Custom BTSniper 40 cal one step dies

[BT Sniper]

I'll clear things up a bit when I can. Late for dinner at the moment.

Simply put this one step die makes perfect factory copy bullets in only one stroke of the press and yes it is of my own design vs an improved CH die though it works teh same in principal.

BT

[BT Sniper]

BT, would you summarize the differences between the .40 cal one-step die and the the two die set? Aside from the lower cost, why would we pick one over the other?

IMOP it has everything to do with how close the brass is to final bullet diameter and the fact that using just the point forming swage die just "works".

Generaly the core seat die (the one I skip) will seat the core and bring the bullet and jacket combination up to nearly final bullet diameter. Usually within a couple thousands. It is this core seat die then that is doing most of the work, or taking all the force allowing the point forming die to simply form the nose and bump up the bullet the last couple thousands to final diameter.

I have found that with better/stronger internials in the point forming die just as good of bullets INOP can be formed. Now I'm only talking about pistol bullets here and I only recamend the 40 or 44 cal be attempted in one step.

So for making bullets in 44 cal from 40 S&W brass or 40 cal bullets from 9mm brass the process works very well. No imagine trying to take a 40 S&W case that is .425 in diameter and bumping it all the way up to .451. To do so in only one step is awefully difficult and hard on your equipment. But if we use the core seat die it makes the task a lot easier.

I have also designed my dies to have a rather large and farily deep HP. This nose punch that forms the HP is also designed to push the core into the case before the jacket starts froming the ogive of the nose of the bullet. The bullets I make also take up the entire space avialble in the case inshuring a proper swage of the core inside the jacket with no voids. With say riffle bullets we can seat the core with a core seat die and then form the tip leaving a hollow cavity where the lead stops short of the tip of the bullet. That would be dificult to do and give poor results if we attmepted to make a riffle bullet without seating the core first in this case.

Again it is a bit different from the norm only using the point forming die to make the bullet and skipping the core seat die but like I said I can't tell the difference between a bullet made either way with the 40 or 44. In fact making a bullet of these two calibers with the jacket extending to the tip of the bullet is easier in one step then when using the core seat die in my opinion. The life of teh point formign die certainly doesn't seem to be affected as on individual here has made more then 15k worth of bullets using this method.

A long answer to say very little it seems as all I can really say is it just "works" and saves you $$$.

Good Shooting and Swage On!

BT

[BT Sniper]

Went out and shot some of my new 40s today. Here is some pics of the results. I used a 120 grain .356 core insted of the 125 and like the results better. With a pure lead core the bullet weight was 182 grains. This also allowed me to put deeper notches in the tip of the bullet. Think I will set up and recamend all future customers to use the 120 grain cores in the 40 cals.

I did get some FPS results. Here is what I loaded.

Speer nickel brass
Rem small pistol primmer
W-231 powder
182 grain JHP bullets
bullet length was .688
OAL of loaded round was 1.20
Powder was thrown not weighed individually
Lee factory crimp die was used as final step
gun was EAA full size 40S&W

With 5.0 grains of w-231 I got average fps of 980
With 5.4 grains of w-231 I got average fps of 1045-1080
Really seemed get a pretty good FPS out of that 5.4 load yet primers didn't seem flatened. The 5.0 grain load is my "go to" load for these bullets.

Everything shot great and cycled fine. Only shot 40 rounds but any chance to get out and shoot!

Note: as is the case with any published load data use standard reloading precautions.

[BT Sniper]

For an interesting comparison google images for the golden sabor bullet!


BT

[PatMarlin]

Those are to pretty to be real ...

[SSGOldfart]

sweet I got to learn how to do this

[BT Sniper]

IMOP it is the easiest bullet by far to make. As well as the cheapest with the low cost, to nearly free, 9mm brass cases used for jackets. Then all you need is 120 grains of lead for the core and you are shooting 40s&w/10mm for the cost of a primer and 5 grains of powder!

BT

[SSGOldfart]

yes Sir I think your right,my son is wanting the 40cal as that's his favorite round,I've got tons of 9mm brass already,Humm can you send me a link for your video showing how to do this?also what is ones start up price I already have a RCBS-RS press to use for this??

[Whistler]

Will the jacket hold up for 10mm Auto pressures and velocities?
If this can be guaranteed I will order one of these dies immediately!

[mold maker]

The pictures of BT's boolits are spot on. I have 3 sets of BT's dies and have had the same expansion with all of them. Yes they work in a 10mm. My Delta Elite loves them.
Ya better get your order in to BT, because the word is getting around.
Those are going to be some very popular dies, and you know how hard it is, for a one man show to keep up.

[mold maker]

By the way you can also make flat, or round points, or most any weight boolit you want, with BT's dies in any heavy press. I have a LEE Classic Cast press set up with each set (3) of dies. No need for special presses or long wait time. The RCBS RC, and RC Supreme, also work great.
If your going to reload,,,,, you can shoot top quality jacketed, at cast prices.

[BT Sniper]

10mm......Would be a great caliber of choice for this bullet IMOP. Take full advantage of the tough bullet the 9mm makes. I found a good deal on a EAA witness pistol for $300 so I shoot these bullets out of a 40 S&W with obvious great results. The recovered bullets pictured above I shot at velocity from 980-1050 from the EAA 40S&W. Now upgrade to a 10MM and........... WOW! I think the results should be AWESOME with the couple 100 extra FPS you would get from the 10mm. As far as the bullet holding up in the 10mm........ I would put this bullet up against any other premimum 40cal/10mm bullet availble on the market. The great thing about making your own bullets is you can custom make them to perform how you want. You want one to expand volently.... give it a XL hollow point and notch the jacket. You want tougher make it a FP. Anything is possible.

BT

[BT Sniper]

Start up price is quickly recovered in the thousands of bullets you will make.

My 40 cal one step die is $225. I should have some ready to ship by Christmas or sooner. allready sold out of the first 10 I made over the summer.
A lee .356 6 cavity 120 grain mold and handels about $60.
Lee bottom poor lead melting pot again around $60
9mm brass...... nearly free
soft lead or wheel weight alloy.... again nearly free
any decent reloading press...... Should be in your possision allready if not the Lee classic goes for $74
ability to Anneal a lot of 9mm brass... $??

That should take care of basic needs. Not that bad cost wise IMOP. Less then the cost of a new gun. It is a hobby and like any hobby we can spend as little or as much as we like.

Now if you want to get fancy add my multicaliber universal notch die $125 and make bullets that rival the XTP versions.

Add a $35 expanding mandrel for the notch die and make easy prep work of the brass and the core will drop right in place.

With everythign listed above anyone would be able to make severial life time supplys of high quality bullets.

BT

[Whistler]

Can any of the owners of the first ten dies write a review?
I am a complete newbie on swaging and like the idea of a one step die, however $225 is a lot for a tool that I have no experience with.

No offense to BT Sniper, but as he is both the manufacturer and seller the words sofar are biased. I repeat that I do not doubt BT Sniper, but would like words from users of the tools who might not be as adept and experienced in swaging.

[GRUMPA]

I told BT I would do a review for him, but as luck would have it winter is coming and I still haven't cut my firewood. And among other things that needed to be done. Now that I have a camera that works I can get in some half-way decent shots of what is done and how they look when finished.

Tell you what I'll get a review written and posted by this weekend.....GRUMPA

[PatMarlin]

...winter is coming and I still haven't cut my firewood. And among other things that needed to be done. .....GRUMPA

Oh why does that sound so familiar? ...


$225 is a lot of money, for anything but in swaging.

[Mountain Prepper]

$225 is a lot of money, for anything but in swaging.

Is that like “dog years” - 7 to 1?

[a.squibload]

...would like words from users of the tools who might not be as adept and experienced in swaging.

I never swaged before receiving the BT dies, learned quickly how to use and adjust them.
I'm allergic to spending my vast fortune but thought that the investment in tools
would be worth it in cheap bullets. It was!
All I expected was less expense over years of shooting, what I got was good performing bullets as well.
And they're HPs!

Do a search or two, there have several posts from BT's customers.

[DukeInFlorida]

I have previously reported, but will do so again.

I have to sets of BT's dies: .40 S&W from 9mm and also a 44 magnum from .40 S&W

Both are the one step dies, and were VERY easy to set up and use. I believe that I was one of the first ten customers for the .40 from 9mm die set.

I was certainly one of the first ten customers for the 44 magnum.

I also have the notching die, and that is certainly one of the best features of this system.

The dies produce high quality bullets, and the results are very accurate and dimensionally stable.

If you are eager to make your own high quality swaged bullets, Brian is the go-to guy!

[PatMarlin]

Is that like “dog years” - 7 to 1?

Yaw- it seems like everything is happening in dog years lately,.