Swaging 44 cal half jacket bullets

[lkydvl]

STarted swaging 44 cal 1/2 jacket bullets. Using lead wire and Hornady jacket cups in a die I got off the S&S here.

Bullets are taking two separate swaging steps to get a proper bullet.

!st swage - jacket lubed no lube on core or inside cup - bullet looks OK except the core gets pulled out of the cup a bit when I withdraw the ram

2nd swage I lube the bullet jacket and core by rolling it on a pad- bullet comes out perfect

Is it supposed to take two separate swaging operations? Am I doing something wrong? (Other than shooting boolits with a jacket)

Thanks

Andre'

[ReloaderFred]

It could be pneumatic pressure pushing the core back out of the die a little bit. I believe this would depend on the size of the lead used for the core, but this is just a WAG on my part.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[MIBULLETS]

It is also possible that you aren't putting enough pressure on the core to make it stay in the jacket, or hard lead. What kind of lead are you using?

Most of the time we use 2 operations to swage a jacketed bullet, there are exceptions, but it sounds like you are on the right track.

[lkydvl]

am using soft lead wire. I have tried maintaining pressure for longer than normal, more pressure on the 1st swage, various levels of lubrication etc. Nothing seems to be the key for making perfect bullets in one swage operation.

[Spanners]

If a HP punch - try lubing the HP tip

[MIBULLETS]

I may have misunderstood. Do you only have one die? Is there a bleed hole for air or excess lead? What brand of doe do you have?

[lkydvl]

using a SWC punch, its a single unmarked die. Punch has a bleed hole

[MIBULLETS]

Does the jacket go into the die easily? How tight is the core to the jacket before swaging? When the core does come back out is the part that was in the jacket fully formed to the inside of the jacket?

[lkydvl]

jacket enters die easily, wire is sized for 38 bullets so is loose in the jacket. I'll need to check the last issue. I am thinking it may not be fully formed until the second swage. This die uses a knockout rod to remove the bullets. Am wondering if the core's inertia is pulling itself out when the rod is hit to eject the core. If the core is not fully formed its likely it would slip under the inertia forces.

Thanks,

Andre'