Home Swaged Jacketed Bullets

OK crew, I'm doing my part to keep new posts on this great board. I thought some of you may like to see pictures of some of the .224 caliber bullets I make using a set of Corbin dies. You may have heard of this type equipment, it utilizes spent 22 rimfire cases as jackets. The set includes a die to draw the rim portion out of the spent case, producing a jacket. The other dies are a core seater and point forming die. Corbin also sells moulds to cast your own cores. I tried the cast cores, and found it is not as accurate as cutting the cores from lead wire. They also sell a core cutter, but I made my own. I'm also posting a picture of the homemade ejector I built to push the jackets with core out of the die, which otherwise requires a hammer and tends to rattle things from the shelf above my bench.

The end result is not as pretty as the store bought ones, since they aren't polished, but they shoot as well as any store bought bullet I've used. I've fired them in my .223, .222 Remington, and 22/250 and have gotten some 5/8" groups in the 22/250.

http://photos.gunloads.com/images/45...medjackets.jpg

The cores and jackets formed from fired 22 rimfire cases

http://photos.gunloads.com/images/45...corecutter.jpg

Homemade core cutter, adjustable for weight

http://photos.gunloads.com/images/45...jectortool.jpg

Homemade tool for ejecting the cores from the die, mounted on my old Rockchucker press.

http://photos.gunloads.com/images/45...letonpunch.jpg

A finished bullet sitting on the punch after ejection from the point forming die

I have wondered how good the bullets come out. Looks good!!!

Hey Ray speer started of doing the same thing & look where his company is now [smilie=w:

They look really good ! Unfortunatley Swaging has never caught on over here so it's virtlily imposible to get the tooling needed

Dave

dok, dok, dok, ..... you get these kind of tool from the mail guy, not the store guy... don't you think it would take some lads out of your hair if they had to pick 22 brass and convert them into bullets... without involving gas, electricity, heat....:mrgreen:
Corbin's site had detailed Howto's with pics some time ago: http://www.corbins.com/ and PB would certainly help.

kg

Wow!!! The entire kit for doing this is now $599. I paid a lot less.

PB you've gone & done it now ! You've sparked my intrest & I spent all last night at work thinking about about it & was going to ask for a link to the company! Thank you for that I might just have to start rolling my own .22Hornet & .223 bullets :mrgreen:

Dave

I really enjoy making these homemade bullets, but I have to tell you that no one should get into this expecting to save money or shoot more. It's extremely time consuming and I figure an about 2 hours invested for each 100 to 150 bullets.

I'm retired now, so my time is my own and these projects give me something to do when it's -30 and the snow is ass deep to a tall indian. I find it satisfying to be independent of bullet suppliers and I know that this same bullet will be available to me for the rest of my life, and then my Son's life.

If you decide you want to take the plunge, I'll be glad to assist with any advise you need.

PB, do you have an idea about what was wrong with the core molds? I thought that the dies had a bleeding hole to adjust the core's weight...
Maybe your alloy?
These molds do look like awful contraptions though..., I can understand blaming them for everything http://forums.1911forum.com/images/smilies/biglaugh.gif

kg

No, there is no bleed hole. Any excess lead simply pushes upwards around the core seating punch as "sprue". It's a real PITA when that happens, since it has to be removed before forming the point. All settings are adjusted by changing the die/punch relationship. Once it's set, you don't have to mess with it again, until the weight (and thus core size) is changed.

There is the rub......cast cores vary enough in weight to screw up the settings. Cut cores are accurate within .1 to .2 grains. The core mould Corbin sells is Rube Goldberg at best, and really ungainly in use. Each of the four chambers in the mould has to be set with a threaded rod and locknuts. Pretty hard to do while the mould is hot. Also, one out of the four cores invariably sticks, so you are fighting it constantly and it's cooling while you do that.

With my home made core cutter, I have written down the distance between the stop and the cutting edge for each weight I use. I use a vernier caliper to adjust it as needed. I can chop 100 cores as fast as I can shove the wire through, maybe 5 minutes?

Thanks for the info PB. I regularly have thoughts about Corbin's stuff but the dependency on wire and/or jackets doesn't make sense for me in larger calibers...
the only problem with casting is the odd smell in shared houses...

Nice going, 454PB. You've really showed your inginuity, very cleaver.

However that bullet ejector looks a mite misplaced but is workable.

Here's my swaging bullet ejector system.

Jim


Note: The sizer on the far right is an RCBS unit, painted Dillon blue to match my Dillon stuff. Didn't care for the original gas chamber green color.

Jim

What's the sizer on the far right? That's the only unit on your bench I can't name.

Yeah, I know it is crude and wobbly looking, but is actually designed to pivot as it swings over the top of the ejection pin. The other advantage is that it takes about 10 seconds to install and remove. It's only needed to eject the core after seating. When forming the tips, all I have to do is rest my hand on the ejector, and the finished bullet falls out into my hand.

.............Re: Core mould weight settings. This is what I use:

http://www.fototime.com/33E1CE1D5D95675/standard.jpg

This is the RCE core mould. It's for making cores to make .443" swaged slugs for paper patching and shooting from 45 caliber long range muzzle loaders.

http://www.fototime.com/9A771A7ECE73BD4/standard.jpg

In this photo at the top are some .375" billits of various lengths I cut to set the 5 cavities in the coremould. Naturall I had no idea what each length was worth weightwise. I just cut them longer by 0.100". To use you swing the sprueplate closed. Then lay one in the first cavity and screw the plunger up until it touches the bottom of the billit pushing it against the underside of the sprueplate.

Then you take it out and lay it in the next cavity and repeat until all 5 are done. Weights then produced are within a few tenths of a grain for each core.

.................Buckshot

"What's the sizer on the far right? That's the only unit on your bench I can't name."
..................
Laureate,
It appears that there are two shell-Savers, one from Lachmiller and one from RCBS.
I've been looking for the patent number for those. It may have been assigned to Redding with an old press design.
Back on topic, You may find US Patent Office Fred Huntington's patent number 2,451,488 of October 19, 1948 of historical interest. He applied for it in 1944 when the need was more sorely felt.
Cheers from Darkest California,
Ross

Quote:

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Originally Posted by d-o-k

Unfortunatley Swaging has never caught on over here so it's virtlily imposible to get the tooling needed

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Dave,

Check Ebay under reloading equipment. I have seen a number of the "Swage-O-Matic" presses for sale there. Lots of older equipment is very well built and has outlasted the old timers who bought it new.

I'm very interested in getting into swaging.

Looking to make .45 FMJ's and JSWC.

Is the Corbin equipment more efficient than using reloading presses?

I admit that a hundred an hour is slightly disheartening. :shock:

I believe they expand well, but don't like excessive velocity. Is that right? Mick.

They haven't shown any inaccuracy at 3600 fps!

And.....because of the hollowpoint, they are explosive.

454pb, is that a regular rock chucker press you are using or is it the RCBS Supreme. I have some swaging dies coming and I don't know if my rock chuckers can do it or if I need to haunt ebay for a beefier press. I think I will be ok for now as I am using soft lead for PP bullets. that's the plan now. JB

How about drilling a relief hole in the seating punch? That would make cast cores all useable without adjustment. Just cast a little heavy, and extrude the excess.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JBMauser

454pb, is that a regular rock chucker press you are using or is it the RCBS Supreme. I have some swaging dies coming and I don't know if my rock chuckers can do it or if I need to haunt ebay for a beefier press. I think I will be ok for now as I am using soft lead for PP bullets. that's the plan now. JB

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It's a 35 year old Rockchucker. It has all the power needed, and my new Lee Classic Turret does as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leftiye

How about drilling a relief hole in the seating punch? That would make cast cores all useable without adjustment. Just cast a little heavy, and extrude the excess.

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That might work, but it would have to be drilled very small, and would extrude through the shell holder and into the primer ejection slot in the press ram. Since I use pure lead cores, it might also tend to pull lead out of the jacket as the ram is lowered.

Hi I am considering buying Corbins 22 jacketed boolit kit. I have a Forster Coax B2 press and was wondering if anyone can tell me the physical size of the dies. The reason being is that the forester handle swings over the die in the press. The one die that looks the biggest is the one with the ejector punch you need to tap to remove the finished boolit. Is this correct? What distance from the shell holder to the top of the die is required when at the top of the stroke? Any other important dimensions you think I have missed would be greatly appreciated. Also the handle clearance narrows, at 1" spacing I have about 5" of clearance between the bottom of the lock ring and the handle. There is 5/8" from the shell holder adapter to the bottom of the lock ring.

If I have to buy a new press I am unsure about corbins press as it is expensive and I doubt I would make any other kind of jacketed boolit as the materials will cost just as much as buying them. I am interested in the arbor press adapter for it though and the press is supposed to be a lot faster.

Thank you.

I don't see that it would be a problem. The dies are the same size as reloading dies. The ejector could actually be removed during the upstoke of the ram, then inserted after the handle is lowered if there was a clearance problem. The ejector rod simply lays in the die and is lifted out to remove it.

There was an outfit that went by the name of Top-Flite that made jacket-making and bullet swage dies for .224 where the die body snapped into the ram and the heel punch screwed into the 7/8-14 threads. There was a tool that worked like a press-mounted primer seater that ejected the finished bullet. It does require a 1" ram dia. to work. Their dies were half the money of the Corbin tools. Now that I have the money, I can't find them anymore.

tag for info on "top-flite"

i've been searching and reading all I can on the topic of swaging and i can't find them anywhere.

the best deal so far would be used (but I can't find dies or presses anywhere) or buying from Richard corbin.

If only I had a bunch of cash to get started doing this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by yeahbub

There was an outfit that went by the name of Top-Flite that made jacket-making and bullet swage dies for .224 where the die body snapped into the ram and the heel punch screwed into the 7/8-14 threads. There was a tool that worked like a press-mounted primer seater that ejected the finished bullet. It does require a 1" ram dia. to work. Their dies were half the money of the Corbin tools. Now that I have the money, I can't find them anymore.

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sure it isn't "Sport-Flite":)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kg42

Thanks for the info PB. I regularly have thoughts about Corbin's stuff but the dependency on wire and/or jackets doesn't make sense for me in larger calibers...
the only problem with casting is the odd smell in shared houses...

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Hi kg42

Some time ago i undrstood that my life wouldnt bee complete whitout a rifle in a old english cartridge and i chose .425 Westley Richards there aint many supliers how makes bullets in .435 so i went and bought equipment from cobin to make jackets from copper tubing and a set for a round nose bullet. the result was verry good accuracy superp. It takes time and alot of tinkering but it is kind of fun

Math

Hi math

Whott? jacketed bullets for 2400fps only :mrgreen:?

Where do you get the brass for that gun? I always found it odd that it uses standard bolt size but such a peculiar case. Do you cut and turn .404 Nitro?
How does it feed? Is it an original or did you have it made?

Right now I wish lead wire could be found in hardware stores, as it has become very difficult to cast with the number of people in the house... :evil: I would love swaging...

ps, did you check your pm's?

kg

Hi kg42

I got the brass from Horneber Hülsen in Germany. No its not a orginal , i had it made on a Husqvarna 640 vhich is a Mauser 98 whitout the cut in the side for cliploading. It feeds great but i was told it took about 30 hour to fix that and the dropmagazine so it would hold 4 runds

Math

Hello y'all, I hope you don't mind if I post to this older thread, but...?

I'm new to this Board, but I hope you good folks'll permit me to ask a couple of questions...?

Doesn't Dave Corbin advise when casting cores, to adjust your core mould such that the cores are several grains too heavy, then run them through the core swaging die, and the excess weight is bled off after any and all potential air pockets are eliminated?

Jim

thats the way i understand it too. but if you have too much it plugs up the bleed hole.