Shooters Accessory Supply

[Danth]

Hello All: I picked up a box of swaging dies and parts that are marked Shooters Accessory Supply. They are not the standard 7/8 x 14TPI. I guess they fit a press dedicated to swaging. Does anyone have any information on these dies and parts which would explain exactly what I have? Also, what presses would work with these dies? Thanks, Dan

[Bent Ramrod]

Shooter's Accessory Supply (SAS) was Ted Smith's old bullet die company which later was bought out by the Corbins. Your dies probably fit the Mity-Mite press marketed by SAS if they are not 7/8" x 14 tpi. Mity-Mite dies were 5/8" diameter with a 9/16" x 18 threaded shank on one end and wrench flats on the other.

For a while Corbin supplied the Mity-Mite press and then he changed the specifications on it so it wouldn't work with SAS dies any more.

[Utah Shooter]

I would check with Dave. It seems that good old Ted (not to be confused with Uncle Ted) was not at the quality of the Corbin Bros.

[Danth]

found another box with the 7/8" die bodies. Would these dies work with the Herter's Model O swaging press? It was the only press in with all these dies. I don't think this was the case as the bullet ejecting assemblies are bored to fit a 7/8" ram. Maybe a later mighty mite that takes 7/8" dies? Thanks, Dan

[Swageocast]

Hey all,,,,

Corbin offered the last MityMite Horizontil operating press somewhere in the late 80s,,,the unit was a nice Bronze alloy that looked like gold.

Then in 1988 or 89 he built & offered what he initially called the Mity Mite II which was an H frame press and would accept a 7/8ths die body in the top just like a reloading press,,,but for swaging purposes the 7/8ths was a punch holder assembly.

You could also reload with the press since he would include a shell holder adapter for the ram,,,and you had to fiddle with the linkage some to get it into reloading mode.

Then he redesigned the press and installed roller bearings instead of oilite bronze bushings,,,and it seems to be pretty much the same to this day.

:-)

[scrapcan]

danth,

I have several different versions of information for SAS. When I get a chance I will pull it out and see if I can get some info to you. I would think that the thread pitch will be finer for more precise adjustment. But that is only a guess at this point. The SAS press I have does not use a threaded die set in the ram.

[Red River Rick]

................Mity-Mite dies were 5/8" diameter with a 9/16" x 18 threaded shank on one end and wrench flats on the other.

Bent Ramrod:

Are you sure about those dimensions and thread sizes?

The "M" style dies have a 3/4" diameter body with a 5/8" x 24 thread. The "S" style dies have a 1" diameter body with the same 5/8" x 24 thread.

FWIW.

RRR

[Bent Ramrod]

Rick,

I measured it rather hastily the other day, but the body is 0.625" in diameter with a 0.559" x 18 tpi threaded part and a 0.454" smooth cylindrical part ahead of the threaded part. The entire die is 2" long. It screws into the ram of my Mity-Mite press, with a piece of wire down the center for the ejector, which is activated when the lever is pulled back. What I'm describing is the point forming die; I didn't dig out the others to measure them. The holder for the floating punch which goes through the top of the press is around 0.875" in diameter x 14 tpi.

I believe the Corbins changed the press to fit their dies when they took over from Smith. When their die designations and the press names began to multiply, I sort of lost track of what was what.

[scrapcan]

Bent Ramrod and Danth

Can you post some pictures of your press and dies?

I have not had a chance to dig out the SAS edition 2 hand book but will do it for you. Also do a search for SAS and my username there should be a thread for my early press and a thread for a die making booklet. The booklet may help you, also the Corbin handbook will help in die identification.

If I read your last post correctly, you are asking about the ram mounted dies with the top punch holder that is press mounted. is that correct? As as reference the bottom punch holder (press mounted) on my early press is a large very fine thread.

What you will likely see with the SAS dies for the mity mite (yes Ted's version). should have a core swage with top and bottom punches, a core seater with top and bottom punches, ogive/point forming die with ejector (small wire) and base punch, and you may have a lead tip forming die.

If you can hold off for a bit I will try to get some info to you from the Catalog.

Also depending on who you talk the there are different definitions to the "Taking over" part. I have heard many stories in my search for information on Ted Smith and SAS. The bad thing is from what I have found is that Ted passed away with hard feelings.

[scrapcan]

I forgot to mention that Ted Smith got his start by making and selling a very nice powder trickler. He was a competitor and needed good equipment and components and in his quest to have those available to himself thus formed SAS to aide others. He is also said to have been very freely giving of his knowledge and abilities. From the reading material I have acquired I would believe this statement. Just read the pamphlet on die making.

[Bent Ramrod]

Here are some pictures of my Mity Mite press and dies. The darkened die with the press is a point former and the lighter one is the core seater. Some of the floating pins that go into the housing that screws into the top of the press are also shown, as well as the ejector ram and wire which goes into the ram ahead of the core seater and point former, respectively.

Smith also made conventional 7/8 x 14 bullet dies, as shown in the last picture. One set is a .357 die set which works something like the Herter's or C-H dies in that a punch which fits in a standard loading press shell holder is used. However, these dies do the core seating and point forming separately, unlike the single dies that used half jackets and formed the bullet in one operation. The other set is in 6mm and has punches that may somehow fit "backwards" into the Mity Mite press, with the die in the top. ( I haven't tried it yet.) I don't know how the bullet could be ejected from the point former since the hole in the top only fits an unsupported wire which could not be hit with a hammer or pressed out without the possibility of bending or breaking.

[scrapcan]

BR,

The ejector pin is meant to be installed in the ram. The small notch in the side of the pin goes where the pin is on the main casting.

Is there an adapter to use the bottom punch in the ram for the dies in the box? Are the dies in the box the same thread as the top punch holder in the press?

[Swageocast]

WOW,,

That would bite the bullet if old Ted Smith passed with unresolved issues,,,I mean in most if not all references by Corbin in Print he sings all the Praises to Ted.

Oh well we may never know the whole story. :-(

[scrapcan]

Swageocast,

Your thoughts were mine when I talked the old gents who knew Ted first hand. I too read all corbin paper I have been able to add to my collection, and I too see nothing but the praise.

But as you say we do not and will not know the whole story.

[NoZombies]

I have 2 sets of the 7/8" SAS dies. They both work well, though I had to make base punches for the .22 set, since the punches it came with were for a special ram that I had literally just sold to someone else the week before I got the dies :(

One set is a bit earlier, the other is a later set. both are well made and make good projectiles.

[scrapcan]

Tony,

Can you ro did you post pictures of your SAS dies? Did you get any paper work with the die sets?

What thread are the punches you mentioned?

[Bent Ramrod]

Jeremy,

The punch holder in the top of the die is 7/8" x 14 TPI. I don't have a collar or anything that would fit a punch in the ram, but I imagine Smith could have ginned one up pretty readily. All the die makers of the period had adaptors for the customer's press design.

I too was surprised by the news that Smith and Corbin had some kind of falling out. Corbin did mention in his writings that the old-time die makers were not interested in increasing production or undercutting the market for a greater share, or, for that matter, any of the ambitions that the Corbins obviously had. Maybe the old argument about quality vs. increased market share raised its head.

[NoZombies]

Jeremy, I'll post some photos in the next couple days as I get a chance.

The base punches for the one set aren't threaded themselves, but have a collar arrangement that threads onto a male threaded "stub" and holds them solid. The photos will explain more.

I've got some other interesting older swaging related stuff. I'll try and post photos of the various things for you guys in the next few days.

[NoZombies]

Okay, the collar is threaded for 1/2"-20. The punches are pictured below. I had a set of CH-130 swage dies that had come with a special ram and an adapter that had a male end threaded 1/2-20, but I had sold them the week before this set arrived. Of course, payment for that die set hadn't arrived yet when these dies did, so I could test, and sure enough, it was a perfect fit. Just my luck.

I also have a complete 3 piece set of RCBS swage dies I need to photograph sometime, complete with press rams and all the punches.... now if only I had a Pre-A press laying around to go with them...

http://nozombies.com/cast/sas-1.jpg