Finally Got Started

[Guardian]

About a year after deciding to get started with swaging, I finally derimmed my first 22s last night. I bought two Walnut Hill presses and RCE dies from RCE and a CB member. I've had the press and dies from the CB member for a few weeks now, but was trying to figure out mounting. I was finally able to get the mounts for both presses made this weekend with some help from my father.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=97682&d=1393270876

Above is the 4th or 5th version of the mount design. The first version was abandoned when I realized the mount was more expensive than the press. What I ended up with was built from scrap metal collected by my father over the past 20 years or more. Thanks Pops! The mount is 7-in x 18-in 3/16ths plate on 1.5-in x 1/8-in wall square tubing. A 7-in x 1/4-in wall well casing is the riser. The top plate is another piece of 3/16ths plate. The press is mounted to a piece of 3/8ths flat stock, drilled and threaded for press attachment, with a 3/16ths front brace. The mount in the foreground is secured to the bench with 3/8-in bolts through channel iron sandwiching the 2-in thick table top (below).

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=97683&d=1393270891

It's solid. I'm sure if one put a dial indicator on it some minor flexing would be measurable, but it isn't much. When warmer weather gets here I'll disassemble it, clean it up, and get it painted. Maybe I'll get some of that mess cleaned up on and around the bench too. :roll:

I began derimming after getting the press mounted. (last week's evenings were spent sorting 18 lbs of 22s by head stamp:holysheep) Initially, I was punching through the case heads. I finally figured out I didn't have the die far enough down and there was insufficient room to unfold the rim before trying to push the previous derimmed case the remainder of the way through the die. [smilie=b: Once I figured that out and was more liberal with the swage lube application, it was a fairly smooth operation. I've still got to do some fine tuning with the die/punch settings to get the force required on the handle better. Anyway, I got a few done in the hour I had to play with it.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=97684&d=1393270902

I based the mount off what I knew of reloading presses, wanting the bottom of the handle stroke to occur just as my hand reaches a natural relaxed position. I'm not sure this was the best approach. What feels like the peak force for derimming occurs just as I need to transition from pulling to pushing the handle. I'm going to try turning the handle around to see if that does any good, if minor adjusting to the die doesn't help.

Anyone added a ball to the end of the press handle? It needs one, in my opinion.

Thanks to all those who have helped through previous posts on this site. I'm certainly further along because of your willingness to share information.

[clodhopper]

That should certianly hold it down!
I mounted my walnut hill at a 45 degrees also. Just a little shelf to place a tray for catching worked parts is the only improvement I would add.

[R.Ph. 380]

Wow, that's a great looking mount and I bet it's user friendly. Congrats.

Bill

[Guardian]

Clodhopper, good idea on the shelf. My intent is to use a piece of 3/4-in plywood bolted to the top deck behind the press. I clamped a piece up there last night and it worked pretty well. I can't decide if I want separate shelves behind each press or a single one spanning the two mounts.

R.Ph., thanks for the compliment.

[Guardian]

Got some bullets made. 224 from 22LR. Dies are RCE with a 0.071-in ejection punch.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=98502&d=1393907419

Please tell me what you see wrong. I know the lube was a little heavy (dents on the nose).

The copper color wasn't expected. I built a rotary tumbler this weekend, but don't have SS pins yet. I used a vinegar, water, salt, soap solution with bullets and no media after final forming. The bullets have a sand blasted texture now, I assume from the bullets impacting each other. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea, but I do like the color.

[supe47]

They look pretty good. I run a q-tip up into my point form die every so often to remove excess lube, just a thought. How much vinegar did you use? Acid will dissolve the zinc on the exterior of the jackets leaving a high copper surface. I use very little Lemi-shine.

[Scootshop]

I had a batch do that to the tips. It was the first time I let me wife's oven run the full self clean cycle. Hope someone smarter than me chimes in. The cases that did that same thing were Remington they seem to be softer. As for punching through the 22 cases when you Derim them. I had a prob with Federal cases. I went to a larger punch and problem solved. A.195 was fast and less work but some case tore through when I went to a .198 prob solved and no heads ripped off. Congrats on your first batch of bullets. Enter the postal challenge and let's see how they fly.

[Guardian]

Supe47, I was using a mixture of 0.5 cup white vinegar, 1.5 cup tap water, 0.5 teaspoon of salt, and a few drops of soap.

Scootshop, it could well have been over annealed. I don't have my muffle furnace set up yet and was just using a propane torch to heat the cases individually. I got the PID yesterday and just need the correct thermocouple to get the furnace going.

The derimming issue was setup, without a doubt. The problem went away when I got the die set properly.

Regarding the postal shoot, maybe next round. There's no way I can get an entry in by the deadline for this one.