One Half Bullet Jacket

Howdy,

I recently bought a box of reloading parts from an estate sale. The box has some Speer .45 Cal. half jackets in it. Since it is a half jacket, what special boolet forming tools are required to use them?

Thanks for your help.

Terry

Nothing special beyond normal swaging dies. The half jackets you have were commonly used for a Keith style SWC with lead exposed for a length beyond the jacket; the heavier the bullet the more exposed lead. However, the 'short' jackets can be used for any style/shape bullet you happen to have dies for.

Herter's and CH both sold swaging dies that worked in standard presses, the half jackets were simpler to make than fully jacketed swaged bullets and required less pressure.

If you are using a bullet with a step at the base of the nose the jacket has to seat below this.
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