Just received a new .308 Corbin Swage Die set last week, my late Christmas gift from my wife. These dies are essentially a scaled up version of my Corbin .223 Swage Dies that I have been using for years; except they are configured for making a Rebated Boat Tail vs. the Flat Base in my .223’s. Cleaned the dies, oiled the outsides of all dies in the set in order to protect against corrosion from handling, swabbed out the inside of all dies, and then coated the inside of die bodies and the punches with a slight amount of lanolin. Then proceeded to work with the dies using .308 copper tubing jackets made using a set of Tubing Jacket Dies BT Sniper made for me several years ago.
A new set of dies can be a “Learning Experience”, particularly for swaging. Working with the two Corbin Dies for making Rebated Boat Tail bullets took some time as I have never made RBT’s before, and there are more steps and considerations than found with Flat Base Bullets. Made some progress in establishing confidence with the RBT dies (Slow Go Philosophy), but I am not yet pleased with the appearance of the RBT’s, although they would be termed “Blemished” and not “Rejects”.
Well point forming did not go as well in “Discovering” how to work with this dies set. I set the Nose forming die to a depth where I thought the Nose would be ~ 75% formed, lubed the RBT jacket/core, placed in the bullet in the die and cycled the handle. Seemed to go well and the nose was partially formed. Removed the bullet and lightly lubed the bullet again using an RCBS lube pad with a light coat of lanolin (I spray the pad with a mixture of alcohol and lanolin, about the same as Dillon Spray Lube). Placed the bullet in the nose die and adjusted the depth to form the nose to an estimated ~ 85%. Cycled the handle and the Bullet did not eject, rather the ejection pin drove into the exposed lead core due to binding of the bullet Ogive and sides in the die. Any way, I spent part of the morning removing the bullet and thought his would be an opportunity to post a “How To” for members/readers who have a similar occurrence. These directions are for those with a Corbin Swaging set up; but should provide thought for other types of Swage Operations also.