Review of .22 LR to .224 swaged bullets with die set from BT Sniper

[gandog56]

I know nothing of what the actual process is. What supplies do you need to make these bullets? What the heck is a threaded ram? I could really use my Lee Challenger press to make these?

[DukeInFlorida]

Gandog, welcome to the Castboolits site. I know you from the ammo brass trader sister site.
ill do my best to walk you through the process. I would first ask that you read through most of the stickies, even though they might not apply to .22 caliber bullets. The stickie posts all relate to swage process, and discuss the tools used. They are common in style, albeit different in size.

Having said that, yes, you can do this staging on a Lee Classic press. I much prefer the RCBS Rockchucker (old style) with an extended handle. Makes life a lot easier, and the press is made to take the extra pressures. If you look through the stickies, you will find videos of BT Sniper making swaged bullets using a LEE Classic press.

THe standard ram for a Rockchucker press uses a T slot for installing she'll holders. That system isnt perfect for installing the bottom punches for the swaging process. So, I had a custom ram made with the top threaded in 1/2-20 thread. The bottom punches come also threaded hat way, so the connection is solid.

Read all through the earlier part of this post, and you will see the sequence for how the .22 caliber bullets are processed. I have made several tens of thousands of these. They all shoot sub MOA.

[fredj338]

BT does great work/ I have a set from about 4yrs ago, only made about 1000 bullets on them but easy to use & get decent results straight away. Enjoy!

[HtNRun]

BT's Simple set, that he now offers is great! At $0.10 a point, I've already paid this set off. It's worth the small investment if you shoot very much.

That being said, I really like the control I have with my little hand press, which does me fine.



The derim process is the only step that you need a little oomph, but since it's easier to use this set up "upside down" I put one edge on a carpet covered board and give it the push. It's easier to feed the other steps upside down as well, and you can really get the feel for the "correct" seating resistance of the cores.

I think the best cosmetic results are achieved with a good stainless steel tumble for about 2 hours.



The results and quality match any store bought points:



And look just as good:





Good luck! And hope you find what works for you!


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[rancher1913]

Are you guys using a canalour or just loading as is

[BT Sniper]

I have always loaded as is with the 22 cal, but haven't shot it much in the AR platform.

BT

[HtNRun]

Haven't built/bought a canulere tool yet. Only had three get pushed in so far, and I prob have 1500 shot through my AR. I think I'm loading them a touch to short on oal tho, I'm going to play around and see if I can get that performing better.


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[BlackoutBuilder]

Im about to get my BT Simple set, and am so excited I'm antsy about it. I also plan on getting the ultimate cannelure tool 2 in the fall.

[rancher1913]

the bt simple dies are great, the only thing I don't like is derimming, hard on my shoulder because my press sets pretty high, hopefully brian will have a sale on the pneumatic tools one of these days.

[BT Sniper]

Just sold two pneumatic presses on eBay for around $500 each. It does make deriming easier.

The two step process with the newly designed derim die should make it a lot easier for you guys to derim.

BT

[rancher1913]

Sent you a pm

[DukeInFlorida]

Brian, what size pneumatic cylinder did you use on those?

Just sold two pneumatic presses on eBay for around $500 each. It does make deriming easier.

The two step process with the newly designed derim die should make it a lot easier for you guys to derim.

BT

[BT Sniper]

It was short and fat

[DukeInFlorida]

hahaha Short and fat doesn't give me what I need.

The cylinders are rated in inches of diameter, and length of stroke.
For example, 5" 2.75"

That would be a 5 " diameter pneumatic piston diameter, and a stroke length of 2.75"

Can you advise what you like to use?

I'm wanting to upgrade my derimming press, which currently uses a 3" diameter cylinder. It has enough oomph at 90-125 psi to derim, but not enough oomph to resize my 5.7X28 FN brass as part of my 30 cal bullet production.

I know how to deal with stroke length, but need some clue as to diameter needed.

[BlackoutBuilder]

Bigger is better