casting swaging moly?

swampy

Well-Known Member
Guys,
i am reading on american forums that they do a thing called swaging bullets? what is this all about?

I quite fancy casting my own bullets, but i know that they are not very good at high velocity. Can you cast the bullet and then wrap it in copper (swaging?)?

can you cast a bullet and then moly coat it?

or shall i just buy them!

steve
 
swaging

Norman clarke of rugby used to make 22 cf heads out of 22 rim fired cases years ago, they were 55 grn heads hollow points if i remember correctly they were good on foxes and on the range if you give him a call he may help you
 
Several companies make equipment for swaging bullets including a company here in the U.K. The most common swaged bullets are produced for target shooting using soft lead alloy so not realy suitable for rifle use. The other swaged bullets are when soft lead slugs are introduced into a copper tube then swaged in a swaging die to produce a jacketed bullet.

The .22 bullets produced by Norman Clarke were probably produced on equipment manufactured by Cor-Bon an american company. Great idea using fired .22LR cases to form bullet jackets but quality of finished bullets varied and the dies got to be expensive. The tendancy these days with swaging is to produce custom bullets aimed at the top end of the market or for an uncommon calibre.
 
I cast bullets in .22 .243 and 6.5, the first two are good the 6.5 is like the holy grail of casting. Cast bullets can be fired at speed, it is not speed that does for them but pressure. Having said that you can drive 243 at 2900 fps which is good. I use the 22 in my Hornet, it is easy to replicate a 22 WRM, a very powerful WRM, but at a fraction of the cost. Cast bullets can be and are very accurate, with the odd exception the bigger calibres are better. The 6.5 is a bit of a sod in that no one can get the bloody things to go at any sort of speed, they do all sorts of crazy things, one of the favourites being to shear off at funny angles. IU have some records of my loads somewhere I'll dig them out. American hunters love them, in 308 and above with one of their favourite sayings being "you can eat right up to the hole". Of course the ballistic requirements imposed by our laws would preclude this. Have a look at this it should answer all your questions.

John
 
thanks boys---- but look at this

guys,
i had a good old sniff about the internet and found this site

http://www.swage.com/

(the things you do when you are off your feet)

I would love to have a go at this, but the gear looks SO expensive. maybe when i get my 6 numbers up i will have a go. I particularly like the look of making .243 bullets out of fired.22rf cases.

steve
 
That's the company I was thinking of, got my cor-bon and corbin confused?
 
Guys I have ordered the dies, press etc to make jacketed bullets for 243 and 308 using copper jackets. Hopefulll they will be on the way soon, it been a long time waiting.

I've also got the dies that make rf case into .243 jackets.

And I am swaging .38 DEWC.

Once i get up and running I will share the picure.

No peince for the wicked.
 
I cast bullets. I shoot them at target and at deer. Noting like taking a large mule deer with a 190 grain 30 cal you made yourself! ~Muir
 
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yeah I'm hanging out to cast for my 243. Which I haven't even got yet... Gonna make cast reduced rabbit loads, but still not sure about HV deer loads, might want higher pressures for that.

I've found some tables relating bullet hardness to chamber pressure, but does anyone know where gas checks fit in there - what's the max pressure you can drive a GC cast bullet at? A bit annoyed my new hornady book doesn't include pressure listings for its loads, any way to estimate them maybe using another source?
 
Have a look at Corbin's web site. They sell 7 (yes 7) books on swaging.
I've swaged soft lead bullets for pistol calibres for years - very accurate and cheap. Bear in mind that you can only swage SOFT (ie pure) lead and hence the bullets are limited to 1000fps or so.
The cast bullets I have made from hard alloys (mixed with antimony tin and some aresenic) can be driven at up to 2400 fps accurately. It is a skill that takes time to develope.
 
yeah I'm hanging out to cast for my 243. Which I haven't even got yet... Gonna make cast reduced rabbit loads, but still not sure about HV deer loads, might want higher pressures for that.

I've found some tables relating bullet hardness to chamber pressure, but does anyone know where gas checks fit in there - what's the max pressure you can drive a GC cast bullet at? A bit annoyed my new hornady book doesn't include pressure listings for its loads, any way to estimate them maybe using another source?

Harry: The gas check doesn't really increase the amount of pressure a bullet can take. It just reduces/eliminates gas cutting on the base. This is an article -pretty boring actually- that explains pressure and cast bullets.~Muir

http://www.jesseshunting.com/articles/guns/category16/9.html
 
thanks Muir, that's the info I was after. What about shooting gas check bullets without a gas check (at low pressures cf using a gas check) - does it work like a non gas check one or do you really need a gas check if the bullet's designed for it? I'm thinking in the context of sub sonic 243 (not for deer)
 
Harry: You can certainly shoot GC designs without the gascheck but I've found that the load needs to be quite mild and even then, accuracy is usually less. JAYB and I loaded some rounds for his BRNO 243 and they shot tiny, tiny groups at very mild speeds. I think that off the hood (bonnet to you) of his Land Rover we were shooting 3/4" at 80 yards. His bullets were most definitely gaschecked.

I shoot a lot of cast bullets. I mean, a LOT. I have over 100 bullet molds of all sizes from 5mm to .72 Caliber and I seem to keep acquiring them. Long ago, when I got sick and tired of BR shooting technocracy, and was at a point where I could almost intuitively know what load would shoot out of a given rifle, I started looking for something else to do. An old timer in Las Lunas, New Mexico got me started on cast rifle bullets.(I had been casting for handguns for sometime) I loved it. My initial groups were just mediocre but it was MY mediocrity! I cast the bullets, I sized them, I fit them to my chamber and the results were more on my shoulders than anyone else's. Suddenly, more than at any time in my shooting career, I became the variable in accuracy. I worked very hard at this casting thing and ended up winning some cast bullet BR matches as well as branching out to odd ball calibers and obscure bore sizes. So it's been 30 years and the best bit of advice I can give someone starting out is this:Cast bullet shooting is a Discipline, not just an option.

To do it correctly takes preparation and planning. If you are sure you want to shoot cast bullets in your 243 I am willing to help. It's not hard but there are details to attend to. Let me know.~Muir
 
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Sounds like good stuff Muir, I'm looking forward to it. From snippets I've gathered from your posts you seem a real authority on casting (and in fact reloading in general) and I'd love to take you up on your offer of help, so I'll let you know when I'm ready to begin!
 
Anytime. Remember though, that "beginning" starts before you buy the mold, not afterwards. Don't buy a mold without having a chat with me about it.

Thanks for the kind words but I'm not as much an "authority" as I am old and doggedly persistent! After a while some things just stick in your head! :doh:~Muir
 
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