DIY hollowpoints

[2rocky]

Has anyone made their own hollowpoints from Solid Copper rounds? If so was the accuracy and performance acceptable.

 

[D4570]

Patented Custom Bullets | Hammer Bullets

Hammer Bullets are custom designed bullets offering superior accuracy and ensuring minimal game waste. Our bullets have higher velocity and are lead free.

hammerbullets.com

 

[std7mag]

Making bullets from copper barstock isn't as easy as you may think.

First off is the copper alloy you use.
You need it hard enough to be able to machine it properly, not deform while machining.
But soft enough to expand at impact.

The other thing is the lathe itself.
These aren't your run of the mill machines!
Your talking specialty lathes and tooling.
Jaws capable of holding 0.300" or smaller aren't common.
Neither are the drill bits & tools made to "notch" the inside of the holes so to form petals when they expand.

I know that Cutting Edge and i THINK Hammer are using specialty Swiss lathes.
More that likely 2 chuck lathes that can pass the bullet off from the first chuck, to the second chuck.

The process is to machine one end of the bullet in the first chuck. The second chuck will then come accross and grab that end. A cutter comes down between the 2 chucks & parts the material. The first chuck releases & the second chuck goes back to it's home and machines that side.

And capable of turning & holding consistant 0.0001" of an inch.

These machines are probably starting out in the $150,000 range.

 

[Mallardsx2]

These machines are probably starting out in the $150,000 range.

I used to run them for a living, and they cost a lot more than that is your looking to turn .0002 accuracy....lol

Just saying.

 

[longbow51]

So, a little more than shooting a hun and a pheasant and tying your own flies, then?

 

[mtmuley]

I posted a video here of one of Hammers lathes in action. It's pretty cool. mtmuley

 

[MThuntr]

Has anyone made their own hollowpoints from Solid Copper rounds? If so was the accuracy and performance acceptable.

like drilling a hole in a solid kind of hollow point? I suppose you could do it but they'd likely be inconsistent. Shooting them out of a slow big bore you probably wouldn't notice much though. The cost of a solid copper bullet like Lehigh far exceeds just buying some from hammer.

FYI all Hammer bullets are 12% off right now

 

[std7mag]

So, a little more than shooting a hun and a pheasant and tying your own flies, then?

WAY more involved!

And on order of 200,000 times more expensive!

 

[std7mag]

I used to run them for a living, and they cost a lot more than that is your looking to turn .0002 accuracy....lol

Just saying.

I said start out... lol
I'm used to running Haas, Mazak, Okuma machines.

Figure about $89,000 start cost on a new Haas ST35.
Add on second chuck.
Live tooling.
Bar feed.
Different turret to have tools facing second chuck.
Do you want live tooling on the second chuck?

Don't forget tooling itself.
While high speed steel tools will get you by for a small batch, go production & your probably looking at carbide inserts.
$30+ per turning insert.
We have some $400 carbide drill tips at work.
That's just the tip.
The body runs about $400 also.

Oh, and don't "crash" the machine!
Note, you WILL crash a CNC machine at some point!
Probably numerous times.

Then your paying someone that specializes on those machines to come & align things up again.

 

[Elkmagnet]

When I was a kid I used a buck knife to put an X on the tip of some coreloks.
So kinda.

 

[OntarioHunter]

I would be wary of messing with any bullet, especially cup and core lead. There's a possibility it could come apart in the barrel. My two cents ... for what it's worth ... which is probably not two cents.

 

[millerkiller77]

I posted a video here of one of Hammers lathes in action. It's pretty cool. mtmuley

Link, if you have it handy.

 

[mtmuley]

Link, if you have it handy.

There is a shorter version but I couldn't find it. Those two hate being on camera, but did a good job. mtmuley

 

[millerkiller77]

There is a shorter version but I couldn't find it. Those two hate being on camera, but did a good job. mtmuley

That's a cool video, definitely a lot more involved than just "turning" some copper rods. Lol
Side note, these guys a pretty awesome to deal with. Emails are always answered promptly and
turnaound on orders is fast. I placed an order on weds and recieved today,.

 

[mtmuley]

That's a cool video, definitely a lot more involved than just "turning" some copper rods. Lol
Side note, these guys a pretty awesome to deal with. Emails are always answered promptly and
turnaound on orders is fast. I placed an order on weds and recieved today,.

If my wife would move, I would head out and go to work for those guys. Hell, it's only about 3 hours to their shop. I could commute. mtmuley

 

[kiwi hunter]

here in nz during and after the ww2 the hunters only had access to solids so they and ive done it too, filed the tips to expose the lead underneath, how much up to you depending on how far you intend to shoot but under 250 i would not sweat it, try a couple

 

[std7mag]

here in nz during and after the ww2 the hunters only had access to solids so they and ive done it too, filed the tips to expose the lead underneath, how much up to you depending on how far you intend to shoot but under 250 i would not sweat it, try a couple

We are talking very different beasts here between a solid copper bullet and a full metal jacketed bullet!

Ok, you exposed the tip of the lead core so that the bullet will expand.

There is no lead core on a mono, hence there is more of a science to getting one to expand.

The good ones don't just have holes drilled into the tip, but also have "strakes" etched on the inside to form the "mono petals" for expansion.

Otherwise it performs like a full metal jacket.

If you just drill a hole in the tip of the mono, i'd predict that the expansion would be more of an uneven tear or rip of the copper, and not equal on all sides, down to the depth of your hole.

The thing that makes Bergers so successful is that it's not just a hole in the tip of the bullet, but that there is a cavity behind that small hole.

 

[kiwi hunter]

We are talking very different beasts here between a solid copper bullet and a full metal jacketed bullet!

Ok, you exposed the tip of the lead core so that the bullet will expand.

There is no lead core on a mono, hence there is more of a science to getting one to expand.

The good ones don't just have holes drilled into the tip, but also have "strakes" etched on the inside to form the "mono petals" for expansion.

Otherwise it performs like a full metal jacket.

If you just drill a hole in the tip of the mono, i'd predict that the expansion would be more of an uneven tear or rip of the copper, and not equal on all sides, down to the depth of your hole.

The thing that makes Bergers so successful is that it's not just a hole in the tip of the bullet, but that there is a cavity behind that small hole.

aha,