Swaging 44/cal 240.5/gr TC-SP BULLETS USING RCE COPPER JACKETS & SWAGED CORES 500 PC/

[KAYDADOG]

I wanted to swage a 500/pc lot of 44/cal bullets using copper jackets to see how close I could hold the overall weight and look of the bullets. The weight only deviated about 0.5/gr overall which is pretty close for a 240/gr bullet. Even swaging the cut cores even a slight variation here will affect the swaged core weight. You would have to swage the cores twice which is really not necessary. A half grain deviation is still very close. The finished bullets look as good or better than a factory bullet. This 500 piece lot cost $40, $30/jackets, $10/lead. Factory bullets would cost around $175 per 500. Even buying jackets at todays prices would add another $25 per 500, still a good savings, a few dollars more for lead costs.

Here is the actual statistical data taking a 50-piece random sample

AVERAGE BULLET WEIGHT 240.446 -------- 240.446 = AVERAGE BULLET WEIGHT
LOW BULLET WEIGHT ---- 240.2 ------- (-0.246) = LOW BULLET WEIGHT VALUE FROM AVERAGE VALUE
MEDIUM BULLET WEIGHT ---- 240.5 ------- 0.054 = MEDIUM BULLET WEIGHT VALUE FROM AVERAGE VALUE
HIGH BULLET WEIGHT ---- 240.7 ------- 0.254 = HIGH BULLET WEIGHT VALUE FROM AVERAGE VALUE

MAXIMUM WEIGHT DIFFERENCE ---- 0.5 ------- 0.12 = STANDARD DEVIATION

Attachment 288572Attachment 288573Attachment 288574Attachment 288575Attachment 288580Attachment 288581

Picture 1-4 swaged cores to seated cores 500/pc lot
Pictures 5-6 Finished 500/pc lot of 44/cal TC-SP copper jacketed bullets
Picture 7 possible variations that can be made
copper jacket and swaged core before seating core
240/gr finished bullet
300/gr finished bullet
240/gr hollow point bullet
240/gr finished bullet using 40-S&W cases for jackets

I will be using these over the years in a 44 S&W magnum revolver and for my Desert Eagle using a rare 440/Corbon 10" barrel.

Hope this information shows those interested of what is possible in swaging bullets. These came out very consistent using a hydraulic press. The first bullet looks the same as the last bullet, the way they should come out with the correct setup.
Using copper jacket the finished product will come out looking like factory bullets or better.

[cwtebay]

That's quite impressive!!!! Did you begin with lead wire? Or cast your core?

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[KAYDADOG]

These and everything else I make are done with lead wire using Corbin's lead wire extruding setup.
If you look at my swaging 357 lead bullet post, the pictures show the billet you start with and the wire that is extruded.
For 44/cal 0.365" diameter wire is used ending up with 26 cores per length.
I cut them around 221/gr about plus 5/grains for swaging finished 216/gr cores.
It takes less than 5/sec to extrude any diameter wire required for the specific caliber your making.

[rcslotcar]

Great info,Thanks for the pictures and review.