Ballistic Tips

I was messing around with my .224 swage set tonight thought I would try to make some ballistic tips. I went to Wally world and bought a jar of 6mm air soft pellets. I dont know what the deal is but seems like they are too hard. I draw them down and then try to get them to form and some of them do but mostly they crack up and if you look at them they look like broken glass almost. any Ideas?

What if you got some ballistic tip pellets for a pellet gun. Form a hollow point and set the pellet in with the tip pointing out and then swage the hollow point around the pellet?

Oh yea. On another site, they tried using the wally world brand of air soft pellets and found them to be useless because they are recycled. Almost all of the guys said they switched to a brand that was not recycled, they had to order them and found they worked 100% better...

This was over at the swaging section at castboolits....

So the theroy is that recycled air soft no matter where you buy them isn't good for BTs... Hope that helps.....

Have you seen my video on you tube where I made the tips out of air soft pellets?


I know the secret to making them out of air soft pellets and it is staring you right in the face. I discovered it after the video was posted and have not done an update on it and don't intend to.

Regardless of what you are being told they are a pain in the butt to work with, they are .243 in diameter and you are bringing them down to .224 and then tapering. In essence you are trying to cold form something and draw it down at the same time.

There is a better substitute that you can use, it is softer and pretapered. Just be careful because if you have an ejection like the one from corbin you will generally punch right through it. But with practice you can achieve good results.

Ok John you have my attention. I had seen your video on it and that is why i got the air soft pellets. But I am thinking what I got as too hard. You say there is a better option? what is it? LOL thanks

Correct me if I am wrong John, but I believe those are the ski plugs I was telling you about in chat or in a pm once before.

Those look great, everytime I see those I still get impressed...

Daywalker,

What are ski plugs?

Thanks

Skip

Reload

All airsoft pellets are hard, those buggers hurt when they hit. An explanation has been sent via PM.

Day
those are indeed ski plugs, still not the best option but they work. They are very soft and the ejection pin in my set will punch completely through the tip.

Thanks! Got some ideas will let y'all know how it turns out. My ejection pin is the same as yours John I imagine I would have the same results as you.

I have an idea that will get you great ballistic tips. It's a little risky though. First, we need some rope, some ski masks, a lock picking kit, the address to the nearest Nosler factory...........

Can't wait to see pics of your "plan Bs".

Success I did it thanks John. I used both methods I will post better pics later

Those are looking great!!! Did you get the additional die for bt? or are you using an existing die as a double role type deal?

them look cool bet they fly just as good as name brands too!

Looking good Reload!!

Daywalker wrote:Those are looking great!!! Did you get the additional die for bt? or are you using an existing die as a double role type deal?

yea i have the boat tail set but i just wanted to see if i could make a good ballistic tip first before adding the Boat Tail steps in.

I'm sorry, I meant the ballistic tip die. I thoguht I seen they had a die specifically for doing ballistic tips.... I might be wrong about that...

I have a lead tip die but dont have the ballistic tip die But I didnt use the lead tip die. they looked pretty good without it. I dont know if RCE offers a Ballistic tip die or not. Corbin does I think just not sure. but those are intended for the metal inserts I think I could be lying to you LOL

they look good, very good

How do the fly? You know that a bullet is only happy when it is in flight.

dont know yet john but intend to find out in a week or two.

Well you must keep us informed. If they fly as well as they look it is a double success.

Love it

Corbin does sell dies for the metal inserts which they sell as well.

If you want an example look at Northwest Projectile's heavy 30 cal aluminum-tipped bullet which is made with Corbin machinery and Corbin metal inserts.

Corbin also sells little plastic balls which you can swage into your bullets to make different tips and play with the weight.

Reminds me of the old Power Ball ammo that was sold a few years ago - it had a big plastic ball in the nose so that the ammo would feed through picky magazines but still act like a hollow point on impact.

For getting those little pretty plastic tips like Hornady and Nosler makes - I am not sure.

I have seen some guys fooling around with the 6mm plastic BBs and getting some fair results.

The only ballistic tip die per say that I know of on the market is the one by Dav Corbin and those are for his metal insert and 14S ogive bullet. Plus they are not made for any 22 caliber bullet. 6mm and up. Not to mention the price, Holy cow!

The airsoft bb will work but only of you do your part. I put alot of work in on figuring it out. It is slow and painful but it works, to a very high degree. Like I said, it is slow and painful. My first attempts are in the video, my later ones are not and will not be.

If you really want to go all out you can make them. Paraffin wax, glue, and paper mush. Heat it up, roll it out, swage it in. Long, slow, messy but it works. Once every thing hardens up they work great, but OMG what a mess it makes trying to make them. Done it once and will never do it again.

Last time I called Nosler and Hornady asking about their tips, I was told that are not for sale. A tool and die maker offered to make a injection molded machine for the tips but it would cost as much as my house, just a bit out of my price range.

A cnc lathe will turn them out quickly and accurately but you will need the measurements to draw the cad out with. Not impossible but time consuming.

Walking around with my wife in Michael's crap mart yesterday, I was looking at all the art supplies and wondering about the ballistic tip dillema.

I wonder if you could make a plaster cast, or have someone make a cast and pour your own tips?

There are several compounds I saw at the craft store that might make a fair ballistic tip. Some of the plastic resins looked like they would make a decent tip and the amount that you would use would be minimal, so a can would give you lots of tips.

Now all you have to do is get the measurements, make a mold and start experimenting with the different plastic compounds.

Still sounds like a painful amount of work, and if I was swaging my own - I think I would aim for hollow point or soft point and call it good.

I buy the Hornady and Nosler BT in large lots as this gets them down bellow a dime a piece. Handy when you shoot thousands of these every year like I do at the prarie rats.

I tend to agree with you Steve making ballistic tips is a lot of work not sure if its worth it or not. after Turkey season I plan to load a bunch of the ones I've made up and see how they fly. With the lead tip set I have I Am not sure its worth the extra trouble unless they are totally devastating a lot more so than the soft point or hollow point is. If they truly are then as much work as they are I may go that way. There is another option besides the Air Soft pellets but they are pretty expensive at 2.50 per 50pcs that drastically ups the price of your round and then it would be cheaper to just buy nosler or hornady. If I can find an alternate source of tips that is inexpensive i could make up lots of them no trouble. hopefully a tip made of a harder plastic.