With all the BS going on lately, I decided to dig out some old 50 BMG tips and invest my time into something productive...  It was very therapeutic to take a break from all the negative and do something uplifting.

I had some old unprocessed 647 gr M33 ball tips that were mechanically pulled and while in gov't storage, became a little tarnished.  Reloading the 50 BMG is a labor of love. Lots of little steps to get a quality product. How I procesed the tips...

1. Presort (there's always oddball tips in these bulk batches, always.).
2. Run them through a tumbler to knock the loose stuff off.
3. Towel clean to get the media dust off.
4. Size the tips, to get the tip back in round and press the jacket peal (the gouge marks from the mechanical pull) back into place.
5. Tumble in a rotary tumbler with some cleaning/polish solution.
6. Rise the soapy solution off.
7. Dry on brass dryer (old food dehydrator- the room always smells like fruit leather afterwards! )

I know ugly tips will shoot as well as beautiful tips, but why have something ugly when you can have something beautiful?

It's more than just looking pretty.

It's good having them clean so that when you are done loading them, you don't look like you just wiped down the PTO shaft of a tractor bare handed.

I doubt whatever you are shooting will really care

Now, where is the finished product of entire pretty loaded rounds?

Looks good.

What do you shoot them out of OP?

These are some of my last batch. I like to do the prep work in segments and have a large supply of ready to go components... like good old Henry Ford taught us!

Nothing fancy, just an old Armalite AR50 and sometimes a Barrett 82A1.  I've owned the AR50 since they first came out and it is one of my favorite rifles to shoot.

Attached File

Awesome!

very sexy OP!

Those rounds look great!  I wish I'd have saved brass from my 82A1 over the years.  I've got maybe 10-20 pieces in a box, somewhere out there are piles of 100rds or so just in the dirt.

OP has clearly made the best thread of Sunday, January 17, 2021.

Attached File

It's beautiful...

If you went to the trouble of making your bullets shinny why didn't you shine up your brass?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Moved my question to the reloading forum. It fits better there than in this thread. I had a question about reloading 50bmg and primer pocket prep/seating.

Just one of the many quirks I have... I like the contrast.  

...I've got plenty of rounds that are all shinny. It's about the art.