Casting copper bullets

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98ssuck

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Northern bc
Hello

I’m curious if anyone has tried this. I understand copper has a much higher melting point than lead. I suspect that in addition to hotter melting equipment. Moulds built to hand the higher temps are also needed. If those obstacles can be overcome. What other challenges are there?
 
To cast copper bullets, you would have to build/buy a blast furnace. The mould would have to be either sand or using the lost wax
process. Special crucibles, and tongs to handle such.... A lathe to turn down oversized bullets, to ensure concenticity....

There are many reasons why no one does this.
 
If determined to "make your own", consider buying copper rod of suitable alloy, and turning on a lathe?? Seems that I read that early prototypes were made that way - all kinds of issues managing pressure levels with various grooving arrangements, etc.
 
If you read bullet makers publicity - most if not all solid are turned.
Myself I think it’s an unnecessary expenses to shoot those since they cost way more. I do not see the benefit in my case.

I doupt any bullet maker start with cast when they can obtain copper rod of known quality that meet their specs.
Casting does bring in inconsistencies that have to be turned anyway.
 
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https://www.ammoland.com/2014/04/barnes-bullet-factory-tour/#axzz6V67nRB1a

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To make the bullets Barnes buys rolls of copper wire that is made to their specifications both in material and diameter. The wire then is pulled through a die to insure that the diameter is perfect then is cut into a cylinder shape, the length determines the weight. After inspection they are fed into a large press that used punches to give the bullet its shape and hollow cavity. The tooling in the presses are inspected and replaced often to insure that the dimensions are as needed. Every operator is their own quality control technician and they always keep the bullets in specs.

Since they measure by ten thousands of an inch, we shooters can appreciate the effort used in making these fine bullets. There are no shortcuts taken and if the bullets don’t measure up they don’t leave the plant.

Once the bullets are made they have a proprietary machine that cuts the grooves in them. It is amazing to watch the process but no photos are allowed of that machine and a couple of others which is totally understandable. The bullets are cleaned in a large tub that contains ball bearings which shines them up really nice. They are then inspected again with a laser device that can pick up any defects and sort them out. As they are being packed the inspection process is again repeated. I have personally bought and used a lot of Barnes bullets of various calibers including the lead core bullets and never saw a defective specimen.
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Desktop CNC lathes are a thing. Much cheaper than you probably think. With a bit of knowledge and practice, you could probably set up a lathe and bar feeder to cut projectiles automatically cheaper than you could set up for copper casting.
 
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BullOnParade said:
Desktop CNC lathes are a thing. Much cheaper than you probably think. With a bit of knowledge and practice, you could probably set up a lathe and bar feeder to cut projectiles automatically cheaper than you could set up for copper casting.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they are a thing, so is quality control, and holding accurate tolerances, which, in the world of desktop CNC, is NOT so much a thing.
Being able to measure to parts of a tenth of a thou is a start, being able to make a hundred bullets in a row all to the SAME tenth of a thou measurement, isn't typically what you get from tabletop machine toys.
 
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