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trotterlg
03-16-2008, 04:22 AM
I would be interested to see if anyone has ever tried making a .17 cal aluminum cored bullet. Looks like pure aluminum is nearly as soft as some leads. It would make some light weight bullets that would be long enough to reach the lands, have a good aerodynamic shape and shoot well in a faster twist barrel. Plus it could be shot where lead is prohibited. Is there a big flaw in this thought? Larry

A17Shooter
03-16-2008, 05:47 AM
Aren't these two dissimiliar metals? If they contact corrosion occurs and the bullet would swell, right or wrong? :(

georgeld
03-16-2008, 06:51 AM
Larry:
Do believe I've seen aluminum pistol bullets a few times.
Don't know what brand they might be though.
I'd be concerned about them building up in the bore.

Aluminum gets hot and soft quick and will rub off bad when it is. I sure wouldn't want to shoot any in my guns that didn't have a jacket on 'em.
Though, that's what you were asking about.
Being that much lighter wt, I'd bet they wouldn't carry very far either.

All the machinging you do, why not give it a try?

Ksmirk
03-16-2008, 07:12 AM
Sounds like he's asking about replacing the lead bullet core with aluminum if I read it correctly, I would think that the bullets would be much longer than a lead core might be an issue unless you have a fast twist barrel. Might take a thicker jacket and replace the core with aluminum? ya never know or well I don't anyway. Later,

Kirk

trotterlg
03-16-2008, 12:29 PM
Yes, with a jacket. Pure aluminum is very corrosion resistant. There would be a lot of intrest in light weight 17 cal bullets, with the external dimensions of a 30 gr lead cored bullet but that only weighed 20 gr or so. Larry

TinMan
03-16-2008, 03:15 PM
Aluminum forms a very tenacious oxide film that makes it corrosion resistant. That same film makes it not want to bond to other metals. Metallurgically, I think getting a good quality bullet with an aluminum core would be a very tall order.

Vibe
03-16-2008, 03:40 PM
I would be interested to see if anyone has ever tried making a .17 cal aluminum cored bullet. Looks like pure aluminum is nearly as soft as some leads. It would make some light weight bullets that would be long enough to reach the lands, have a good aerodynamic shape and shoot well in a faster twist barrel. Plus it could be shot where lead is prohibited. Is there a big flaw in this thought? LarryNot 17 cal that I know of, but the 5.7x28 "regular duty" SS-190 ammo for the Five-seveN and the P-90 is aluminum cored.

georgeld
03-17-2008, 06:12 AM
should form fairly easy, slip 'em in a .22lr jacket.
bet they'd make a good hi vel load.
Wonder what good they'd do when hitting something.
Any reports on them?

iiranger
03-17-2008, 04:36 PM
Heard of aluminum oxide. Used in grinding stones. This forms on the surface of aluminum. Unavoidable, almost. O.K. you make the whole bullet out of aluminum and your barrel life is going to be much reduced. Use it as a core and the jacket "leaks" and ???? Stout jacket and you throw the weight/length relationship all different. What is a 77 grain lead core BULLET, with an Al core might be 50 grains. So you need the fast twist for the "long" bullet, but you don't have much weight to retain energy... And little expansion. Make a true hollow point and fill it with a "hydralic" like wax...

Mr. Dave Corbin writes about these things in books on his web site. Not new. Not the most practical in the days before "leadless" became a question. Now? Might be worth something to you. LUCK.

trotterlg
03-18-2008, 02:24 AM
I didn't think it was new, I was just hoping someone with some 17 dies would stick in a piece of aluminum, pull the handel and see what came out. Larry

paulskvorc
03-19-2008, 10:37 PM
Back in '67, I melted the lead cores out of a mess of 130-grain .270 bullets, and crammed/packed in as much aluminum foil as I could. I wuz lookin' for the same thing you are. Sadly, none hit the target a hundred yards away. Before you comment on the "wisdom'' of that effort, I was just 16...

I'm not suggesting 'crammed aluminum foil' is an alternative, just adding to the idea that 'there's nothing new under the sun'. Personally, I think it's a good idea, and I can think of several 'applications'.

Paul

J. Valentine
03-20-2008, 12:57 AM
I think even soft aluminium would be much too hard to swage in an old horizontal hand press. It would not flow as easy as pure lead. The press could break or sustain excessive wear.

Possible in a newer heavy duty verticle press with a small caliber core.

It would be quite OK in a hydraulic press as they can swage pure copper bullets.