sas mity mite swage press

[lotech]

Would any of you experienced bullet swagers care to comment on the seemingly obsolete SAS Mity Mite press? Are these of good quality? Are they versatile and are dies available? What about approximate cost? Your input is very much appreciated.

[Bent Ramrod]

Lotech,

I have a Mity-Mite and I think it is a very good little press. However, getting new dies made (last I checked) will be rather expensive. I checked with Corbin a dozen or so years ago, and the making of dies would be a completely custom proposition. None of his standard dies fit the Mity-Mite, nor do any of the other manufacturers' dies that normally work in loading presses.

Corbin at that time offered the successor to the Mity-Mite, (I think it was called the Silver press) and, although it looked close and operated on the same principles as the Mity-Mite, the threading for the dies was different. Since the Silver dies and Mity-Mite dies wouldn't interchange, it wasn't possible to take advantage of off-the-shelf production and its attendant lower prices. I had toyed with the idea of rethreading the Mity-Mite for the Silver dies but I understand that now the Silver press is obsolete too.

There are some pictures of Mity-Mite and Silver setups on this Forum; a search should bring them up. If you have the complete setup, you can make very good bullets with it. The leverage is enormous, and ejection is automatic when the lever is thrown back, so production goes more easily than with the loading press setups.

[scb]

The Corbin successor that I have is threaded 7/8-14 and takes "M" series Corbin dies. I don't know what the SAS press was threaded for but if it's smaller seems like you might be able to have a good machinist re-thread it.

[teddyblu]

The sas dies were 3/4 diameter w th a 5/8 x24 thread The swage, core seat, and point up dies were on this configuraton , least on my 1984 set. the mentioned dies fit into the ram of the press. The punch holders for the base of the dies were fitted into a 7/8x14 die and were held iin place by 5/8 x 24 threaded fixture.

The older corbin dies I have were make of a 5/8 diameter steel with a 5/8x24 threaded end and screwed into the end of a die that was a 7/8x14 and screwed into the press like a normal sizing die.

Larry Blackmon of Monroe La. makes dies and considered by some as the best. He also use to have the mitey-mite style press but a phone call would be necessary to comfirm what he has available.

Larry is the manuf of gator checks that are purchased here in cast boolit group buys

Larrys

[JerryW]

I've got one I used to bump my 32 cal breech bullets that I plan to sell as have made a bump die for the regular press JerryW

[James Wisner]

The older SAS Mitey Mite press's are OK, but they can be somewhat updated.

The SAS external punch holder can be replaced with the new one from Blackmon.
The internal punch is another matter, since the ID hole of the BSSP (Blackmon) press is differnet. But Blackmon can supply a punch to fit the SAS.

And NO you can not change the SAS ram over to the Blackmon ram since the SAS has the ejection pin in a differnet location.

Dad bought his SAS press from Ted in about 1970, and we used it a lot in up till the mid 80's. Then it got put away.

I currently am setting up a SAS and two of the BSS Press's, plus I just am redoing an old RCBS Rockchucker into a swaging press. I shortened the ram stroke and have replaced the ram. Will be using it to do the lead tips on the bullets, plus ??.

The place to get the dies and punches for the SAS is Blackmon ( Bullet Swage Supply, BSS) for this size of press.

James Wisner

[mooko]

I have a Mighty Mite that my dad used for 243 and 30 cal. He made great bullets with it and corresponded with Ted Smith quite a bit. I have gaboodles of his bullets in 243 85 grain and 308 165 grain. Also, cans and cans of 6mm and 308 jackets. I found a couple od Smith's bullet swage manuals, and I thinking of try out the press after I studt them and my dad's correspondence. Might be another way to while away the monsoon season in Butthole, MS.

[scrapcan]

Also it depends on how old that mighty might is. I have one that does not have threaded dies. The die goes into the ram and is held in place by set screw(s). It is a make your own ( in the process of learning to do this) dies or find some very old ones (not likely as i have found out).

It will smash lead and brass with the dies that I have ( half or 3/4 jacket 429). the CSP-1 corbin is a might easier to use, but dies are also very expensive as are all swaging die sets these days.

If you want to make your own dies there is a thread with a scan of a die making pamphlet done by Ted smith in the old threads.

[scrapcan]

Mooko,

If you have a TED Smith Manual other than second edition and would be willing to sell it or make a copy I would like to talk to you about it. I have been trying to gather literature form him and his company. If you have original instructions that would be good also.

[Reload3006]

it depends on the mighty mite I have one but its one of the newer ones with the tie bar. Corbin MFG still makes class M dies. they are listed in the Christmas sale flier that is posted in this forum. Larry Blackmon dies will fit it and work in it They do in mine. RCE will make them for you but charges more. I guess the right answer is Maybe you can get dies for that press depending on which model it is. there were several different versions of it even with Ted smith then with the Corbin bros.