Found an unexpected gem in the clearance-bin...
Jun 29, 2019 19:52:54 GMT -5
awp101, magnumwheelman, and 3 more like this
Post by tinkerpearce on Jun 29, 2019 19:52:54 GMT -5
...in the form of a Herter's .45 swaging die for $5.
Screws right into my RCBS press. I had to make a flat-plate replacement for the shell-holder but that was simple enough. Pop a bullet onto the plate, center it and run it into the die. Tap the rammer on top with a soft hammer and out pops a lovely swaged SWC! OK< it's not only good for turning my go-to 200gr. LRNFP into a SWC, but I had these 240gr .429 bullets that were surplus-to-need... pop, crank, squish- now they are .240 grain .451 SWCs! They shoot nice and make clean, pretty holes in paper... this thing is awesome!
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Above: 200gr and 240 gr. SWCs
I am now looking for more of these swaging dies in other calibers... and further research has shown I need a bullet-diameter ram instead of the flat plate shell-holder replacement. No worries- I'll make one.
This inspired me to try something with my more primitive swaging set-up. Some time back I purchased a number of copper-washed SWCs thinking they were .429s. Nope- they were 210gr. .41s, useless to me. I popped them into the .451 swaging-block, selected the correct profiling punch and a big hammer, and seconds later I had some fine copper-washed 210gr. .451 bullets, just right for stuffing into .450 adams brass over a load of black powder.
Big Fun. Looking forward to seeing what else I can come up with!
Screws right into my RCBS press. I had to make a flat-plate replacement for the shell-holder but that was simple enough. Pop a bullet onto the plate, center it and run it into the die. Tap the rammer on top with a soft hammer and out pops a lovely swaged SWC! OK< it's not only good for turning my go-to 200gr. LRNFP into a SWC, but I had these 240gr .429 bullets that were surplus-to-need... pop, crank, squish- now they are .240 grain .451 SWCs! They shoot nice and make clean, pretty holes in paper... this thing is awesome!
Above: 200gr and 240 gr. SWCs
I am now looking for more of these swaging dies in other calibers... and further research has shown I need a bullet-diameter ram instead of the flat plate shell-holder replacement. No worries- I'll make one.
This inspired me to try something with my more primitive swaging set-up. Some time back I purchased a number of copper-washed SWCs thinking they were .429s. Nope- they were 210gr. .41s, useless to me. I popped them into the .451 swaging-block, selected the correct profiling punch and a big hammer, and seconds later I had some fine copper-washed 210gr. .451 bullets, just right for stuffing into .450 adams brass over a load of black powder.
Big Fun. Looking forward to seeing what else I can come up with!
