Special Order

[Jgrden]

So here is how it started. My friend sends me eighty spent .30-06 shells. I see the dimples on the ends and think they are safe. I start to turn one and it POPPED !!!! I stopped, thinking they were all loaded with primers and that my limited education with bullets was showing. So I started to work on a special order which happened to include two supposedly spent .30-06 bullets that looked the same as the ones the friend sent to me. I decided not to take a chance and substituted two shells that had previously been drilled and were ready for polishing. This request was for a pen and pencil set and as you know, the pencil set took extra care and milling. When they were finished we took them to the customer and offered the two original shells back to him. He was not amused and wanted the set made of the original bullets that were fired from his "daddy's" gun. So over to the gun range and they verified that they and the other eighty bullets were fired and safe. I proceeded to drill holes in the two cherished bullet casings and they both drilled OFF CENTER. At this point I am headed for the liquor cabinet :drink: for assistance in calming my nerves. Pulling out my trusted Dremel I proceeded to even out the holes to 8mm size. My plan included double tubing the bullets, which I did. I tried for the forth time to solder them and it did not take. Used glue again. Put the center band into the pencil prematurely and paid the price for that mistake and had to turn the wood portion with the band inserted.
All that being said, they are finished and look good. And as Monty says, if there isn't a picture, it just did not happen. Guess I'd better trek out to the work shop and bring them in for photoing.
That is my story and I am sticking to it. So there. :tongue:

 

[Sylvanite]

John,

I feel your pain but I'm glad you got the pen and pencil together in the end. I prefer to use my own components in my bullet pens, mainly because if I make a mistake, I have replacement parts. When using customer-supplied brass, I take extra care not to mess it up.

That said, you'll get much better results if you deprime the brass before drilling. Firing pin dimples are never on-center. Primer pockets are usually pretty close. If you punch the primer out, the drill bit will have much less tendency to wander. The tooling to remove spent boxer primers is not very expensive - just make sure they're fired.

If you - or any other member for that matter - have shellcases that you're not sure you can handle safely, drop me a line. I'll do what I can to either help you understand the necessary procedures, or process the brass for you.

Regards,
Eric

 

[jskeen]

I'll second that, and I'm closer If anybody around here has questions about cartridges, components, or whatnot, I'll gladly take a look and do whatever I can to disassemble and render them safe to work with.

 

[ctubbs]

+1 for myself in my area. If you have any doubts about any cart you have, contact me and I'll do my best to render the brass clear.
Charles

 

[Jgrden]

Bullet and King Wood

Here are the pictures of the finished and finessed pen and pencil set.





The blems in the bullet were where the corrosion ate through the bullet.

 

[Pioneerpens]

They came out great John!

 

[ctubbs]

John, the blemishes can not be held against the craftsman when the customer insist on using defective material. Other than the wear and tare on the brass, you still came out with two good looking results, congratulations.
Charles

 

[JerrySambrook]

John,
The correct term for the components you used is cases.
The bullet is the actual projectile that comes out when fired (typically the pointy thing, but sometimes round, or flat tipped as well.)

The brass, which is what those cases are made from, is just tarnished. This occurred because if was in contact with a dis-similar metal for a period of time. Brass on brass contact usually just turns green to greenish blue.

If you ever want to do some from spent cartridges again, there are a few of us who yo could send them to to properly decap, the term for removing the primer, or dimpled thing in the end, the spent shells for you.

Lastly, you did an excellent job on those. Nice work!

Charles,
John did not use defective materials. He used what the customer wanted that were still usable and workable. It is called character and has memory for the customer.