Bullet swaging for the 450b --CHEAP!--

[Al in Mi]

mother of god.

I just spent 3 hours on cast boolits....

that site is awesome.
I need to get into this..
I hate being broke as a joke....

and let me guess, you've spent another 3 hours since!!!

Pretty creative that fella has been and some of the expansion test were suprising.

There was another guy who was using a #2 or #3 phillips point as a core seater, just looked wicked mean.

[hawcer]

Then poured pure lead into the case...filling it. Once cooled, I trimmed off the rim.

hawcer-

What's the proper technique for trimming off the rim?

Thanks.

==Bob

I don't have a "proper" method yet. I might convert my drill bit sharpener to handle the task. for now, I have been lightly chucking them in the drill press and holding a file up against the rim to remove it.

[hawcer]

A couple more teaser pics... I've been playing with the nose a bit...it kinda looks like a bottle nose. The second pic is with the bullet sitting in a 45LC case.

[Hoot]

And you get a crimp groove thrown in at no extra cost!

Is there any case out there that meets your dimensional needs, but that is rimless?

Hoot

[pitted bore]

Hoot-

I suspect a .44 Mag case is the best that can be done, even though the rim needs to be turned off.

Code: Select all

Cartridge          Rim     Base
-----------------------------------------------
44 Rem Magnum       0.514  0.457
44 Auto Mag         0.473  0.473

35 Remington        0.460  0.459
6.5x52 Carcano      0.450  0.447
6.5x54 Mann-Scho    0.454  0.452

The problem with the three possible rifle cartridges is that the cases are tapered. To be usable, before filling them with lead they would have to be trimmed to the proper length, and then the case taper removed with one or more expander rods. This is a lot more time-consuming than just trimming a rim.
--Bob

[BD1]

I've not done any swaging myself. It seems like a lot of extra work for anything under 2,500 fps as I can just use cast boolits. However I do know that .40 S&W brass is often used as jackets for 45 colt and 45/70 bullets. The rims are left as is and they seem to shoot just fine at those velocities. I'd think they'd work just fine in the .450B as well.
BD

[hawcer]

I made 3 more of a different variety. They came out to 268gr and are .935" in length.
I chucked these up side down in my drill press and used a sharp chisel to form the tip. I will be making a stationary cutter that I can mount to my drill press table...I should be able to cut the rims and form all the points more uniformly that way.




If these were for anything other than the 450B...I wouldn't bother and hard cast as usual. To tell you the truth...I just wanted to find out if I could do it with out all the fancy swaging dies. I seem to have plenty of time to kill waiting on the MGI barrel and bolt...so this is keeping my interest in the 450 at peak operating levels.

[oldmanjeffers]

AWESOME Hawcer!!! Great work!

Thank you very much for sharing your techniques and Ideas, Yet another thing for us 450BM addicts to play with.

Keep it coming, PLEASE!

[pitted bore]

However I do know that .40 S&W brass is often used as jackets for 45 colt and 45/70 bullets. The rims are left as is and they seem to shoot just fine at those velocities. I'd think they'd work just fine in the .450B as well.
BD

I picked up a couple of fired 40 S&W cases at the range, along with a 10mm auto. Their diameters are about 0.420" at the rim and about 0.425" at the base in front of the rim. Do the presses and dies used to swage bullets from the cases have enough strength to expand a case head and rim to 0.452? Or do they just expand the case body, and allow the head and rim to ride free of the bore?

Just curious.
--Bob

[hawcer]

However I do know that .40 S&W brass is often used as jackets for 45 colt and 45/70 bullets. The rims are left as is and they seem to shoot just fine at those velocities. I'd think they'd work just fine in the .450B as well.
BD

I picked up a couple of fired 40 S&W cases at the range, along with a 10mm auto. Their diameters are about 0.420" at the rim and about 0.425" at the base in front of the rim. Do the presses and dies used to swage bullets from the cases have enough strength to expand a case head and rim to 0.452? Or do they just expand the case body, and allow the head and rim to ride free of the bore?

Just curious.
--Bob

A buddy of mine has bullet swag sets for 44mag and 45acp.. he makes all his bullets out of 40cal cases. It will expand almost the whole case out to .429" or .451" . The rim won't expand and a small portion above the rim won't expand as much.