Originally posted by Misguided Russian
I wonder how one would go about putting a nicely concentric core in a homemade pistol or rifle bullet, preferably with a copper jacket.
I remember when reloading used to be cost effective, but today it seems like its only worth it if you whip up things that you can't buy.
there are swaging dies that let you do pretty much anything you want with custom bullets. thats how military AP bullets are made...plus nosler developed his own way of making bullets with two different halves (the partition). the 'glaser' and 'magsafe' bullets were made, for the most part, by hand without the benefit of a machine to do the majority of the work which is why they were so ridiculously expensive.
the biggest benefit of handloading isnt price...its precision. no commercial company can cost effectively create the ideal round for every unique firearm the way a handloader can.
its definitely not cost effective when i can buy an entire 7.62x39 plinking-tier round for 19-cents each yet the bullets alone for my 'normal' tier rounds are 25-cents each. add together primer, powder, and the time involved with processing and assembling the whole thing and there is no way its cost effective. when i use the nosler ballistic-tips theyre 40-something cents each.
when the brass case is re-used multiple times is when the price per-round comes down...and if the components can be found on sale, even better.
i havent fired a plinker-tier round in years, other than as basic functionality testing for a firearm. the main use i have for them is letting people who come with me shooting use so they dont waste my good shit.
