New Project - 303 Brit Swage Die Set

[303Guy]

Having almost finishe my 22LR swage die project, and having learned a few tricks, I am about to begin my next project - the 303 Brit Die Set to use pillardrill's idea with casting the core into the copper tube then cutting to length and swaging.

I will need to build a swage press for this one.

I have started sketching die concepts - swaging and ejecting and all that's involved. Any ideas would be welcome!:drinks:

[pillardrill]

303,

here are some tips which should help you in your project:coffeecom:

The nose former, the red part, needs to be of larger diameter than the boolit. It starts at the point of transition from straight to the tapered. It needs to be thicker to be able to withstand the pressure and so needs to be heat treated.

The blue part of the nose former is made by drilling the red part and press fitting the blue part. Then they are both drilled and a D bit used to form the nose.

The blue part can then be pressed out and its diameter reduced by sanding to make it a push fit into the blue part. This will be used to separate the bullet from the nose former.

I have checked the diameter of that copper tubing and it's about 1/4" which should be ok for the 303. I hope you have a strong vise otherwise I can help you with the design of a hydraulic press. I have a 15 ton press which I made myself :mrgreen:

Regards

Pillardrill

:drinks:

[303Guy]

Thanks Pillardrill. (My 22LR die set looks like your sketch but without the blue part). I would appreciate help with designing a hydraulic press, thank you. A two speed would be nice.[smilie=1: :mrgreen: Not difficult using two pumps.


Your drawing looks pretty much how I think I should do it, thanks. I am thinking along the lines of a parallel base section that fits the case neck but larger than groove Ø - throat entry size. This would require a heel chamfer or the base will get distorted by the bore swaging (two-groove barrel). From the parallel section of shank, I am thinking of a taper down th bore Ø at the beginning of the ogive. The idea is to have a close fitting projectile. Not sure that it's necessary but .... I get good accuracy with this gun with Highland 180gr J-words. (I shall model mine closely on the Highland 180 grainers).

This is the bullet that works for me. That tail chamfer (short BT) prevents base distortion in the bore.
http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/MVC-201F.jpg

[pillardrill]

303,

the blue part is useful to extract the formed boolit from the nose former. I had that problem when I moved from round nose to spire point.

I guess you could use either the 6mm or 8mm outside diameter copper tube for the 303.

My press is a very simple one, basically it's a frame made from pieces if girder welded to form a square and a hand cranked 15 ton hydraulic jack. Someday I might add a contraption with a return spring cos its a bitch to operate when making boolits for example.

Regards

Pillardrill

[303Guy]

Well you know, Pillardrill, there is a fellow over on our sister forums that wants to build a swaging press - my fault for getting him interested in swaging in the first place :mrgreen: - and he has in turn given me the idea of building a two-speed, return stroke press. It would be nice to be able to give him some useful ideas he can use (I am also working on getting him interested in paper patching! :mrgreen: ) What I need to do is gather all the materials I have collected together and plan around that.