thinking about trying this out

[Oklahoma Rebel]

so a lot of you know I have been saving for a 9.3X62 CZ. I have a lee classic cast O-frame style press. I was looking through the lee 2nd edition at some shells for jackets. the two that stuck out were the .223 and 38spl. the 223 rim and shell base diameter is .378, so if I got 2 lee sizer kits, one in the middle and a .365 (needs to be .366, but I figure there will be some rebound), would that be doable with my press? and as far as dies, I would need a nose die, but how do you eject the bullet after you form the nose? as far as the 38, it seems like I could size it in one go, but only if I had someone lathe turn the rims down to .366. so what would you do, and as far as dies, how simple and cheap could I get away with? I want to make softpoints, either flat tipped or a fairly blunt round nose. thanks a lot, hope someone knows of a simple and inexpensive way of accomplishing this! thanks-Travis

[clodhopper]

If you are planning to size .223 brass down to swage .366 diameter bullets you might want to go a few thousandths smaller than .366, like maybe .360 so when you seat the core in the jacket the brass spring back will grip the core.

Or, you might size right to .366. Then bond the core and jacket by fluxing with corbin's core bonding flux. Then quickly heating the jacket and core with a torch until the core melts soldering then together.
You might find a reloading die you already own that would form a point on your bullets with the die's interior shoulder.
After that the bullet probably will need to be sized back to .366 again.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

ok, so you think the 223 would be better than the 38spl? and when you say size down to 360 , are you talkingabout sizing the rim down to that, or would the rim have to be turned on a lathe, which I would have to hire someone to do. if I annealed the whole cartridge would the rim be soft enough to size down in a lee type sizer? as far as the nose, I was thinking about that and looking through my reloading books, and I think a 220 swift or one of the other 22CF dies would make a good flatpoint. you gave me some good info, so do you think I could accomplish what I want with a couple lee sizers, my press, and a 22cf die?

[Wolftracker]

The press might be the sticking point. Anneal the brass and reduce in as many steps as you can to avoid breaking stuff.

[just bill]

I have a ring die made by Larry Blackmon for my rock chucker to reduce trimmed and annealed .223 cases to .357 no problem. You can get 2 cases from 1 .223 cases depending on the case length.
Bill

[clodhopper]

The rim can be sheared off in a die, or sized down, or cut off in a lathe operation. Any method you choose is added steps and expense for tools.

But .38spl cases are far fewer in number laying on the ground at my range, than .223 rem. For this reason alone I would look at .223 as being the way to go.

If you plan to swage bullets, the almost universal method of holding the jacket and core together starts with a jacket a few thousandths smaller diameter than the finished bullet.

Then lead is swaged into the jacket with enough pressure to stretch the jacket to the finished diameter. The "spring" of the jacket grips the lead.

Stretching the jacket can be done in one or more operations. Often, the first is core seating.
The second is point forming.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

that makes sense, as for the 38spl, I have a bunch of brass for it, that's why I asked, but I could go down to the river and probably pick up plenty of 223's. as for nose forming, I was thinking a 22CF fl die, with the shoulder angle reduced a bit by someone with a lathe, because I can see chambering issues using one as is, like I have seen people here do with 9mm or 357 bullets.