Freedom!!!

[plus1hdcp]

Here is a couple of pics of 224 bullets made from 22lr with BTs dies.

735967359773598

Tonight I finished a little over 100 to test the die settings. The average weight by sample is about 54gr and they mic at .224

I am very happy with the results and can't wait to load them up and send down range. I can attest to the quality product BT creates, he is truly skilled.

I am sure many more of these dies will be in the hands of others soon and I would like for you to know there IS light at the end of the tunnel.

I hope to report back with a range report on Monday or Tuesday.

[repawn]

Those look great! - I will probably have to wait until I retire before I start swaging - but that is what I said about casting.

[BNE]

Looks great. Is there a tutorial on swaging? I just started casting, but swaging fascinates me.

[Utah Shooter]

I'm curious how you got such a varying results from one projectile to another? I too am interested in how they will shoot.

[BT Sniper]

:)

What can I say? Thank You! I am ...... very happy you are happy!

Nice job on the bullets. Do let me know if there is any tips I can pass on to others to make the first steps and learning process easier for future owners of these dies.

Lets see now, the fun part.... load data! ..... Well I have had good luck with 25 grains of H335 @ 3300 FPS loaded at spec length in 223 LC brass. I found that they do shoot better and hold together better in a clean barrel but obviously each gun is different. Also had luck with 23 grains of H335 @ 3100 FPS. Pushed them all the way to 3500 FPS out of a 223rem with 26" 9 twist barrel but need to keep that barrel clean going that fast or they start coming apart in a dirty barrel I found out..... all part of the fun. We will look forward to your testing and possible future Postal shoot participation.

For those of you waiting on any caliber of my dies..... I am making good progress, thank you all for your patience.

Brian

[bmiller]

Brian, how back-ordered are you?

[BT Sniper]

Hard questions to answer. I had a great reply all typed up and the computer choose to complete an auto update with full shut down and lost all my reply so I'll get the short of it here again.

Time frames are hard to predict and cause everyone a bit of stress when they are not reached. It seems everything takes me twice as long as I imagine it should.

The final polish on the point form die is critical. Sometimes I get lucky and a perfect finish will be obtained with only a couple hours of critical and carful polishing and lapping, other dies have been more of a challenge and I have had some take me all day to achieve perfection.

I have 50-100 orders in the books right now in need of completion.

The good news is I have a high percentage of all dies on order (probably 90% of them with many extras in certain calibers) in stock right now, back from nitride processing and ready for final polish and assembly as well as machining all internal parts and base punches.

I was able to average one complete set of dies shipped per day this week (total of 5, yet I work on weekends too). I hope to maintain that average for the for the rest of the year. Simple math would "suggest" that it should take me 10-20 weeks to fill all current orders and any future orders would come after that figure. Now of course there are so many factors and I haven't been very good at estimating ETAs in the past so we could probably double any estimates given and that sounds a bit more realistic at a minimum of 5 months backlogged.

There are some instances in which I am able to ship dies sooner. For example I have a 500 cal die on order coming up on my work order list. When I get set up to machine all the necessary internal parts and base punches I will make enough to fill all the 500 cal dies on order plus a couple more. I have less then 5 of these sets on order but it is wise for me to make all the necessary parts (with a few extras) at the same time while the machinery is all set up.

So I realize my answer may be a bit vague but I am trying to be vague on purpose, ETAs are hard to determine and predict. What I am certain of and can tell you all with 100% certainty is when you receive your dies they will be perfect. I'll provide the answers to the reasons for my delays whenever needed but I do not ever wish to answer for a lack of quality.

Anyone that has ever considered getting into swaging of course I will be happy to set you up with all your needs. There is certainly no better time then now to make your own bullets. Purchasing a set of swage dies is a great investment and like many investments there may be a little bit of a wait involved but rest assured I am working my hardest everyday to provide the best dies and tools I can to allow us all the freedom of making our own bullets.

I look forward to hearing from all of you, current swagers, current customers with dies on order and future swagers too.

Good shooting and swage on!

To original poster, sorry I got off the topic a bit, we look forward to your 22 cal progress and range results

Brian

BTSNIPER llc.
541-436-4095

[plus1hdcp]

I'm curious how you got such a varying results from one projectile to another? I too am interested in how they will shoot.

I am not sure how I lead you to believe there was varying results. The "slant" on 1 of the 3 standing upright in the picture would be due to them sitting on a piece of a paper towel. Every bullet I checked showed .224 diameter and the only variance if you will in in overall weight and I attribute this to case difference as I did not sort by headstamp. I do believe I will add a sorting step to my process moving forward as I would like to see how good I can make them. Being as I just got the dies, I am more interested in sending some down range.

[R.Ph. 380]

Here is a couple of pics of 224 bullets made from 22lr with BTs dies.

735967359773598

Tonight I finished a little over 100 to test the die settings. The average weight by sample is about 54gr and they mic at .224

I am very happy with the results and can't wait to load them up and send down range. I can attest to the quality product BT creates, he is truly skilled.

I am sure many more of these dies will be in the hands of others soon and I would like for you to know there IS light at the end of the tunnel.

I hope to report back with a range report on Monday or Tuesday.

Plus1, don't use up all the good, I'm expecting my set of dies soon and want mine to look as good. Man those are some good lookin' bullets. Congrats.

Bill

[Prospector Howard]

Looking good there Plus1, and I'll bet they look better every time you make more. With everything going on in the world (attack on the 2nd Amendment), knowing you can make bullets like this will probably be priceless some day. It also beats the heck out of trying to cast for .223 and pay for gas checks, and you can shoot these way faster too.

[plus1hdcp]

I'm curious how you got such a varying results from one projectile to another? I too am interested in how they will shoot.

Joe - I remembered your observation and took another examination of my point form die and made some adjustments. The adjustments were to close up the point with a better fill of lead. I am happier now but what I really found interesting was the base of the bullet was better formed. Thanks for the keen eye.

[DukeInFlorida]

As to why there might be a variation in weight from bullet to bullet:

1) The jackets vary from jacket to jacket. Even from the same manufacturer.
2) The cores will also vary from core to core.

The trick is to sort each component, by weight, and them marry them up so that they weigh what your target weight is.

If you have, for example, a jacket that weighs 4.7 grains, and your target weight is 55 grains, you need to marry that 4.7 grain jacket with a core that weighs 50.3 grains.