Originally Posted by
KAYDADOG
I started swaging my own bullets because it was a very interesting and involved hobby. Plus, you don't have to rely on anyone else to get them. Cost is always a factor and to do it right the first time it is going to be a substantial investment. 75% of my savings is due to me making all the equipment. Forty years of learning everything in the industry and getting my Elec.Engr. degree paid off for this hobby. Machining, hydraulics, electrical panel designing and PLC programming. Most of my expense is in five Corbin H-die sets and lead extruding die setup. For under $2500 I built a four-post automated hydraulic press, PLC controlled and color touchscreen to enter all variables and monitor current status. Not taking anything away from Corbin's press for around $11/K mine far surpasses his and has some safety features and capable of doing whatever you could think of by programming it. Most operations take less than seven seconds. You're moving very fast if you want to keep up this pace. I'm good for two or three hours max at a time, very repetitious. Why it's worth it, I can make any caliber for less than $0.05 each at around twelve hours per 1000 finished rounds. Of course, the younger you are most of your investment will eventually be paid off. After eight years probably most of the die sets have been paid for due to not buying any bullets.
Yes, I sent dverna samples of almost all the common calibers that I can make. He's always liked what I posted, and I wanted him to try some of the 9/mm bullets made from 9/mm drawn jackets and the others I've been making over the years. I sent 50-60 of the 9/mm's. Hopefully he'll be able to try them out one day. Pretty confident they will shoot as good as a factory jacketed bullet.
If you have the basics a good mill, lathe and of course a good electrical-mechanical background you're going to save a lot toward your initial investment making what you need. The press is the primary piece, annealing case is secondary but you're going to need something to do them. I use Corbin's H-Die type dies which I don't think you could ever break. Right now, they are still cheaper than the 7/8-14 dies sold on this forum by quite a bit. Right now, delivery is around a year plus. Still waiting for my last 45-70 die set.
If you're going to keep the hobby going for years, it will be well worth the effort and time put into it.
Just keep good records of every operation if you get to that point.