Aluminum ML Bullets, Frustrated and Irritated.

[teddy james]

Someone use me for target practice please. No, just kidding but I need some relief and I guess the best way to do that is to just let it all out here.

I'm outside gathering lead, making melting pots, building a furnace, just doing basic ML stuff. A visitor showed up and ask me what I was doing. I explained that I'm getting ready to make some bullets. His reply? "Why don't you make some out of aluminum?" Here I go explaining how its harder to melt, harder to start down the barrel if you had one, how it would bust into 1000 pieces when it hits something and why I don't even want to try an aluminum bullet. His reply? "Why don't you just melt some aluminum down with the lead and mix it?" Because they melt at much different temperatures and I don't think they would mix well anyways is why. One curious person, one horrible idea. I'm glad I may have educated him. No big deal.

A friend out of state called. We chatted a while. We got on the subject of casting bullets. "Why don't you make some out of aluminum?" He asked. Here we go again. Talked to my neighbor yesterday, I asked him if he had any lead laying around. He aked what I was going to use it for and I told him that I was going to cast some ML bullets. "Have you ever thought about using aluminum?".... NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY IS EVERYONE TRYING TO GET ME TO USE ALUMINUM? I'm getting tired explaining to EVERYONE that aluminum don't make a good bullet. (for me anyways) I guess thats why I'm here, talking to people that knows a little about sending bullets downrange.

Before you reply with "Have you used or thought about using aluminum?" for a laugh, HHAHAHAHAH..... it is funny. Yes I have thought about it, 2 seconds later it left my mind forever. Good day all

 

[JeffB1961]

Some ML bullets have aluminum tips . Do those tips shatter on game also ?

 

[teddy james]

I have yet to see one. I'm 100% sure its not pure aluminum but an alloy. Of all the posts I have found, everyone says they shatter on impact. Makes sense to me..

 

[tomme boy]

How about zinc? I have shot 223 bullets made out of zinc to 3200fps and they shot fairly well. About the same as fmj factory loads.

 

[anonymouscowherd]

How about zinc? I have shot 223 bullets made out of zinc to 3200fps and they shot fairly well. About the same as fmj factory loads.

Are those the sintered bullets?

From what Ive read can hanfle the velocity etc and can be great for practice/plinking but you really dont want to shoot anything but targets with em due to terminal ballistic performance

 

[lwh723]

Tips we use in the arrowhead bullets are 6061. They do not shatter. Most of the time when recovered from game the tip looks like it could be reused.

 

[JeffB1961]

Tips we use in the arrowhead bullets are 6061. They do not shatter. Most of the time when recovered from game the tip looks like it could be reused.

thanks for the clarification .

 

[earlwb]

Well some points were mentioning; aluminum forms a aluminum oxide coating on its surface. It is a really hard abrasive that can wear out a barrel quickly. You could fire off a box of ammo but you would not want yo run 500 or a 1,000 rounds through a barrel.

Being very light and low in density, it would work at close range. But it loses energy fast even with ultra high velocities.

As mentioned earlier it tends to be more brittle and would shatter if it hits something hard. Now that might be a plus for ricochets though.

So maybe just letting them use aluminum for cartridge cases is the best use for the stuff. Straight sided cases too.

 

[bronko220002]

I know there are different grades of aluminum but I'd like to see someone try casting an alum bullet in an alum mold. Would they end up with a block of aluminum?

 

[teddy james]

lol bronko, I was thinking just that last night. I wonder how my aluminum bullet was going to look in my brand new lee aluminum mold.

 

[JeffB1961]

maybe made on a laith like some coppers .... ?

 

[earlwb]

Copper bullets are still legal but don’t use brass or bronze bullets though. BATF made brass bullets illegal. I don’t think that they made any rules about aluminum bullets yet.

 

[morehops]

Aluminum? Well maybe if you filled a beer can full of cee-ment and fired it from a cannon.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

Copper bullets are still legal but don’t use brass or bronze bullets though. BATF made brass bullets illegal. I don’t think that they made any rules about aluminum bullets yet.

Im pretty sure that its just handgun and longun ammo intended to penetrate armor. Knight still sells their Bloodlines brass hollow points. Huge HP in them probably couldn't pierce armor.

 

[BadgerRidge]

The potential use of many metals as bullet and jacket material was analized over a hundred years ago. While there has been metalurgical and production improvements since then, the basis of that research holds true.

For most of the details on this sort of stuff, I'd encourage folks to read Jim Charmichel's, Book of The Rifle.

Pay attention to guilding metals and their interaction with the steel of the barrel (gauling etc), then worry about density and performance in the target. Also uniformity is key to accuracy. Workability promotes ease of production to hold those goals . Most alloys of aluminum suffer greatly in many of these regards. Which is why they are scarce in modern bullets.

There are good reasons modern bullets have 'guilding metal' jackets (roughly 95% copper & 5% zinc) jackets with lead/lead alloy cores. And good reasons solid lead bullets frequently are alloyed... Especially with antimony.

Many more educated folks here on that cast boolit front than me.. who cast thier own and have posted great info.

Of course as Luke stated aluminum seems to be used as tips on some modern bullets.

 

[52Bore]

Traditions makes/made an AL bullet in a copper jacket. 170gr, I believe. Some of those fancy TV hunters use them.
25% the weight of lead.

 

[MrTom]

In my searches along this path in muzzleloading I swear I saw a listing for aluminum bullets somewhere but haven't a clue where.

I think you're better off focusing on lead and maybe just not pay attention to the aluminum melters. Or by copper or the brass bullets.