push through reduceing dies

[johnson1942]

i want to reduce my .458 bullets to .440 so i can swage them for paper patch. i want it to go smoothly. do i use 2 reduceing dies and bring it down in two steps or will a bullet go from .458 to .440 without difficulty?

[454PB]

I have done .007" in one step, but I think this reduction would take at least two steps.

[Cane_man]

i dont know how easy it is to size down commercial jackets, but i can't size down more than 0.005 at a time with my brass case based swaged bullets (9mm cases)...

[Doc_Stihl]

If it's dead soft it should work, but with a hard cast you might have problems with 2 steps. .450 and then .440.
Are you swaging them into cylinders for paper patch?
Have you thought about buying a lee 2 cal 30 cal or something and drilling it out to use as a core mold? Might be easier than casting a core, 2 step sizing and then swaging. You could cast it to size and then swage.

My $0.02

[Reg]

I doubt if you could do .018 in one step. it takes more pressure than one would think. Another consideration would also be concentricity . I don't think it would consistently hold with that reduction and if you broke it up into steps it might even get worse. Think I would look for something a bit closer to start with.

[johnson1942]

thanks every one, doc stihl, wow, thats the answer. i will do just as you suggest. drill out a cheap mould to make slugs to go into my .440 swageing die. now i know why i belong to this site, ive gained a lot of knowledge here. i just got done shooting that gun off my deck. it really reaches out and hits in the same place every time. has a douglas 1/18 twist barrel. with a 100 grains of 2f black it is comfortable to shoot and really consistantly accurate. thanks again. i like to return favors. just swaged up 100 500 grain .492 bullets and 70 .492 590 grain for paperpatching and sent them to a shooter in il. he wants to try them then get swageing equipment him self. i know it will get him hooked. i think swageing is like trying to eat one peanut, you cant stop with just one ,you have to go for it when you see how good it works. thanks again

[Doc_Stihl]

Did you make youre swage die? Any pics of the bullets?

[jimbull34]

89632I reduce my bp 50 cals down from .477 to .451 in one step. I have a hydraulic press and its not a problem with it. I would think by hand you could not do that much at one time.

[johnson1942]

doc stihl, all my dies are for just lead only. either corbin or rce made them. i dont know the name of the hand operated press but corbin made it and it is strong. i have a .40 .440 .448 .451 .459 .50 i also have various nose and base punches for them. to make the .50 better i have a .498 .492 and a .494 reduceing die. if you want to see what they produce i can get my wife to take pictures of the bullets and she knows how to put them on here. i know this site is mostly for jacketed swaged bullets but their is a growing interest to paperpatching plain lead also. a paper patched lead bullet can really be accurate. its not rocket science either. very addictive and fun.

[runfiverun]

i'd be inclined to take them down in size then use that as a core,[squirt die the core to get the weight exact]
point form and swage up to final diameter as the final step [unless it's for smokeless, then you need something for the paper to hang onto]
that should make the most accurate booits.