Newbie - swaging questions

[shooter75126]

I've been casting for years, but never even knew what swaging was until a couple years ago. I've been reading a lot about it on here, and it seems that the possibilities are virtually endless as to what you can do. I have a couple of questions about this great looking hobby:

1) I have a single stage reloading press. How much would it cost to get started swaging on one? Just for one caliber at first. Don't want to sink in too much money. Also, what are the limitations of swaging on a reloading press?

2) It seems very time consuming. How is production efficiency vs. casting? I have a lot of hobbies currently, not to mention work, so I have to factor in time as well as cost. It looks like this may be worth giving up something else, though.

3)Being new to the art of swaging, how soon could I be producing good looking, quality bullets?

I'll stop there. Sorry for all the questions, I'm just really interested in this and know absolutely nothing. Thanks in advance for any info.

[flashhole]

I'm in the same situation. Can't offer any advice but want to camp on to your thread so I can see the responses.

[plus1hdcp]

Check some of the threads by BT Sniper. They will provide some background info for you. I too have been investigating the swaging arena for 22 and 308 bullets. Your single stage may perform for a 55 or 62 grain 22 bullet but a swaging press looks to be the correct tool. There is a lot of good information on this forum - good luck.

[buck1]

I am new as well, The lee classic cast iron O frame or the RCBS rock chucker will work for a press. Search the fourm for lots of info on this.

Time wise if you concider casting,and sizing ,and lubing its close to the same to a bit longer. But you can make jacketed boolits.

Once you get all the things you could be making good boolits right away.
I got BT Snipers one step .44 cal die. I had never swaged before. I got it in the mail at 1 PM and was back from shootong test loads by 4PM. But I was ready for it.
What cal do you shoot, This will help a lot in the answers.....Buck

[bdbullets]

I have been swaging for a lot of years. It is just a little bit slower than casting but you can do jackets bullets like Buck1 said. I also use a Lee Cast press and it works great. I just got a set of dies from Brian (BTSniper) to make 41 cal. bullets out of 9mm cases. Since I had to bump the size up it took an extra die, core seating die. Brian will treat you right. He is good guy to deal with. Also much cheaper than either of the Corbins are.
I also posted some pictures in this forum of the bullets that I am making. I am very happy with his dies.
Bryan

[BT Sniper]

Glad to see such positive comments form you guys. Thanks.

A one step die set up for the 40 or 44 cal bullets from scrap brass has got to be the best introduction to this hobby that I can think of. Very little initial investment, very easy to learn, a lot of potential savings from not having to buy comercial bullets ever again if you like and not to mention it is simply a lot of fun and very rewarding to be shooting your own hand made jaketed bulelts.

As far as time vs cast boolits. I can not say as I have not took the time to cast, lube, and size cast boolits. The only thing I can see that may take a little while is annealing the brass jackets. Even that does not take to long as there is many ways it can be done several at a time. From there it is only a matter of your personal preferances when it comes to weight variation and the cosmetic looks of the bullet and wether you tumble it clean before you make the bullet.

Here is a quick run down of lets say the 40 cal from 9mm:
1. anneal the brass
2. cast some cores (you should be fimilar with just how quick this can go)
3. bell the mouth of the annealed brass jacket
4. drop a cast boolit core into the brass jacket
5. apply lube and swage

An endless supply of bullets at a price of 50 cents/lb or less (free if your good) for some lead and 9mm brass @ around $20 per thousand an not having to worry about supply shortages ever again .......... PRICLESS!

Not many have commented on it but I love the look of a brass jacketed bullet in a brass case. Wait till you here some of the stories these guys have about showing these bullets to friends and the dumbfounded looks we get from them.

May have got off on a tangent there a bit but if you are after tighter tollerances in weight varriation you can match the core to jacket by weight sorting them. I think you will find for some here the variation in weight may not be that critical. I only go to this extreem because of customer expectations.

Yes it is true the possiblities of what can be done to a jacketed bullet are nearly endless when you swage your own. That is the fun part for me and what other hobby allows you to reuse your mistakes simply by remelting them to use agian in another cast core.

You want to get an idea of just how quicly you can mak these bullets check my short video on the "40 cal from 9mm easiest by far" thread. ONce the core is placed in the jacket it can go very quick and as far as a learning curve....I have certainly done my homework to make this set up as user friendly as it can be. Most have had exelent shootable bullets from the very first pull of the press and still anyone that may have had the slightest dificulty got it figured out within a few days. Certainly quicker then it took a lot of us to figure this out on our own. Great sight here with a lot of great guys willing to help. You can't go wrong as I see it.

Well enough of my chanting.

Good shooting guys, Swage On!

BT

[jdjframes]

shooter 75126:

Have dabbled with swaging since the early 70s. If you are going to swage 22 caliber bullets, any HEAVY DUTY reloading press (RCBS RC, Redding, Lee etc)will work. You can get 22 caliber dies to fit reloading presses. Larry Blackmon makes dies to fit his BSS press as well reloading presses with a modified ram. Corbin(s) make excellent products, but a bit expensive. I happily use RCs with excellent results.

It is not overly time consuming. Decide on the weight of the desired bullet, weigh jackets and determine the weight of the core. Swage and weigh few cores, seat them and point them up. If the bullet is what you want and shoots right, swage a bunch of cores and store in screw top plastic containers. As time permits, seat cores, all at once or a few at a time and store in another dust tight container. When the mood strikes, swage a few bullets - 10 or 100, or if you are truly dedicated, a 1000.

If you read and study instructions and take your time, you can swage good bullets from the getgo. The key is constant attention to detail. Failure to properly lube will result in a stuck cored jacket or bullet. Not the desired result!

Good swaging.

Jim