Brass bullets?

[wnc-coyote]

Ok this may be far fetched. Has anyone ever had any experience with brass as a material for bullets. I have been Tossing around the idea of making a few brass hollow point bullets. I have all th capabilities to hold very tight tolerances. If I do this they will be machined on a Swiss style cnc lathe. I will have no problem machining the bullets. I was wanting to know about material. Will there be any ill effects from brass. I know most are made of some type of copper or copper alloy.

 

[Rizla]

The relatively hard brass won't allow the lands to cut in as easily as copper so the barrel will wear slightly faster. Some companies, such as Cutting Edge, make the body of the bullet slightly undersized so that it rides on the lands. Then they have bands along the bullet which are the diameter of the bore so they are what engage the rifling and form the gas seal. This reduces the amount of brass needing the be deformed but still provides a decent bearing surface and gas seal. This article explains more Cutting Edge Brass Bullets

 

[wnc-coyote]

I have thought about that and have a design similar to most other solid bullets but I have a few more grooves a little closer together. This is just something I have been wanting to play with. We will see how it goes. I will post up a pic of what I have drawn out in the morning.

 

[acloco]

RCBS = Rock Chuckin' Bullet Swagin'

How they got their start - swaging bullets out of fired 22 rimfire cases.

Search for the 408 Cheytac, believe your answer is there.

 

[wnc-coyote]

Here is what I have so far

 

[wnc-coyote]

Oh I forgot to mention the front is truelly a radius my solid model resolution is just set to low which makes it look like 2 angles.

 

[Edd]

GS Custom Bullets - Designed in South Africa - Proven on the toughest game on the planet.

 

[wnc-coyote]

GS Custom Bullets - Designed in South Africa - Proven on the toughest game on the planet.

Those are some fine looking bullets.

I plan on testing out some designs in brass before I start thinking about order any special material.

 

[Canadian Bushman]

I have made a few hundred brass bullets over the last few years. Your bullets look good but i would recommend radiused cannalures for your bullet along with a smoother secant ogive. Radius cannalures help keep barrel pressures more consistant and the smoother the ogive the better transition the bullet will make entering the throat.

 

[wnc-coyote]

Very nice looking bullets. My ogive is actually a full radius tangent to the bullet diameter. My resolution on my modeling software is just not we low enough to show it that way I will try to redo and post some better pics.

 

[Rizla]

I agree with Canadian Bushman, you should consider a secant ogive. It will bump your ballistic coefficient up slightly.
What are the dimensions of your bullet? And what software are you drawing it on?

 

[wnc-coyote]

I was actually considering more of a hybrid ogive.

 

[wnc-coyote]

I am hoping to get some where around a 65gr .224. I have started with .925 overall length. I am drawing it in my cam software (Esprit).

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Ogives aside, brass bullets have two major downfalls. First is a lack of density which results in a longer bullet with more surface area for a given weight. Second is that since brass bullets are typically machined from stock they require much more work to produce a uniform lot of consistant size shape and weight. Which results in either more time or money.