22 jacket die

[Danth]

Hello All: I thought I might make up a set of dies to make jackets out of 22 cases. After some thought, it looks to me like the process would require two steps. Am I right? Can someone give me a description of the process? Many thanks, Dan

[swageall]

Danth;

A .22 rimfire kit is a one die set that you just push thru your rimfire brass to Iron the rim out, then anneal and swage your bullets.

good luck

swageall

[Danth]

Could you use a .224 sizing die and push the case thru, forming the jacket? Dan

[jcunclejoe]

A .224 sizing die would be too large to iron the rim out. The proper size would be from .218 to .220 and your punch would need to be from .195 to about .198
That would get the jackets ready with the rims drawn out.
Then you need a core form die to set the lead core to the proper weight and dimension.
A core seat die to push the core down into the jacket and bump the size up to about .223
An ogive die to put the curve on the front of the bullet.
If you like, for lead tips, a tip reform die to finish the tip shape.
So 4 dies and possibly 5 for lead tip bullets.
Hope this helps.
Joe

[Danth]

Do you push the case head-first into the die, or the other end first?

[454PB]

No, the fired cases go into the die base first.

My Corbin set is three dies: Jacket maker, core seating die, and point form die.

[Ballard]

454pb, no core swage?

[454PB]

No core swage. I have the mould to cast the cores, but I don't use it. Instead, I cut the cores from lead wire. The cut core is placed in the formed jacket, then pushed into the core seating die. This forces the core into the jacket, and at the same time swages it to .224". The third die forms the nose.

[swageall]

454PB;

Are your swage dies the kind you use in a reloading press or regular swage presses like the Corbin brothers build??

swageall

[Danth]

I'm confused. I have a single Herter's die that fits a standard reloading press. I guess this die does all functions; core seating, nose forming, etc? From the info above, I can make the jacket die. Anything else I need to form .224 bullets from 22lr cases? Thanks much for all the info. Danth

[454PB]

454PB;

Are your swage dies the kind you use in a reloading press or regular swage presses like the Corbin brothers build??


They are for use in a standard reloading press. I use either my RCBS Rockchucker or Lee Classic Turret.

Danth, I'm not familiar with the Herter die you mention, but I doubt it will do all functions at once. Does it have an ejection punch fitted to the top?

Here's a link to another forum that has pictures and more detail:

http://reloaders.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=288

[Danth]

Hello: yes, Herter's swage dies have an ejection rod with a plastic knob on top. There is a nose forming pin that slides into the shell holder slot on the press ram. The instruction sheet states this setup will do 1/2 and 3/4 jackets. What does the bore of the jacket forming die look like? Is there a lead taper to the bore, or are there several steps leading to the bore to iron out the rim? thanks for all the help, Danth

[Wayne S]

i just checked the Corbin site, wasn't sure which die set was required to make .224 bullets from fired LR cases BUT the lowest cost for a three die set was in the $650.00 range and that wasn't counting a core cutter.
Is this about right for using a standard reloader press ???

[454PB]

Yes, that's sounds about right. The last time I checked it was about $800 for the die set and core mould. I'm working on a batch right now, got about 300 done today.

[elk hunter]

Danth;

If you can find a copy of Dave Corbins book" Discover Swaging" you will have all the information you are looking for about swaging bullets and even some information on how to make the needed dies.

Good luck.

[Danth]

I'd like to thank everyone for the help. I made the jacket die and it works well. I also made an extrusion die to make the wire and it too works well, but the ram is a real bear to pull back out. I made a core cutter like 454PB posted (thanks 454PB!) and it works like a dream. Mine too consistently shears core wire within .2 grains. Don't know if this is close enough; should I weigh each bullet and separate according to weight? Regards, Danth

[454PB]

The batch I'm doing now have a finished weight of 55 grains, so I set the core cutter to 47 grains. Though I haven't yet done any "quality control" weigh checks yet, from previous experience they will vary about .5 grain. As I've stated before, the home made bullets shoot as well as commercial jacketed bullets, even though their weight varies more. I've found that weighing every bullet is a waste of time. I've never seen a definative difference in grouping by weight segregation, all I do is a visual check. Probably 5% will have a small tear in the nose and fold over. I set these aside as culls, but even the culls have produced the same grouping.

Bottom line is that you will find more weight variation in the formed jackets than you will with properly cut cores.

[shooterg]

I'm probably too anal about it, and still fairly new (made just less than 1,000 .224 from .22 rimfire cases), but I'm actually using a core swage die twice(squish, turn 180, squish again) and can get the cores within one/two tenths before core seating. But as 454PB said, the jackets probably vary much more, although I actually sorted some of those, too ! Regardless, 25 grains of Reloder 15 puts 56 grainers downrange very effectively in a 1/9 twist AR.
I load the "culls" and use 'em for offhand practice. Geez, this is fun !