Modifying the Factory Bullet

[Nape.270]

Just wondering if I am wasting my time?

So what I did was take a .25cal 120gr Sierra GK with an oal of 1.155 and trimed it to .99 then added an aluminum tip to get an oal of 1.315 and weight of 118gr.

Why would I do this well because there are not many options when it comes to long range .25cal bullets.

The Sierra 120gr GK and the Sierra 118gr LRGK

From left to right Berger 115gr VLD/Sierra 118gr LRGK/Sierra 120gr GK

Hoping to get some feedback from the guys that make bullets.

 

[hammertyme]

I like it a lot.

Since ZHAT makes a bullet like this I am not sure others are doing it. Not sure if there is a patent or patent pending status on this concept though.

But I still like it a lot,nice job!

Neal

 

[Oliveralan]

Very nice! how did you make the aluminum tip? And how did you attach it to the rest of the bullet?

 

[winmag]

Very tallented. Im sure Royinidaho will be jumping in here soon. I think he had wildcat bullets manufacture some of his IWK's that he was making by hand. My guess is tighter tollerances. I think he used brass tips tho.
Anyway you put it that takes a level of skill and crafstmanship that very few have. Congrats. let us know how they shoot.

 

[Nape.270]

Thank you guys it brought a smile to my face the first time I put them together.

I made the tip on the cnc lathe that I run at work ( its a mazak 350m quite big for this kinda job).

The tip is a slight press and I am thinking about using some retaining locktite though I dont know how that will work with the led.

 

[kiwi3006]

Man that is a mean looking bullet! I have some early Hornady 162 a-max with an aluminium tip that look very similar, unfortunately I only have 34 left.
Have you shot them yet?
Flick some pictures through to Royinidaho, as winmag said he has made some similar ones.

Stu

 

[BountyHunter]

JLK makes a 108 grain 25 caliber with a .500 BC

Dave Tooley at Tooley Custom Rifles has been making aluminum and plastic tips for his bullets for years. He would be a very good source of information on the pros and cons of this and give you some good tips.

BH

 

[edge]

IMO, you should ask Bryan from berger this question

IMO you gain very little by closing the point at least as BC is concerned. I think that going from a .1 to a .02 nose only moves the BC a few points!

With that said, you have done an amazing job

I think that the target bullet makers make a hollow point bullet because they are the most accurate to make on a production scale.

Small hollow points can give uneven results due to plugging of the tip and I do like a BT for hunting purposes and look forward to your results.

edge.

 

[WESTERNAERO]

The tip is a slight press and I am thinking about using some retaining locktite though I dont know how that will work with the led.

Could you maybe not drill out the lead, but instead just face off the bullet to your length then heat up the lead to melting point and push your aluminum tip in. When it cools the lead will form around the stud you created. Then clean up any over flow. Just a thought.
Accually if you drilled only half your depth you might not have any clean up at all.

 

[Nape.270]

I to would be vary interested in what bryan would have to say about this.

I thought about melting the led around the stud but dont want to make something to keep the tip concentric with the bullet.

By drilling and presing them in I feal that I can keep them vary concentric because I can do that all in the same setup.

 

[SHRTSHTR]

Nape.270

I am not a bullet maker but have made a few Blaaistic Tips . Looks like you have done a very nice job with your new bullets. Based on what I see your Meplats look like on the sierra's...I think you will be happy with the ballistic tip results.

As you well know, this is somewhat of a labor intensive project as compared to buying a bullet and just shooting it. Rolling your own does have its advantages though.

I have the Meplat trimmer and bullet pointing dies. I certainly think that doing these things help a little. We have been making ballistic tips for a little while now. We make ballictic tips for a bullet maker on this site. One of the tips we are making is for the 300smk. We designed it for a little better BC but more importantly, we wanted a long range bullet that would open up better at lower velocity's.

We have not been able to test the 300smks but the results in 30caliber bullets has been very good. We just did a run of 1,500 tips for 30 caliber and 338's. Hope to be doing some testing on the 300 smk's soon.

Now having said all this, Bergers new Hybrid seems to be King of the mountain. I am still waiting for Bergers new design for my 338LAI. Until then, I have something to fool around with.

Good luck with your project. Let us know how it works out.

 

[Nape.270]

Thank you every one that has replied I will keep you updated as I go.

Here are 25 that I have made so far will shoot them this weekend or next.

 

[Gnome!]

Nape.270,

Have you posted pics of these? If so I'm not seeing them I'm very keen on seeing your results after firing

 

[davewilson]

i'm very impressed with the results of these "do em by hand" bullets. at one time i drilled out the hollow points of SMK's and filed the ends to clean them up. didn't seem to make any difference in the POI or accuracy out to 950 yds. i did it to "hopefully" guarantee good exspansion.
the best thing, IMO, about tipped bullets is the consistency of their BC. i read a very interesting report where they experimented with bullets trying to determine which had the most consistent BC. they did this with dopler radar. actually firing bullets at tremendous distances and could record the exact path each took and claimed to determine the exact BC of each bullet. they tested quite a few, mostly match bullets, but the best, meaning the bullets that had the "lowest spread" was the Accubond followed by the Balistic tip. the consistancy of the plastic tips was credited with them being the most consistant.
your bullets look amazing. my concern would be how consistant they are with respect to concentricity.