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lovesrugers
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| Posted: November 22 2008 at 9:29am | IP Logged
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If you haven't noticed yet there is a new Poll up on the home page.
The Poll question is: Do you Swage your Own Bullets? This poll was started to see how many people swage their own bullets, or have swaged their own bullets and to gauge interest in bullet swaging.
So go to the main page and cast your vote and then come back here and tell others why you voted as you did. Also if you do swage your own bullets it would be handy if you could tell fellow members what kind of equipment you use and how you do it.
To vote in the Poll go to:
Handloads
and select your choice from the answers located in the upper right hand corner of the page.
For current results:
Do you swage your Own bullets poll results.
Jerry
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Rigmarol
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| Posted: November 22 2008 at 9:51am | IP Logged
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I voted that I'd like to swage, if only so I can make lead free bullets. But the cost is just so hard to get over. Unless I fall into a Heck of a deal on some used equipment I'm afraid I'll continue to buy my jacketed ammo and cast my lead ammo.
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littlejack49
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| Posted: November 22 2008 at 1:12pm | IP Logged
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Yers ago I checked into swaging my own bullets. The cost of the equipment was very prohibitive and still is. I get all the satifactory results from casting for my handgunns and one rifle, and the buying of factory hunting bullets. The lead is getting harder and harder to get so higher and higher it goes. The copper for the jackets is getting higher and higher.
Jack
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Kurt
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| Posted: November 22 2008 at 1:48pm | IP Logged
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I started swaging in the late fifty's because I could not buy commercial bullets that I wanted to shoot.
If things keep going on this trend, the Greene's and animal rights people are getting pushed through like the lead ban that is already starting swaging just might be necessary.
Not to long ago in Illinois they wanted to put a very high tax 500% on loading components and ammo.
Our new upcoming President voted for it and I would not surprise me if he would again if he had the bill in front of him.
I have been swaging some from powdered metals like Bronze, Bismuth, Zinc and Tunsten.
These are some of the components we might have to go with if things keep going like they are.
There is a lot of used swage equipment out there for sale even some of the older stuff like I started with that don't have the shine that the equipment I now use but quite serviceable.
I'm set up so I can swage .22, .308 .44, .45 .50 rifle and pistol.
It might become necessary to start rolling our own.
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lovesrugers
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| Posted: December 09 2008 at 1:18pm | IP Logged
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Wow, only one person out of the 90+ people that voted that they have swaged their own bullets has responded so far.
Jerry
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Kurt
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| Posted: December 09 2008 at 7:41pm | IP Logged
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Well Jerry there was a time when swagging was a must to get a good bullet for bench rest or the big .45 caliber rifle bullets that just were not made commercially.
You could swage a jacketed bullet for less then 3 cents and you still can for less then 10 cents if you make your own jackets from copper tubing of punch them out from sheet copper and use scrap lead even if you buy jackets in bulk.
But getting set up with the expense for the equipment and the frustration of getting dies made once your set up it is better to cast or buy the bullets in bulk right from the manufacture trhat will sell them to you by the pound at a great discount because over production or maybe floor sweepings after the lot is completed there just as good as the ones you buy in a box.
That is how I buy mine, but I dont shoot high power to much any more so I rely on cast bullets.
If you want to swage lead bullets and shoot lead or PP bullets your better off casting them with a good quality custom mould.
I have moulds that cast bullets I use will not take the back seat to my swaged bullets.
Kurt
Edited by Kurt on December 09 2008 at 7:44pm
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Rigmarol
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| Posted: December 10 2008 at 11:09am | IP Logged
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I wonder if it's possible to build your own swagging equipment with a home milling and lathing machine?
Machinists in the group; is it worth the trouble? No CNC btw.
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Kurt
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| Posted: December 10 2008 at 12:45pm | IP Logged
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Yes you could build your own press.
The Rock chucker would be the bare minimum for strength. The RCBS Big Max A-4 would be better, but you must change the cam to a shorter stroke and hope for the best that the threads on the head bushing are true and the ram is solid with out slop.
Kurt
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taminsong
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| Posted: December 21 2008 at 10:34pm | IP Logged
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I voted I'd like to swage. Been dreaming of owning some stuff for that someday. Just for curiosity, I really want to try that and I can imagine the feeling of shooting your own rolled ammo!
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MtnGun
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| Posted: December 26 2008 at 10:36am | IP Logged
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Yes, am running the squirt die this afternoon. Sure wish there was a swage forum here.
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turbo1889
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| Posted: December 26 2008 at 9:07pm | IP Logged
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Well, I marked the "want to swage" option on the poll but in actuality I have done a little swagging. Got a swage die off of e-bay back when you could actually sell reloading stuff on their site before they went anti- for making round nose 410 foster slugs from pure lead cores. Came with a Lee #358-105-SWC double cavity mold and you cast cores from that mold with pure lead and then swaged them into 1/4oz. slugs on a reloading press. Started out using an old Lee single stage cheapo press and finally broke it and then put the swage die in a Lee Single Stage Clasic Cast which is a very strong press with a lot of leverage at the top of the stroke and with the much better press I found out I could swage harder lead cores and started using soft stick on WW and then pushed my luck even further adding a little tin to the mix. Eventually ended up pushing things too far and snapped the top off of the die and that was that.
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Radio Flyer
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| Posted: February 10 2009 at 9:09pm | IP Logged
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lovesrugers wrote:
Wow, only one person out of the 90+ people that
voted that they have swaged their own bullets has responded so far.
Jerry |
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I added my vote to the active swaging list.
7mm rifle, .355, .357, several .308 rifle (several ogive point forming),
.451, and a few new additions on the way (on order).
Just the next logical step up from handloading/reloading...
I cast lead about once every four years now... swaging is much easier.
I still have an old Corbin "gold" press and dies on the classified, not much
hope there because the economy is crap.
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WyrTwister
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| Posted: January 27 2010 at 3:03am | IP Logged
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I cast most of my own bullets .
However , I may be misinformed , what I had in mind was swagged lead bullets , which I think are soft lead ?
If you are talking about jacketed bullets , I would be interested in that , if the equipment was reasonably priced and the process was not too slow .
God bless
Wyr
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Boomer
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| Posted: January 27 2010 at 7:43am | IP Logged
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I voted I'd like to do it.. But like most others, the cost gives me pause.
Edited by Boomer on January 27 2010 at 7:44am
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One Bullet Dan
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| Posted: January 27 2010 at 8:40am | IP Logged
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I`d love to do it, but unless I could swing a contract from the Michigan Militia, I just can`t justify the initial cost. I can buy a slew of factory mades for what the setup would cost.
Casting lead bullets is a lot more cost effective for me. I don`t have a pot or mould that hasn`t already paid for itself.
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Ham Gunner
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| Posted: January 27 2010 at 8:52am | IP Logged
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I voted that I have no interest because I know that I could not afford to get set up and the jackets would be very expensive. However, I must say that the most accurate bullet that I ever shot out of my old model flattop .44 Blackhawk was a 225gr. Speer half-jacket. I would love to be able to produce such a bullet myself. So I guess I truly would like to give it a try, but knowing that it will never happen.
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STCM(SW)
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| Posted: January 27 2010 at 10:21pm | IP Logged
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I cast, but why go through all the trouble & cost to swag.
Pure lead is getting harder to come by for me.
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Rigmarol
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| Posted: January 28 2010 at 10:05am | IP Logged
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I personally enjoy casting.
However, it would be nice to be able to put jackets on my cast bullets. So Swaging is attractive to me.
I've looked into it a dozen or more times and just can't see buying the equipment when the same money can keep me in manufactured bullets for a very long time even though the prices are high right now. The only way I could justify the cost if if bullets dried up and were unavailable. Then I know I could justify the cost.
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One Bullet Dan
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| Posted: January 28 2010 at 4:39pm | IP Logged
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Too bad we don`t live on the same block. A group effort would cut the cost down considerably. Outside of a few old timers that used to reload shotgun shells, I`m the only one around here that casts and reloads.  Guess it`s a dieing art.
Even the guys I compete with for lead wheel weights use `em on the end of a string to drowned worms with.
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turbo1889
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| Posted: January 29 2010 at 12:04am | IP Logged
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Well, it has been over a year since I originally posted on this thread. Seems some fresh posts have resurrected it back into an active topic so I thought I should give a little update.
I am now swaging 410-bore slugs on a regular basis using a custom swaging die I designed myself and paid a sizable chunk of cash to have built for me by a private machinist. For those further interested here is a link to some more info and third generation blue-prints:
Do It Yourself 410-bore Shotgun Slug Swaging Die
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Handloads.Com Forum : General Discussion
Topic: Poll, Do you Swage your Own Bullets?
