Step 1 - Check!

[ricklaut]

What do you do on a hot 98 degree summer afternoon in Vegas while you're waiting on BT's second shipment? Cast cores!

My initial shipment with the core mold, derim die and core swage die came in, so I figured I'd bulk up on components. In about an hour and a half (including initial dinking around with the new mold, etc) I cast 706 cores that gross between 51.2 and 53.0 grains. In between a quick business trip, I'll be putting the derim & core swage dies to work (and watching BTs work list - based on the latest info, I should get my stuff right around my birthday! - which would be fantastic!).

http://www.rnlvideo.com/reloading/Cores_2.jpg

http://www.rnlvideo.com/reloading/Cores_3.jpg

[MOcaster]

Nice! Just a word of caution, are those primers I see about a foot from your hot plate? I don't know if that is where you normally keep your hot plate(I feel like I'm at a Mexican restaurant. Hot plate! Hot plate!) but just a thought.

[ricklaut]

They're primers, but the camera / lens / perspective make it look closer than it really is - and I'd turned everything off / scooted everything over to take the pic. Thanks, though!

[MOcaster]

Okay, that makes me feel better. I didn't want anyone getting hurt or, more importantly, wasting primers! :)

[ricklaut]

Indeed - I can't afford to lose that many primers :).

[BT Sniper]

Those look perfect! Just the right amount to bleed off to give you 55-56 grain bullets! Can't promise anything with the last shipment schedule but core seat dies might not be far away. I'll do my best!

Hope everyone read the Lee instructions in the box and cleaned off all the excess oils left over from machining.

Swage on!

BT

[ricklaut]

That's great news, BT! I'm "frothing at the bit" as they say.

The Lee mold worked great - it cleaned up well and started dropping perfect cores almost immediately. I had one hole that liked to stick, but that's easy to solve for... I'll take one out of 11. Heck my 2 hole .480 Ruger Lee molds give me more problems than I had with this one.

[BT Sniper]

I tell everyone to make a lot of cores and jackets so they will be ready when the rest of the dies arrive. I consider a large gallon zip lock bag to be a bare minimum as you will form them ALL into bullets very quickly. Now if you had a 5 gallon bucket ready.... well that would just be AWESOME and it still wouldn't take that long to turn them into bullets once you have the jackets and cores ready.

Swage on!

BT

[supe47]

It's just a thought but you might want to hold off swaging to what you THINK your final weight is. Federal cases can vary as much as a full grain. I swage my cores twice. I lube for the first swage (the big squirt) and do not lube again for the second, final swage. Swaging cores twice will keep them more consistent. Derimming is where the work is at. I sort before I derim, makes the manufacturers marking easier for me to read. Like I say, it's just a thought. I won't tell you what to do, only what I do. Have fun and enjoy the ride.

[ricklaut]

That's what tomorrow morning is for :). At least then (in my west facing garage) it won't be a bazillion degrees. I should have a couple thousand ready soon.

I do have 17,000 pieces of 22LR bagged up & on standby, so at least I'm a bit better prepared on that front.

[ricklaut]

Good point, Supe... I've read through your experiences and have some notes. I'm going for blasting ammo first (AR) and then I plan to dial in on accuracy for a bolt gun after I have a good feel for the process.

[supe47]

That's wise. It took me a while before I found out what worked for me. If you're using a press that cams over try doing a couple-3 cam overs for your accuracy cores. When I swage twice and do the 3 cam overs on the final swage, I can keep my cores +-.05grs. Consistent handle work makes consistent bullets. Play around with your annealing process until you find what works best for you. All anybody on this forum can do is give you hints and guidelines. What works for me may not work for you.

[plus1hdcp]

I 2nd supe in stepping your cores down, at least until you have your final dies so you can mix/match for your desired weight. I kind of jumped the gun and swaged my first batch of a 1000 or so to the same weight. In hindsight, I wish those were all sized a bit heavier because I ended up with a number of bullets in the 52-53 gr. This was not an issue but not what I was after either. I also have noticed the cores which I have bled twice are more consistent and this most likely will be my preferred method.

[supe47]

plus1- Yup, been there, done that. I try not to speak of what I've read but about what I've done. I ended up using my light cores on some 50 and 52 grainers. It was a good excuse to Mickey Mouse a jacket trimmer. For some reason my core swage die is a bit hesitant ejecting the lighter cores. Sometimes they don't fully eject from the die. A tap on the press usually drops 'em my hand. A quick cleaning with a Q-tip helps. I'm using the RCE bullet lube I got with my press. Maybe another lube will alleviate my problem. When I get my 22-250 barrel I'm going to try some 50's and lighter bullets. I'm going to see how close to 4000fps I can get. I do believe 3800fps is easily attainable, perhaps more.

[BT Sniper]

Try using a lot less lube when swaging your cores. When the swaged core fails to fall a lot of the time it is simply do to excess lube in the die.

swaging my cores I maybe massaged a little lube on a core every 10th or 20th core, maybe less? You guys should be able to swage the lead cores with no lube at all in this die. Experiment just a little see if this helps.

BT

[ricklaut]

Speaking of lube (I'm planning ahead here...) what's a good lube to use after the initial batch runs out. I swore I saw a thread on that but didn't find it. I was thinking Imperial Sizing Wax - but thought I should ask.

[supe47]

I lube my cores for the initial swaging only. I never add more lube. I'll try cleaning the lube off before the final swaging. Should help in consistency also. Thanks Brian

[BT Sniper]

Only lube I recommend in my dies is a mix of Anhydrous (no water!) Lanolin and Castor oil. The mix ratio I use is 5lbs Lanolin to 10oz of castor oil, The ratio is not critical. Guess that works out to be about 2oz of castor oil to 1lb of lanolin for a more useful amount. A pound of this mix will make a LOT of bullets. I offer this lube for sale in 2oz and 16oz containers or you can mix your own easily enough.

BT

[Cane_man]

i got an 8 oz jar of lanolin off evilbay and i am sure it will last me years...

[ricklaut]

Got it - I'll order the supplies online & mix my own.

[supe47]

I've only used half of the first jar of the lube I got from RCE. Guess I won't need the other 5 for a while. No fool like an old fool.

[MUSTANG]

I still have Corbins Swage lube on the reloading bench; but I have migrated to a formula similar to the Dillon Case Lube (8 oz. Bottle) for De-rimming 22LR, Swaging Cores, and Swaging Bullets. Benefits to me are:

a. Ease of application through light spraying onto a pile.
b. "Just the right amount" of lube application by spray
c. Cleaner on the hands, dies, and minute residual on the Jacket, Core, or Bullet,
d. Works great and easy swaging operation.
e. Much easier to clean after completion.

For those interested in making their own (as I do):


Now Foods LANOLIN PURE - 8oz
http://www.amazon.com/Now-Foods-LANOLIN-PURE/dp/B0015BYNRO/ref=pd_sim_hpc_6


Isopropyl alcohol, 99% 16oz. (From your local Drug Store or Large Chain Grocery Store)

Or:

http://www.amazon.com/Isopropyl-alcohol-99%25-plastic-bottle/dp/B006YCB444/ref=sr_1_9?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1376282168&sr=1-9&keywords=isopropyl+alcohol


Educate yourself on options, test and validate, use what works for you and is readily available.

Mustang

[supe47]

Mustang- I have both the lanolin and 99% alcohol. If you don't mind, what is your recipe? 8 oz lanolin-16 oz alcohol? I tried the pure lanolin when I first started. Only tried it derimming cases. I'd like to try it on the post annealing processes.

[303british.com]

Has anyone tried something other than the std lanolin mix? I used this for forming cores (I use lead wire).

http://liquidwrench.com/assets/img/products/sizes/MD_L212.gif

[Lizard333]

Don't know his recipe but I use 2 oz of lanolin to 16 oz of alcohol.

[303british.com]

That's good to know. I've always used lanolin for the actual bullet construction, but for cores or cases, I've been using oil.

[monmouth]

Should I be separating the .22 cases by manufacturer? Is it ok that I clean my rimfire cases (range pick ups) in wet SS media via a tumbler?

[ricklaut]

Thats what I'm doing - separating by headstamp & wet tumbling in SS media.

http://www.rnlvideo.com/reloading/IMG_0817_web.jpg

[Reload3006]

I have always just used 50/50 Lanolin castor Oil for all of it wash it in MEK before assembly or annealing ...... As far as separating your cases by MFR its probably a good Idea I never do it but its just like reloading how anal do you want to get. I would imagine that the stainless media may be better than boiling in soapy water but that is what I do. I Don't see how that stanless media will get the priming compound out of the rim until they are derimmed but YMMV I personally boil them derim them wash in MEK anneal then tumble Seat cores.

[303british.com]

I've always separated the brass. When I first started making bullets from 22 cases, I never separated or sorted anything. Shortly after I started, someone told me it made a difference, and the groups shrunk after sorting.

I'll have to go to the dollar store for a couple of spray bottles. Spritzing cases or cores with the alcohol/lanolin mix beats the heck out of tumbling the lube on (and the tumbler clean up later). Let the cases/cores sit on the back porch for a bit to let the alcohol evaporate and I'm good to go. :)

[303british.com]

I wanted to thank you Lizard for passing along that lanolin/i-alcohol mix along. I made some up about ten minutes ago shook it up and used it on some cases. I'll go down in half an hour and see how well (or poorly) I made the mix. I've no idea if it's 8 or 10 to 1 or worse... The lanolin is sold in oz. The isopropyl was in ml. :)

[MUSTANG]

Mustang- I have both the lanolin and 99% alcohol. If you don't mind, what is your recipe? 8 oz lanolin-16 oz alcohol? I tried the pure lanolin when I first started. Only tried it derimming cases. I'd like to try it on the post annealing processes.


I simply mix the 8oz lanolin I listed with the 16oz alcohol. Thins to spray nicely. Less lanolin will probably work, I just went with a simple dump of products together and agitate. Light spray, let the alcohol vaporize off some (5-10 minutes is my usual) and then you can start derimming/core seating etc.. The goal is to ensure you have a very very thin film of lanolin on the 22LR case/Jacket, the alchol acts as a carrier and the film flows over the cases even though only a light mist was sprayed. You should be able to slightly feel the slight film with clean dry fingers.

When I was using the more traditional approach with lanolin dipped on a finger and rolled onto the 22LR between finger and thumb I was never able to get a film thin enough for the first 3 or so cases, so the die would eventually load up and have to be cleaned with a Q-tip. I believe the black mess that developed on fingers using this approach was coming from the Lanolin "Micro" dieseling, in other words combusting from pressure, then forming carbon.

I would think the alcohol would also work with the thicker Lanolin products and dissolve/suspend the lanolin in the alcohol, just do not know what that mix ratio would be.


Mustang