POINTING BULLETS
By Richard Wilde
Before and after. The open point (left) has been closed to be more uniform across the batch .
found that each bullet was able to be improved to various levels. Bullets used were Lapua 105 grain 6mms for my Dasher; 168 and 180 grain Berger, 175 grain Sierra Matchkings and 190 grain Matrix bullets for the 284 Shehane and the 7mm Boo Boo.
The bullet-pointing die works in the same way a case- sizing die works. A bullet is inserted into a die and the point is adjusted using the micrometer setting to the angle and shape required. The bullet pointing die is built around a Forster bullet seating die but uses two additional parts - a calibre sleeve and the pointing die - matched to the specific bullet you use - that fits inside the sleeve. Using the correct pointing die is important as sharper VLDs require a different design to Matchkings which are more rounded at the nose.
Whidden recommends using a Forster Co-Ax press but any solid reloading press will do the job. I own a Co-Ax and followed the easy to understand instructions to set-up the die for the first bullet. I cut my teeth on the 6mm Lapua bullets as I was reloading them at the time and found out two things. Firstly, the Lapua bullets are very well made and secondly, you can push the point on them too hard and deform the bullet.
Once you get the die set up, you can adjust the meplat to become almost as sharp as a needle – and yes I have been stabbed by the contents of my ammo box!
The Sierra Matchkings were the worst of the selection and immediately showed the greatest improvement in shape. After a while it even seemed possible to pick the different machines that produced the bullet as differently shaped but, ragged meplats emerged from the process.
These ragged edges need to be dealt with and the Whidden approach is to treat the bullet using the same equipment used to trim cases. This is based on a Wilson case trimmer and uses a caliber-specific bullet holder to hold the bullet in place and a new push
87
I am preparing a batch of weighed, sorted, tipped and trimmed 7mm 168 Bergers for general competition use. After batching and weighing, the bullet is sized in the Pointing Die. The set-up and operation is similar to a resizing die and the pointing die is based on a Forster seating die.
system and cutter. Because the 7mm Matchkings were so much worse than any other bullet, they were the natural first choice to trim. For a control, I had set up the trimmer on the 6mm Lapuas but found it difficult to cut any copper.
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