Received A Swaging Setup...

[hcpookie]

... from my dad!

He had done some bartering about 4 years ago for some "reloading stuff" that came from a guy he worked with. Turns out the guy's uncle - apparently - built all of this back in the '70s or perhaps earlier. The uncle was an engineer and machinist. The guy doesn't reload, and wanted it to go to a good home.

Most of the small parts are built out of a cam shaft and valve stems. It appears there is a "short" and "long" press, and the inserts are keyed by size to fit in either one or the other. It is hard to see, but there are nose inserts for every style of bullet - HP, round nose, semi-wadcutter, full-wadcutter, etc.

Shown is the "short" press and the 9mm stuff is for the "long" press. The press is HUGE - it weighs at least 50 lbs. There is more than what is shown... the "long" press, .357, .41, .44 , and .45 dies. The gear thing appears to be a cannelure tool. My dad couldn't figure out why all the bullet molds did not have lube rings, then it occurred to me that they are core molds! :) There are some hand tools and copper cups, and I suspect he made his own copper cups as well.


(pics are about 150k each):

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/swaging/100_0686.JPG

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/swaging/100_0687.JPG

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/swaging/P1160387.JPG

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/swaging/P2200021.JPG

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/swaging/P2200023.JPG



So - can anyone determine if this stuff is actually modelled on a brand-name setup, or is it COMPLETELY custom? I plan to follow the design to add .223 bullets to the kit. :mrgreen:

I wonder if there were plans somewhere that he followed, like a DIY kit?

[scrapcan]

Nice stuff, I cannot offer anything as to it's lineage but nice stuff none the less. Now let us see how it does by showing the finished product.

[Swagerman]

Extremely nice work, but doubt I could afford any of it.

The last picture might be a device for making canalure indentations on brass or bullets...but not a 100 % sure on that guess.

Jim

[georgeld]

Top grade machine work for sure.

Is the man still alive?? Be well worth making the trip to visit him if he is.
Now you just need to put it to good use and show us the finished products.
have fun,

[wonderwolf]

Nice score.....I keep wishing .223 swagging dies will land in my lap one of these days :Fire:

[Bret4207]

Nice! The man did good work.

[hcpookie]

It is my understanding the man passed away a few years ago and the nephew (my dad's friend) received all of this when they went through the estate.

It was a clever thing he did - using old engine parts - because I'll bet you can pick up old burned valve stems or worn-out camshafts from any junkyard for super cheap.

The problem I'm having is that NOTHING is labelled, so I'm playing puzzle time working out what goes with that.

I'm certain that gear thingy is a cannelure tool - there's no other explanation for it. The only type of cannelure it can make is a "ring" style, and I may see about machining some more rollers to make the "notched" kind as well.

I have yet to figure out the jacket making process with this gear, but all in due time. The important thing to me is that I can make additional bullet types than those already there... I'll just mimick his process.

I think he may have a .22 case de-rimming ram (is that the right term?) because there's only one long ram that just fits in a .22 case and nothing else in a "set" that would imply its purpose. Everything else is stored in old metal peanut cans (!!!) and labelled with masking tape. Hopefully I'll find the rest of this small ram this weekend.



Question - I have a can with dies labelled .315"... that is 8mm according to my converter, however all commercial 8mm is labelled as .323. Therefore, I presume this is the .357/9mm core kit. Would that sound correct - a 1mm jacket? Well, I suppose it would be .5mm thick wouldn't it? That would mean it would be .0195" thick... sound about right? That would be 22-24 gauge I think. I need to find a source for thin copper sheet metal or tubing.

[Marlin Junky]

Question - I have a can with dies labelled .315"... that is 8mm according to my converter, however all commercial 8mm is labelled as .323. Therefore, I presume this is the .357/9mm core kit. Would that sound correct - a 1mm jacket? Well, I suppose it would be .5mm thick wouldn't it? That would mean it would be .0195" thick... sound about right? That would be 22-24 gauge I think. I need to find a source for thin copper sheet metal or tubing.

.315" is the correct bore diameter for an 8mm. Add .008" for groove diameter and you're right at .323"

MJ

[bohica2xo]

.315" is the correct bore diameter for an 8mm. Add .008" for groove diameter and you're right at .323"

MJ

Unless you have a "J" bore 8mm - which is .318 in the grooves.

B.

[454PB]

Very well made equipment!

I wonder if the gear driven tool is for adding a channelure to swaged un-jacketed boolits?

Maybe the guy used them without jackets or paper patched?

[copdills]

Talking about Heavy duty, NICE STUFF

[Lucky Joe]

That looks like just an awful lot of fun. I'm glad it did go to a good home.

[HeavyMetal]

I suspect the tool you think is for cannalure's is actually a tubing cutter. He would need that to make his own jackets.

I have a cannalure tool by Corbin and the only time they offer a " smooth" cutter, like the one I see on your tool, is for cutting tubing.

Get yourself some copper tubing and try it out! Looks like it's set up with a stop and everything so suspect it's set up to do the 8mm stuff?

[hcpookie]

I'll have to check on the cutter - never thought about that. I had assumed it to be a cannelure tool. If that is 8mm, I could bump them down to 7.62 with little effort. HRM...

[Earl Brasse]

Wow, talk about "Industrial", I would think it should still be doing fine work for your great-grandkids. Just make sure you teach them well. (or leave a detailed set of instructions) I'm glad it found a good home. I shudder when I think of all the fine things like this that just get tossed when the owner/builder passes on.

[Three44s]

Thank god that such fine workmanship did not end up in the smelter!!!!

You might consider buying the Swaging book from Corbin .......... and it should shed considerable light on how to proceed with your good fortune!

Three 44s

[hcpookie]

He sent more of the kit... you can see some of the jackets at the bottom. I think they are half-jackets. All the punches on the left side were in a box labelled "357 nose punches". EVERY kind of nose you can imagine! I also have .30 carbine and .44 mag in the kit.

The monkeys at USPS pretty much destroyed the box, so we may have lost parts in this shipment. He is still looking over the items to see if we did.

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/swaging/100_0704.JPG


This is mostly .41 mag... but the round thing is a CORE CUTTER! The spring loaded rod acts as the plunger to push out the cut core. The handle has a cutter edge on it:

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/swaging/100_0702.JPG

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/swaging/100_0711.JPG



Here are the core molds. My dad couldn't figure out who would cast bullets with no lube rings until we realized "cores" ! :D

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/swaging/100_0708.JPG


This thing with the handle and cam shaft gear is DEFINITELY a cannelure tool - all of the knurling tools are right there beside it. I think the missing some parts will be in the 3rd (and hopefully final) shipment. For now, I can't engage the actual work gear.

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/swaging/100_0709.JPG

[Buckshot]

................That is one fine load of stuff ya got there! The guy who made this stuff did good work. He probably had as much enjoyment making it all as he did using it.

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

[hcpookie]

I completely agree - he definitely put the time into these parts to make quality pieces!


I'm nearly certain that the only jackets he used were half jackets. Last night, I was explaining to my dad how I was having a hard time figuring out the order of use for the parts, which goes first, etc. He volunteered to give me some pics of the bullets this guy made. "!!!!... what?!?" said I? "...you didn't tell me you had some bullets from the guy's work!" to which he replied "you didn't ask!" lol :) We had a good laugh out of that.


So now here are the pics of the bullets. It isn't even a half-jacket. That leads me to believe that the setup is ***mostly*** for swaging half-jackets and full lead bullets.

That helps explain why I am apparently missing some parts... (slaps forehead).... they don't exist! It seems that those two items are the only thing his tools can do. I will therefore have to spend some more time on the lathe than I had expected, but that's OK! I am going to build a .22 > .223 jacket setup, and some full jacket setups for .45 and 9mm. My dad uses the .41 and isn't interested in full jackets, but my shooting preference is more for full jackets, or at least full-jacketed hollow point.


http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/swaging/38swaged1.jpg

http://pookieweb.dyndns.org:61129/swaging/38swaged2.jpg

[hcpookie]

Oh, I have looked at the way the arch-shaped die holder is connected to the base, and I realized I can use the design for other attachments! I have already figured out how to build an attachment for my Herters 12 gauge reloading die set.

I believe that I can also build a .50 BMG reloading attachment for it as well. Not that I'll shoot .50 BMG, but I plan to build one of Mr. Hubel's 12 gauge FH shotguns that uses converted .50 BMG brass - that will need a longer press anyway! :)