.he CHAPTER 16 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #

                                 BULLET JACKETS


          Bullet  jackets are available from Corbin in popular calibers  and 
     lengths.   The current list is always available from Corbin on request.  
     The  typical  packaging is in boxes of 250 jackets for larger  calibers 
     and  lengths,  and  in boxes of 500  units  for  half-jackets,  smaller 
     calibers, and shorter lengths.  
          Gilding metal jackets with very consistent wall thickness and with 
     an expansion controlling taper from edge to base are usually about half 
     the  cost  of a quality bullet made from the same  material.   In  some 
     cases,  you can save considerably more.   In a few cases,  you can find 
     surplus  or low-cost factory bullets that are available for  about  the 
     same price as a good quality jacket.  
          In  the  .224 caliber,  this is often the case,  since many  firms 
     contract  with the government to manufacture .223 bullets and  can  use 
     much  of  this  investment  in  machinery to turn  out  low  cost  .224 
     projectiles for reloaders.   However,  in the .224 market, you can also 
     make  FREE jackets using fired .22 cases,  so you have the  last  laugh 
     anyway!
          Sizes  and lengths that are not popular enough (yet) to be stocked 
     can  often  be made from existing calibers  and  lengths.   Any  larger 
     caliber can be drawn down to a smaller size in a simple draw die,  such 
     as  the Corbin JRD-1.   The reduction usually is practical from .284 to 
     .270, from .270 to .257, and from .243 to anything down to a long heavy 
     .224 jacket.  
          Sub-calibers can be drawn from .224 jackets,  and pinch trimmed to 
     length in the same operation.   Jackets can be pinched off as they pass 
     through a constriction to the next smaller caliber size,  by having the 
     punch that pushes them through the draw die made with a shoulder.   The 
     smaller  diameter  of the punch,  from the shoulder to the end  of  the 
     punch,  is made to fit inside the reduced diameter of the jacket.   The 
     larger  diameter from the shoulder back to the base of the  punch  just 
     fits  through  the draw die by itself,  leaving no room for any  jacket 
     material.  
          A  minimum reduction of at least the thickness of the jacket  wall 
     is  required to do this pinch-trim operation.   But it works  well  and 
     gives  you one more tool to control your jacket supply.   In many cases 
     there is no need to reduce a jacket length as well as its diameter.   A 
     .41  and  a .40 caliber jacket can both be drawn from  a  standard  .44 
     jacket,  for instance.   Taking the jacket down in two steps is usually 
     better than trying to reduce it all at once.
          Copper  tubing provides for a superior jacket in calibers from 7mm 
     up.   Conventional water tubing such as type L hard drawn copper  works 
     very  well and makes bullets so accurate you would swear they came from 
     a custom bullet works (and,  come to think of it, they DID: -- YOURS!).  
     Tubing normally costs more than conventional jackets unless you find  a 
     good  deal  on  a  large  lot,  or have an uncle  in  the  plumbing  or 
     commercial refrigeration business.   Typical prices at this writing are 
     about five cents average price for a good commercial jacket,  and about 
     eighteen  cents  average  price for a pre-cut and  de-burred  piece  of 
     tubing.
          If you cut and de-burr your own lengths of tubing,  then of course 
     the  cost  can  be  lower.   It is still hard  to  beat  the  price  of 
     commercial jackets.   Trouble is,  they are not always available in the 
     calibers you want,  and they are usually much thinner than you need for 
     big  game.   Premium quality game bullets selling for as much as  $2.50 
     each can be reproduced for about eighteen to twenty cents, and they can 

     include partitions,  bonded cores, selective jacket thickness, brass or 
     steel  as  well  as pure copper jacket material,  plus the  weight  and 
     styles you want instead of those someone else wants to make for you.
          Those  are some of the reasons people often choose to make  tubing 
     jackets even when commercial ones are available at lower  cost.   Price 
     is  often  a secondary consideration when people get serious about  big 
     game,  defense,  or  competition shooting.   Performance is the  issue.  
     After  all,  taken to its extremes,  a fellow only worried  about  cost 
     should get a slingshot:   it throws a cheap projectile!  When you start 
     saying, "...but what about accuracy, expansion, delivered energy, etc., 
     ",  then  it becomes important to start weighing these factors  against 
     the cost of equipment to achieve them.  Tubing jackets, made correctly, 
     can  be  such  huge steps above ordinary jackets that  cost  really  is 
     out-distanced by performance.
          Corbin  supplies cut pieces of copper,  brass,  or steel tubing in 
     the 0.030,  0.049,  and 0.065-inch wall sizes.   Cut pieces are made to 
     order  (so  they are non-returnable) for the weight and style  of  your 
     caliber.   A minimum run is 100 pieces of stock material, 200 pounds of 
     custom material.   If you do want a custom wall thickness or alloy,  we 
     can probably get it made or make it for you, in the 200 pound minimums.  
     Prices typically have been running about $6 per pound with cutting  and 
     material included, but write for an accurate quote.
          
