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HotGuns
02-09-2009, 08:24 PM
The Ongoing Whisper Bullet Project
Most of yall have seen the 5 Cavity bullet mold that I made for .30 caliber bullets.

I am still looking for perfection and this will be a thread dedicated to just that. I molded up some bullets that weighed 275 grains and lubricated them with Moly Disulfide because they need to have something on them for lube since they didn't have any lube grooves. I did this to keep from gunking up the Form 1 suppressor that I use on the .300 Whisper Remington700 that I built.

I figured that the heavier bullets would hit harder, putting the energy level on par with that of a .44 magnum. This is from an extremely accurate rifle that is very quiet.

Sounded good in theory anyway.

Loading the bullets into a case however, wasn't as easy as it should have been. Due to the square base of the bullet, shoving them into a case resulted in shaving some lead, leaving a small ring of lead around the neck. Not good for any kind of consistency, and accuracy is all about that.

So, I thought, I have several dies with case belling adjustments, that slight bell the mouth of the case, I'll see if I can get something to work. Wrong. Nothing was even close. Since the .300 case is basically just a .223 chopped off at the neck and necked down to .30 caliber, nothing I had worked.

So, I had to make one. I used a case for the guide and pretty much copied some of the more popular patterns out there. The die centers the very base of the bullet and has an adjustable stem that enters into the case mouth to bell it every so slightly. Here is a picture of the die with a case in it. The bell pilot is sized to .307 to insure perfect alignment.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b130/HotGuns/Application001.jpg

This next picture shows the bell stem. It really doesn't take much to allow the lead bullets to slip right in without shaving lead. Having done a few dozen of them tonight, so far I am very happy with the results. Every loaded bullet looks great with no lead shaving that is evident.

Hopefully sometime soon, I be able to shoot these things through my suppressed rifle to see how they pan out. If they shoot as good as they look I'll be happy.

I haven't decided how to finish this die yet. I can either put a black oxide finish on it, or blue it using cold blue. Heres a picture of the whole assembly.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b130/HotGuns/Application002.jpg

AdamN
02-09-2009, 08:31 PM
Well that looks great, this isnt as nice but Lee makes an expanding die.

http://leeprecision.com/cgi/catalog/browse.cgi?1234236521.2224=/html/catalog/lubesize.html#CaseExpandingDie

HotGuns
02-09-2009, 08:40 PM
Yeah I probably coulda bought one for 20 bucks and waited a week or two to get it.
Instead, I spent 200 bucks worth of time and got it today, so that I could use it tonight.
I guess I'm just impatient like that...

MakeMineaP99
02-09-2009, 08:43 PM
What material is that, HG? O1, D1?

HotGuns
02-09-2009, 08:53 PM
12L14. A lot of dies are made from it.

Since its just an expander, I didnt see the need to harden it.

MakeMineaP99
02-09-2009, 08:54 PM
I can't say I have much experience with the leaded steels. Surprised you had a leaded steel laying around, have you made your own dies before?

HotGuns
02-09-2009, 09:01 PM
Some. I' made the dies for my .50 BMG. Made a few others, like a universal decapper and a few trim dies.

I love 12L14. It is exellent machining stuff, you can go in the haul ass mode and get an exellent finish. It case hardens really well and is fairly strong.

MONTEGOD7SS
02-09-2009, 09:06 PM
Let me just say that any time I see a new thread from you I get a little excited. The abilities of people good on a mill and lathe really amaze me. Little stock, some time and you have your own die set, that is awesome. This whole Whisper project really has me wanting something like this. I have a .30-06 so the high velocity rifle I have covered, and try not to get guns that serve the same purpose. This is why I have a snubby, a P220, .30-06, 12ga, because they each serve a distinct purpose and I have no need to duplicate right now. A nice slow thumper like this would be a lot of fun I think.

AdamN
02-09-2009, 09:53 PM
Yeah I probably coulda bought one for 20 bucks and waited a week or two to get it.
Instead, I spent 200 bucks worth of time and got it today, so that I could use it tonight.
I guess I'm just impatient like that...


Sounds familiar, most of the time half the fun is making the part

BoltNut
02-10-2009, 08:56 AM
Yeah I probably coulda bought one for 20 bucks and waited a week or two to get it.
Instead, I spent 200 bucks worth of time and got it today, so that I could use it tonight.
I guess I'm just impatient like that...
YOU SIR, ARE MY HERO!!!! I thought I was gonna get drawn & quartered around here for such logic... :patriot:

MakeMineaP99
02-10-2009, 10:06 AM
RFN costs money.

MONTEGOD7SS
02-10-2009, 10:12 AM
Would be awesome to have the equipment and skills to do things that like. In the end he is out a little stock, and as far as time goes I just can't consider time spent on a hobby as a cost. Just like I changed the brakes on our Liberty this weekend for $60. It took me an hour, shops charge $100/hr, but I still figure I did it for $60 and not $160 because my time is free if it's something I like to do. Whether it's woodworking or metal work, you all with these kind of skills amaze me.

creophus
02-10-2009, 10:29 AM
YOU SIR, ARE MY HERO!!!! I thought I was gonna get drawn & quartered around here for such logic... :patriot:Read the post again. He saved $20 by doing it himself. That is THE WAY of the CRB.

HotGuns, you got mad skills man! You should really consider offering up your goods & services to others at a price.

Oreo
02-10-2009, 10:29 AM
I'm very interested in this project as well! I think if I really wanted another caliber rifle I'd follow your footsteps here.

MakeMineaP99
02-10-2009, 10:40 AM
How many firearms you got, Oreo? Two, right? Before you know it, you'll have an order of magnitude of 10 of the things.

BoltNut
02-10-2009, 10:46 AM
Would be awesome to have the equipment and skills to do things that like. In the end he is out a little stock, and as far as time goes I just can't consider time spent on a hobby as a cost. Just like I changed the brakes on our Liberty this weekend for $60. It took me an hour, shops charge $100/hr, but I still figure I did it for $60 and not $160 because my time is free if it's something I like to do. Whether it's woodworking or metal work, you all with these kind of skills amaze me.
Hey, now that you know how to do it... I'll pay you $90/hr to come do my Liberty now!!! :)

MakeMineaP99
02-10-2009, 10:50 AM
$90/hr plus travel expenses is not a bad deal at all. If it were bench works, I'd be all over it.

Oreo
02-10-2009, 10:52 AM
Silly Dan! Another upper =/= another firearm!

(I'm getting married after all... I need to stay on point with the message. Can't let wifey know I've been building an arsenal under her nose with wedding money!)

MONTEGOD7SS
02-10-2009, 10:52 AM
Jack, lug wrench, 12mm wrench, 13mm wrench, screwdriver, rubber mallet, Brake Kleen, grease, new pads. That is all the parts required. Easy peasy.

BoltNut
02-10-2009, 10:54 AM
HotGuns: Isn't there a "hot blue" option you can do in the oven that lasts longer than the "cold blue" option?

creophus
02-10-2009, 11:03 AM
Silly Dan! Another upper =/= another firearm!

(I'm getting married after all... I need to stay on point with the message. Can't let wifey know I've been building an arsenal under her nose with wedding money!)Yeah, make sure she gets the kind of wedding that she wants. Make sure you leave room for guns though.

MakeMineaP99
02-10-2009, 03:21 PM
Yeah, guns are like rabbits, you go from 1 to 2 to 4 to 8 to 16 to 32 to 64 to 128 to 256 and so forth.

Oreo
02-10-2009, 04:05 PM
I think we'll be in good shape on both accounts. ;)

HotGuns
02-10-2009, 05:51 PM
Isn't there a "hot blue" option you can do in the oven that lasts longer than the "cold blue" option?

I dont know,is there? I have Van's Cold Blue (good stuff) and Casewell Black Oxide.
I'm leaning towards the black oxide finish.

MakeMineaP99
02-10-2009, 06:17 PM
Hot blue is done in a bluing tank last I knew.

HotGuns
02-10-2009, 06:26 PM
Yeah I'm not sure that my wife, as patient as she is, would stand for me stinking up her oven like that.

On second thought,no more than she has been cooking lately, I MIGHT be able to get away with it...

MakeMineaP99
02-10-2009, 06:28 PM
You could park them too, I'd be inclined to park over blue. I can't help you with the wife, I don't have on of those. ;)

Oreo
02-10-2009, 10:25 PM
It's better to ask for forgiveness then for permission. That's all I know.

BoltNut
02-11-2009, 09:03 AM
I believe it was in an NRA article ir something a while back... it explained the better quality of do-it-yorself hot blue... BUT... some of the gents did say they got nasty remarks from the spousal units, so they bought their own junker oven to do them in. I'd love to hear how the results came out from someone who's tried it before. :yesnod: