Question for you swaging gurus?

[HANDYMAN]

I recently bought a bunch of pulled 175gr Sierra MK's and I was wondering if there was some kind of die that will reshape the bullet back to perfect dimension. I tried running them through a .308 sizing die which is ok for sizing the driving band back to round but a lot of the bullets have been pinched by the puller at the ogive and the sizing die doesn't touch it there. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated I know I may be asking a lot to get match quality back out of pulled bullets but if anyone knows how I would bet it's you guys!

Thanks

Shawn.

[mold maker]

I would expect the price of a point reforming die would buy an awful lot of fresh bullets. A different die would be required for each size and shape, with only questionable results.

[ReloaderFred]

I would just shoot some of those "deformed" bullets and see what they do on paper. One of the best groups I ever shot was with pulled bullets.....

Hope this helps.

Fred

[HANDYMAN]

I have 6,000 of the same pulled bullet so just one die is necessary I would hope. Does anyone know or have such a die and how much one would cost?

Thanks again.

[MIBULLETS]

Corbin can make you what you want and it is worth it as others mentioned. Only makes them for his presses I believe.

FX-1-S -------- Bullet reform/repair kit .224-.458 ------------ 508.00

[BT Sniper]

:shock: 6K Wow! I hope it was a heck of a deal. I actually have a couple of the 175 SMKs. Let me reswage a couple of them show you what is possible. What are you expecting to achieve from the reswage process? how bad is this ring?

It certainly wouldn't take much to touch these up in a point forming die. They will take the shape of the new die though so you would possibly loose the profile of the SMK.

My 308 die is Flat based. It would not take to much to make a BT base punch but that would be the critical part. I could take the BT base of the SMKbullets and turn them into a Flat based bullet in one push threw one of my dies but not sure that is what you are loking for.

A custom base punch for the BT is an unknown. I could probably even give it a rebated boat tail. If your interested let me know. It would take me a couple months maybe less when I put together a run of 308 dies. If you wanted to send me a few bullets I would be happy to reform them for you and you could give them a try. I'll take a look at what I can do with the 175 SMKs I have allready.

Is there any more of these bullets avialble?

BTSniper

p.s. I design my dies to work in standard reloading presses and this task would certainly be no problem on any decent reloading press.

[BT Sniper]

OK. Here is what I was able to do with my custom point forming die.

A standard 175 grain SMK on the left and reswaged in my die showing results on right. Notice the new flat base. If this is a problem I'm sure I can make a BT base punch or even a rebated BT base punch.

I would recammend you shoot a few of your bullets as is and if you are interested send me a few to redo for you to see if you like the results.

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/BTSniper/P1050489.jpg

BT

[BT Sniper]

If I had to venture a guess I would say my die is even a slight bit more of an Ogive then the SMK's. The grid is 1/10" and looks like the difference is about 1 square in the length of the nose between the two. Mine is a 7.5s ogive.

BTSniper

[HANDYMAN]

I'd be happy to send some to you BT to see what you can do with them. send me your adress and i'll ship some to you to play with. I paid .10 each for them and figured I could just use them for blasting but if I can get them to match quality again then I'd really be happy. I would prefer to keep the Boat tail for the added BC.

[BT Sniper]

Let me see what I can do for the BT base. How far you looking to shoot? Getting the BT formed perfectly is the challenging part even for commercial bullets. A true flat base is easier to garentee a true square base to the bullet but again like I said let me see what I can do. If your shooting inside 300 yrds then the flat base may actually be more accurate. I'll send you a PM with details.

As for Match quality well... you may have seen this pic already but I shot this group from bullets made in this die with jackets made from scrap FN5.7x28 brass. I would have to imagine the reswaged SMK would have to do well too when you find the right load.

That is a .215 group @ 110 yrds!

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/BTSniper/P1050132.jpg

BT

[williamwaco]

Before you spend a lot of money, try pushing them through a LEE .308 bullet sizing die. ( lube them first). This die pushes up on the base and the ogive will not be deformed.

[HANDYMAN]

I do shoot some long range matches (600yds) although I don't expect to win with pulled bullets I figure it would be good practice anyway. Although I was also thinking these might be good for the M1 Garand matches I like to shoot and since those are only 200yds a flat base is fine.

You must of had one hell of a grin on your face after firing that group with bullets you made yourself form reformed brass!!!

[BT Sniper]

Yes I have been quite pleased with the performance of scrap brass for jackets no matter what caliber I shoot them in. With that group above though, it was the first group of the day threw that riffle and I put the gun away after that and shot a different caliber :) Figured I wasn't going to top that group. It was, and still is the best group I have ever shot with any bullet in any gun.

I'll get a return to your PM soon.

BT

[BT Sniper]

p.s. Don't count the pulled bullets out of the running yet. I have been supprised before by accurate shooting bullets that I didn't expect to shoot so well :)

[Mountain Prepper]

There is no way I can think of to take the bullet style you have and keep the boat-tail.

At least not without adding another die, punch, and two runs into dies...

The cost of the dies and a press would be extensive...

.10 each Hummmmmmm

I have a set of 8s VLD and could turn them into 8s VLD with a flat base...

Would cost less than new dies, you may be able to work out a trade, or just shoot them.

[BT Sniper]

One thing I have learned in life is anything is possible and I certainly like a challenge. I may be able to come pretty darn close keeping the BT on the bullet if I tried but then agian it could take a bit of tryle and error too. I figure a base punch machined to match it should do it but I would possibly go for a bit of a rebated BT for better BC as well as possibly better results as far as keeping everything square.

BT

[BT Sniper]

Yes I agree it would probably be cheaper to have one of us swage the bullets in trade or cash vs. buying the needed dies but then again it all depends on what one wants to do with one's time.

[Mountain Prepper]

Yes I agree it would probably be cheaper to have one of us swage the bullets for trade or cash vs. buying the needed dies but then again it all depends on what one wants to do with his time.

From your other post, I would bet you could make a punch that would give the bullet base the same boat-tail and then finish off a bit above a RBBT - and of course that would give even better results than the original could ever get.

What most do not understand is that the RBBT gains in BC and also eliminates the bullet wobble on exit from the crown that is always caused by regular BT bullets.

There is a reason the .50 world record was made with RBBT bullets....

[Utah Shooter]

Shoot em. I would assume pulled projectiles would be at a lower cost. I cannot foresee running them through anything that would make them more accurate out to 300 yards that would be worth your time or money.

If you are looking for Bench Rest shooting you would not have bought these to begin with. Try some and see if you think it would be worth the time.

[Utah Shooter]

If not....

[Utah Shooter]

I would be interested.

[Utah Shooter]

In buying some from you.

[HANDYMAN]

I've got over a dozen .30cal rifles and plan to have enough loaded ammo for them to last my lifetime of shooting. You know what they say It's just a club without the ammo to feed it!

I figured at $100 a thousand for these pulled bullets that even if they leave the barrel with some degree of accuracy I was still ahead of the game but If there was away to make them consistently accurate for not much more money then I would be really ahead of the game. If I can get my hands on such a die then I'll have the tool I need if and when I buy more of these bullets.

I forgot to mention that I already have a Lee Classic cast press so I'm ahead of the game there too. :)

[Utah Shooter]

Well the problem that I see for trying to do this is when you put that crimp in them from pulling I do not think that there is a die that can remove it. It would have to have preassure where the mark is and then no preassure for the rest of the projectile.

I think that you may just find that nothing really has to be done to them. I have had some .224 projectiles still hit under M.O.A. that were pulled.

I have shot a .224 Hornady Varmint @ 500 yards with the lead tip had come off from a mis feed and still hit what I was trying too. Granted it was a rock the size of a pig but it still hit it.

[BT Sniper]

Anything is possible. I'm sure the only way to get the SMK back to its orginial uncrimped form is reswaging in the orignal die but as you have seen in the pic I posted it is quite easy to reshape any bullet into a new shape with a bit of pressure in a decent die. A bullet is nothing more then a bit of copper/brass and lead all of which are easily manipulated with a bit of pressure.

I am pretty excited about the idea and I don't see why the bullet would not be darn near, if not just as good as new. I would also venture a guess that the pulled bullets may shoot just fine as is too but confidence leads to accuracy and if reswaging the bullets will help give that mental edge we should go for it.

It looks as though my die is a very close match to the orginal SMK profile as well.

Good Shooting and Swage On!

BT

[Utah Shooter]

I would also venture a guess that the pulled bullets may shoot just fine as is too but confidence leads to accuracy and if reswaging the bullets will help give that mental edge we should go for it.
BT

Right and proof is in the pudding. Shoot em before you do anything to them and see what happens. If they are still sub M.O.A. there is your confidence.

I always use the analogy, have you ever played golf? When it comes to shooting and golf it takes more than skill. It takes mindset or mental edge if you will.

I know plenty of guys who can kick my butt with clubs they paid 10 bucks for a full set with bag. My brother would be one of them and I know it was 10 for the whole set.... I bought them for him. I shoot a Nike SQ driver (100 bucks used), Cobra 3100 Irons (were 300 brand new) and a ping putter (200 bucks brand new). Who do you think has the better mental edge?

You can put money into something that may take confidence to make it great. But why put money into it if it takes confidence to make it great? If you do not have to put money into it to make your confidence great then why do it? Why spend the time into doing all the prep for it as well?

Again. Do some rounds and go to the range before you do anything to them. See what happens.

I am not trying to sell you something. I am trying to say make it easier on you. If they do not then spend the money and make them better. But again. Spending money should not increase confidence nor mental edge.

P.S.
I shoot under M.O.A. with my AR-15 by using a Center Point scope. 70 bucks. Chuck it up to mental edge.

[HANDYMAN]

It's not about confidence for me I can hold the 10 ring at 600yds with an out of the box RRA NM AR-15 and my hand-loads. I have shot some of these bullets through my Garand and they shoot POA but I would get that occasional flyer and I believe that is due to the deformed nose that is worse on some than others. So for me it's more about reducing the variables in the equation. I have not shot any out of my scoped heavy bbl rifles yet but I will as soon as the weather breaks and see how they do.

Thanks for the replies boys your opinions help.

Keep em in the 10 ring.

[Mountain Prepper]

I don't see why the bullet would not be darn near, if not just as good as new.

I would guess that it would actually improve by changing from a boat-tail to a flat base for distances that are within the super sonic range lessoning the bullet wobble from exit and staying outside of the subsonic range where the boat-tail comes into play.

If changed to a RBBT there is no doubt that it would shoot more consistently than the original form regardless of the speed or distance (compared to the same speed and distance in the original).

[Utah Shooter]

I would guess that it would actually improve by changing from a boat-tail to a flat base for distances that are within the super sonic range lessoning the bullet wobble from exit and staying outside of the subsonic range where the boat-tail comes into play.

If changed to a RBBT there is no doubt that it would shoot more consistently than the original form regardless of the speed or distance (compared to the same speed and distance in the original).

HUH?

Based on supersonic it would be better. Then back to regardless the speed?

I am lost. Isn't supersonic speed?

[Mountain Prepper]

HUH?

Based on supersonic it would be better. Then back to regardless the speed?

I am lost. Isn't supersonic speed?

RBBT Rebated Boat Tail over the boat tail most are familiar with.

known for its performance both short and long range, it combines the best of barrel exit consistency (like a flat base) and the efficiency of the BT at subsonic ranges.

Supersonic the nose shape is most important, once a bullet drops in speed the tail becomes more important.

Gas ring on exit.

http://www.synthstuff.com/mt/archives/Bullet-from-revolver.jpg

Impact of nose shape above the speed of sound.

http://people.rit.edu/andpph/photofile-b/2010-schlieren-mach-1A.jpg

http://people.rit.edu/andpph/photofile-b/shadowgraph-bullet-1.jpg

[Apache]

Just as a side note.....I find those types of pics SOOOOOO cool!

There a slo mo film of bullet impacts that's really cool too. I think it's on youtube.

[Utah Shooter]

Ok. So the RBBT is more accurate. Best of both worlds I guess.