Good job lead chucker, nice looking bullets. Good to see another one joining the ranks making their own dies. A little surprised you could get a d-reamer to cut good enough. You must have done a dang good job making it. Have you thought about making a point die that has a shorter nose profile, so there's more bearing surface on the bullet riding on the bore? I've found that the shorter ogive bullets shoot better for me.
Never in history has there been a situation so bad that the government couldn't make it worse.
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Prospector Howard I think you hit the nail on the head. When I shot these I tried three different loads. best I got was 1 1/2 " at 75 yards. The interesting thing was there were a coupe that were real flyers. I believe that they were not as concentric in my bullet seating as the others do to the tapper. So now That I chucked up the die in the lathe and tried to lapp that area of the die so as to get more bore bearing surface. It worked but now the base is .3095. So I ordered a Lee .308 sizer die to run them through. It took along time to make this die so if it works at least it wont be all for nothing. Any advise or insight would be apriciated.
Dont pee down my back and tell me its raining.
When you say "chucked it up" What is your means of work holding? I built a ER-40 collett chuck that ( greatly ) increases repeatability. If you are using a 4 jaw you should be able to indicate it in to a very close tolerance, however if it is a 3 jaw scroll chuck chances are all bets are off as far as getting the die back into the lathe in the same relationship to the lathe's axis .
It has been told to me that a 3 jaw can be trued to very tight tolerances as well as accuracy, however that I shouldn't rely on a used 3 jaw as such, only a new or used from a notable source, not evil bay.Originally Posted by blaser.306
I'm no lathe operator, just a garage wannabe with h hunger to make swaging stuff.
Bill
Not that a 3 jaw can't be held to tight tolerance, If you have a "set tru " chuck and it has been indicated you will be closer. The wear , and mechanical parts of the scroll in the chuck itself all compound to allow for variance , I have been led to believe that a good 3 jaw scroll can be set to 1-2 thou. TIR.
I'd love to see some swaging dies for my 30-06.
Just awesome work
I have been using a 4 jaw. It's time consuming but my 3 jaw is only good for things that doesnt need to be perfect. I really enjoy playing with my little lathe. I hope to make another core mold so I can make heavier cores for a 160-165 gr 30 cal. What is your guys take on using a lee push through sizer to make sure the bullets are the right diameter. I could make one but for $20.00 I will buy one. It would take me probably three hours to make one and that's if I got it right the first time.
D
Dont pee down my back and tell me its raining.
Lead chucker, in MY experience, running a jacketed bullet through a Lee sizer die resizes the core to a certain diameter, while the jacket sizes to the correct diameter, then springs back a few thou. Lead is a 'dead' metal, meaning it has a very small amount of flex. Copper, however, is a 'live' metal, in that it tries to return to it's original size/shape. In MY experience, the lead core stays small but the copper springs back a few .0001 leaving the core to 'rattle around' inside inside the jacket.
Just my experience....
if it doesn't fit, don't force it. Get a BIGGER HAMMER!
Nice work! What lathe are you using?
"Is all this REALLY necessary?"
If your 3 jaw chuck has soft jaws, you can bore them out to fit your part and it will be concentric to the center line.
I have the sieg C 3 7x14 mini lathe. It's sold by little machine shop. I have had a lot of fun with it. It has it's limitations but I made my dies with it. Lots of small cuts. I have been giving it a work out. I think the bearings in the spindle are wearing out. Im starting to get a little play in the spindle. I'm not looking forward to taking it apart to see what's up.
Dont pee down my back and tell me its raining.
Here are some 160 gr 30 cal bullets I made. I'm going to load some up and see how they do first chance I get. I hope they shoot good. they will be perfect for black bear and deer with my 308 Win.
Dont pee down my back and tell me its raining.
Wow. That's really interesting. I keep reading where the small lathes are just toys but clearly that is incorrect. I would like to be able to make items like this and don't really care to do larger stuff. I'd just like to try it out. Thanks for the reply and the inspiration.
"Is all this REALLY necessary?"
those look fantastic, I am sure they will group with no problem... you have a real talent there!
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." -John Adams 2nd POTUS
Thanks cane man. I don't know that I'm talented. I was just determined. I have a lot to learn.
The 160 gr bullets best I could get was 2 in at 100 yards and an occasional flyer. The 120 gr I had one three shot group that was 1/2 inch. This is all with my 308 win. It has a 20 inch three groove 1-13 twist PAC nor Barrel. I expected the lighter bullet to be more accurate. I think I will try to make a better point forming die with more bullet to barrel contact. My 300 blackout AR likes the 120 gr and feeds 100 % so far.
Dont pee down my back and tell me its raining.
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