speeds is a touch too much for these bullets. 3200 is the limit for these bullets in most guns. I've watched them turn into little grey streaks not too far out of the barrel when run too fast. Throttle them down to 3000-3100 and they work great and turn ground squirrels into red mist.

I have bought the commercial jackets and made bullets or my Swift with the core seating and nose forming dies. Works fine.