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Thread: My 30 cal set up

  1. #1
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    My 30 cal set up

    This Is how I cut my copper tubing, I'm using soft coiled copper. I made a little jig to make them all the same. I got this chop saw on Amazon it doesnt have a lot of power but it works. I did a lot of trial and error but came up with a 7/8 inch length for the tubing. I was shooting for a 110 gr bullet. I used 3/4 x 3/4 inch aluminum stock for the jig. I drilled a hole all the way through it so the tubing would slide in. Milled a slot for the saw blade at 7/8 inch from the hole I drilled for the tube stop pin. 3/4 inch aluminum works good for the chop saw because the vice on it isn't very big. Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by lead chucker; 02-12-2017 at 01:57 PM.
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  2. #2
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    This is how I round over the tubing. I used 4140 pr hard for the die and 1144 for the punches. I drilled the die and cut a 45 degree angle in the bottom and polished it to size so the copper tubing would slide in it. The punch I turned down to the diameter of the copper tubing then cut a shoulder into it to the inside diameter of the tubing. The length of the punch for the in side needs to be about a caliber shorter than the copper tube so the copper can move in the 45 in the die. I rounded over the punch a bit. Its not perfect but seems to work.
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    Last edited by lead chucker; 12-05-2016 at 08:50 PM.
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  3. #3
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    Now I run the soon to be jacket through the draw die. I used 4140 pre hard for the die and 1144 for the punch. I put a beveled step in the die so it would draw it down to about .306 which seems to work. the step is only about 1/8 of an inch long once the bottom of the jacket passes it, it doesn't want to follow the punch on the down stroke. The next jacket pushed it out the top.
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    Last edited by lead chucker; 12-05-2016 at 08:50 PM.
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  4. #4
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    Now I flatten the round over and make the jacket. This die serves two things it flattens the round over and seats the core. Right now its used to flatten the jacket and make the cup. I don't smash it flat I like to leave it a little rounded on the edge. There is a hole in the bottom but it doesn't seem affect anything. I think my round over punch need to be a bit shorter. The bullets seem pretty accurate. This die is made from 4140 pre hard and the punches are 1144. I should mention my top punch holder it is really simple. Its a grade 8, 7/8 14 thread bolt drilled and threaded on the end you see in the pic. The adapter accepts all my top punches it allows for a little play up and down and side to side so the punch can center itself when it goes in the die's and you screw the punch holder up and down for whatever you need. Works really good.
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    Last edited by lead chucker; 12-07-2016 at 02:00 AM.
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  5. #5
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    I have to make a core for the jacket with the core swage die but first I had make a mold to cast cores. I used 3/4 x 1 1/2 inch aluminum stock. The cavities were a trial and error project. The cores are .217 in diameter and .655 tall They come out at 65 gr which was about right for what I wanted. I got lucky and Ace hardware had all the hardware for the mold. The die is 4140 pre hard and the punches are 1144. I drilled and reamed the die and polished to .224. I drilled three 1/16 bleed holes in the side for the excess lead to flow out. its pretty cool watching it work. When I get it set where I want it the cores are .550 tall and .224 diameter and are 60gr. This will make a 110 gr bullet for my 300 Blackout. I found the punches for the die need to be a good fit otherwise you have problems with lead leaking buy and gumming up every thing. All my dies that go in the ram are 5/8, 24 thread.
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    Last edited by lead chucker; 12-06-2016 at 03:15 AM.
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  6. #6
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    Now comes the core seat die which is the same as the flattening die with a shorter punch. I used 1144 for this punch. I put the core in the jacket and seat it in the die. what I have found is you don't need to use that much pressure to seat them. I like the jacket to still be a little round on the bottom edge. I clean all the jackets and cores at each stage. I make a 50/50 mix of lanoline and caster oil for my swage lube. I heat it up in the microwave until its liquid stir it up real good and let it cool, good stuff.
    Now I know you guys are saying he has a rock chucker press how is he making that work. I had a machinist friend make me a ram that is shorter than the factory ram and make a slot down the middle, drill and thread the top for 5/8 24 thread it works slick. I drilled a hole in the front of the press for a pin that goes in the slot in the ram. That allows me to eject the work on the up stroke of the handle.
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    Last edited by lead chucker; 12-07-2016 at 02:48 AM.
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  7. #7
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    All that's left is to point form and then polish in SS pin wash. I made this die out of O1 and the punches out of 1144. I drilled the ejection hole all the way through then step drilled. Made the reamer out of O1 turned it down to .303. Shaped the profile to what I thought looked good then cut the flutes with the mill. Sharpened and heat treated it. Then I used it to cut the bullet profile. Then started lapping 220 grit then 600 grit then 1200 grit clover compound. Once I got it to .305 I heated the die till it was orange and the little white spots started coming out then dipped it in peanut oil then in my toaster oven on 450 F for an hour. I made a little mold to make lead slugs to test for size. That worked good.
    Then polished to size .308 it has a slight taper to it but that seems to help with the extraction. When I run it through the point die I take it nice and easy and let the lead flow. You don't need a lot of swage lube when you point form. I run them through my tumbler with SS pin wash with lemishine and a little dish soap. If you use too much lemishine they turn a darker color.
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    Last edited by lead chucker; 12-06-2016 at 03:30 AM.
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  8. #8
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    All I have is a mini lathe and mini mill. They are quite capable if a guy takes it slow and makes small cuts. I searched the web looking for these machines grizzly sells them harbor freight. I found this place Little Machine shop they have good support and keep in stock every part for these machines. The lathe is a Sieg C3 7 x 14 and the mill is a Hi Torque 3990 I really like the mill. It makes an awesome drill press to. If I could do it over again I would have bought the Hi Torque 7 x 14 lathe. The brushless motor has a lot more power and would be better for threading. Cutting 24 thread is pretty easy 14 thread takes a lot of light passes or you stall the motor.
    I wanted to share my success with making these dies and hope it helps any body who wants to try making these with small machines. It can be done. I'm by no means a pro at this but I figured it out. A lot of head scratching and mistakes. If any one here can see I'm doing this wrong or advice on what I'm doing I would like to learn more. I have learned a lot here.
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ID:	182205 For the mill you need a good solid vice. This mill takes the R8 tool holder so I got a set of R8 collets they are a lot easier to use than I thought they would be. You will also need a set of end mills. I bought a set of cobalt drill bits they are worth the extra money. For the lathe a four jaw chuck is a must. A quick change tool post is good to have. I like the high speed steel bits. I bought the blanks and ground my own these are the main ones I used left to right-parting, turning and threading. Also you have to have a good indicator that's a must. This is about as Hi Tech as I got.
    Last edited by lead chucker; 12-07-2016 at 03:18 AM.
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  9. #9
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    I hope this give someone inspiration to try making there own dies. I'm glad I did it. Pretty cool you can make bullets when you want. It gives a guy like me a lot of satisfaction when you can shoot them and they hit what I'm shooting at.
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  10. #10
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    I'm about to. Been wanting a lathe for a while now anyways.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    These smaller machines don't take up a lot of space which is nice. I have a small shop only 13 foot x 15 foot. I have a little heater in it so this time of year with it getting dark so early makes it nice.
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  12. #12
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    Lead Chucker,
    What is your cost per jacket using tubing?

  13. #13
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    I think I get around 750 jackets out of a 50 foot roll 40.00 a roll these are 110 gr bullets so the jackets are pretty short
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  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    Exelent little set up you got!

    I also used to have simple chinese lathe mill combo when I started to make dies for my self.
    Lost the motor from the lathe, so I gave the set to one friend so that he could repair it for own use. I have another friend who has a machine shop with CNC lathes and mills, so nowdays he runs them for me when there is free machine time. I just draw the parts and write programs and he do the rest. Bad thing is the time that is required to do the setups.. Not very practical to make one part when it is possible to run 10 or 20 in little more time.
    Some times he is also so busy that I just have to wait untill have a chance to put my idea to metal.

    S

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by lead chucker View Post
    Now I run the soon to be jacket through the draw die.
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    In that other thread we talked about pinch trimming. Just replace the punch with pinch trim punch, and you can trim the cups at the same time when you draw them thru the die.

    S

  16. #16
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    Nice little setup there lead chucker.

    I have a 10 F-28 TH48 Atlas that I bought off a board member.
    And bought a PMV-25 Mill last summer ( new)

    Picked up a few othe smaller lathes also two watchmakers lathes and a little Atlas 618 ( thinking of selling the 618)
    then over the summer I picked up a Butterfly DIE FILER for the price of lunch off of another blacksmith.

    I've started a .223/5/56 die set but have very little time to work on it. seeing your Dies is motivation that's for sure.

    I might even try to MAKE time for more progress after reading this thread.

    I keep saying 308 is next but I haven't finished the .223 ones yet.

    Rich

  17. #17
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    Sounds like you got some nice equipment. I took some time off work the last week and a half to try to get a deer or two. I live on the coast of Alaska the north wind has been kicking up the ocean pretty good, we go across the bay to an island to hunt. So I have been working in the shop a lot. I go out there for an hour and next thing you know its 1:00 in the morning. I wanted to post pics of my set up so other guys who are thinking about trying this can see it can be done with smaller equipment.
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  18. #18
    Boolit Mold
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    Great job man! I didn't think that this is possible with so funny instruments)
    Quote Originally Posted by lead chucker View Post
    Then polished to size .308 it has a slight taper to it but that seems to help with the extraction.
    I was also thinking so, but elders told that taper on bearing surface is a big evil. You may just calibrate them in the end, should better then

  19. #19
    Boolit Master lead chucker's Avatar
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    These bullets shoot pretty good the way they are so I don't want to mess with the point form die. Been there done that. This die took three tries. I plan on making another one.
    Last edited by lead chucker; 12-06-2016 at 03:43 AM.
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  20. #20
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    thank you chucker.
    that extra explanation really helps.

    I don't know about not having a tapered bullet,
    I specified one that tapers from 3115 down to 310 so it better fits the throat on a couple of my rifles.
    it is similar to fitting the throat with a cast boolit.
    maybe I just didn't know any better [shrug] but when your using a couple of old 7.65 Argie and a 7.7 Jap rifle to shoot rock chucks at 200+ yds I'd say they come out accurate enough.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check