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Thread: BT Sniper's One-Step die REVIEW BY NEW SWAGER (me)

  1. #1
    Boolit Master


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    BT Sniper's One-Step die REVIEW BY NEW SWAGER (me)

    Well, first things first. A little background. My understanding is that Brian (BT Sniper) got a swage die from C-H, and liked it's design, but saw a few ways the execution could be improved. He found he could order just the parts he needed from C-H and then make the rest himself. His components are very well made, very well polished, and very well hardened (but more on this later). My point being, you can actually see what components are original C-H and what Brian has done. It's noticable without even using the tool.

    As far as ordering goes: IF (notice that's a "big" IF) C-H has the components in stock which Brian needs, he can get these dies out pretty quick at current demand level. From the time Brian posted he was thinking of doing a run of these until I had my die was less than a month. Some of that delay was on my end, because he had to wait for my check to get to him... So, IF Brian can get the components from C-H, he is very quick.

    The price he charges is also very reasonable. Shipping is included, and when you consider what the components from C-H cost, the customer is getting an awesome deal. (Premium/Custom components for a shade over what the standard tool costs, which won't last as long.)

    Now, to the good stuff. Using the die! I want to qualify this by saying my typical learning style is to fumble through doing something, THEN read the instructions, and then go back and cross up what I learned through experience with improvements I could glean from the instructions. Eventually I get to doing it half-way good... So, keep this in mind when looking at some of the following pictures and thoughts I give out.

    Now, as far as the process goes:

    The first step is to have Jackets and Cores. Jackets for the 44 Magnum One-Step Die I received are made from 40S&W cases. Cores are made from Lee 401-cal 175gr TC mould BOOLITs. (Cores may also be made from extruded lead wire or other objects which weigh the correct amount, but this is what was recommended, so this is where I started.)

    First off, I had just a very few 40 S&W cases to use for jackets. I wound up with 64 "FC" headstamps that weighed close enough to each other to balance out the bullets at 250grs. So that is all the bullets I've done so far, wanting to use them for my "learning period"... I also got anxious while awaiting the arrival of my die and did some steps ahead of time. This isn't a problem for the most part, except, I decided to seat the cores into the "jackets" before I had any citric acid. This results in my bullets being dull instead of shiney. This is NO reflection on the die or Brian's work AT ALL. Most of these "jackets" weighed around 66-68grs.

    Second, my cores worked well, but I have ideas... I had cast these up when I had a pot-full of soft alloy (50/50 WW/pure Pb), so they ended up weighing around 182-183grs. Somehow, even though they weigh the same, my cores are deeper than the samples that Brian sent. I'm planning on disecting some bullets later when I have access to a saw, but my guess right now is that the TL version of this mould is longer than my standard lube groove, OR Brian didn't seat his cores all the way to the bottom before running them through the die, which may mean there is a void space in the bottom. Disection will show the facts here. Now, as you will see in the photo, my cores did not come all the way to the front edge of the "jacket" after completing their trip through the one-step die. I think to fix this, I'm going to start adding some lead shot to the bottom of the case (jacket) before I seat the core. This will add weight to the bullet, but should also get the lead core to come up to even or just past the mouth of the jacket, which is where I want to be. I'm just guesing right now, buy I'm thinking a 270gr to 280gr bullet would be about right where I'd like to see the lead tip end up.

    Brian's bullet (sample sent in the box with the die) is on the left, while mine is on the right:


    Now, as far as the proper process. I've learned there is a distinct process to preparing to use these dies, and here it is:

    1. Cast Cores - use pure lead up to as hard as wheelweights, but softer is always better. Softer means better expansion and easier working of the handle on the operator, and less strain on the equipment.

    2. Clean cases - Before annealing, I think it helps to clean the cases by whatever means you want to do - vinegar wash, citric acid bath, tumbling, muriatic acid bath, etc. It's not absolutely necessary, but it makes for a better finished product.

    3. Anneal cases - make sure you use a good process to avoid wasting time and money. The torch still works well, but I found setting the cases directly on the burner of the gas grill for 15-30 minutes (depending on how hot and how evenly your grill heats) works fine. I'm still working on using the fireplace, and others here have access to or acquired kilns which do an awesome job. Let the cases air cool, or if you're in a hurry, dump them in a pan of water to quench.

    4. De-Tarnish cases - Now is the point in the process to get all the soot, discoloration, etc., off the cases. I've found, using lemonaide flavor Crystal Light (primarily citric acid), that the majority of cases clean up in 15 minutes, but some may take twice as long. Others with different products may chime in with how long those take.

    5. Matching cores and jackets - I found a system after about 30 minutes of thinking. (Never said I was fast-smart, but I usually do figure stuff out; just give me some time... ) I found a typical (can't use average, cause the highs and lows will throw that number off from the cases of typical weight) weight for my cases and jackets. Then, I determined what weight goal I would like to end up at. Next, figure out what combination of your cores and jackets will get you to that weight. And, figure out how much of a variation you're willing to accept. Then, it's a simple matter of lining up cases (or cores) according to categories as wide as you're willing to accept weight swings on, and then writing down a figure on a slip of paper at the bottom of that row. Then, as you weigh the other component of the bullet (if you started off with jackets, like I did; then you're going to be weight cores), you match it up with the category that gets you near your goal weight. (This sounds more complicated in description, than it is in execution.)

    I was able to stay within a .7gr variation. All 64 of my bullets weigh between 249.4grs and 250.1grs. Out of my lot of cases, I still have 5 that were too far under weight and about 15 that are over-weight. Unfortunately, I was too consistent of a cast boolit maker, and didn't have boolits for cores that were extra heavy (to match up with the lighter cases) or extra light (to match up with the heavier cases). But you can see the level of consistency which can be achieved.

    6. Seating cores - This is an interesting process. As a reloader, having used a single-stage press, I'm used to doing one operation on all the cases, and then switching dies to do a second operation. NOT SO with seating cores.

    I found that, even with fired cases, the brass was too narrow at the mouth to accept my cores. If you try seating cores like this two bad things can (and usually do) happen: First, you shave lead off the core, which messes up your weight-matching. Second, the core will tip, and when the seater bumps it, the (now soft from the annealing) case mouth will bend/swell outward forming what looks for all the world like a miniature pitcher spout. Then, your bullets end up like this:


    So, the solution is to install your 40S&W (or in my case 10mm) bell-mouth die into the press along with a suitable shell-holder. Make sure when you adjust the bell-mouther, you don't make the bell too big. Again, look at the picture above... Then, insert a jacket (case), lower the handle to bell-mouth, and then raise the handle. Now for the weird part: DO NOT TAKE THE CASE OUT OF THE SHELL HOLDER. Leave it right there. Now, insert a core (cast boolit), nose-down onto/into the belled case mouth, and lower the handle AGAIN. It is VERY easy to feel the bullet get shoved down into the case and bump against the bottom. After raising the handle NOW you can take the case out. And you have a perfectly seated core inside the jacket:


    7. Lube bullets - Another neat feature/benefit of ordering this die from BT Sniper is that it comes with a little tub of lube. It is Anhydrous Lanolin, and the tub is about the size of the little plastic cups you get at a restaurant when you ask for your salad dressing on the side. BUT, it's got just a TINY dab of lube in it. I'd say an ounce at most. Now, this looks very insufficient like you can only lube maybe 100 bullets with it, but I can assure you (and I was skeptical too) that this tiny amount of lube is sufficient for at least 500 bullets, probably more. I applied it like I do for my rifle cases. (Don't want too much or too little, right?) I put on a pair of rubber gloves, and dip the tip of on finger into the lube. (It's consistency is about the same as Vaseline.) Then I roll the jacket around between the tips of two fingers and thumb until it's thoroughly coated. This action also distributes the lube over the other two fingers, and I just keep picking up cases and rolling them in those three finger tips, until I can feel the roughness/surface of the case. Then, I know it's time to add more lube. I found that was about ever five to eight bullets. I also line them up in the order I lube them in a staging process to get them through the press faster. I like this, because when I put in a bullet with too much lube, it leaves some lube behind for the next, slightly-lighter-lubed bullets, and then this process starts all over ever 5-8 bullets. I had absolutely NO issues with hard, sticky, or difficult bullets doing it this way.

    8. The One-Step Die - Finally! Remove the shell-holder from the ram and insert the bottom punch. Install the die in the top of the press. Brian ships these already set-up and tested in the same make and model press if you tell him what you've got. I know he can set them up for Rock Chuckers and Lee Classic Casts, and there may be others. His adjustments are dead-nuts-on as far as I can tell. I didn't have to do a darn thing other than start running bullets through.

    The process is to stand a lubed, core-seated bullet on the bottom punch and raise the ram (lower the handle). Now, when you get close to inserting the bullet into the die, you want to feel with your finger tips that you've got it lined up right, less you might dent the case mouth. (I didn't experience this, because having dented my share of case mouths on sizing dies, and noting the bottom punch had no lateral guidance for the bullet jacket [which it should not - so that the bullet self-aligns with the die], I guided each and ever bullet in from the first one.)

    Now lower the handle all the way to the stop. Yes, I said all the way to the stop... It gets quite hard/heavy in the last 1/3 to 2/3 inch of travel of the ram. This is where the core is really getting moved around inside that jacket under many thousands of pounds of force. But, there is absolutely no need to add a breaker bar, stand on the handle or jump up and down on the handle.

    While you're inserting the bullet into the die, you'll see the top punch extension coming out the top of the die. This is as it should be. After you've got the handle bottomed all the way out, raise it back up, and note that the bullet did not come out... This is where a hammer comes into play. (Or, if you swung it, a bullet ejector mechanism, but that's a story for another day.) I bought a 4-lb "drilling hammer" which is a small sledge hammer head on a very short, straight handle. It takes me on average, three whacks with that hammer to get the bullet out of the die. And, these are HARD whacks. Not standing up and swinging with both hands, but I'm using the force I use when pounding nails, but add to that the gravitational energy from a 4-lb head on the hammer, and you get the idea... Now, before you start hitting the top of the top punch extension, make sure you cup your hand under the die to catch the bullet, which normally pops out. I did have about 7-8 bullets that hung-up on the nose punch. It think this may be because my cores seat deeper into the case than Brians, but maybe not. I just don't have enough time and experimentation in on this die yet to determine this fully.

    So, now, if you've followed the steps, you have a brand new, shiney 250gr (nominal) JHP with a RNFP overall profile.

    .


    Now, I didn't follow the steps exactly, so mine are rather tarnished, you can see. That's how I learn all-too-often -- by making mistakes, but shinyness isn't an insurmountable mistake.

    I have a buddy who wants to use these in his Ruger Redhawk with his pistol permit this year, and so he'll get a bunch loaded to try.

    So, was there anything problematic or troubling using this die? YES.

    First off, on the 43rd bullet, I thought I broke the handle to my press and I about went off my reloading stool. As I was putting that last 1/2" of pressure to finish the bullet, the handle let go and went all the way down around as far as it would go. I wasn't hurt (except for my pride... ), and upon closer inspection I noted the bolt head which can be loosened to adjust the position of the handle on my Lee Classic Cast press had loosened enough to allow the gears to strip past each other. I didn't disassemble it all the way yet to check for damage, but after I re-tightened it (and re-adjusted the handle), the press went on to finish the remaining 21 bullets, and still feels quite firnly seated now. I think I know why the bolt loosened and it's related to the second problem:

    Second, the hammering on the top punch to eject the finished bullet, causes a LOT of vibration on the bench. My bench is neither light nor small. I have four presses mounted on it (Dillon 650, Ponsness Warren progressive, Lee Classic Cast and Bonanza Co-Ax), and it's a full-size 4x8 w/ a layer of 2x12s, plus a top, and a half-shelf underneath and a 2x12 shelf running down the center on top. It's several hundred pounds. But, I had cases, shellholders, lubed bullets (waiting to go through the one-step die), allen wrenches and everything else that was loose on that bench bouncing, jiggling, vibrating, and sliding off the edge of the bench and onto the floor (sometimes)... I think this level of vibration is what lead to the bolt loosening on the Classic Cast... Worst of all, though, I didn't think about my electronic scale. It was turned off and back against the shelf wall, but still only 20 inches or so from the press, and when I turned it back on to start weighing the finished bullets, the display started flashing all sorts of weird weights (with nothing on the scale pan) and wouldn't zero or level out. So.... Looks like I'm in the market for a new digital scale... I'll try to fix it later, but worst-case scenario is I'm getting a new one. (This one is 20 years old.)

    So, in my "ways to do it different in the future" department -- I'm going to mount a single-stage press to a separate, extra-heavy bench just for swaging... Also, I'm planning to try adding about 15grs of lead shot in the bottom of the case to try to raise the lead HP core up to even with, or slightly above, the mouth of the jacket. I'm also going to do some work with my cannelure tool, but that's a different topic...
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  2. #2
    Boolit Bub
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    Wow - that's one heck of a review. Nicely done! I can't wait to try out the BTS dies...

  3. #3
    Boolit Bub
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    Quote Originally Posted by MakeMineA10mm View Post
    I'm planning to try adding about 15grs of lead shot in the bottom of the case to try to raise the lead HP core up to even with, or slightly above, the mouth of the jacket.
    I may well be mistaken but I think the only way to get a soft nose design is to shorten the case. Here are a couple of pics of some soft noses I was experimenting with this morning, using the same CH4D dies but without the BTS conversion. Perhaps BTS can chime in on this point. I have yet to find a way to create a soft nose without shortening the case.

    The cases in these pics are .40 brass trimmed to about .775, and run through the CH4D .44 cal point forming die. To trim the cases any shorter than this I have to come up with a custom adjustment for my Sinclair trimmer setup.

    BTW the lead looks black in these pics just because the lighting was funny.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails swage1.jpg   swage2.jpg  

  4. #4
    Boolit Master


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    Hey Source --
    Again, I'm new at this, so I'm not 100% sure of this, but I believe, if you increase the core's weight (in my idea, by adding some shot), the core will extend out past the front of the jacket. To deal with that longer/heavier bullet, there are two options (I believe):

    1) Just don't run the handle down as far -- as soon as you feel the resistence that is normal for a completed bullet, stop. (Very bad in the sense that we are relying on sense of feel, IMO.) or

    2) Unscrew the die an 1/8 of a turn or a 1/4 of a turn until the handle bottoms out with the new (longer) length. (I like this one best, as once you find the right adjustment for the new length, you can turn down the lock ring and it's always the same and so very consistent, not by sense of feel...)
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    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by sourceofuncertainty View Post
    I may well be mistaken but I think the only way to get a soft nose design is to shorten the case. Here are a couple of pics of some soft noses I was experimenting with this morning, using the same CH4D dies but without the BTS conversion. Perhaps BTS can chime in on this point. I have yet to find a way to create a soft nose without shortening the case.

    The cases in these pics are .40 brass trimmed to about .775, and run through the CH4D .44 cal point forming die. To trim the cases any shorter than this I have to come up with a custom adjustment for my Sinclair trimmer setup.

    BTW the lead looks black in these pics just because the lighting was funny.
    Did you have to re-size the brass before you ran them through the trimmer?

  6. #6
    Boolit Bub
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ickisrulz View Post
    Did you have to re-size the brass before you ran them through the trimmer?
    No, using the Wilson .40 case holder (the non "Q" type) I was able to just place the non-sized brass in and trim. Their rifle case holders are more secure than the pistol ones, but it was a good enough fit to do the trick. I wouldn't want to do hundreds that way though.
    Last edited by sourceofuncertainty; 10-02-2010 at 08:57 PM.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy
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    You can get a soft nose a couple of ways.

    More hollow point volume, adding to the displacement of the lead.

    Heavier bullets. I shoot mostly 300 grain bullets in my 44 mags. This gives you exposed lead.

    Shorter cases.

    B.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master zuke's Avatar
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    What about modifing a shortened LEE case trimmer to trim some off the case's?

  9. #9
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    As far as trimming the cases go, YES, it will work. HOWEVER, one of the things that attracts me to the "One-Step Die" is that it is not difficult, time-consuming, complicated, etc. Now, one-step refers to the process of forming the bullet (no seating, pre-forming, and point-forming dies -- all of it is done in one step), and as can be read by my loooong description above, there are quite a few more steps of prep work. I'm not complaining. I'm good with all that. I mean, WE'RE MAKING OUR OWN JHPS!!! How much more cooler could it be than that?!?!?!

    All that said, the one chore I refuse to do (and don't even have any equipment to do) is trim pistol brass. I've never found a piece that's too long, even after many, many reloadings and firings. My case mouths crack and wear out from bell-mouth and crimp cycles before the cases ever stretch that much. (Of course, I avoid heavy loads of 296/H110 or other super-slows, like Lil'Gun.) On top of that, and even though I'm not complaining about the number of steps already involved, if I had to add TRIMMING brass, I'd not even bother with swaging...

    Therefore, the solution (to me) is to find the right balance of core weight so that I get a little lip of lead out the mouth of the case. My primary 44 boolits are 270 to 285grs anyway, and I have no problem loading a JHSP of the same weight. Saves a lot of trouble on sight re-setting too...

    So, what I did tonight was weigh out some #7-1/2 shot I had laying over in the shotshell loading area. I got 19.5grs of weight out of 17 of the little buggers. (This is really close. Since I'm using my Lee balance-scale [my back-up to my digital scale], I moved it between 19.0, 19.5, and 20.0, and it balanced pretty close to even at 19.5.) I still had some of the FC cases that had weighed too much (like around 68-69grs), so I stuck it in the press and bell-mouthed it. Then I dropped in the shot and looked down inside. The shot was layered pretty tight in the bottom, so I stuck a 182-183gr boolit (upside down still) in the case and put it back up in the bell-mouther and ran it home. This left about 1/10" of of the base of the bullet sticking out of the mouth of the case. Even with the bell-mouth die, I could feel a little crunching, which I presumed was the shot moving around the truncated cone nose of the core.

    After installing the one-step die in the press, I lubed up the experimental bullet, and ran it up into the die. I didn't use anywhere near the force on the handle that I did when making bullets the other day. I could feel a definite moving-around and crunching of the lead inside. Then, I pounded out the results. The ogive had just started to form and the HP was only 1/4 the size it was the other day. Then, I re-inserted the bullet and ran it back up in the die with no pressure, until it stopped. I then unscrewed the one-step die about 1/2 and inch, and raised the ram all the way to the top. Then I started screwing the die back in very slowly, about 1/16" at a time.

    I got a completely-formed Jacketed Hollow SOFT Point (JHSP) bullet with this extra weight when the die was about 1/8 to 3/16" above where it was before. Here's a pic:


    Now, the one problem I have is that the mouth is uneven. I'm thinking it's either because the shot discombobulates the alignment of the core due to different pressures on different sides at the bottom of the jacket, or it's because I didn't have the lock-ring screwed down, as this was just a one-off test.
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  10. #10
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    Here's an in-focus view of the 270gr bullet from the mouth:


    I also put calipers to these bullets (my 250gr and 270gr) and to one of the samples that Brian sent. They all measure between .4295" and .430". I apparently got the annealing done right, because the rims were the same size as the body of the case, I mean, jacket.


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  11. #11
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    Oh, and by the way, another interesting tidbit from when I was measuring my bullets and the samples from Brian:

    Mine had jacket lengths between .005" and .010" SHORTER than Brian's. HE is obviously not trimming his cases... The weights of his and mine were nearly identical. (His five samples varied between 247grs and 252grs.) I still can't figure why my lead sits so much lower than his, other than I must use more pressure on the press handle than he does, which then leads me to wonder if there is a small void space somewhere in his bullet. Sectioning is definitely in the future. I'll probably section this 270gr sample bullet as well, to see how the lead shot interacted and formed with the solid part of the core.
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  12. #12
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    10mm

    I got the answers you seek

    will get to it soon got to get girls to bed.

    BT
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  13. #13
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    .
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  14. #14
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    WOW! Just read carfully threw it all agian. I can tell you're on the right track. Steps and logic you used seemed fimilar to what took me the better part of two years perfecting.

    Takes a while to get teh little ones down for bed. So I'll see what I can help you out with here.
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  15. #15
    Boolit Bub
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    I gotta get up early otherwise I'd be sitting up with popcorn at the ready, too

  16. #16
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    Alas, I have to work in the AM too, and BT is out on the west coast where it's only 10pm... It's five minutes to tomorrow here... I'm going to have to let him type away and then look it over tomorrow. Can't wait to see what he says.
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    First off heck of a right up. Thanks for the compliments. From the looks of it any troubled areas had little to do with the actual die but just a tightening of the press handel bolt and moving a few things off the bench. We'll get you on track and shooting these right quick. In actuallity you allready have 60+ perfectly shootable bullets and is only cosmetic issues, or the fun part of actually tinkering just a bit to make the perfect "looking" bullet. As I can see the only issue at hand is getting the lead core to match up with top of jacket like the ones I sent you. So lets go shall we.

    OK... From my experience a have a hard time believing any voids of air will be left between the brass case (jacket) and core when seating or forming the bullet simply because of the primmer pocket and flash hole. Any air I imagine will compress into this area. I just havn't seen anything that would suggest voids in the bullet....well wait I take that back. You will be able to see a horizontal wrinkle at times when you use a core that is to light for amount of jacket. Your bullets don't show anything like that. I actually have posted pics here somwhere of this.

    I can also assure you I used a good amount of force while forming these bullets. No not standing on it but yes it seems the same amount as you as we gathered from the rim diameter is same as final bullet diameter. The rim is the last thing to swell out and will be smaller when not using as much pressure.

    So why did my lead cores match up to the top of the jacket and yours a bit short? I have a pretty good idea. Believe me this has been the challenge when designing this HP because as we know cast boolits and brass cases varry in weight. If they all where equal this would be far to easy.

    Short answer and best I have is I used heavier jackets. Pure and simple. I may be wrong but I would bet a 66-68 grain jacket (yours) has more case volume then the 71-72 grain jacket I used. Give a heavy case a try and see if this makes a differense. But you say our bullets weighted nearly the same. Well nearly, or maybe 3-4 grains different. From the looks of it I bet 4 grains of lead shot in the nose of your bullets would bring that lead right nearly to the tip. All I'm saying is that 3-4 grains may be all that was needed to get your desired results and this may be done with possible either heavier cores or jackets or both.

    Now in a perfect world I would only use the absolt medium of both average jacket weight and core weight when I set up these dies, and maybe that is just what I may have to do in the future. I had depleted my supply and therefore used the heavier jackets. You figured out the same sort of scale as ihave when paring cores to jackets I'm sure you could adjust it 3-4 grain to the heavier side or I could simply make you a slightly larger HP that will displace the necessary amount of lead to completly fill your case. But do give a heavier combination a try and see what happens.

    Guys have been using the belling die to seat cores and it looks rather good. It is one small step that is not needed but is certainly easy as it is allready set up in frount of you ( yours look great by the way). Just droping a core into a belled case and then swage will give same results. I've tried! As long as teh core just fits and is not slightly big as you found out. If they made a .390 core we could skip the belling of the mouth too.

    The bullet hanging on the HP does happen some times and I certainly try to avoid it by design. So long as it dose'nt require a pair of pliers to remove teh simple sollution is to touch it with your lanolin fingers every once in a while this usally does teh trick.

    Now should you wish to continue to make the 250 grain bullets we can attempt to adjust teh top stop bolt ever so slightly downward. I MEAN SLIGHLY! Not saying to do so just yet and certainly make witness marks with a sharpy pe or somthing so you can return to my preset postion. The simmple fact is you have created a bullet that still has a bit of room left in the die cavity for a bit more lead in the nose. If we adjust the stop bolt on top to force the HP nose punch to stop it's movment a bit sooner then normal (as in lower in the die cavity) we have effectivly taken up a bit of that void and also forced a bit more lead to displace upward to the nose. Problem is adjust it to much down and it may still leave you with the jacket above the core or could also shorten teh bullet a bit as well as make a slightly larger metplat on the bullet if it does not allow the jacket any further up teh die either. Now you are compressing the jacket a bit as well as displacing a bit more lead. THis is as you can tell the technical solution, simple solution is a slightly heavier bullet with either jacket or core.

    From the sounds of it you are using the 40 cal 175 normal lube bollit. I like this one better by the way then the TL version. The TL version seems to drop a bit larger on me. COuld jsut be the mold. Now if you are really brave, and I did this, you make the supreme sacrafice to the swage gods and sacrafice a pefectly good mold. With a dremmil I CARFULLY ground down that lube grove and gained 4-8 grains on my cores. up to you here. Once you start you will be making all sorts of sacrifices to get in good with the gods .

    Well I can get long winded too it seems. You are just starting on this new hobby and allready making bullets far better then many of us did when we attmepted this for the first time. Just saying it gets fun from here. Experiment a little and see what combination or weight bullet the die will make best for you. Anouther thing should you wish to make the 280s a smaler HP would certainly help you out and of course I can hook you up with one

    Well enjoy and from the looks of it I'm sure you'll keep us informed. Let me know if I made any sence here or if I may have missed anything. YES I know... an instruction pamplit would probably be very helpfull right? Not enough time in the day it seems.

    Good shooting and Swage On!

    BT
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  18. #18
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    D@ng that is a long repply. Well a long answer for a long post I suppose. Only missed you by 1/2 hour.

    Later

    BT
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  19. #19
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    Quick thought here. My cores weight the same as yours, around 182 grains. I try to use cores and jackets that are all with in a close tolerence when setting up customers dies but a heavy or lite one could slip in. Of the 5 sample cores and cases I sent you, how did those bullets form up? If they too where short on the lead at the tip maybe its a small die adjustment. If they formed up matching at top, same as bullets I sent you and your jacket and cores are short then it is a lite bullet problem or a need for a slightly bigger HP nose punch. Now if you want lead to show at top of bullet then it is deffently a need for a larger core and recamended smaller HP if you are looking at 280ish grains.

    BT
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  20. #20
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    Home on lunch break, so just a quick reply:

    First off, you've never seen my bench have you? It's not just a matter of moving a "few things"!! LOL!!!! I'm thinking it's easier to build a special Swaging bench than clean off the old one!!!

    Second, I don't want to mess with the adjustments just yet. I like what it's making; I think I just need to add some weight to the core. My next step (probably Wed. when dcp is here visiting) is to try the following combinations and see where the lead ends up at the tip of the bullet:

    9 shot adds 10grs weight (= 260gr bullet)
    13 shot adds 15grs weight (= 265gr bullet)
    I'll probably make one more with 17 shot, so I've got two samples at each weight (17shot adds 19.5grs weight = 270gr bullet)

    Now that I've seen what can be done, my next purchase will probably be a set-up to make the HP cavity smaller (so I'll have to add even more shot, but that's O.K.) and give me a finished bullet that has that XTP look to it. In fact, if you get a chance, shoot me a price and description of what that set-up is. I'm not so concerned about the ultimate weight of the bullet as I am the finished form.

    Also, didn't I read around here somewhere about one of our members having a miniature chop saw or horizontal band saw that he was trimming cases with? That could be interesting, as it could be used to chop off the head as well as trim the length, and that method might convince me to try it.

    More later.
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check