newbie pro's and cons of getting into swaging

[mike16]

I have been a member here for about a year and a half. I have been thinking about getting into swaging .303 british.

what are the pro's and cons of getting into swaging. Do alot of people start strong then kinda bail out after a while..

whats the learning curve like. Is it difficult or complicated to try to troubleshoot problems when you encounter them.

How much harder is it to make perfect bullets than to make really good bullets.

would it be better to simply buy bullets from someone else or go the distance and make my own and maybe sell a few

Sorry, these are newbie questions.

I have been reading up on it and find myself with a bit of spare cash and time and the interest seems to be reoccuring.

any other advice for a newbie to consider before making the plunge.

Thanks for anything that will steer me in the right direction. I dont mind NOT getting into it if its a wrong headed vision.

I have alot of technical knowlege and sense
Thank You

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

What's your motive?

Is it to save money?
is it to make match quality bullets?
Self-sufficiency ?

I look at swaging as a whole other Hobby...do you have time to spend on another hobby?

Do you cast for the 303 now?
Maybe start there.

Here is my anecdotal story.
I got into swaging my own pistol bullets before I started casting boolits. I started Swaging to save money. Later on, I found that shooting cast was just as fun & cheaper, also casting is less time consuming than swaging, so I quit swaging and sold off all the stuff.
Good Luck.

[rancher1913]

for me swagging is to be self sufficient in the calibers that do not shoot cast very well; the smaller faster calibers. it does take money and there is a learning curve just like casting. invest in good dies not some used ones off of flebay, cry once not twice. watch some of bt snipers video's and ask him questions, I like the fact that a lot of his stuff uses junk brass as the jacket.

[M.A.D]

I know theres a few guys who swage 303 Brit here in Australia, Mostly to get something they cannot readily buy off the shelf projectile wise. Id buy a Walnut Hill press, Get BT or RCE to make s set of flat base dies with a lead tip die for you.. Just work out what bullet weight range you want to make..

[blltsmth]

IF you are looking at only 2 or 3 styles/calibers of bullets to make for the calibers you make most, swaging MIGHT be for you. If you can read and follow directions and have a MENTOR to help along the way, SWAGING might be for you. If you want to invest about a $1,000 to start and are dedicated, SWAGING might be for you. See if you can find a swager that is close or someone you can SKYPE and look over their setups.ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS!!! Your time, your money, your dedication. Might also look at CASTING as already suggested and ease into it. Only You can make that descision when you get there. Been a swager since 1988 and a caster since 1972, so I may know a little bit about both. GOOD LUCK WHICHEVER ROUTE YOU TAKE!!

[BT Sniper]

You could start small with a single die to bump up cheap 30 cal bullets to the 303 diameter. This same die could be used later to make the entire bullet with the addition of the rest of the swage die set.

BT

[DukeInFlorida]

One of the other factors, although JonB covered much of what I would otherwise have said, is HOW LONG A PERIOD OF TIME will you be swaging?

I got started when I was in my mid fifties. Even then, with the volume I shoot, it was very well worth the investment to be able to create jacketed bullets. I was already casting, and have molds to cast for everything that I shoot. However, I don't look at just cost, cast vs jacketed. I look at the two techniques as being two different products. So, at this point, ten years later (65 now) I have invested in tools to make 22 cal rifle bullets, 30 cal rifle bullets, 40, 44, 45, and 50 cal pistol bullets. And, with some of my shooting buddies sharing in the production chores, the investment I have made has more than paid me back, versus having had to BUY all those jacketed bullets.

So, if you are a young guy, and going to swage to your hearts content for a long time, jump in as quick as you can.

However, if you are older than me, and/or only shoot a couple hundred 303 Brits a year, you are much better off buying BOXES of factory bullets.

Like reloading, and casting boolits, swaging jacketed bullets is, indeed, a hobby all unto itself. I hope that someday, my son will pick up the hobby in earnest, and make the same quality swaged jacketed bullets that I and my buddies have been producing.

Welcome to the forum, and best of luck.

[BlackoutBuilder]

I wanted to add a skill set to my knowledge base. The ability to make things others can't is fun too. I like being able to play with different bullet weights and shapes with out spending 40-50 bucks each time I want to change or experiment with something

[Zbench]

Blackout, you are on the wrong track if you are avoiding spending only $40-50 each time you want to change something. It's more like $400-500 in the swaging world.

[BlackoutBuilder]

It's not about saving money. I usually don't have the cash when I have the idea.

The tools I want will be about 4 grand all told. Never expected to get the money back out of it.

[Utah Shooter]

do you have time to spend on another hobby?

This is it right here. Sure some say that it is quick and simple. Do you wish to make your own jackets and cores? Simple perhaps but quick? No way. I got into this hobby fast and do I like to make my own bullets? Yes I do. Is it time convenient? No it is not. Have I found the time to make them in the last year? Yes but only once. Would you rather spend your time making the jacketed bullet yourself or spend more time shooting? While it is nice to do and rewarding I just have not seen the reason to in the last little while.

Back to what Jon said. Do you have time for another hobby? I don't even have time for the hobbies I do now. If your answer is yes you do have the time then I would say give it a try. If you are pressed for time as is, I would say do not waste the coin but more importantly do not waste the time. Time is more valuable than money.

I gotta go now because I am running out of free time.

[grullaguy]

I have figured it out to be both a money and time waster for the type of swaging I intend to do.

That said, I shoot all manner of forearms for no better reason than that it makes me happy.

I think swaging will be the same.
Learning and mastering the swaging process is the appeal for me as much as the finished product.

[lead chucker]

It's fun and rewarding. It does take time. I found doing it in big stages works for me. Cast cores for an hour one night then the next night work on the next stage and so on. The thing is its addictive, once you start you don't want to stop. If you are married she wont like you playing with your swaging toys all night. Its all time allocation. It is a lot of fun. I would say go for it. If it ends up not being for you. Lots of guys here would buy your stuff.

[hardcase54]

Guy ask for information and has not been back since??

[Sasquatch-1]

Looks like he is the type guy who likes to stay in the shadows considering he has been a member for a year and a half and this is his first post.

With that said, I looked at swaging when about thirty years ago because I thought it would be a neat hobby. That is, until I started pricing everything. Back then Dave Corbin was the only game in town that was "REASONABLE." I found that I could buy a lot of jacketed bullets for the price of the equipment. That still holds true today. I actually started swaging about 3 years ago when I wanted some jacketed bullets for my 44 caliber Desert Eagle and could not find any because of the administration that was in office at the time. $1400.00 later I can swage three different bullets for two different calibers.

Sorry for the run on. Hope this helps.

[Valornor]

I got into it when my life wasn't as busy. It was a big investment, and it has taught me a lot but I haven't put the time into it that I wanted to.

As other members have said, you need to have time to do it. It's multi step process that takes time to do right. It's rewarding as there is nothing better then shooting a nice tight groups with bullets you made from scratch.

I'll likely never get the monetary investment out of the tooling, and don't kid yourself if you think you're going to go into business of producing bullets for a living with a hand press of any type. But if you want to take bullet making to the next level, swaging is a pit with no end.

[just bill]

Hey sasquach-1, took the simular path. When I was starting to chase the RAM, somehow I found Corbin's catalog, way way way before internet, and was only shooting .357 mag. Jacked hollow point's were what the rich boys shot. The price was astronomical compared to lead. Now fifty years the challenge of swaging and die making has bit me, don't want to count the $$$$$$ spent in the last couple years.
Bill