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Normal Topic Swaging Number 1½ (Read 151 times)
Nero
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Swaging Number 1½
Jun 12th, 2024 at 1:38am
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The next step depends on how exacting you are to make a perfect bullet because it depends on how you pull down on the handle of the press or how long you leave the die compressing the lead as it can make a difference on the weight of the lead core. It can be half a grain or even a whole grain difference. So I weigh the lead cores after they come out of the die and if they are a little over I run them back into the die without adjusting it until they are what I want.
The cores then have to be washed before being seated into the cases to get the lube off.
I have found that if you are making a light weight bullet of 40 to 45 grains the cases can stick to the core punch when seating the lead core. To stop this happening Gunsmith John Hall out at South Head made up a case holder that fits into the Forster case trimmer to trim the cases down a bit. This is before you iron the rim out
With clean hands the clean lead cores are put into the clean jackets, the jackets are lubed again, just a small amount on your fingers as you put them in the core seating die. Swaging dies can exert enormous pressure as I once found out to my cost. I start adjusting the core punch, increasing the pressure on the lead core until only just a very small fraction starts to bleed past the punch. Just the slightest indication. You can see this by looking inside the case.
This is where your first rejects will be seen. It depends on the mark on the case that the firing pin made of whichever rifle fired the 22 R/F  as the lead can bleed through this area if the firing pin has damaged the case rim too much. If it does put it in the pot to be melted down for the next batch.
You now have your lead inside the case and the next job is to change dies and form the ogive of the bullet.
This was where I had so many rejects as the cases can fold into themselves. In an effort to get over this I got David Corbin to make me another punch that would put a cup shape into the base of the case when seating the lead core.
This also helps to iron out any slight rim mark and push the lead forward in the jacket a bit more to keep the jackets from folding in on themselves. 
Didn’t work, helped a little but not much. So if a little cup to the base of the bullet helped a little, surely a much bigger one must be better? Something like the base of the old lead factory 455 Webley round.
Another new punch arrived and although it worked perfectly with the commercial jackets it tended to tear the thinner R/F cases.
« Last Edit: Jun 12th, 2024 at 10:10pm by Nero »  
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