Sure I get that. Just seems like a huge outlay in cash, and a giant time commitment. Yes in the end you can make your own. I suppose I would cast S-tons of cores and then store them. Then form all the jackets and store them.

What is the reason behind sorting the cases by manufacturer? Seems to me like lots of extra time for no reason.

My guess would be differences in case thickness. This would affect finished weight as well as possibly the way the dies are set.


ETA: spelling

I'm calling it 12,200.  10,000 left to make!

Differences in case thickness is one reason; they also tend to weigh different amounts.  Yes, it is a PITA.  On that, for now, I trusted what those who went before me recommended.  I'll get to a point when I'll experiment a bit to see what effect those differences actually make. Sorting ~17k of them gave me something to do while I was waiting for my dies.  

Very nice intro and great pictures for people interested in swaging!

I've been swaging .22 jackets for bullets for a couple years now, and I'd never thought about putting my Lee press sideways to drop the derimmed .22s into the annealing pan

Excellent use of your printer btw, which printer do you have?

I tried cleaning my derimmed casings without stainless pins and found it was easier and I didn't need to separate pins anymore, however it does take longer to get them as clean and shiny without the pins (using a home made tumbler).

If you make your own core molds, once you find the core weight you want, you can just make another core mold for that specific weight, this way you can cast cores for either 55gr or heavier bullets without need to adjust your core swaging die.

Thanks :).

The printer is a FlashForge Creator Dual.  I immediately knew I wanted to design / print this stuff to help my swaging productivity.  

I'll try a batch of brass without pins and see how it does. As long as I batch far enough ahead, the amount of time shouldn't be a problem.  I picked up a thousand or so today that are completely black...  that'd be a good test!

The more I look at this the more I want to do it. Damn you!  I just don't have that kind of coin.

Hee, hee, hee...  .  I'd suggest keeping up with the swaging forum over on CB.

Head over to CB and look at some of the home builds.  Yes it takes time to get a die right, but so far I have spent roughly ~$50 on tooling and materials to make my dies, and I have enough stock to make at least one whole set including trashing my mistakes.  If you have access to a lathe its definetely worth looking into making your own.  they wont look as nice as BT's which are a piece of art, but they will get the job done.

Not trying to dog BT at all. I think CH4d makes them for him.


Are there prints somewhere for the dies?

I have access to an entire machine shop of CNC turret lathes and can produce high quality items quickly.

I'm not sure what BT's relationship with CH4d is - I was under the impression that he does buy some of his dies from them, and modifies them.  

I have seen reference to prints over on CB, along with discussions about how home die makers are getting their projects done. That's out of my league, so I haven't paid much attention to those threads though.

Great wright up Rick!

Excellent looking bullets. I'm always pleased when customers are able to achieve success with a minimal learning curve.

I'm not sure one could ever justify the cost of swage dies with the number of bullets they make, well..... actually the .500 cal 350 grain Hornady XTP bullets are nearly $1 each! Imagine being able to justify the cost of equipment in less then 6 boxes of bullets! With cheap 22 cal bullets it is easier to justify the cost with the enjoyment you get out of the investment. There are certainly worse things we could spend our money on.

Making swage dies on the other hand is a good deal of work. The trick is to find out what works for you.

I have "improved" many CH-4d dies over the last 5 years with better internal components, mostly in 40, 44 and 45 caliber since they didn't offer anything smaller then 32 cal. Sadly CH hasn't made any swage dies in nearly two years and has no plans to offer any future swage dies. So no, CH doesn't make my dies for me.

You would think fancy CNC machinery would aid in the process, maybe it can and will, but again you must find out what works for you. For me it was a hand operated lathe and mill with expensive, high quality professionally made carbide reamers (that is another subject all in it's self, you just can't order a "22" cal point form carbide reamer from McMaster Carr)  Others have tried to go to a machine shops with fancy CNC equipment to make these dies yet they had their fare share of difficulty. Most of the dies required for making bullets are not that difficult to make but everyone that has tried will tell you it is the point form die that is the challenge.

Yep swage dies can be somewhat expensive, I used to think Corbin's prices where expensive until I attempted to make my own set. I was lucky I am a very patient person because my patience was tested many times in learning what it took to perfect a quality point form die and set of swage dies. That is the challenge. It is not like you can go take a class at a tech school for making swage dies, you really have to teach yourself.

But back to making bullets! Nicely done Rick! Thank you for your patience and support. You have all you need now to make as many 22 cal bullets that you could ever need. Heck you have already made 2,000+ in only what, a month! Swage On!  My first swage die was a CH 44 cal. That first year I made nearly 20,000 bullets and traded half of them for more brass to make more bullets with :)

Good Shooting and Swage On!

BT

best use for 5.7 brass ever?

Good thing there are companies that will make carbide reamers to the dimesions yyou want.

Great write up! I've been interested in making my own for a while now (despite the fact I have >4k rounds sitting in a spare ammo can).

I'm interested in the cost. I have pretty much everything already except the dies. I already cast boolits with a ton of free lead, have a wet tumbler, own a Lee classic, etc.. What did the actual die setup cost you? I saw your $1200 reference, but what fraction of that was the dies, press modification thingy, lead mold? Thanks, and awesome job on the writeup. I'm so subscribed :)

Are the prices listed on BT's post in castboolits still accurate? link

AFAIK, yes.  Basically, that's everything - assuming you already have a press and a way to cast lead.  I'm in a couple hundred more as I bought a separate press for this, and the HF tumbler.

Rick amazing write up.

Now I have to figure out how to budget $1200 into the fun money.

To think of all the .22 brass I left on the ground at the range , figuratively speaking since I sweep them into the collection bucket.

you need a 06 FFL and pay your yearly ITAR fee..

good write up more better than the one i did a while ago..

Yeah I know. I am an 06.

i am as well.. just to sell swaged bullets and jackets..

It's pretty sad to have to go through all of that just to sell bullets and jackets. Bunch of BS.

LOL thats what the ATF agent said as well. thats why i added you need both to sell so if any one is thinking about doing it.. FWIW I'm zoned residential and 200 yards away from a school. Actually getting one for bullets is easer than the full on ammo. No fire inspect/hazardous materials storage. Just 30 bucks for the 06 and then a 2250 yearly to ITAR.

Part of me wishes it was an option where I currently live (disallowed by the kounty zoning folks); part of me wouldn't want to part with that much coin to do what (at my level anyway) wouldn't be very profitable.

about 9k on hydro press and dies.. Im going from copper strip, which I buy at scrap prices from where I work. To complete 30 cal bullet. And I can do a swage from 223 brass to 30 cal jacket as well.

oh and don't push the brass jacket 224 stuff over 4k it will blow apart on its way to teh target.

Nice!  You're up there in the "land of the swaging die makers" too.  

For those contemplating getting into BT Sniper's dies, his prices are up to $1,465 for the complete set I mentioned here.  There is a 10% off offer through 2-14-14.  I think he's so busy at this point that he's trying not to get overrun.

LOL i work with in stones throw of Corbins. Dave is a damn nice guy and ive spent many a Hr in his shop picking his brain. If you want to try your hand at some 22 cal copper jackets shoot me a IM with your addy and ill get a few out to ya. As for brass the best ones I found that were consistent in weight were Eley Tenex. You can make some crazy accurate bullets from them. Then Federal target was good as the next step down.

That's awesome - thank you and PM sent!

This thread is inspirational, thank you.

Both Dave Corbin and Larry Blackmon are still in business.

Working at a local range, I've been staring at all the discarded 22 cases for years, and a fellow shooter recently planted a seed: "You know Corbin used to make dies for converting 22 cases to jackets, and I've been in touch with him since COVID and he doesn't know if he'll ever make any more."

I went home, and maybe the planets were aligned - saw the die set available on eBay.

Been in touch with Corbin and picked up some items there.  Been in touch with Mr. Blackmon - he says he's eight months behind.

As one poster above said, 'labor of love' and a hobby.

Some things are fun just because one can.

Tag for further reading as I've used someones elses bullets out of my M16A4 clone in ND on Prairie Dogs.
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