so I acquired a 450 Bushmaster. I also own numerous 45 caliber handguns and reload for 45 acp and 45 Super, and low level 460 Rowland using my 45 Super.
I tossed back and forth buying a 450 Bushmaster and 458 Socom. I eventually decided to go with the 450 Bushmaster because of my vast supply of 45 caliber (.451 & .452) bullets i managed to stock up over time. I also hunt with my Smith & Wesson 5" revolver in 45 Super using 185 gr Hornady XTP bullets. My average velocity is 1350 fps using 11.3 gr of Power Pistol. So that is my back story.
I want to take my reloading skills to the next level and start swaging my own jacketed swage bullets. I'd like to use the bullets I make for my 45 Super and 450 Bushmaster. I know it probably won"t be cheaper to make my own but I love tinkering and that's the whole reason I actually started to reload in the first place.
I plan on using commercialy available jackets to start, possibly dabble in using 40 S&W cases later on. I plan on trying to make my own swaging dies. I know you can buy dies from Corbin or BT Sniper, but I really want to make my own and save some money.
Ok to start...... I have a buddy who basically has a entire machine shop in his garage. He owns his own business and makes parts for printing machines that you can no longer buy. He also builds one off stamps for making parts in large presses. I'm talking like 300 ton presses that are 30 feet high. He has agreed to help in this endeavor and will also show me how to use his equipment.
I plan on starting with Hornady full length size dies, specifically the 308 winchester and 243 winchester. The 243 winchester will be used for truncated bullets with possible stems to make a hollow point cavity. My buddy said about using the 308 die and making custom stems to fit inside the die and will sit against the shoulder angle. Then we can let a pushrod out of the top to be able to tap the bullets back out of the die. Then we can take the stems that we made and carve the different bullet shapes out of the stem tip. This is the plan anyway. Reading through all the material I could on the web, I came up with some good drawings. The Corbin website is quite confusing but there is a ton of information on it.
I plan on picking up a Lee classic cast press and modifying it as per the instructions that I have found on this website. The other thing I plan on using commercially is Lee bullet sizing dies for running the bullets through after they are done. Also I plan on using already cast lead bullets to start and then eventually getting into possibly casting myself or just ording lead wire for slugs.
The few questions we have is what materials should we use for the stems? Hardening the material isn't out of the question but would rather not go through the hassle. He doesn't have the ability to do it himself. If he needs stuff like that done he sends it out.
Also am I completely over thinking the swaging process or is it really this simple? How does it seem he thinks this will work for $200 to $300 bucks when companies selling swage dies are $1000 to $2000?
Here is the drawings I came up with. We don't have exact measurements yet. We need to actually measure the inside of the dies. Or possibly try and find SAAMI minimum case measurements. My buddy thinks this is completely do able but I'm a little concerned. I already have spare dies to start. The only thing I need yet is jackets, lead cores, and the Lee size dies. I definately need .451 and .452 sizing dies. He also said about getting .427, .429, and .430 for sizing the cores down to fit in the cases and also to use the stems with our dies.
Anyway I figured this is the best place to find help. Any help or tips and pointers would be extremely appreciated. So far I have nothing invested in this. The spare dies I already have I bought in a buy out from someone getting out of reloading. I'd like a bit of help or possibly some warnings before I spend any money going down this road on the wrong stuff or even a warning before we get so far into it that it would have just been cheaper to buy swaging die sets to begin with. Thank you guys so much! I can't wait to hear back from everyone!