hollow point bullets that are cheapest to manufacture

S

sthomper

New member
hello


is there a hollow point bullet design that is significantly cheaper to manufacture than another??

for instance, with a 357mag....is sjhp cheaper by a significant amount (on a bulk production scale) than a flex tip type? or is a hard cast hollow point cheaper than both?? or are the barnes coppers the most expensive???

also, if one type is significantly cheaper (if somoene knows a percentege) by what amount could that show up as lower off the shelf prices for ammo itself??

thanks
 
You have to look at all the variables .Bullet dia. jacket alloy and thickness .Core alloy. Shape of bullet , shape of hollow . Total tolerances --target vs hunting vs premium .And anything else I forgot !!!
 
"for instance, with a 357mag...."

a common tolerance for instance...perhaps accepted bty sammi


if you cant answer positvley dont answer with numerous other questions.

thanks
 
obviously a hard-cast is going to b the cheapest. your talking two steps, cast then size/lube. not to mention just using lead.
 
if you cant answer positvley dont answer with numerous other questions.

thanks
Click to expand...
...Then you won't be getting any answers here. :rolleyes:



There are DOZENS of common variables in bullet manufacturing, and hundreds of variables that apply to specific situations. Without being able to identify and quantify each of those variables for an in-depth analysis, there will be no "positvley" answer.

Right here on my work bench, for example, I can swage .44 caliber 275 gr bullets for .44 Mag and/or .444 Marlin. My cheapest version costs me less than $0.02 per bullet. My most expensive version, however, costs nearly as much as Hornady 265 gr FPs - $0.26 apiece.

If I handed both versions of my bullet to you, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. They're both brass-jacketed 275 grain "protected point" soft points, with a lead core.
But one of them costs more than 16 times as much to produce...
 
obviously a hard-cast is going to b the cheapest. your talking two steps, cast then size/lube. not to mention just using lead.........................


well when i said bullet i meant a bullet that was ready to be assembeld into ammo.

with the additional steps that you mentioned is hard cast still cheaper and if so about how much cheaper per round? if you have an educated guess.
 
If you are talking about buying bullets, the cheapest is swaged lead as produced in hollowpoint by Speer.

The HARD cast hollowpoint is a dead end. It will either penetrate like a solid or blow the nose clear off. A lead hollowpoint has to be fairly soft but in a narrow range to form a mushroom expansion.
If you tinker to get the right alloy, they can be cheap to DIY... once you have paid for the mould, pot, and lubrisizer.
 
was i was trying to figure out is can a harder-cast lead hollow point 357 mag round be mass produced , that will have moderate to good expansion, and be noticably cheaper and more abundant (yet not sloppy or more failure prone) on the shelf than the copper, jhp, bonded jhp, sjhp, sjsp and 'self defence' rounds on retail shelfs today. sort of a range and defense round using harder cast lead as the bullet???


is or was there somehting out there that already fulfills this???
 
First you say "bullet" then you say "round."
Are you looking for projectiles or cartridges?

Actually, it doesn't matter much, the answer is no, either way.

There are some lead hollowpoint bullets and ammo out there, but they are premium products and cost as much if not more than the "modern" jacketed stuff.

Me?
I am a handloader and can make them do pretty well what I want them to, but don't care enough to cast bullets to cut costs. I can afford to buy the hollowpoints I need.
 
was i was trying to figure out is can a harder-cast lead hollow point 357 mag round be mass produced , that will have moderate to good expansion, and be noticably cheaper and more abundant (yet not sloppy or more failure prone) on the shelf than the copper, jhp, bonded jhp, sjhp, sjsp and 'self defence' rounds on retail shelfs today. sort of a range and defense round using harder cast lead as the bullet???
Click to expand...
No.


If you eliminate the "hard-cast" or "harder-cast" stipulation, the answer is still, "no."


If you further narrow the requirements to only requiring the performance you're looking for in a single revolver or a specific set of revolvers that typically perform similarly (same cylinder throat size, forcing cone dimensions, barrel dimensions, and barrel length - resulting in similar velocities), then the answer can be, "yes" under a limited set of circumstances.

...But the lead alloy will be relatively soft, in order to provide the expansion that you're looking for. It might be perfect in one of the intended revolvers, but lead the barrel like crazy in the next. And, if you stick the ammunition worked up with that bullet for those specific, similar revolvers, into something with a notably shorter barrel, you may lose your expansion (due to velocity loss). At the same time, if you stick that ammunition into something like a lever action rifle, and dramatically increase velocity, the bullets are likely to tear themselves apart upon impact.
There's no free lunch, when it comes to lead bullets - especially hollow points.
 
There are some lead hollowpoint bullets and ammo out there, but they are premium products and cost as much if not more than the "modern" jacketed stuff...................................


obviously a hard-cast is going to b the cheapest. your talking two steps, cast then size/lube. not to mention just using lead........................

i am reading two different things
 
can lead be tweaked cheaply to adjsut hardness to get decent expansion...esp in a 357?


as far as expansion that im looking for i know tha sjhp bullets can regularly go out to .6 inches. could a cheply produced teaweaked lead hp bullet get near .5 inches?? wider than a jsp?
 
Last edited:
I shot a Winchester lead hollowpoint .38 Special +P - the "FBI load" when the feds still carried revolvers - into water. It expanded to .58".

I expect but don't know for sure that the Speer swaged hollowpoint would do as well. Turns out it IS cheap, $43.49 for 500. It would probably lead your .357 barrel if you shot a lot of them.

Rimrock sells a soft cast hollowpoint with gas check to minimize leading. It ought to work, but it isn't cheap at $21.50 a hundred.

I don't really expect a pistol JSP to expand much if any, you need a hollowpoint at pistol velocity.
 
can lead be tweaked cheaply to adjsut hardness to get decent expansion...esp in a 357?


as far as expansion that im looking for i know tha sjhp bullets can regularly go out to .6 inches. could a cheply produced teaweaked lead hp bullet get near .5 inches?? wider than a jsp?
Click to expand...
Mass-produced? Not reliably.

Small batches in your garage, after a massive amount of trial and error, to get the lead alloy, sizing, and lube correct? Yes.

--

You're asking very basic questions about cast lead bullets. At this point, you'll get better answers to your questions if you do the research for yourself.

Start here: LASC Cast Bullets for Beginners and Experts.
From there, you should be able to find additional articles on their website, or do quick internet searches for any additional information you desire.

You may also want to take a gander at the Castboolits forums.




noone really makes abullet unles it ends up in a round?? right?
Click to expand...
My bullets end up in boxes, bags, or cartridges. I don't use or store anything in circular or spherical storage devices.
 
as far as expansion that im looking for i know tha sjhp bullets can regularly go out to .6 inches. could a cheply produced teaweaked lead hp bullet get near .5 inches?? wider than a jsp?
Click to expand...

i dont see this as a requimrent narrowing task at all
Click to expand...

Is English your first language?
 
I may be wrong, but I think he is considering producing such rounds as a business venture. Thus, his strange questions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top