.308 jacket update

[andrew_six_point_five]

I haven't posted for a while as I'm still waiting patiently for my .264"swaging dies. In the meantime, I've been working on a batch .308 jackets. I decided to add a few calibers to my tooling as I have a bit more time for shooting and thought .308 and 6mm would be the go. I am about to heat treat parts for the .308 pinch die so I can make a range from 1" to 1.25' jackets. I've started on the dies for blanking 0.75" discs and a form die to go from .305" down to .240". The pics show a small .305" jacket (formed off a .75" disc) and two jackets formed off the 1.0" disc. By varying the punch diameters , I can draw various lengths to suit. So far I'm really happy with the quality and look forward to starting on the 6mm jackets. I'll aim for .825" and 1.2" jacket lengths for a flat base and a VLD.

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[Kosh75287]

:awesome: :awesome: :awesome:

[TrxR]

I like this :)

[ebb]

What material and thickness are the .75 discs made from?

[andrew_six_point_five]

Hi ebb, I'm using C12200 copper 0.70mm (.275") thick, fully annealed for both the 1" and .75" discs.

[fc60]

Greetings,

Would that be 0.70mm (0.0276")?

0.276 would be a pretty hefty draw.

Your blanking/drawing efforts are most impressive.

Cheers,

Dave

[andrew_six_point_five]

Hi fc60...yep, I left out a zero! Thanks for that. I'm continually jumping from metric to imperial. It always catches me out.

[andrew_six_point_five]

Attached are pics of the 0.75 blank disc next to the 1". The cup is 0.40" diameter and then second draw is .305". I included a reduced length .261 jacket but I plan to go straight to 6mm (.240" jacket). Also attached is the CAD model of the 0.75" cup die in section. Once heat treated and lapped, I'll run a small batch.

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[plus1hdcp]

Congrats on your success and thanks for posting, including some pictures.

[andrew_six_point_five]

Thanks plus1hcp, I'll have a few more pics soon when I trim up some new .308 jackets

[MFG_BOP]

awesome work andrew! i am impressed!

[MFG_BOP]

oh... BTW, do you think I can go from a 0.75" disk to 9mm jackets in 2 draws? I mean, 0.75" - 0.5" draw - 0.353" draw?
regards

[andrew_six_point_five]

Hi Marcos, good to hear from you. Yes 2 draws off a .75 disc is no problems. If you are trying to get a .353 jacket in one draw (cup only) you could try 5/8" or 16mm disc. This would give you a short jacket length though. Let me know how thing are progressing. Happy to compare notes. cheers Andrew

[MFG_BOP]

thanks andrew! my goal is to make 8.95mm to 8.97mm in diameter and 15mm long jackets. i was able to use 9mm brass to make good jackets drawing them down in one go with a carbide insert to these diameters. thank God I moved out of NZ and i had to stop my bullet making process for some time, but will resume it soon. also I saw you have a new leftist PM, isnt' it? just hope you won't have to move as well.

[ebb]

When i saw you were from Melbourne I thought i would ask to come up and watch. But then i saw it was not Melbourne, Florida. I decided it might be to far to come.

[andrew_six_point_five]

Marcos, glad to hear you have a plentiful supply of 9mm brass. If you use copper strip be prepared for a bit of a price shock. And yes, we got a new PM. A bit more to the center than Adern in NZ. For me its business as usual. In fact, I am moving but only out of Melbourne. I have a property up in the eastern Victorian high country. I'm just finishing off a house and should move up there later this year. Its only 13 acres but its remote enough where I can set up a shooting range. I've got a 200 yard range pegged out so when I finally start swaging some bullets I won't have to walk far to test them!

[andrew_six_point_five]

Finally got my pinch die and punch back from heat treatment. Spent Sunday afternoon lapping the die to size. Also ordered some shim washers to allow for setting the height of the die for different length jackets. I did a small run from scratch to check everything. From blank to final jacket. The punch I use for trimming needs to be a thou bigger in diameter. It was leaving a tiny ring of copper after the jacket separates. Also I'm now using a new lubricant for all of the forming operations. Its a 4:1 mix of acetone and castor oil. I place the blanks/jackets in a strainer and then into a jar of the lube. After removing and giving them a good shake, the acetone evaporates leaving a super thin coating of castor oil on the jacket. This has really been a big improvement.

Pics of blanking and cup forming.

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Pics of cup to first draw (0.40") and then first draw to final .305" jacket

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Pics of trimming the jackets and final size

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[andrew_six_point_five]

Final checks of the .308 jackets include concentricity and length. I am still using my original concentricity gauge which gives me a pretty good idea if the jackets are to my tolerances (less than 0.0005"). I think in the coming months I may be able to get this down but I need to invest in more accurate jigs and indicators.
So far I am extremely happy with the quality of .308 and 6.5mm jackets. Looking forward to start on the 6mm dies soon

Next year I'd like to start moving the dies off the arbor press and into pneumatic presses for blanking and drawing. This means I can potentially look at low volume manufacturing and whether there is a viable low volume market out there. I think there is room for a match quality jacket in 500 lots at a reasonable price.

Link to video of jacket testing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zest4f-oyw

[SSG_Reloader]

I love it! Beautiful work.

[Cane_man]

Awesome!

Been using 223 brass to swage .308/150gr to feed the M1 Garand.
Trim case to 1.10" length, draw 4 times to reach 0.305, seat 80 gr core, form point.

[mactool]

Awesome!

Been using 223 brass to swage .308/150gr to feed the M1 Garand.
Trim case to 1.10" length, draw 4 times to reach 0.305, seat 80 gr core, form point.

Hi i have a few questio s
What are the steps in your reducer dies, do you anneal between each reducing opration, do you and how make a boattail on them?
Br
Mactool

[Cane_man]

Hi i have a few questio s
What are the steps in your reducer dies, do you anneal between each reducing opration, do you and how make a boattail on them?
Br
Mactool

Hey Mac, no boattail for me. But if I wanted one all that would be needed is to make a punch with a concave face.

I anneal every two draws. I make the draw dies from O1 and use in an arbor press. For the .308 the .223 case is drawn 4 times: 0.352, 0.336, 0.320, 0.305.

The draws are done with the brass decapped.

[mactool]

Hi Cane man
Thanks for your reply. That is all most the same measures what I came up with, but i haven not made any dies yet. Does a Arbor press really have enough "punch" to swage a boattail.

[DAVE A]

Very nice work , any chance of a Youtube video of the jacket making process ?

[Cane_man]

Hi Cane man
Thanks for your reply. That is all most the same measures what I came up with, but i haven not made any dies yet. Does a Arbor press really have enough "punch" to swage a boattail.

Not sure never done it but I don't see why not. If I ever wanted to make boattail I would make a punch that would be used when seating the core, I swage with a RC. I only use the arbor press for drawing, but you could make a punch strong enough to make boattails if you wanted to do that.