Swaging setup still incomplete

[Wayne Smith]

I have the old CH swage press, and now a set of apparently .44 caliber and .45 caliber dies with several nose punches. Unfortunately it appears that there is some sort of assembly that screws into the top of the press and holds the nose punches. That I don't have.

What should I be looking for? Nomenclature, part name or number?

[runfiverun]

it looks like an oversized die body [with lock ring] with a hole through it.
a bolt goes through the hole and the nose punches screw to that.

if you go to google and look for C&H presses, there is a link that brings you back to this sight and it gives pictures of the press set-up.

[midnight]

I think this may be the part you are missing. The bolt appears to be just a 5/16 fine threaded one. You can check that with your nose punches. The punch holder body is a different story. I'm not sure what it is so I'll post dimensions. My calpers measure 1.052 dia across the body threads. The whole die body is 1.86 in long with a 0.5 hole through the middle. The threads are very fine. I counted 18 or 19 per inch. The reason for the dimensions is that you may have to make one. finding one for sale may be difficult. You may have to buy a whole set up just to get the punch holder. The reason for the 0.5 in hole with a 5/16 bolt in it is so it floats to find the center. In this case it REALLY floats. Hope this helps, and no, mine is not for sale. It's the only one I have.

Bob

[Wayne Smith]

Turns out what I have is George Herter's rip-off of the CH design. Uses the CH dies but the top of the press is drilled and threaded for a standard reloading die. I didn't know George ever sold anything without his name on it! This is unmarked.

So - I need to know what stops the nose punch in these designs. Is there a shoulder in the top punch die or do they stop on the bottom of the die? I know the bolt that screws into the nose punch is a 5/16 fine thread, or at least I think it is. My 5/16 bolt is a coarse thread and goes in and turns less than a half a turn. Probably won't get to the hardware store until Sat.

Do I just need about half of a die body drilled out and a bolt with a washer to stop it from falling through? Is there internal maching in the die body?

[deltaenterprizes]

Can you post pics?

[midnight]

The flat top of the nose punch rests against the punch holder body. I screw the nose punch on loosly and raise the ram & die so the nose punch enters. Then tighten the bolt and the nose punch will be aligned. Adjust the length of the bullet by screwing the punch holder up and down. That's the reason for the fine threads on the punch holder. 7/8x14 should work fine though. I use junk 220 Swift dies for punch holders. You can bore it to 0.5 without removing much metal. I usually anneal them first. Heat it cherry red & quickly bury it in cat litter so it cools slowly. Then you can drill & saw til your heart's content.

Bob

[Wayne Smith]

Thanks, Bob. That's what I needed to know. Dave Davidson was nice enough to send me the CH instructions. These include "H" a Hardened back-up washer, and the instructions indicate that it "goes in bevel side down". I don't know that I have one of these and don't know if the Herter's requires it.

[midnight]

I guess I didn't read post #4 very well and I failed to answer one question. On the CH punch holder there is no internal machining, it's just a ½in hole bored straight through. The bolt just flops around in there. Good luck on finding dies. Three sets I was watching on evil bay sold for over $80 ea with shipping. I don't need them that bad.

Bob