wil be posting up some photo"s on using a lee .243 sizing die and using the de-capper modified you can make hollow point .45 acp bullets using .40 S&W brass. if you want to know now PM me and i will give you my phone number. when you try this make sure that you have the newer version of lee"s .243 die as they are longer than the old set that i have and you might run out of die threads depending on your press.
Rick
ok here is some photos
the first bullet is at the left the last is on the right. i am stil refining the process. the hollow point is the orignal de-capping and expander for the .243 i trimmed the expander down and between that and how far you screw down the collet nut that gives you the depth and also holds the rod from falling out. you just tap on the rod to eject the bullet.
Rick
Last edited by Rick459; 05-08-2016 at 07:48 PM.
Those look great with a little refining you will have a swaging die set for under $20.00 very cool post indeed! thank you rick!!!
after looking at 30carbnuts bullets mine look like little homeless childs.
Ya, 30carbnuts did an excellent job.Originally Posted by Rick459
The hp is the hardest part of swaging bullets using fl rifle dies. I simply use cast hbwc's anymore to make hp bullets. Some 225gr .451 hp bullets for the 1911/45acp using 40s&w brass, a 148gr hbwc, 243 fl dies, a 44spl/mag expander & a hornady notching die from one of their blank die sets to make the xtp style hp.
[IMG][/IMG]
man those are beautiful...... what are you trimming the cases to?
how i am trimming the caes
cases anneled
with the 148 gr. cores
cores melted in jackets
finshed bullets
another shot
jackets were trimmed to .645 by melting the cores i only need to make one pass in the die to form the bullet. no need to seat the core first and then form the bullet. bullets weigh from 209 grains to 215 grains. also my bullets mic out at .452 as my sizing is a .452 sizer. might hav to get a .451 sizer. any ways at .452 i can load them in my .45 colt. how long will the die last? i will be keeping a bullet count. my goal was to use a standard sizing die to make .45acp HP and i belive i have accomplished this. so i hope this thread helps others. will post accuracy report next range time. won"t be for a couple as i have to finish my weed abaetment. one more thing if you look at the photo with bullets with their bases up you can see that their diameter is expanded instead of being rebated. that"s because i am not seating the core in a .308 die.
Rick
Last edited by Rick459; 05-10-2016 at 10:02 PM.
Those are beautiful.... and to think I was looking for swage dies.... you saved me a lot of money with this post... thank you.
I'm not trimming the cases.
Sometimes I anneal the cases but more often then not I don't bother.
I'm not bonding the cores to the jackets either. To me the bullet weight retention this is over rated. I simply toss a cast 35cal 148gr hbwc into a 40s&w case that has been expanded with a 44cal expander and run it up in the blank die to form the "xtp" notches. Then run it up in a 243 fl die to form the bullet. Then into a lee .541 push thru sizing die. Those bullet had no problem penetrating 7 1/2" of tightly rapped bundles of newspaper that had been soaked for 24 hours in a cooler full of water. A couple of them went out the back of the 9"+ bundle.
Bullets made this way are flat out mid-evil on anything they get a hold of. Extreme fragging and carnage is the name of the game. These things implode sending pieces of metal in all directions leaving huge permanent channels while still getting good penetration.
What's left of those bullets with p+ loads shot @50ft into that bundle pictured above that were either picked up behind the bundle or found 7 1/2"+ deep into the bundle of wet paper.
Not bad for free blammo ammo.
does Hornady still make a blank die set with the notcher? are you casting you own 148 grn. HB or are they store bought. i would like to make some of those. good job.
Rick
one more thing that i forgot to mention s that i full length size the cases so that i can trim them to size easier. good luck everyone.
Rick
Nice work you ever get it to the point you are selling them let me know . Would also have interest in a 44 mag version at 240 grn .Hell of a job man .
Very interesting stuff! I also am curious as to the availability of the blank dies.
Also, do you size the 40 S&W brass beforehand? I'm assuming it at least is deprimed
yes i re-size the cases but i remove the de capping pin.
WF02 i don"t plan make any for sale this project was to show that you can use a regular F/L .243 sizing die to make jacketed HP bullets. the only modification was to the de-capping rod. also i use this set-up to make HP bullets using a cast 225 grn. bullet. will post pictures latter of those in a before and after shot.
Rick
I love the creativity. Nice job.
Do they scratch the barrel at all?
haven"t shot any of these yet but the one"s that i made with my CH4D dies did not. so i don"t think these will. remember that the brass is soft from annealing.
Rick
What press are you using?
i"m using a RCBS Rock Chucker II
Rick
Last edited by ncbearman; 05-12-2016 at 06:23 PM.
okay here are a couple of photos of swage 225 grn lead before and after running them through the F/L sizing die. what i noticed is that the round nose bullet after sizing it in the lube die the the measurement in front of the lube groove is .445 and behind the lube groove is .452. the same bullet run through the .243 F/L sizing die after hollow pointing measures .452 from the base of the bullet to the ogive. so using the die expands the bearing surface of the bullet. hopefully i will make the range tomorrow and will give an update.
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| C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
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| PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
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