BT's 44 cal dies.

[Lizard333]

So what do I have here? I am pretty comfortable with my dies from RCE, but these are a little big of a mystery.

44730

[Lizard333]

The die on the left is marked as the core seat, and the one on the left is the swage. What are the punches in the middle for....

[BT Sniper]

The punches in the middle will work with the universal die and XTP die you have coming.

More later I'm off to the range :)

BT

[gjemba]

You received them pretty fast. I mailed them Thursday, I think. I typed some instructions on what I do. It was folded in the top of box. Essentially you seat the core in one die and form the point in the other die. Brian can provide exact instructions since he is used to explaining how to use his dies. Be sure to use some sort of lube and be sure to anneal. When you lube the jacket, just use a very light film or you will wrinkle the jacket.

This does take practice to get thexperience but it is not a steep learning curve. You should pick it up quickly. The bullets that I included that don't have a rim are formed with various nose punched that I made for my other set of dies. As you noticed, I included a handful of those jackets in the box.

Have fun.

Gary

[Lizard333]

So which one do I use to expand out the brass? The Swage or Core Seat? I found the punch that will expand the brass to allow the core to be inserted, the second in from the right.

[BT Sniper]

The two punches on the left are extras, really serve no purpose. The brightly polished punch on the right is the one to use to expand/prep the 40S&W case, you'll use this mandrel in the universal die.

The 40S&W case is allready so close to final bullet diameter that really the majority of what it does is round out any dents in the case.

You need one more base punch. .400 in diameter if you don't have one I'll proide you with one. I forget though, the punch inside the core seat die, is it smaller diameter to allow you to seat the core in the jacket? I did this on my earlier designs. If that's the case the base punch should work in both dies, does it?

So here is what you do,

1. unitll you receive my universal die you can use a 40cal expander die, if you have one, and round out the 40S&W brass with a slight bell to the mouth. Make sure it is annealed. If you don't have a 40 cal expander die you can attempt to seat the core, just simply make sure the mouth of the case is round, you can use a bolt or any round piece of metal to flare the mouth of the case.

Here you get the idea.
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/BTSniper/notchdie014.jpg




2. drop in a 175 grain 40 cal cast bullet and if the punch in the core seat die allows it, insert the core/jacket into the die mouth up and it should seat the core about .1 deep into the jacket.

This is what you should end up with after teh seated cores exits your core seat die (on the left). My latest versions use the bsase punch to seat the core, I think with the die you have there the internial punch inside the die will seat the core.
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/BTSniper/notchdie013.jpg





3. This is when you would XTP notch the jacket (as soon as I ship it to you) :) , Now form the bullet in the swage die.

This is with the extra XTP step but forming the bullet is straight foward.
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/BTSniper/notchdie021.jpg

Easy as that!

Let me know if you have any questions. I'll get that universal die and XTP notch your way ASAP. We can also discuss mounting the ejector to your RCE press instead of a RCBS. That would be a much better press to use then the RCBS for formign these 44 cal bullets.

BT

[BT Sniper]

If you would like you can send me the dies and I'll tune them up, make sure they are all good to go for you. I'm sure it isn't needed but I extend the offer to all my customers, if you guys ever need to send them to me for adjustment or what ever feel free.

BT

[Lizard333]

Alrighty. I spent the last couple of hours messing with these dies. The first die, I guess I would call it the core seating die, it is a tight fit in the die. It doesn't allow the brass to slip on the outside and the internal punch to seat the core. It only pushes on the brass. I can compress the brass and the core, and shorten the brass, but not they way it is pictured. So sometimes this works and I don't get any wrinkles, most time not. Yes, the brass is annealed. I even tried melting the lead into the core with a torch and trying again. No dice.

The second die, the one with the ogive built into it, I can form the bullet into a nice bullet, just some have wrinkles from the previous step. I tried skipping the first die, and using the second die as a one step die, still get wrinkles some times.

I do have a universal expanding die from lee, and it works well to help the core to go in smoothly, but doesn't stop the wrinkles.

I am in the process of cleaning the bullets, and will show pics in little while.

[DukeInFlorida]

You are doing some annealing before forming the bullets, right?

The core seating operation requires the use of swaging lube on the outside of the brass, to slide easily. Otherwise the friction could cause wrinkles.

[gjemba]

I noticed only 1 base punch was in your picture. There were 2 in the box so make sure the other did not get thrown out with the foam packing. One was for the core die and the other was for the nose forming die. The core seat punch will fit in both dies but the nose form punch will not fit in the core seat die.

[Lizard333]

Yes. I have them both. One measures at 431, the other at 427. Neither will fit in the brass to swage the lead into. No clue why they are both there. I have been seating the core and brass into a level slug. Them I point form. A very nice looking bullet in the end. After tumbling in SS media, citic acid, and dish soap, the bullets came out copper colored. Must have to do with the annealing of the brass.

[BT Sniper]

You will need a 40 cal (.400) base punch to seat the core into the jacket. I can certainly provide you with one.

Yes the wrinkles you get are from compressing the jacket around a core that is otherwise to small for it with the large .427 base punch you have.

A 40 cal base punch will solve all your problems.

I imagine when you get it to work correctly it looks like this?
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/BTSniper/notchdie016.jpg


Here is a look at just how much you will be compressing the jacket around a 175 grain core.
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu87/BTSniper/notchdie015.jpg

Is the swage die a flat point?

BT

[Lizard333]

Yep. Thats what I have. I only get a small wrinkle about every tenth bullet. Small enough that I doubt it will effect accuracy. Going to shoot them this coming weekend.

[Lizard333]

Start to finish......
44784
44785
44786
44787
44788

They weigh in right at 250 grains.

[BT Sniper]

Yep now I recognize them.

With a 40 cal base punch and a HP nose punch you will be able to make any bullet you can think of with that die set.

It is neet how the citric acid bath turns them copper colored.

BT

[tbj555]

Hey BTSNIPER this is tbj555 i tried to email you a couple times not sure if i sent correct but just wanted to get my order secured and set in motion , please email or call isjam6@aol.com 815-505-4008 jim thanks

[TJF1]

Hey brian terry here igot the dies anD they work great.
Als the 7/8-14 adpt also work great.
I will p m you later thanks

terry