Simjim33
Well-Known Member
Here is how you can make your own bullets!
No special presses needed just a set of dies (I got mine from Joe bloggs of this site).
Swaging is not dark magic. Or over complicated and you can produce some cracking bullets. Some would say better than the stuff you can buy. In the long run they will be far cheaper too.
I will now let the pictures do the talking, as they can explain it better than I can type it.
ENJOY!!
First we need a set of dies. They look like this. Going from left to right, we have the de-rim die, core swage, core seat, and lastly point form(this one has a hollow point punch)
We also need a longer handle for the press. no further modification is now needed.
Lets cut some lead cores. We are using wire,but you can get core moulds.
Now lube the case.
Then we will need to put a bit of lube on the punch. I use 3 in 1 it seems to work ok. You will not need much at all, in fact just wipe it over the punch with your fingers after you have lubed the case. You MUST Lube the punch it or you will get the case stuck in the die.
Place the case over the punch and operate the press.
A nicely de-rimmed case.
Remember those cores we cut? well now we change dies and swage them this will regulate the core as any excess will be trimmed.
You can now see the difference.
Before we seat the cores we had better anneal the now formed ex 22lr jacket. So into some heat until it gets cherry red. Then dunk into some water to cool and blow dry with an air line if you have one. If not leave to dry before you go to the next step.
Now we will seat the cores into the jackets and in so doing make the first swage.
After it will look like this. The core is nicely seated.
Next we make the bullet ogive using the point form die. the punch I have is a hollow pointer, it makes a great hunting bullet
So there you go!
I'm off to the range on monday so i will post some pictures of the targets to show grouping.
No special presses needed just a set of dies (I got mine from Joe bloggs of this site).
Swaging is not dark magic. Or over complicated and you can produce some cracking bullets. Some would say better than the stuff you can buy. In the long run they will be far cheaper too.
I will now let the pictures do the talking, as they can explain it better than I can type it.
ENJOY!!
First we need a set of dies. They look like this. Going from left to right, we have the de-rim die, core swage, core seat, and lastly point form(this one has a hollow point punch)
We also need a longer handle for the press. no further modification is now needed.
Lets cut some lead cores. We are using wire,but you can get core moulds.
Now lube the case.
Then we will need to put a bit of lube on the punch. I use 3 in 1 it seems to work ok. You will not need much at all, in fact just wipe it over the punch with your fingers after you have lubed the case. You MUST Lube the punch it or you will get the case stuck in the die.
Place the case over the punch and operate the press.
A nicely de-rimmed case.
Remember those cores we cut? well now we change dies and swage them this will regulate the core as any excess will be trimmed.
You can now see the difference.
Before we seat the cores we had better anneal the now formed ex 22lr jacket. So into some heat until it gets cherry red. Then dunk into some water to cool and blow dry with an air line if you have one. If not leave to dry before you go to the next step.
Now we will seat the cores into the jackets and in so doing make the first swage.
After it will look like this. The core is nicely seated.
Next we make the bullet ogive using the point form die. the punch I have is a hollow pointer, it makes a great hunting bullet
So there you go!
I'm off to the range on monday so i will post some pictures of the targets to show grouping.
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