An Overview of Making Jackets from Flat Strip

[ohnomrbillk]

Thanks for the share. It took a lot of my guessing away

[MFG_BOP]

wonderful man! not sure why those sort of threads don't get too much attention. i would like to see more if you have more pics. cheers

[just bill]

Any thoughts on .308's around the 1.4" range.
Bill

[tiger762]

ZBench, thanks for posting this. Very informative to see it in pictures!

[pencil_pusher]

Great walk through, very helpful. Keep us posted.

[Cragsman]

ZBENCH, wonderful posting, I am on the other end of the scale, I have the Copper Strip Jacket Maker set used with a CSP-2 hand press. The limitations of the hand press are fine for my use. It is limited to 1.25" x .030 copper strip. So the set I have (still new to it) takes the copper strip and punches out a 1.2" disc, then the first draw is to a .75 x .025 wall thickness cup. Then it appears to be common point to then go to a .560 diameter and in my case a .020 wall thickness. From there my next step is .560 x .020 to .452 x .020, with two other draws .452 x .020 to .355 x .020 and then a final draw from .355 x .020 to .308 x .020 with a trimmed jacket length of 1.25" I shoot mostly pistol calibers hence the sizes. I can expressly say it takes some muscle and the long handle on the CSP-2 press to literally shoulder thru some of the jacket draws. Next time I run a set of jackets I will take some pictures and work on how to post them. My jackets have a tolerance (or at least a tight as I can measure with a Starrett 769 Electronic Tube Micrometer) of around .0007-.0011 or less (staying within the accuracy of the Micrometer) I have discussed this with Dave Corbin and it should be much less. I feel most of it is operator error and I used the wrong lubricant while drawing the Jackets. I actually used swaged lube, which is detrimental. So had to go thru and clean the all the dies and disc cutter. I am eventually going to obtain a Hydro Press, but for right now I have been just accruing all the H-press dies and accessories as I go. Thank you for sharing, and I hope to so so with pictures of my simple outfit and steps in the near future.

Ed

[BlackoutBuilder]

Yes, please, do the rest of the steps with pics.

[Zbench]

Cragsman,

The hydro press is definitely your friend. You might consider switching to pure castor oil for your draws. It is more slippery than swage lube, easier to manage and a little goes a long way. It will also reduce the pressure you are experiencing on your draws. On the hydro for me it's about 75# of reduced dial pressure. I'm working with Corbin to make a set of dies to make big .500 caliber bullets for the new AR 500 Max rifle that is coming out. Can't wait to make some quality bullets with my own jackets.

As for accuracy, I assume you mean you are getting wall variation of .0004". That isn't that bad at all if you ask me, considering you are only drawing in your later steps, not reducing the wall thickness. The tooling isn't perfect and if you aren't moving some material to make the walls thinner, that error multiplies. But again, .0004" is not that bad at all unless you are shooting 1000 yard matches.

[BlackoutBuilder]

Where in Ohio are you shooting a .50? I'm in Michigan, and one reason I don't bother with the larger calibers, is because theres no places to shoot one. Well, several hours drive, but the heck with that.

[Zbench]

Anywhere you can legally hunt? In Ohio any straight walled cartridge is good to go. .38 SPL to .50-120 and everything in between. Another reason not to live in MI.

[308Jeff]

Cragsman,

The hydro press is definitely your friend. You might consider switching to pure castor oil for your draws. It is more slippery than swage lube, easier to manage and a little goes a long way. It will also reduce the pressure you are experiencing on your draws. On the hydro for me it's about 75# of reduced dial pressure. I'm working with Corbin to make a set of dies to make big .500 caliber bullets for the new AR 500 Max rifle that is coming out. Can't wait to make some quality bullets with my own jackets.

As for accuracy, I assume you mean you are getting wall variation of .0004". That isn't that bad at all if you ask me, considering you are only drawing in your later steps, not reducing the wall thickness. The tooling isn't perfect and if you aren't moving some material to make the walls thinner, that error multiplies. But again, .0004" is not that bad at all unless you are shooting 1000 yard matches.

Just spent the last 15 minutes learning about the 500 Auto Max. Neat!

[Zbench]

Pretty excited about it. There are a lot of flash in the pan type cartridges out there, but if you get your own brass made via Starline, it's here to stay. Some of the pressures they cite are hard to believe. 1600 fps out of a 500 grain projectile? Nuts.

[Cragsman]

Zbench,

Thank you for the advice on using the Castor Oil, It would be helpful to reduce the amount of pressure to draw certain stages of the jackets. I am hoping to get to it this weekend, and if so will try and take some pictures and post them. Holy Cow, I looked up the 500 Auto Max, that is quite a round. What is going to be the jacket thickness for the rounds? I have a 500 S&W I shoot for interesting conversations now and then, I truly respect the thought of the 500 Auto Max. The biggest thing I am swaging my own jackets for is my 454 Casull, for my retirement my wife allowed me to purchase a Model 83 Freedom Arms premier grade. Love it.

Thank you again
Cragsman

[M-Tecs]

Great post. Thanks!!!!!

[Cragsman]

Well, I finally got around to making some copper strip jackets this weekend.
I have enclosed some pictures of the process, it is exactly like the ones posted by Zbench at the start of this thread, just smaller in size and scope as I am going from a 1.25" Copper strip to my final jacket size of .308 x .020 jacket thickness. So up front a bit of this is going to be duplication of sorts, but I use a CSP-2 hand press to make mine. The first picture is of the actual press I am using mounted on a CSP-S adjustable floor stand that works great.



The next picture is the Blanking Die set up: It uses a 1.25" by 030" copper strip and punches out a 1.2" diameter disc. If you notice the actual forming die is attached from the bottom of the top of the press. (This is done using the swaging or short stroke position of the press)


Close up of the blanking die and copper disc


Following this is the cupping die that takes the disc and forms it into a .75" diameter .025" thickness copper cup. (This is done using the swaging or short stroke position of the press)


This is the copper cup after being formed


This is the stripper plate used to remove the cup


Next is the JRD-2-H punch which are all custom made for each step of the drawing process, This punch is being used to take the .75" cup and draw it down to a .56"x.020 jacket. It has a sleeve or pre-alignment guide to ensure a concentric drawing of the jacket. The actual reducing die body screws into the top of the top plate for this and the remaining steps. The actual punch itself screws into a 5/8x24 adapter to match the 1' x 12 threads of the CSP-2 press ram. These adapters are specifically set for each stage of the drawing operation, running from a 1/4" to 1" in height. (This first draw uses a 3/4" height adapter, while the next draw to .452 uses a 1/4" height adapter, .452-.355 uses a 5/8" adapter and the final .355 to .308 uses a 3/8") It is stressed in the instructions to not interchange adapters. (One more reason I am looking forward to getting a CHP-2 hydraulic press next year)






The other steps for drawing jackets down to the further reduced sizes involve the same JRD-2-H deep draw dies, the only extra step involved is prior to drawing to .308 from the .355 drawn jackets is you have to trim the .355 jackets to 1.25" length, otherwise their length exceeds the stroke length of the press and you have upwards of a 3" long .308 jacket. Below are some pictures of the various jackets drawn starting with the
1.2"x.030" copper disc
.75"x025" copper cup
.56"x.020" copper jacket
.452"x.020" copper jacket
.355"x.020" copper jacket
Final Draw: .308x.020" copper jacket that is untrimmed length of 1.55"
Ok, will post next

[Cragsman]

The pictures prior to my meeting limitations of the previous post



I do apologize for the quality of the pictures, I am not anywhere near skilled with a camera and actually only used the one on my phone. I hope this shows some of the steps involved. It is a nice ability to make the jackets I want at anytime and it is fully usable on my generation press CHP-1.

Thank you

E

[BlackoutBuilder]

Another reason not to live in MI.

Well maybe if you folks could learn how to drive....

[uncle dino]

Here's what you can get if you really want to spit em out..d.
https://youtu.be/sY4YevBDRFI

[Zbench]

That is a sweet rig uncle dino. I may move to an automatic feeder. Too bad that only saves one handling step. You still get to handle them one at a time for all the other draws.

Cragsman, one of the very nice things on the hydro press, other than obviously not turning your forearm into a Popeye look alike, is that Corbin makes a really neat solenoid that you can attach to the stripper plate so when the press retracts, it energizes the solenoid and it automatically moves the stripper plate so you don't have to move it. When it's at the bottom of the stroke and resets, the solenoid is no longer energized and a spring returns it to normal. Saves a ton of hassle. How is the Castor Oil working out for you? Dino turned me on to using it.

[Cragsman]

Zbench, yes the castor oil was an incredible help. The wife and I are budgeting for the CSP-1 for next year. I would love to have the auto feed that Uncle Dino has, but I do this as a hobby. Of course as much as I have invested in Dies, power cannelure machine, etc the thought almost crossed my mind. Thank you for your help

Cragsman