Gerard

Thanks for all the great advice.
I will stay away from brass and nickel mix and make my solids from copper.
I will post more pictures when i get the new 2nd generation made.

Cheers,

Andr�

What is the lightest material I can make a bullet out of for high speed varmint shooting out of my 300WSM? I'm looking to turn a bullet that looks something like a 168 grain match bullet but weighing less than 100 grains. I would also probably groove it like a Barnes triple X to reduce the bearing surface. Any recommendations?

I am working on making a bullet in teflon but do not know how the material will work. It is not real light but strong enough I hope.
I am also working on a light solid in a brass and nickel mix that is lighter then pure brass.

Cheers,

Andr�

Carbon? You can get carbon rods from Mcmaster.com They're not soft enough to use without a Sabot or maybe even an aluminum jacket.



Also you can get ANY plastic material there as well. do a search on "plastic" and there's even a good "Properties of Materials" page.

I would steer away from plastic, due to the fact that those materials that will withstand both the heat and the stress of being fired through a rifle barrel are a pain to machine - more ways than one. While polycarbonate will survive, it is less than ideal. The sabot for the military SLAP round is (or at least was) made from GE Plastics' ULTEM(r) polyetherimide. This material is expensive to make and in comparison to the commodity materials such as PE, PS, etc, worth it's weight in gold. Machine is a pain, tensile strength of steel, it wears out carbine tips like nothing, and in the raw resin form can facture along fissure lines leaving razor sharp glass like edges. I should know, I ran the plant that makes it for several years, and have scars to show for it ...

My recommendation would be to go with the powdered metal versions that are commercially available. They answer several of your needs - shaped like a 168 gr, much lighter, easy to obtain, proven performance. They even tailor the sintering process to vary the degree of penetration.

Check at frangible bullets and tell Rodney I sent you

T6 aluminium works well. We messed around with a 30-06 and a 46gr bullet. Accuracy was good at 100m and no fouling to speak of. The project is on hold at the moment.

Gerard,

Which aluminum alloy did you use at T6 temper? There are literally dozens of alloys that will take a T6 temper or more, thus my question. I assume it is a wrough grade, but which one?

Thanks,
ASS_CLOWN

We use 2011 for the manufacturing of parts for orthopaedic prostheses and I had some 10mm diameter rod in T4 and T6. T4 did not work well but T6 was trouble free. I reckon there are a number of grades that would work as well.

Gerard,

Thank you for the clarification. I have access to a considerable stockpile of 2618 T61 (forged stock), I may have to give it a try.

ASS_CLOWN

A couple of years ago a local guy had some light weight bullets that he was trying out. They were regular bullet jackets filled with either plastic or silicon. He claimed high velocities, and shot well. I did not get to try any of them myself. Should be easy to make from blank bullet jackets and inject silicone filler.

Just a thought,

Hog Killer

Captain Midnight here...........
I can sell you any quanity of 30 cal. bullets for $6/100 made from 90% Copper and 10% Tin. These are made by SnterFire Inc. I have these in 110g. that are equal in size to a 150 gr. lead cored bullet. They shoot very well and work in all our 10" 30 cal twist barrels. You will find all details at FrangibleBullets.Com. I hope to be of service to you ............ Captain

Hey Captain Midnight, I visited your site before and noticed that the 308 cal. 110's are listed for velocities of 2300-2800 fps. Can I push them to 3500+ out of my 300WSM for longrange varmints?

The protagonist in "Unintended Consequences" used bullets made of nylon bar stock in a 44 magnum. I don't know whether these loads have any basis in reality, but if anyone else does, they sound like fun. Nylon has a pretty high tensile strength, so may these would hold up well enough.

By the way, I am given to understand that light, soft, lead bullets at better than 4000 fps penetrate steel plates pretty well. One of my reloading books say they melt a hole right through. If that's the case, I worry a little bit about a light, soft projectile that's nearing the end of my rifle's barrel and not quite emerging yet, but one that's moving at better than 4000 fps and contacting and possibly melting the rifling off the inside of the barrel as it goes.

I guess I care more about whether it can be done than to try and do it myself.

H. C.

I would not worry about melting the barrel. I have a wildcat (22x64 basically a 22-06 Easling) and it has several thousand rounds of 40grain bullets through it at 4400 to 4700 fps. Barrel is fine and it shoots .5 to 1 inch depending on how carefully I put the loads together.
22x64