Originally Posted by
coltac
Hello everyone.
Hey coltac, welcome to the board!
I am starting a new bullet swaging die making business, and would like some feedback from this knowledgeable community. The reason that im starting this business, is that its something that im simply passionate about, and i happen to have some nice equipment. I got into long range shooting several years ago, and have had several 1000 yard + shots on big game and coyotes alike. I became interested in bullet design shortly after getting into shooting those long distances.
So, here is my inquiry for all of you serious reloaders out there. When i start this small business, what kind of dies would you guys purchase (not assuming that you will, but what kind would you buy if you were interested in doing so).
I won't pretend to answer for anyone here, other then myself but I believe there are two main criteria of major interest in swage dies.
1) Would be accuracy. The dies would have to be consistent to a particular ten thousandth of an inch. A guy wanting to swage a jacketed slug to .308" wants .308" and not .3083". Conversely .3078" isn't going to cut it either.
2) Availability. I think this is the next concern, and the length of waiting times has given many folks interested in swaging a major case of gas in many instances. Why pay a comparatively large piece of change for something, (that for 99.9% is a hobby) and then have to wait one or two years to get it?
I have CNC machines, that will be able to build die reamers with relative ease, so the dies will cost considerably less than say, corbin or an outfit like that.
CNC is nice. Speaking of reamers and their use, that's machining 101, CNC or not. CNC could probably produce die BLANKS faster then a manual machine, but that's not really the time eater. The accuracy required for truly match grade swage dies is a matter of honing, and honing to levels mentioned in #1 above. In addition to honing, there will be an expense involved due to heat treating. Swage dies of high tolerance that are expected to live HAVE to be heat treated
Im not sure what i will charge for a set of dies, but im thikning somewhere near the 350-400 range for a flat base die set.
Unless you can take the die from bare rod stock to finished die set, "In House" it would be foolish to suggest a price now.
The dies that i planned on making would be .224 Using fired .22LR jackets, some Low drag .243's, low drag .257's, low drag .264's, low drag .284's, low drag .308's, and low drag .338s. I planned also on making dies to swage .458 paper patch bullets for those 45.70 shooters out there. Another neat idea may be some whisper bullets... not sure if people would buy them, but hes, its worth a shot. Whisper's are Round nose, boat tail bullets that are to be used in subsonic applications.
If you're capable of the accuracy required, and if you have the in house capability to go from raw stock to finished die set, what will eat up your time will be custom orders. Most of the jacketed die orders will be for the accepted OD's, ie: .264", .308", .243" etc. Differing nose, and base shapes along with the combinations possible are what will cost you time. Ditto Paper patching, and here it's that you'll get all manner of requested OD's. Probably not so much nose shapes, but some and the bases will generally be flat, but varying amounts of base cavity will be asked for on occasion. These kinds of things kind of preclude keeping much of anything "Finsihed" in inventory.
I do machining for folks here on the board, and the majority of it is custom Lyman and Lee size dies. I do not make any dies of sizes offered at retail. The ONLY variable is the size the die produces. A a consequence I'm able to stock the more commonly asked for sizes. This is a boon to me and when I have a die order I never make just one. I may make 2 or 3. I ship one and put the others into stock. This is a luxury other then die blanks, you won't have I don't believe.
Your time issues will be anything you cannot do yourself, and also assuming what you CAN do is done in a timely manner. What you might have to farm out, could really hold you up, such as, say heat treating? Another might be external finish. Possibly you may live in an area where you have a few options for getting this done.
I make swage dies, but only for myself and NOT for sale. My tolerance on size dies is nominal to +.0003". Which for what it is, is not bad. However I cannot produce in a profitable time frame, nor guarenteed manner a SPECIFIC tenthousandth. Let alone 3 dies to that accuracy one after another. Not without there being a few oopsies interspersed along the way[smilie=b: The only swage dies I've made are for paper patching lead boolits. For me they're wonderfull, but I wouldn't make them as a business for others.
Anyhow, if you guys get a free second, PLEASE leave me some feedback on what you would be most interested in. I have spent many many hours reading the wonderful stories on this website, so your input and interests will be a definite deciding factors in my decisions for this business in the near future. Let me know, and if there is some interest in my operation on this site, i will post my website (as soon as i finish programming)