New bullet making Thread

Wilbur and George have it right. The jacket must cling to the die a tad and it must eject with some down pressure .
As long as the punch comes out and the jacket is stickly to the die your ok. The real sizing happens at pointing
The jacket with the seated cores come to final size at the point die. This is where the base and pressure ring finally come to size along with the point. Just don't over seat the cores. Back off the core seater a tad and change the punch if necessary.
Look inside the cored jacket for lead or copper Bleeding back onto the sides of the jackets. You will be able to see whats happening with a magnifying glass.
 
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OK guy's last night I seated 900 cores for my 30br, out of the 900 I got 6 or 7 that stuck on the punch. Why? When I seat them they come out with just a hint of a bright line half way up the jacket (J-4), there is just a small amount of lead bleed-by around the inside of the seated jacket, when viewed through one of those eye, ear, nose thingies. This is my first real run of bullets since getting my dies from Blackmon. I have already gone through the whole process and shot some, they shoot fine.

Thanks
Dan Honert
 
Dan H said:
OK guy's last night I seated 900 cores for my 30br, out of the 900 I got 6 or 7 that stuck on the punch. Why? When I seat them they come out with just a hint of a bright line half way up the jacket (J-4), there is just a small amount of lead bleed-by around the inside of the seated jacket, when viewed through one of those eye, ear, nose thingies. This is my first real run of bullets since getting my dies from Blackmon. I have already gone through the whole process and shot some, they shoot fine.

Thanks
Dan Honert
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go to a smaller punch. or reduce the amount of lube.if you are getting a frost line where the lead line is .you have strechted the jacket to much. or to much lube, the only reason for lube in core seater is to make jacket eject easy you want just enough to do this in other words less is better during core seating. george
 
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I am looking fo a lead supplier in .250 wire lead.
thanks bill
 
Gents:

I am a Newbie to this forum and swaging bullets. I am looking into the possibilities of purchasing a new press and dies, but before I do, I thought I do some research and look for used equipment first. Second, I would like to query the group by asking if anyone is swaging 30 caliber bullets, specifically .308 185gr BT, or 175 BT? I would like to buy some bullets to see how they shoot. If anyone knows of anyone who may be making these bullets, please let me know. Currently I am shooting Berger 185 BT and Sierra 175 BT, which are my favorite. I would like to produce some comparable bullets if practical and feasible.

Thank you all for your replies.

Ed at kb4vwa@gmail.com
 
Ed.
To make that weight bullet, Your going to need long dies. Maybe you will find a used set but i doubt it.
I suggest you buy Carbide dies, Also you probably want a Boattail base design. So you will need a boattail core seater and base punch for the point die. If you get a set of longer punches you can also make shorter lighter bullets .
I suggest you get a pretty stout press From George Ulrich who makes a B&A clone press or the Walnut hill. Or corbin .
I would only use J4 jackets and pure lead for the coresOr 1% antimony . I, m not sure if chales hood can supply cores.
Die makers i would ask are George Ulrich Or David Detsch. { I likeThe B&A style }
 
Guys, the FAQ section pretty well says it all. Clean jackets and cores are paramount in importance, etched cores (properly done) are necessary, and the proper lube and amount of that lube make the difference between "swaging up" and making a junk bullet.
ba
 
What is the ballpark figure of how many bullets can be made on steal dies, if everything is done correctly ( lubeing, keeping dies clean, not scratching die, etc.)?

Thanks
Dan
 
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All i can say is A LOT' It all depends on who made the dies and how they were hardened and what grade steel was used.
What happens is you develop a very large pressure ring at the base. the body also grows , Usually with decently hardened dies it takes quite a while. Soft dies become stickey also. Leaving swage marks on the ogive.
Maybe George Ulrich has more imput on this. I know my B&A dies have been used a lot and have some wear, but not excessive.
 
dan and gerry,most o f the older steel dies such as b&a and pindells were made from graph mo.which is pretty easy to mach. and has good wear properties.of course there are better materials that could be used but lets say they are not as friendly to machine.for a guess to longevity i would say 250000 area would be a good guess if all was kept clean.the real problem is the trash sometimes imbeds in the jacket material itself and washing isn't going to take it out.then you basiclly have a lap that causes the bigger scratches.don't be fooled even carbide gets small minute wear scratches usually these cause jacket material to pick up inside of die and then bullets end up with a scratch.this is easy enough corrected though where a steel die actually scratches the die it self. hope this helps........george
 
Good post george. You said its grafh mo tool steel. Isn't that the Air hardending type?
That would explain why my B&A dies lasted so long . You think or know Ferris used the same steel.
I alway wondered what type he was using. I have one sitting here > The monster looks awfully good.
 
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Thanks george. I noticed a point die for sale in the classified saction. Its one of dave detsch points.
Its a double radis 9 0ver 6 in 6mm. at a bargain price. I'm wondering why he is selling it.
Its maked down quite a bit.
 
Guys, How much weight difference is normal in .925 jackets? How many jackets do you weigh before you determine your core weight?

thanks in advance
 
marlowjoe said:
Guys, How much weight difference is normal in .925 jackets? How many jackets do you weigh before you determine your core weight?

thanks in advance
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Joe,

Normal J-4 jackets within same lot are +/- .1 Gr.

We weigh 10-20 jackets to determine a target weight, place empty bucket on scale & zero, weigh entire bucket to verify initial target weight.

Hope this helps.

Bill
 
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