Jacket Swaging - Copper Strip

[Goober]

Folks,

I would like to move from basic swaging of .224 from .22 shells to making my own 6.5mm BT type bullets.

I reload now of course and shoot out to 1000 meters.

I now am looking at jumping in and getting a Corbin press, dies and Jacket Dies for jackets from copper strip. Can match grade be made???

Also, any private messages on the difference in quality between the Corbin brothers equipment? Obviously RCE is cheaper but I am most interested in Quality.

Thanks

[Pipefitter]

Yes, match grade bullets can be made, it is mostly attention to details.

I got my swaging equipment from the Corbin brothers before Richard split from David, but from what I have found the quality is excellent from both. It would basically boil down to whose press (and dies) you would like to use.

[Hickory]

This is a worth while endeavor if you're a young enough man to take advantage of the payback over the years and recover the enormous cost.

[kc3ak]

If you decide on Richard's press, Dave does sell an adapter to use his dies with the Walnut Hill press. I did find that you can get dies quicker from Dave than Richard. I cancelled an order for a 3 die set from Richard after a good bit over a year, but have never waited more than several months for an order from Dave. Sometimes, it might be worth it to pay a little more and actually get the dies in a timely manner so you can use them.

[Sasquatch-1]

Is the adapter for the "S" dies? And do you use it? Curious about durability of the adapter.

If you decide on Richard's press, Dave does sell an adapter to use his dies with the Walnut Hill press.

[uncle dino]

The h to s adapter I have is solid, it is used primarily for draw punches. The one I have will not work for any swaging dies. D

[kc3ak]

The "S" to Walnut Hill adapter probably is a bushing. I do not have it YET, but I plan to order one. It only has to change the threading of the ram. I would also imagine you would need one of David's external punch holders, since Richard's external punches are made a little different from David's.

[rolltide]

I have dies from Dave and Richard. The quality of both are top notch. I like Richard's press and die design because they are considerably more substantial than Dave's (Dave's are 5/8" and Richard's are 7/8"). Also, as has been mentioned, since Richard's design is based on larger diameter, you can get or make adapters to use Dave Corbin and Blackmon dies on Richard Corbin's press. You can also use BT Sniper's dies and all others made for reloading presses on Richard Corbin's presses. If you buy the outfit from Dave Corbin, you are locked in to using his or Blackmon's dies. If you are ever going to expand into multiple calibers and saving money seems important to you, I would go with Richard Corbin (which is what I did after long and careful consideration.) If you are ever only going to do 1 or 2 calibers and you want the convenience of a one stop shop with shorter waiting times on orders, and you don't mind paying 2 or 3 times as much for the covenience, Dave Corbin is a good choice. As far as the quality of bullet produced, there is probably no difference between the two.

[Zbench]

Goober,

I go with the other camp and like David's stuff. IMO, the H dies are the way to go. I would invest the time in a call to David and see if what you want to do is possible with a hand press. Drawing jackets is not like moving BHN 5 pure lead. It takes a lot of force and the hydro machine is the way to go if you ask me. They are expensive, but if you keep an eye out, you can find one at less than half price which takes some of the sting out. Just don't want you to be disappointed and find that you either can't do what you want, or it's just too hard on the arm.

BTW, I talk to David all the time, and he just converted most of his production machinery over to CNC, and his lead time on just about anything is 45 days or less. I've ordered several custom dies from him lately, with no rush payment and they have arrived inside that timeline.

[uncle dino]

I agree with zbench..there is very little you cannot do with an h die set up. D

[Goober]

Thanks, glad to hear. I am ok with the higher cost because it is my only real hobby - long distance shooting.

Yes, match grade bullets can be made, it is mostly attention to details.

I got my swaging equipment from the Corbin brothers before Richard split from David, but from what I have found the quality is excellent from both. It would basically boil down to whose press (and dies) you would like to use.

[Goober]

Thanks. Is Richards waiting period still over a year as mentioned above? David says his strip jacket makers can best commercial and Richard says you can't. Is this a quality difference, a level of truth or something else?

[Goober]

Zbench - I have been leaning toward getting the mega mite hand press and the dies and jacket strip dies for.6.5mm. This is the only one Dave suggests I don't need the Hydralic press for. Try for a year and if all goes as planned .get the hydraulic press and dies for.338 and.50bmg

Richards is just.so much cheaper I keep wondering. Money is not that big of a.deal but like anyons, I don't want to throw it away. I do figure I will have it forever. I am 42 so lots of time to shoot.

[mckenziedrums]

Well... For one thing you can easily get some 6.5 jackets for a song right now from Richard. Grab them while you can. I've always thought of it this way: Richard is the engineer, David is the salesman. I know some folks have other experiences but I've always had a great dialogue with Richard. He's not always the fastest but he's always been great to me and answered any questions I had. The walnut hill is a fantastic press and he makes a very good quality die.

[Zbench]

I don't think that is fair. I've had very many technical conversations with David and he has always been very helpful. The tooling he has recommended has always worked with little drama or fanfare. No rework, no problems. I get that there was some split between those two in the past, and many here have their favorites, including me, but to make a statement like that is not responsible.

Here is the bottom line. Richard is a one man show and does everything himself. David has 5 tool and die makers working for him, full time and a back office sales staff. That is the reason for the difference in price and wait time. David is expanding his business, Richard is cutting back. These are fact based statements.

Having said that, who would you rather do business with?

[mckenziedrums]

I'm certainly not saying that David doesn't know his stuff, clearly he does. However, Richard is more of the engineering mindset and David was always the front man. Different personalities is all. Read any of the David Corbin books and he's constantly talking up the making money aspect where as Richard is a bit more grounded in that regard. He is less likely to hype things like the ULD tips, etc.

In no way am I disparaging either of them. Though for the price of the D Corbin stuff I'd probably get it from BT Sniper instead. I'm pinching pennies to fund my swaging and I find that you can not beat the quality and price of the RCE gear. (Well OK... Blackmon makes fine stuff too but I've got 2 Walnut Hills and a Seagirt) If I was time sensitive I'd order elsewhere, but rarely is that the case.

[GerryM]

I'm certainly not saying that David doesn't know his stuff, clearly he does. However, Richard is more of the engineering mindset and David was always the front man. Different personalities is all. Read any of the David Corbin books and he's constantly talking up the making money aspect where as Richard is a bit more grounded in that regard. He is less likely to hype things like the ULD tips, etc.

In no way am I disparaging either of them. Though for the price of the D Corbin stuff I'd probably get it from BT Sniper instead. I'm pinching pennies to fund my swaging and I find that you can not beat the quality and price of the RCE gear. (Well OK... Blackmon makes fine stuff too but I've got 2 Walnut Hills and a Seagirt) If I was time sensitive I'd order elsewhere, but rarely is that the case.

Interesting post and pretty straight answer
If your only going to make bullets for yourself Just buy the jacket,s that Richard has NOW.
He is pretty much going out of the jacket business. Pick up all you can of his .264 jackets. This is were you will save money.
By what ever type of bullet dies that you can afford . 1 press will do for now on a small scale.
It's complex making high quality jackets from strip copper or red brass. You'll find 264 jacket,s for sale at other places but pretty expensive.
Jackets are running the price of a finished bullet { production cost} from the bullet companies.

[Goober]

Thanks folks, this site and your posts have been very helpful. I appreciate it.

I wish I sould get the jackets! Apparently because I am in Canada I can not order jackets from the US due to some type of export law. I can however, buy all the stuff to make them.

Another question.

If you were making my calibres (6.5, .338 and 50BMG) and wanting to shoot out to 1200 yards and farther, would you buy jacket making from copper strip, tube or none of the above (assume money isn't a huge issue... quality is)

Thanks again folks! Awesome I found this place.

[Zbench]

Jackets from strip are the highest quality!

[Goober]

Thanks!