Home-Built Bullets — A Success Story from Al Nyhus
Forum regular Al Nyhus has tried his hand at bullet making, producing custom 30-caliber projectiles for his 30 BR match rifles. With guidance from his “guru”, bullet-smith Randy Robinett of BIB Bullets, Al has produced some very impressive bullets. This demonstrates that with patience, determination, and the right tools and components, amazing results are possible, even for a novice bullet-maker.
Al writes: “Thought I’d post some updated info on my 30 Caliber bullet making adventure. It’s been a lot of fun and a real learning experience. I’d like to thank Randy Robinett for all his patient teaching and guidance. The bullets have been working well in competition, being used to win the Varmint for Score portion of the IBS Wisconsin State Two Gun Championship [in 2007].”
The Targets Don’t Lie — These Are Quality Bullets
Here are two photos from bullet testing. In the 100-yard, 15-round target, the wind velocity was purposely ignored and the group was fired only with the same flag angle, trying to determine how they worked in the wind. Winds were 12-18 mph from 4 o’clock.
This 200-yard group was fired in near perfect test conditions — overcast, early in the morning, with no mirage. We usually have a small window of what I call ‘Happy Hour’ before the winds crank up.”
NOTE: Al’s 30 BR rifle was smithed by Stan Ware of SGR Custom Rifles.
Measuring Group Size
Note how Al measures his groups. Look at the top photo. You’ll see Al starts with the extreme outside edge of the hole, including the gray edge or ring. Then Al subtracts .290″, the TRUE size of one bullet-hole in the paper, as opposed to .308″, the nominal bullet diameter. If you simply subtract a full bullet diameter you will get a smaller number for your group size. That’s good for your ego, but Al’s method is more accurate because a bullet normally cuts a hole that is smaller than the actual bullet diameter.
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need to know what make bullet mold he was using
Al isn’t using a bullet mold, he hand swage’s his custom bullets, starting with lead wire that he cuts slug from then he squirts them to weight in a squirt die, nest he core seats them in J-4 jackets in a seating die, and finally he points them up in a point up die. All his dies and press are from Larry Blackman, if memory serves me.