Bullet swage data log

[BT Sniper]

After all these years making bullets one of two things has finally happened for me

1. I have enough time to finally make a log of the notes regarding the bullets I make

or

2. I am finally making bullets for which I want the utmost in accuracy

In actuality it is a bit of both. I have been very busy these last few years, seems like since the day I took my first swage die order and now it seems I have caught up enough to give me some breathing room. So I am setting out to make the most accurate bullets I can in .264 diameter.

When my last write up had me doubting my bullet making abilities as I fought to hunt down the cause of some accuracy issues that was eventually identified as being the primers, I was reminded at just how important it is to keep good data on the bullets you make. When you find that magic load that produces little groups you want to be able to replicate it, not only on the reloading side of the press but also the bullet swage of the press too.

As if there isn't enough variables for us to contend with on just the reloading side, from COAL, OAL, powder, charge weight, primer, brass, etc..... now for those of us making our own bullets we add a whole new set of variables. We can change bullet weights, length, diameter (yes! depending on how much lube and/or core hardness can vary the final diameter of your swaged bullets) jackets, core weights, lead alloys, cleaning solutions, temp of dies, and the list goes on and on it seems. Now this isn't meant to scare anyone off by making it sound difficult to swage your own bullets, but for those of you chasing accuracy better then you can get with factory bullets any one of these factors I'm sure can play a role in shooting small groups.

So I'm curious what sort of notes and format are you guys using to keep track of such data? I have started my own log, just a first draft, anything you guys might add to it? advise, notes of your own?

Here is what I got so far. A basic data log to which I will add data to as I log individual lots of bullets.



BTSNIPER BULLET SWAGE LOGLot #
Date:
Bullet type=
Barring surface diameter=
Pressure ring diameter=
Bullet Weight=
Bullet Final length=
Bullet length 1st swage=
Jacket type/weight/length=
Cleaned?
Core weight/alloy=
Cast or Wire?
Cleaned?
Dies used=
Die settings
1. core swage=
2. core seat=
3. point form=
Press used=
Jacket length after core seat=
Bullets cleaned?
Time/Media=

[BT Sniper]

And a filled in log for lot #264004


Think I may have already edited the order and added on a few more items to the first list.



BTSNIPER BULLET SWAGELOGLot # 264004
Date: 10/18/2015
Bullet type= 6.5mm boattail match
Barring surface diameter= .2639
Pressure ring diameter= .2645
Bullet Weight= 141.7 grains
Bullet Final length= 1.300”
Bullet length 1st swage= 1.304” with .1590 meplat
Jacket type/weight/length= RCE, 46.1, 1.250”
Jacket length after core seat= 1.290”
Jacket Cleaned? no
Core weight/alloy/length/diameter= 95.6 grain, pure pb,1.045, .203
Cast or Wire? Cut from wire
Cleaned cores? Yes, mineral spirits, acetone, then tumbledwith citric acid & dish soap in vibrating tumbler with ceramic media, 1hr
Dies used= BTSniper, long .263 point form die for firstswage, short .2645 point form for final
Amount of lube used= ? light film, maybe weight it out nexttime.
Die settings
1. core swage= ?, still in the press
2. core seat= 4.945”
3. point form= 4.983”
Press used= Lee CC core swage, RCE Hydro core seat, Lee CC 1stpoint form swage, RCE Hydro final point form
Bullets cleaned? Yes, mineral spirits,
Time/Media= tumble ceramic media and citric acid 30 minutes,corn cob tumble 4 hours with Nu Finish car polish

[BT Sniper]

All ready thought of something to add, "jacket diameter after seated core," basically you will want to wright it ALL down, later you can decide what is important I guess. How many times have you looked back at some loaded ammo of yours and wondered????

[clodhopper]

Each die should have a place to list "press used".

[Bills Shed]

I like what you have started, yes there have been many times that I wondered what I did at a certain step.
What about amount of lube and type of lube. Type of application and how applied, ie, tumbled or soaked, reapplication etc.
Also after I have swaged a batch, I write in things that could have been better and what I should try next batch.
Just a thought.

Bill

[DukeInFlorida]

I use an Excel spread sheet for all my reloading and swaging data.

It's the ONLY way I would ever remember the "formulas" for each. And, I have a distinct tendency for losing small scraps of paper. And, I have enough notebooks around to begin with.

Excel replaces notebooks. Just my dos centavos.

[nun2kute]

I am curious how far you have taken this idea. I am just starting to play with Apache Open Office. Cuz it's free.

Also, my swaging is in Copper Tubing so I keep track of how long the first cut is and how much it weighs, along with the first ejection nipple on the cup, before flattening the bottom. But Honestly, my only "Notes" so far have been a few target bullets that I keep for reference, and just aim to keep the weights all the same. But I'm trying to keep better records for future reference.

[BT Sniper]

Haven't taken it much farther but it is all good info. So many times I step up to a die and take a lot of time to set everything up, just looking at what I wrote down in the above post I feel like I could duplicate that bullet I made years back.

I'm sure the log data could be better or more specific but any data one takes down when making bullets will be very helpful the next time.

BT

[B R Shooter]

When people make benchrest bullets, the one step that is most important is core seating. How do you measure/define core seating pressure?

[B R Shooter]

So, no comments? The variables are many in core seating. First, jackets vary lot to lot, which means different punch diameters. The core must be the same weight. Then comes, how much pressure to seat the core? Some well known bullet makers say to select a number of jackets that measure the same, then start seating the cores and watching the jacket length. Keep increasing g the seating pressure until the jacket does not get any shorter. At this point you can filled the jacket to the die diameter. Any more pressure and you are stressing the jacket.

My point is, how do you quantify that? I'm all for notes, I have CRS as much as anyone. But some things are just by feel.

[BT Sniper]

Yep, I too have read about measuring the jacket length after core seating and was going to mention it.

Yes a lot by feel.

The way I figure when starting anything like making bullets or reloading you should take notes and right down everything, later on you will figure what is important and what isn't.

BT

[Bills Shed]

Core seating for me is a bit of a combo of feel and measurements. Science with experience? I like a little "drag" as it comes out of the die with a known a out of lube on the jacket before it goes into the die.
Ref the notes, I also keep note of the number of brass jackets annealed in the lot, usually 1000, temp and time in the kiln and if I quenched or air cooled. Not that the last bit matters for hardness but does matter for scale build up. Also jacket wall thickness. This is a big point for me when using LR jackets. Brands can vary .004"

Bill