swaged my first ones last night!

[Jeff Davis]

Okay, I finally got a few quiet moments to myself last night and wandered out to the garage to try out the Herters sage dies in 357 and 429 last night. I took some reject casts to sacrifice up and was not too impressed.

Then I recalled the leftover commercial cast 45 Colt boolits I have gathering dust in the corner of the storage rack. They are a .454 300 gr FP, so I ran one up the 429 die. I shaved off a thick ring of lead and lube and ended up with a .430 dia 290 gr SWC! I was really surprised to see how much longer the boolit stretched out. It even has a faint remnant of lube embedded around the boolit.

Then I remembered some cast 32 cal SWCs (about 95 grs) so I ran one of those up the 357. I got a squat SWC that didn't amount to much. So I dropped another boolit into a 357 1/2 jacket and ran that up. I ended up with a 115 gr 1/2 jacketed SWC. It just might end up in a 9mm Luger case or maybe a 9x23 Largo for the Astra 400 (when I get a new firing pin, that is).

The biggest success came when I discovered my cache of Hornady roundballs in .490 and .530 diameters. THIS IS THE WAY TO FLY! I made a 170 gr 1/2 jacketed SWC for the 44, then a 205 gr 1/2 jacket SWC just by running roundballs of each diameter up the die and then adding the 1/2 jacket on the second pass. I was left with a thick lead "washer" around the seater stem, especially on the .530 ball.

I took a pair of lineman pliers and squeezed the sides of a .530 ball to pre - reduce the diameter and then ran it up the die. This left me more lead to increase the size of the boolit and when combined with a 1/2 jacket, gave me a 260gr SWC for the 44.

I now need to find some .375 roundball CHEAP to get a better fit for the 357. I can get a 125gr 1/2 jacketed SWC with the .490 ball, but the lead rings are taking away more weight than I would like.

Anyone have a better idea to "PRE - REDUCE" the diameter for a better fit? I think I will try my Lee sizer dies to see what happens. I just want to find a way to do more at a faster production rate.

SWAGE ON!!![smilie=w::swagemine:

[BwBrown]

As I plan a new bullet, I account for:

1) desired final weight

2) subtract the weight of jacket, old brass, half jacket, gas check - whatever the brass portion might be

3) arrive at your final lead desired weight

4) pour (pun intended) over Lee moulds list - find one close to needed weight in a caliber slightly smaller than final bullet. Some folks scoff at Lee molds, but for the money, they make variety affordable.

5) cast some "cores" out of SOFT pure lead - that's why your round balls came out better. They are formed out of soft lead - your cast and lubed bullets were likely a harder alloy. Wheel weights and linotype are best saved for hard cast bullets.

6) use a GOOD lube.

It would help to know what tools - press, dies, etc you are using. I started years ago with Herter's Super Swage Press - got best results with half jackets and dead soft lead cores.

Harder lead alloys, while usable, put enormous additional strain on your press, risk bulging or splitting your dies, and TIRE your arm.

That's about all I know, lots of folks here who are much more experienced than I.

Welcome to the obsession - oops, I mean hobby. As time and your experience and confidence grow, you can expand and refine your equipment to end up with a set up that works for you.
Good luck,
Bob

[Jeff Davis]

BW,

I am using a Lyman Spartan "C" press, Herter's swaging dies in 357 and 429 diameter with SWC nose punches, and a hammer to knock out the boolits.

I used the hammer to better form the noses while pulling down the press handle.
Seems to give me a better fill out.

I will try to get some pics up later; gotta pile of honey-do chores to finish.