Just Got Price Quote from Detsch Dies

[nicholst55]

for a set of carbide .308 dies. Ouch! I knew they would be spendy, and they are - $2600 for a basic set. FWIW, they are benchrest quality, and a lot of Hall of Fame shooters got there shooting bullets swaged in Detsch dies.

I'm just a simple Irish peasant, and I honestly don't think I can afford a set of them. It would truly be nice to have a set, but it ain't in the cards.

[deltaenterprizes]

Makes Corbin look cheap!

[BT Sniper]

Yep I know a bullet smith selling benchrest bullets that got all set up from Detch. First rate dies and the bullets he makes from them have won severial compititions.

I am perfectly happy with the dies I have been able to put together though. I'll have some 308s to offer soon.

BT

[nicholst55]

Makes Corbin look cheap!

True, but they are carbide, and they crank our (winning) benchrest-quality bullets. While I readily confess to having champagne tastes and a beer budget, I honestly don't need dies of that quality. I don't anticipate ever swaging bullets for resale - that might be the way to go if I did.

I'm looking to swage bullets primarily for killing paper, although it would be nice to harvest an animal with bullets that I swaged myself. That will have to be a handgun though, since I stopped deer hunting with scoped centerfire rifles. The only thing I hunt with any more is a flintlock.

Bottom line is that I don't need benchrest-quality bullets for the shooting that I do.

[7of7]

Good thing I was sitting down when I read that first post... One good thing, is that you would only need to buy one set for your lifetime, and that of whomever they were passed on to...

[R1200mike]

I have a set of dies from him in .30 cal. They are very well made dies. I shoot FT-R and I have been making bullets for some time so I picked up a set. My last score at a 600 yd. match was 599 40x.

[Mountain Prepper]

True, but they are carbide, and they crank our (winning) benchrest-quality bullets. While I readily confess to having champagne tastes and a beer budget, I honestly don't need dies of that quality. I don't anticipate ever swaging bullets for resale - that might be the way to go if I did.

I'm looking to swage bullets primarily for killing paper, although it would be nice to harvest an animal with bullets that I swaged myself. That will have to be a handgun though, since I stopped deer hunting with scoped centerfire rifles. The only thing I hunt with any more is a flintlock.

Bottom line is that I don't need benchrest-quality bullets for the shooting that I do.

Corbin dies have also cranked out winning bench-rest bullets. Once you get to a level of quality and design it is not the material of the dies or the maker of the dies (at a particular level of diemaking skill) but the time and methods of the bullet maker using that set of dies...

Methods that slow down the process (core production) and increase the users care and choice of materials (sorting jackets) increases the consistency of the products.

[Got-R-Did]

R1200Mike, ever thought about selling some of your bullets to the unwashed masses? (Me, that is)
Cheers,
Got-R-Did.

[felix]

True, it is the operator making the bullets, given equal quality of components. Each swage: core, jacket (if made from a slug/slice), and finally core with jacket must FEEL exactly like the last one. Final weight does not actually matter if within reason. It's in the feel. Today's hand made BR bullets will shoot better than a 10th inch. Machine made match bullets are batch selected at a quarter inch or less. Every once in a while a factory batch will shoot on par with a hand made bullet in actual competition, but that is really picking out the best shooter of the day rather than the bullet. ... felix

[martin]

Felix,

It sounds like you have some real experience here in BR bullets. I, for one, would be interested in your opinions on what you think the differences are between hand made (10th inch) and machine made mass produced (1/4 inch) projectiles.

In other words, what do you think are the critical factors in the hand made process that make for better bullets?

Jacket?
Core?
Dies?
Attention to Quality by the operator?
Consistency of ogive?
Consistency of meplate?
Consistency of base?

What are the important factors in BR bullets that make them shoot better?

Thank You,
Martin

[felix]

Every bit of it, Martin! No exceptions. A projectile makes it or breaks it based upon the circumference area. The distance from the center of the projectile squares the importance of the circumferential properties. The singlemost measurable attribute, in MY opinion, is by how the final object feels as the pressure ring is formed at the base when the projectile is finally created. So, to answer according to your list, the answer would be operator attention. ... felix

If a projectile had every component CNCed and then screwed together rather than swaged, then all bets would be off. It is very hard to beat the accuracy of those 16 inch jobbies at 26 miles, even when made back in the 40s with comparatively sloppy equipment. ... felix