How did you learn to swage or cast

[BT Sniper]

I would bet a lot of what little money I have that most of you are self taught. Probably very few have had the knowledge passed down from generation and a very few that have had a friend show/teach them in person.

Like many of you I learned from nothing and what little I knew I found on great sights and great members like this. My biggest question was not knowing just how much force is needed I may still be applying to much (leads to equipment damage and a whole nother thread). How cool would it be to sit down at a booth at a gun show and have someone spend 5 minutes with you showing you just how simple it can be and just how much, or how little force is needed to make a good bullet. Thinking about it now I think I would like to be on either side of that table learning or teaching. I may be on to somthing here. 22 caliber bullets from 22LR is all the rage now, even have articals in the big time gun magazines.

About 20 years ago I was at the BIG portland sportsman show. I was like 10. There was a booth with some fly tying vises mounted to it with guys allowing people to sit down and give it a try. In 5 minutes I was hooked (pun intended) and have sence spent hundreds of $ and have boxes full of supplies and fly tying is relitivly cheep compaired to bullet swaging.

Just like that old saying "give a man a fish you feed him for a day teach him to fish feed him for a life time." Same thing here with making your own bullets.

Being out of work and unimployed I have spent much of my time trying to figure out how to make a couple bucks. Selling bullets involves to much red tape but selling components to make bullets may be just the ticket. I know many of you are thinking "Corbin" right? And then you think cost $$$$$$$$ right? But how many of you have seen his equipment in use? I haven't either. What if you saw it in action at a gun show would you buy it? Maybe........ I don't know either.

Now what if at that same gun show I sat you down behind a RCBS press with a set of resonable priced dies and a box full of 9mm brass and cast bullets turning them into 40 cal bullets? Do you think you would walk out with one $90 Swage die or a $130 set? How about a 44 cal bullet from 40 S&W brass. I sure as heck would have had I seen someone at a gun show do just this let alone show me how at the same time. I have allready seen this process of hooking a fellow shooter when he came to visit and I showed him one pull of my press. That day he bought a poor quality .458 die of ebay for $100.

I think a gun show booth with a few RCBS presses and some CH dies would sell like hot cakes who is with me?

BT SNIPER!

[SPRINGFIELDM141972]

I believe you would probably be a highlight of the show. I for one would be in line for an opportunity to have a person demonstrate this technique to me. The cost of a piece of brass and cast boolit for the person to keep would be a small but very effective advertisement. I have no experience with swaging but am fascinated by the possibilities. You may have found a new line of work. I wish you the best of luck in this pursuit.

Regards,
Everett

[BT Sniper]

I agree and will be persuing information from those of you that have worked gun show booths as well as potential sponsors.

I kept that first fly I tied at the sportsman show for a lot of years. A wooly bugger with a red tail. Probably even caught a fish with it. Still remember the first fish I cought on one of my flys, first home made bullet I shot and first deer I took with my bullets. The latter two happening with the last year.

[sargenv]

I think I might be one of those people who would purchase what you were selling.. right now I'm all fired up to try the 22 lr brass into 224 cal bullets.. but the cost of the dies is keeping it from reality for now..

I was on another forum today and they were deriding someone doing just that calling "turning 9mm brass into 40 cal bullets a waste of 9mm brass". My rebuttal was "well what about all that brass that open shooters fire once and leave.. or all the 9mm non toxic brass that no one wants to swage the primer pockets for.. or all the amerc brass that people discard because they don't like it.. Someone even suggested that the rim of the 9mm cartridge would make it inaccurate at any distance.. I rebutted with "just how far do action shooters need their bullets to go? 15 maybe 25 yards?".

I then went on to say that if you don't want to, Montana Gold will gladly take your money for a finished product.. but some of us like to tinker and do our own thing..

I hope you can make it work for you. There may be a demand for it since there are few people who make these kinds of things for the hobbyist.

[BT Sniper]

Sargenv,

Some day I hope to make the tools necessary to turn copper tubing into jackets. Imagine the pain I will cause the refridgerator business:) I stick to simple economics. 9mm and 40S&W brass costs less then 2 cents a piece and is plentyfull all over. I have had people send me there "off" brand, tarnished, and even berdan brass to turn into bullets. Wait till I take the beloved 7mm mag case and turn it into a 750 grain 50 cal bullet! A ways off still but fun to think about.

I am seriously considering taking swaging to the gun shows. Really wish somone would have shown me how with some hands on training. This sight with all it's members is the next best thing though. Still remember the day I found Michael's first post on turning a 40 cal case into a 44 cal bullet. I bought the dies a couple days later.

There are certainly a lot of people turned off by the high cost of the equipent to make the .223 bullets from 22LR. not saying it is not worth it or doesn't make a great bullet but for the cost of a $90 swage die they could be making 40s and 44s.

If I do make a go at the business you guys will certainly here about it:)

[shooterg]

This danged site got me to casting and my first reading about swaging - started with a Herter's 9 ton press and dies an old friend gave me, but could only make half jackets with that . Half jackets no good for the AR15 and coudn't find 'em anyway. Played with derimming
.22 short brass for the half jackets, but then got lucky , found a used Corbin press and bought shiny new dies from Blackmon for making .223 bullets. Even figuring only $0.08 per, I've paid for the equipment(discounting time, of course, but time spent casting, swaging, reloading ADDS time to your life if you enjoy it !). Wish I did have machinist skills like you guys that make your own tools/dies. I think I probably walked by many deals on swaging stuff at shows before I knew what I was seeing !
I think you'd definitely attract a crowd of potential DIY'ers at most shows.

[elk hunter]

Guys;

While we enjoy what we do not all shooters are reloaders, as a matter of fact only a small percentage of the total are reloaders and of that small percentage an even smaller percentage cast and fewer yet swage. While some few would take this up if they had someone to show them how, most would just look at us and think, "what kind of a nut would do that?". I for one think that makes us special, however in my case that probably means special ed since I make my own dies etc.

[sargenv]

If I had the room, tooling, and know how.. I'd be there.. so far I just have the time ;)

I did recently discover that you can de-rim 22's with the Lee 224 cal swage setup.. I had a friend turn down the swage punch (that goes into the rock chucker ram) a few thousanths.. and I tried it tonight without annealing or cleaning the brass (too excited I guess) and I managed to make about 50 jackets in not that long a time frame.. now I guess it is time to get serious and clean up the cases I have, anneal them and see what I can do once they are softer..

I think the tinkerer in me was a hand me down from my grandfather on my mother's side.. he was apparently always tinkering with something. I made the progression from shooting/hunting to loading shotshells, then loading metallic, to recently casting and now to the idea of swaging.. It's always been something on the back burner but now I may actually get serious about it.

[jcunclejoe]

My first job out of college as an mechanical engineer was for Nosler as a tooling engineer. I did that for 6 years and really learned just about everything to do with swaging bullets and the tooling involved.
Then I bought a set of Sport Flight Mfg 22 cal rimfire swage dies. After reworking the dies and making several more punch holders they do a fantastic job. Then I got some CH 41 cal swage dies and have had a ton of fun ever since.
This year I won the IHMSA Field Pistol World Championship with my little 22 rimfire bullets out of my 10" hornet contender barrel. That feels great.
Thanks
Joe

[sargenv]

That's pretty slick.. grats!

So when are you going to make some tooling and sell it to us? ;)

[BT Sniper]

Joe good to hear from you. I have sure been thinking alot about that steel shooting you do so much of. Great job with the win. Hope to get some time to make a trip over there some day and take you up on the shooting offers. Till then I need to practice and make a lot more bullets.

BT

[BT Sniper]

I started reloading as a teenager. With a hand me down 6.5x55 Sweed the only comercial ammo avialable was Norma at nearly 3 times the cost of the other brands the choice was pretty obvious. All those years spent reloading all those sleak little bullets and I thought wow what sort of magic and $ it must take to make a bullet. Then Michael here on the sight posted a 44 cal bullet made from a 40 S&W case. I had nearly 2K worth of brass for my 44 AMP with no bullets or $. Been hooked since.

[BT Sniper]

Sorry I got off on a sales pitch idea there to start this thread. I am sure that we are a slim few that make our own bullets but just look at the timing of this. I bought my first dies in September of last year. We all know what happened after the election. I couldn't have imagined a better time to learn to make bullets. Too bad I don't get a chance to shoot much. I do read a lot about people saying the cost of ammo is to expensive. Can't find 22lr because of it. There I go again getting side tracked and certainly don't want to go down the path of why there is no ammo on the shelf.

I am just curious if anyone out there was not self taught in this hobby. I spent a lot of years as a flight instructor (that's why I cant spell), and even took some weekend classes for fly tying and how to construct a fishing poll. How cool would a once a week class be on bullet swaging.

Of the few of us that are lucky enough to have learned this hobby and as popular as the sport of shooting is how many have been interested after seing the 22lr to .223 articals yet turned away by their lack of money or lack of instruction?

True there is some very time consuming, frustrating, challenging and costly aspects to this hobby but like any good drug it only takes one hit and they are hooked. Come on everyone is doing it.

Not that I would know anything about addictioin, like you guys I just make fishing weights with brass jackets in many different sizes with dies and molds and presses and etc., etc., etc., etc.,

Happy holidays guys.
Good shooting

[dragonrider]

When I learned to cast 20 or 25 years ago I had a mentor, and after a while I thought I new everything there was to know about casting. Then I found this place and found out just how little I knew.

[shooterg]

Gotta wonder why Lee wouldn't just modify their sizer in the factory and sell as a derimmer - cheapest purpose built derimmer is about $75 from Blackmon, I think more from Corbin. Lee could sell for $25 , a little more if they upgraded the punch material . I know they're busy anyway now, but they could probably design/market .22 to .223 kit for their classic cast press and sell the outfit at a price that would get lots more people swaging, which would even increase the market for the other guys making swaging stuff - 'cuz all us reloading/casting/swaging folks display addictive behavior for this stuff !

[MightyThor]

I guess I could say I got started on swaging and reloading as a baby. My grandfather was very involved in shooting and reloading, dog trials, target shooting, you name it. My father followed in his footsteps and my earliest memories include hours sitting on a stool in the loading room with the two of them while they loaded and conversed about everthing that was important in life.

I inherited Grampa's gear and guns including my big Hollywood presses, bullet swage dies, many reloading dies, swaging and casting supplies and tools and some wonderful firearms including original varminters and several treasured springfields in different sporterized configurations. Of course I had also set my self up with some basics before grampa passed so I now have many duplicates that I hope to pass on to my kids and grandchildren.

[Grapeshot]

Well, I got interested in swaging when I was stationed in Germany in the late 1980's. I had read an article by Dave Corbin about making bullets using a press and cold forming a piece of lead ito a lead or jacketed bullet.

I ordered his books and read them voraciously before ordering a set of dies to make .45 Colt, .45 - 70 Paper Patched, annd .357 bullets as well as a reducer die to take .454 - .457 bullets down to .452 inch diameter bullets.

I also started to make .45 Colt bullets using both 9mm and .40 S&W Brass as jackets. I'm having fun and I don't see a big difference in accuracy in using a cartridge case over a comercial jacket. Have fun in all your indevors.

[Ammosmith]

My Dad showed me how to load and cast. Friends taught me how to swage. Handloader Magazine is a continuous source of new ideas and techniques.

[elk hunter]

I started casting and reloading in 1952 or 53 at a friends house courtesy of his father. Earl, the father, sat down and ran us through the basics and then turned us loose. We were allowed to load for and shoot anything he and his friends had including, muzzle loaders, a Sharps in 50-70, and numerous old Winchesters, Marlins and even a Whitney Kennedy R.C.M.P. marked musket in 45-60. I've been addicted ever since.

I started swaging when I acquired a set of dies, in the 70's, to make .224 bullets with 22 LR jackets. A friend and I set down one winter and made 10,000 of them and then loaded them up as 223 ammo. Turned around and did the same thing the next winter. I shot the barrel out on my Remington 700 with those bullets.

I then got in to commercial reloading and made and sold bullet making dies. I retired ten years ago and am still doing the same things only not making any money at it.

[j4570]

I learned from my father. Have some of his equipment, and he has some of mine. I started with 7mm Mauser. And 410 shotgun. I had to load most of my own 410 shells. I loaded thousands.

I learned the basics there. Crushed cases, broke pins in dies, all that stuff. Formed cases.

Now I load quantity and some odd ammo in smaller amounts. I prefer to have several hundred pieces of brass minimum and make a mini production run, not to repeat until I run out. Of course, some ammo is done by the thousand.

JW

[smilin-buddha]

It would be great if local member could get together and teach one person. I would love to learn.

[GP100man]

I learned to cast by readin the Lyman manual section , the gunshop I sopped at had it in stock so I bought it & still have it .

Started readin & had to try it !!! The rest is Money under the bridge!!!!!

[algunjunkie]

I'm totally self taught. I later bought books and internet searches. The rest of the time was at the bench.

[jcunclejoe]

sargenv
I am indeed planning on making 22 rimfire swaging dies for sale within the next couple of months. I believe I can make a high quality product for about half what Corbin charges for the complete set-up. The design is finished, my new lathe is in the garage and my heat treat oven is nearly complete. I just need to make the prototype set and test it out.

BT sniper, the invite is always here for you to come over and shoot steel. No need to wait until you get good or even well practiced. We all had to start somewhere.
Thanks for the kind words. It was a fantastic shooting year for me. I have been very fortunate and really really lucky.

Merry Christmas to everyone.
Keep swaging, casting loading and shooting, you never know when those skills could come in very handy.
Joe

[BT Sniper]

Joe,

I look foward to it. The kids are getting older, maybe my next year I'll have some time to get out of the house. I would love to see If I could hit anything with my AMP. Do keep us posted on your die and bullet progress.

Happy Holidays,

BT

[Sixgun Symphony]

sargenv
I am indeed planning on making 22 rimfire swaging dies for sale within the next couple of months. I believe I can make a high quality product for about half what Corbin charges for the complete set-up. The design is finished, my new lathe is in the garage and my heat treat oven is nearly complete. I just need to make the prototype set and test it out.




Keep us posted! :smile:

[part_timer]

I was very lucky to have a friend who owns a gunshop and is into reloading a casting. This friendship has given me 17 years of hands on learning in this hobby.

After finding this site I'm starting to try and lear how to swage 224 bullets for my 223's. I set down and try to read two or three threads on the subject every other night. I believe I have the info I need to derim some 22lr brass. I talked to another friend who owns a machine shop and he told me that he would teach me how to run the lathe if I can get him the info on the parts I need to make.

Looks like another hobby or two is at hand.

[Daywalker]

I am actully starting to learn myself. With reading up on past posts here and talking with a couple friends from another forum, I am starting to get the idea of how this is working. It is starting to come together. I have a set of the CH dies on order, will be ordering a new press for swaging as I have the Lee Aluminum press right now, then I will start expieramenting with differnt leads such as the lead wires and casting cores.

I am excited about the idea of making my own slugs for plinking and possibly for other use such as hunting rounds for my 44 magnum. So far, my questions have been answered by reading around the past posts. If anymore should pop up that I can not find the answer to, I know I can ask and get an answer. Thanks so much....

[Radio Flyer]

I started reloading as a kid, my father wanted some help and I ended up liking reloading just for the sake of reloading (my father never understood that).

I needed something to spend my money on after I started working (in the state I lived in you had to be over 15 to have a "real" job) most idiots spent their money on illegal booze, I bought reloading gear and supplies.

Somewhere in there I became friends with a benchrest shooter and he was talking about how he wished he could swage to make his own bullets, I did not think much about that until I came across an article from Dave Corbin about making money swaging bullets. I put in an order for my first set up from Corbin with my "kid money" (I can tell you I made more than just kid money cause I liked to work and make money).

I bought every book I could get on swaging and my very first bullet was perfect - I had read EVERY book I had before I even touched the press (I am also one of those rare people who can read and then do something from that information, at least if it is good information).

Within the time it took to get old enough to get an FFL Class 6 (make ammo) I had developed a collection of dies and presses and had long ago surpassed my father for reloading and of course swaging.

I built up a business for swaging custom bullets that I was over-worked with and was never able to run and produce everything I needed to do myself, on a schedule I thought was reasonable.

Corbin's idea of reasonable time never fit my version, I wanted to have happy satisfied customers and I wanted them happy NOW...

I sold the business and kept a few dies and presses for myself (I have only manual equipment now).

I lurk on the internet in hopes of a new "resurgence" of swaging, that gun show with dies idea sounds good, and something I could do very well (I have a long history of direct product presentation to customers and shows both in and out of the gun industry).

Need is always the promoter of new businesses - there is a need now - when was the last time you did see a Wally World shelf full of ammo in stock?

[BT Sniper]

I agree it is a great time to learn to make your own bullets.

Good right ups guys. I enjoy the stories as they all seem to be very fimilar.

BT

[Radio Flyer]

I agree it is a great time to learn to make your own bullets.

Good right ups guys. I enjoy the stories as they all seem to be very fimilar.

BT


If you ever look at the custom bullet makers for niche markets like benchrest, they are so behind in production and have so much business they can hardly handle it...

Something I have found out about running your own business was that too much business is as bad a not enough business. You must have a plan.

[Duckhunter]

BT, I am just starting out on this new way of spelling boolits. I have reloaded for nearly 40 years and have always wanted to "roll my own". With the information I picked up on the web over the last few months and the location of a "swage my own 40 cal bullet" (thanks) die, I have taken the plunge (is that spelling correct?). I've been saving lead for years. I think I have finally found a use of it!

I'm not dead yet and I have a lot to learn.

[Jim_Fleming]

BT, I had a mentor for casting, but the swaging part I am totally self taught...

Uhhh, maybe Dave and Richard Corbin had a heckuva lot to do with it, :bigsmyl2: , maybe, LOL!

[BT Sniper]

I became a pilot because I can't speel. We just abreviate CRS, WAG, BFE, PFM, and many more so don't worry about me correcting anyones spelling on this sight. No longer fly for a living by the way. Gone a lot from family was not much fun and that hotel in BFE got old really quick.

As far as swaging and casting I researched what I could and found a bit of casting info in an old Layman manual.

Yes the bench rest sceen is dominated by shooters using hand made bullets. BIB and Bugholes just to name a few and I have talked to a few of the guys that make those. Don't think it would be for me as the price is pretty competitive and orders are by the thousands or more. I'm pretty happy to trade an ocasional couple hundred here and there.

I still learn a lot from corbins web sight. Can't belive he posts all his info like that but yet I am greatful.

Jim, Was Corbins influence first hand or via all they had published?

[Jim_Fleming]

Sniper...

The Corbins information was all from their books. I'm not perzactly sure as to where and when I got their information or even how I got wind of their information.

I'm saying that I don't know if I saw their ads in Handloader Magazine, or the _OLD_ issues of American Rifleman. Either way, sort of like the Chicken or the Egg quandary. I just don't recall where I saw the ads...

But when I got wind of it, (swaging) especially using .22 RF jackets, it was like the scales fell from my eyes... Good grief, bullets for almost free! just the costs of the tooling and my time...

But the actual learning process was straight from the Corbin's books and brochures. Note, this was back in the early '80's before the 'Net was invented...

I dunno, it might've just been Dave Corbin's style of writing. All I know is that I was hooked, and badly, lol! :veryconfu

All I know now is that I've loaded two batches of ammo since finishing my bench, and now it's my intention to start derimming .22RF cases and start making golden bullets to start feeding my hungry semi-auto's.