Getting Started

[rossrods]

Hey good people. First real post, so catching flak is ok to. Getting started is my topic. My mission here his to make a 30 cal. Boolit. I have the press, dies, core mold which is .250 and my cores have been casted with pure lead."so it says" on the lead. I have pre made jackets that are 1.150" long. These jackets are for a 170 grain flat base bullet. So in getting started, would u take these jackets weigh these for total grains, just one.(that is). Take this total weight then minus this from the 170 grain total goal. Then this deduction would tell you the weight of the core to get your 170 grain bullet. I see from all the you tube videos the swaged cores are always recessed down into the jackets a bit. If this is a starting point couldn't you also take the 1.150" jacket divide it by .125 thousandths for the 1.150" length and get a formula for the weight of the jacket in grains per .125" . Also do this for the core as well so you have a break down per .125". I really wanted a 150grain bullet, but I wanted to start heavier then work my way back down from the 170 making a chart as I go. Will crazy math like this work in the swaging world. Or am I over complicating things? Sorry guys I just read this post, and now I'm confused, lol.

[ReloaderFred]

Cut a few cores and weigh them with the jacket. That will give you the finished weight of the bullet. It's easier that way than making your head spin with mathematical calculations. At least for me, anyway.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[BT Sniper]

trying to determine weight of jacket by every .125 may give you challenges do to the weight of the base. Unless you mean how much "reduction in weight" removing .125 of the jacket will equal then it should remain constant.

Nothing says you can't make a 150 grain with a large open tip with the jacket you have. Otherwise you will need to figure out how much open tip you want on the 150 grain and trim the jacket accordingly. Someone here may have already done that and may be able to post some numbers.

Take note of the depth the core is after core seating for the 170 grain. If you are happy with the way it point forms up this is the same depth you can use for any weight bullet you wish to make.

You'll probably loose 5-10 grains (just guessing here) trimming your jacket for the 150 grain bullet.

Difficult to explain yet with a bit of trial and error I'm positive you will get it. Don't put too much thought into it, trim the jacket, weight it with core to get 150 grains, point form it. If you get exposed lead your jacket is too short, if you feel the open tip is too deep your jacket is too long, etc. etc. Adjust jacket length till you are happy.

Not an exact answer but hope this helps.

BT

[aaronraad]

The No Name Bullets processing list is a good place to start: http://www.nonamebullets.com/processing.html and answers your post pretty quickly really.

I'd also recommend reading Stephen Perry's post on Saubier: http://www.saubier.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13230&referrerid=784

Eventually you'll come up with your own style to suit your budget, time and locally available materials.

Good luck

[rossrods]

Thanks guys for the inputs, this weekend I will be digging in trying to learn a new skill. With swaging

[Zymurgy50]

Just something you might want to play with here, but why not try a jacket, an airsoft bb and a lead core to weigh 150gn? Seat the lead core first, then seat the 6mm airsoft bb on top of the lead. Finish up with point forming and you should get something similar to a "Ballistic tip".

[rossrods]

When doing the air soft bb any certain color. Will all the bb's flow easily with the point forming die. Awesome idea. I can't wait to be able to do all this.

[Reload3006]

it is all calculable but there are many missing factors in your question. How large a meplat are you wanting? what is the Ogive of your bullet all these things affect the OAL of your bullet. It will really be a trial and error thing for you and it will depend on whose jackets you use Corbin, berger, Sierra or if you make your own. Keep a log of what you use how you use it and it will tell you much more.

[rossrods]

Hey PB your formula. Two knowns can always solve a unknown. I see what the 167 is(target weight) the 140 number what does this known stand for. It has to be some kind of value in grains with the core per inch for a bench mark. The 140 is that what one inch of pure lead in grains, will weigh in at after casting in the .250 core mould.

[rossrods]

PB with the 167grain core weight. Is this what you use to make your 170 grain flat base bullet, with the J4s. If so after you seat your core is this seating depth always the same. Within the J4 jackets. Shouldn't this seating depth be repeatable? Sorry for all the questions, I'm just pondering again on the science.

[rossrods]

Ok, I have successfully swaged the correct core weight I need for my jackets. I think I had my core cutter to close to the weight/length. When I pulled down on the ram it on bleed off maybe a 1/8" material. Also I went over 2 grains on my target weight. For some reason I thought I read where you need a little excess when point forming. Question1? Why do you have two punches in the core setting dies. One is a .275 and the other is .279. Question2? And how do you know which one to use. Also when setting the cores I suppose the punches bottom out and the pressure pushes the lead out into the jacket walls.question 3? When do you realize when you reach this point. I suppose you raise the ram and screw the punch down till you feel it bottom out. Not sure what to do from this point. Guys I really appreciate your help.

[rossrods]

PB awesome answers and Links explaining those answers. My swaging set up is the Walnut Hill from Richard with his .30 calibre three die set. Yes there is some literature, but during my learning curve especially for me I have to ask questions. I can read, reread and I sware both times I read I take it for meaning two different things LOL. Then I usually do a hands on operation then that's when I say Ah that's what's meant. "Must be a genetic mis wiring in my brain." I know I'm getting to the more critical areas of breaking a die so I need to just ease into it. With my cores I can see I made my first error with 2 grains over what I really needed by thinking I needed a little extra for tip forming. I think honestly at this point I need to ease into seating the cores and understanding the pressures that's created with the handle and how to feel these pressures. I quickly read over above links, in my thinking of creating a soft point bullet vs the hollow point bullet this is done with a relationship in jacket length. So I guess I'm trying to say the die will always close up the bullet with its set ogive, the same, and what creates a soft point will be a little less jacket compared to a hollow point. Meaning the core for a hollow point is recessed deeper than a soft point, so there's more jacket material to be formed and closed up for this hollow point. I can see how u could collapse the jacket at this point. I'm going to dig in to reading your links posted above again, before proceeding. Thanks for your help and time.

[rossrods]

My first attempt at seating the core resulted in a stuck case on the punch. I have two punches. One is a .275 the other is a .279, the .279 seemed to be the one that was having issues with these jackets. After a few attempts I was able to expand jacket/core out to .308 with the .275 punch.
I proceeded to point form die to finish up bullets, and measured the depth of seated core which was .350 from case of mouth. There seems to be a lot of jacket with no lead to renforce internally. Anyways bullet didn't crush so I guess this is one type of bullet that could be used. The 170 grain weight I nailed. What do you guys think?

[DukeInFlorida]

DO NOT buy the clear plastic ones. This are brittle, and will not flow.

[rossrods]

Thanks Duke, I will remember that. Hey all, Cutting cases with a tubing cutter then cleaning inner rim left by cutter wheel. Can you do this? I know it's slow and not very accurate. I'm having a chuck made for my Horandy case trimmer to accept jackets, but for the time being is it alright?