kawalekm
05-06-2014, 12:20 PM
Along with my CH die sets and my Sportflite, I also have an old Swagamatic that gets some use. As some of you may know, the Swagamatic is limited to the production of straight-shank bullets (either soft or hollowpoint) because of the design of the full diameter ejection pin that pushes the bullet up out of the die on the downstroke.
I want to make a Swagamatic die though that will fold the jacket over the ogive like in C-H dies. Since I have a lathe now, I thought I'd try making the dies and punches myself.
Here's my idea. I'll use my current .451" commercially-purchased die with a modified punch that will slip down into the mouth of a annealed/shortened .45ACP case drawn down to .451". I will make a flat punch with a working diameter of ~.428"-.429" so it will just fit into a drawn case. Thus, I'll use this die for my core seating operation.
I'll then make a new curved ogive die with the nose of the bullet pointed down in the die, not up. I'll make an ejection punch in either soft point or hollow point versions. The top punch will be .452" in diameter and flat to form the bullet base. I'll be feeding the jacketed core nose down in the die, run it against the base punch, and a curved ogive bullet should pop out on the upstroke.
I was going to first try making a simple half reamer out of O1 tool steel. Most likely will just eyeball the ogive to get what I want by filing. I'm expecting my finished bullet to weigh about 250 grains with ~ a .250" diameter meplat, which will be used in my new 450 Bushmaster.
Can you guys give me some feedback on the merit of this idea?
I want to make a Swagamatic die though that will fold the jacket over the ogive like in C-H dies. Since I have a lathe now, I thought I'd try making the dies and punches myself.
Here's my idea. I'll use my current .451" commercially-purchased die with a modified punch that will slip down into the mouth of a annealed/shortened .45ACP case drawn down to .451". I will make a flat punch with a working diameter of ~.428"-.429" so it will just fit into a drawn case. Thus, I'll use this die for my core seating operation.
I'll then make a new curved ogive die with the nose of the bullet pointed down in the die, not up. I'll make an ejection punch in either soft point or hollow point versions. The top punch will be .452" in diameter and flat to form the bullet base. I'll be feeding the jacketed core nose down in the die, run it against the base punch, and a curved ogive bullet should pop out on the upstroke.
I was going to first try making a simple half reamer out of O1 tool steel. Most likely will just eyeball the ogive to get what I want by filing. I'm expecting my finished bullet to weigh about 250 grains with ~ a .250" diameter meplat, which will be used in my new 450 Bushmaster.
Can you guys give me some feedback on the merit of this idea?