Home made dies

[Sliver Shooter]

Hey Fellas, I have been absorbing all of the information in this thread and I'm hungry for more. What good stuff. I like most of you have a bunch of steel in the "Oh Darn" pile that got close to being a point forming die, but didn't work for various reasons. It is so frustrating to attemp making these dies without the top notch equipment the guys like BT Sniper have, to produce working equipment. Course the guys in the business have paid their dues and have went on to make a good business. My hat is off to them. That shows, we, in this hobby, have some great entropenuers (can't spell). This point forming die is just been a pain in the butt for me. I won't give up but I have walked away from it many times. I have had success making D reamers for cutting the shape, one I step drill the die. I have been using Grade 5, 7/8"x14 bolts for my die stock, cause I have not been able to thread a rod and get it strate or get threads that aren't mangled. That dog gone ejection pin thing is my hang up. I ordered some ejector pins, 1/16" x 4", but I'm gun shy to use them till I have the die the way it needs to be. If that makes any sence. Like you fellas, I want to make this myself and make it work. Keep feeding the information, boys, it is very much appreciated and informative.

[Drewblood]

Trying to absorb all this info..........but saw this on youtube....anybody know of plans available to make these or similar for sale? http://youtu.be/bkAU5ekbPLA

[Sliver Shooter]

Now thats another angle to persue. 1/2 jackets. That I think would give an easy option to those of us that are budget poor but want to make 22lr-.223 boolits. I'll be curious to see what others think on this one. Maybe you should get this one going on a new thread, Drewblood. Very interesting!!!!!!

[Drewblood]

Thanks SS.....I too thought it was pretty cool looking and perfect for normal guys

[Sliver Shooter]

We are already seeing boolits getting hard to come by or the price is getting rediculous. Guys like you and I need to come up with solutions to keep our ability to reload for our needs. It's ideas such as yours, Drewblood, that put that within reach of us . America has lots of inventive/creative citizens and shows we can't be put down.

[DukeInFlorida]

Hahaha.... what is old is new again.

Actually, for those who aren't as old as I am....................

The reloading hobby that we know and love really only started shortly after WW II, as returning soldiers wanted to keep shooting guns, and military surplus ammo was hard to get. Col. Townsend Whelan wrote a book, "Why Not Load Your Own", and it was the beginning of the hobby.

In it, he covers the somewhat new companies which were catering to the "swaging" community, especially Herters, who was the leader at the time in making supplies for half jacket bullets. They were deep drawn copper cups, which created an exposed lead nosed bullet. The idea was to keep lead away from the barrel, but leave the lead exposed at the tip.

We still see commercial offerings today which are still basically "half jacket" designs.

image courtesy of Corbin:

Now thats another angle to persue. 1/2 jackets. That I think would give an easy option to those of us that are budget poor but want to make 22lr-.223 boolits. I'll be curious to see what others think on this one. Maybe you should get this one going on a new thread, Drewblood. Very interesting!!!!!!

[morrisammo]

Question if I cast core's and were to make a mold. With a diameter of .185 how long would a core be to get a finished,, 55 to 65 GR bullet,, seeing the .22 case weights 10.?Gr

Dose anyone know how long I should drill the holes?

[supe47]

Bt's cores drop about .185" X .705ish" and weigh 53ish grains with pure lead. If you want to remove the "ish" from the size and weight of your cores you'll need a core swage die.
Supe

[morrisammo]

thank you,,, the .705 ish,, is close enough,,,

[Vander Donckt]

Hi guys,

I'm planning to make my own swaging die set for .223
Have just purchased a lathe and can hardly wait.
Can anyone tell me which is the inside threading of the lee classic cast press ram?

Im also planning to make the cast bullet swaging press, axes are already in.

[Ken Campbell, Iowa]

Hi guys,

I'm planning to make my own swaging die set for .223
Have just purchased a lathe and can hardly wait.
Can anyone tell me which is the inside threading of the lee classic cast press ram?

Im also planning to make the cast bullet swaging press, axes are already in.

*******************
congrats on the lathe !!

re: thread pitch ... get yourself a set of thread guages, english and metric ... they are available reasonably priced... saves bad embarrassments.

meanwhile, you can measure over 10 threads and make close guesses .

remember, english threads are defined as how many threads per inch ...and metric threads by mm between adjacent threads.

also, practice cutting threads on your lathe ....some are tricky on how the thread dial works. cut a plastic or aluminum blank before you crossthread a good workpiece...

ken

[Vander Donckt]

Thanks Ken,

UNF thread guages are not so common here.
Y will practice the threading on my lathe before making the dies.
Already made de press guide rods from hard air cilinder axes.

[Flamethrower]

I apologize in advance, but I did not read every page.

I am very interested in making a fell set of dies to turn 22lr brass into 223 bullets. I have access to a climate controlled machine shop filled with CNC turret lathes waiting to do my bidding.

Would there happen to be prints somewhere for all of the components of the set?

Thanks in advance.

[Blublister]

I apologize in advance, but I did not read every page.

I am very interested in making a fell set of dies to turn 22lr brass into 223 bullets. I have access to a climate controlled machine shop filled with CNC turret lathes waiting to do my bidding.

Would there happen to be prints somewhere for all of the components of the set?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Flamethrower,
I have been looking for drawings for a long time. Your best bet is to go to the Corbin website and look at all the pictures and explanation and kind of make the drawings yourself.

You can do a search for a pdf called SASswagedie. I think it is a sticky in the swaging section. The pdf gives you drawings but you will have to read this thread for dimensions to suit your intended caliber. All the info is contained in this site and most of it for the 22lr to 223 is in this thread. Cant remember what the calibers were in the SASswagedie pdf.

You will also have to decide whether you are going Corbin style dies or 7/8x14 to fit reloading press. If you want to make for the reloading press the dies become a bit more complex but still manageable. Have a look at BTSniper dies for pictures of masterpieces.

Hope this helps.

[usmcscout]

so how does a disabled usmc veteran make his die set for making 223 or .308 bullets when he has no access to fancy machinery like the cnc and lathes? guess ill have leave it up to all you pro's and wait till I win lottery cause damn their not cheap. not sure how hard it would be to make them having to be in this damn wheelchair I am trying get into competition shooting but trying find a less expensive way to handload my ammo

[ProfGAB101]

Just a heads up for all the aspiring die makers. If you have a failed .224 point form die do not despair - salvage it as a 5.7 point form die. Same goes for a slightly oversize core seat die.

5.7 is a close quarters round not a benchrest round so people looking to make econo practice ammo don't care about 1/2 MOA - they just want to be able to shoot when the gun store shelves are empty.

My friend fast fires his 357 mag - he is quite happy with MOF groups. (minute of fist)

Just having practice ammo is a value in its self, save the store bought ammo for carry (if you carry a super $$ FN 5.7 pistol).

[IllinoisCoyoteHunter]

I've got a few failures that will eventually be upsized LOL!

[alfloyd]

I have some .224 size dies that have been up sized so many times that they are too big for 45 cal boolits now.

Lafaun

[Faret]

I have some .224 size dies that have been up sized so many times that they are too big for 45 cal boolits now.

Lafaun

On to the 50!

[Valornor]

If you are looking for professional drawings, I will do them for you. If there is something you have in mind that you'd like to hand off to the machinist but dont want to hand off a hand drawn sketch on the back of a crumpled napkin, shoot me a pm, and I will generate a Solid Works model, and a toleranced drawing for you.

Unless it's a huge project requiring a lot of engineering hrs, and likewise prints I am not going to charge through the roof. For a simple bullet drawing, or perhaps a point for, die, I'd charge 15-25 bucks. I am not looking to make a bunch of money, I enjoy doing this, so it's a service I am willing to offer.