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.17cal fmj projectiles

grady mitchellgrady mitchell Member Posts: 139 ✭✭
edited August 2017 in Ask the Experts
were can you find any 17 fmj or 4.3mm bullets at ??????????

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    charliemeyer007charliemeyer007 Member Posts: 6,579 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I'm not sure they make them. I would consider swaging solid copper bullets from wire. P.O. Ackley made them way back when for the 220 Swift but they had a small hollow point for controlled expansion in 4000 fps range.

    added I thought you were looking for reloading bullets for a 17 something not rim fire ammo.

    cut and pasted
    "In Dave Corbin's early writings I saw where he discussed making 17 cal bullets from solid copper wire. Same stuff you wire your house with, whatever guage fits closest in the die. They wouldn't expand much but cheap to make and shoot, once you have the dies anyway."

    "Actually the solid copper wire bullets are bit trickier than that. We cut a correct length piece, swage it up to nearly bullet diameter, then you need to drill a hole in the end to help the point "flow around" and form. Depending on the hole you drill they can be quite violent. But, they are time consuming to make, and a bit tricky to make really precisly. AND, they don't form worth a hoot in the hand press dies. Too much pressure required. We use our hydrualic presses to work with these. We are working on our lathe set up, and a couple of dies right now, that should speed the proccess and precision. It's a fun facet of bullet making though!"

    Corbin still lists copper powder to use in place of lead in jacketed bullets.

    I would think well annealed wire could work or perhaps cast a shaped core of copper in like a gang mold.
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    nononsensenononsense Member Posts: 10,928 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    grady mitchell,

    I've never paid much attention to .17 caliber bullets except for Hornady and Berger, so FMJ was really foreign to me since I can't see any reason for it. But, low and behold it's available as loaded HMR ammunition:

    915.jpg

    That is the only reference I have for this style and caliber of bullets.

    Best.
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    MobuckMobuck Member Posts: 13,779 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    If you're referring to bullets for the little 4.6 centerfire, a foreign manufacturer like RWS or Norma might be a starting point.
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    yoshmysteryoshmyster Member Posts: 21,033 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I'd look for "California" specials. All copper bullets because our over inbred condors love lead.
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