by bladeracer » 05 Nov 2022, 5:35 pm
I bought 1000 52gn swaged-from-.22LR-brass bullets from Tripod (a member here) in Tassie five years ago. I use them for my reduced .223 loads. They don't deform at subsonic velocities even with the high-rpm of 8" twist but they blow up impressively at higher velocities, basically turning into powdered metal fragments. Perhaps not ideal for meat you want to eat.
They were not as cheap as bulk commercially made .224" bullets, you need to be doing a _huge_ amount of shooting before you'll recoup the costs of making or buying the swaging dies and equipment (probably close to $2k nowadays per calibre?). But the investment does mean you will never be in a situation of not being able to buy bullets. They're not as accurate as commercially made bullets either which limits their range more than anything else, but perfectly adequate at the ranges most of us hunt at. Bruce Bertram and Scott Driver basically make their bullets the same way. I have maybe 50,000 empty .22LR/S cases already just in case I ever find a use for them one day.
Really, if you want cheap bullets for close-range or reduced loads you're better off either buying bulk when they're on special, or casting and powder-coating your own. There's a learning curve but it's probably quicker to learn than getting into swaging, and the initial investment is next to nothing - essentially a steel ladle, a mould and a source of heat, and a $75 toaster oven if you want to powder-coat them. You can cast and powder-coat the bullets and load a couple hundred rounds of ammo in an afternoon. If you can get lead alloy for nothing then your bullets cost next to nothing. You're probably not going to get close to the accuracy of commercial jacketed bullets, especially at longer ranges, at least not without putting in a great deal of effort, but you can certainly produce perfectly effective bullets for plinking and hunting.
I had a very quick look at Cleaver's.
50gn VMax .224" is $330/1000.
Hornady 55gn SP is $960/6000 - 16c apiece.
62gn Gameking is $250/1000
55gn SuperRoo is $185/1000 - 18.5c apiece
Speer 33gn JHP is $30/100
46gn FNSP is $29/100
52gn HP is $235/1000
50gn TNT is $234/1000
and the 40/45/50/55gn SP is $29/100
Some of these will not function reliably at greatly-reduced velocities, but in the 2000-2500fps realm I'd expect them to work fine.
The Hornady and Sierra bulk 55gn SP's are both terrific bullets at ridiculous prices.
Practice Strict Gun Control - Precision Counts!