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Swaging slugs


hafod
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hi lads 

anyone here swaging their own 22 hollow point slugs I,m interested in rolling my own slugs 

been watching a lot of vids on YouTube liked the look of the slugs produced with the dies made by GMI engineering 

anyone know what price range these dies are running at 

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I've had a reply from GMI engineering today

everything the press , the dies , and 2 punches the whole shooting match is $1.480 .80  us or  £1.140 10 Stirling with free shipping

only down side is they ship from either Taiwan or India so I,d get whacked with the import duties and VAT I thought I read they were a UK engineering firm TBH 

they have a UK agent who is based in Aberdeen my communication with GMI was very positive very helpfull people

the gent told me its possible to swage any weight from 20 to 40 grain slugs In 22 calibre 

He said that they shipped the same kit to a UK based customer 2 weeks ago and even offered to contact him on my behalf to find out what the import duties and VAT were fair play 

So I,'ll weight and see if they will come back to me its just the kind of kit I want but the import duties and VAT will put it beyond my price range sadly 

The presslug and the Corbin setup is nice but the prices of them plus the import duties and VAT kills that idea as well lol 

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So i think at those prices I think I,'ll buy some tool steel and retire to the workshop and see what I can turn on the lathe and mill myself

I've bought a few samples of slugs from different manufacturers to get some measurements from when I get some time a project for the autumn nights lol 

You might find your way out on the price of the Corbin kit its an excellent piece of workmanship but more for the comercial swager TBH 

its a very expensive and Corbin have a very long waiting list that is months long 

 

Edited by hafod
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I'm wondering now if I could make up a die that would screw into a lee classic cast press and the punches clip into the ram

i reload for 22 centrefire rifles you know utilise the kit that i already have 

the lee classic cast press is a beast of a press that I used to swage 22 calibre jacketed bullets on so it should be man enough for the job 

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Ahh

your in the US are you

now if thats the case that's a different kettle of fish I would say if you can get that set up for that kind of money I'd say go for it  

For us across the pond the import duties and VAT kills it for us 

Yeah I've watched quite a bit on YouTube there are some beautiful looking slugs being made by a lot of people that shoot very well indeed 

I'm a farmer so when I get a bit of time now in the dark nights i,ll see what i can come up with 

there are some people swaging some lovely looking slugs with some very basic equipment I might even give up my rim fire 22 and have a slot on my fac for a high powered 22 air rifle instead 

Edited by hafod
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I used to commercially swage .455 Mk II and Mk III bullets with Corbin equipment. I could also make (as was specified when ordered) .455 Mk IV and jacketed .455 Mk VI bullets. The PITA was not the swaging but making the cores. I used to buy my made to 220 grains from either Mountain & Sowden or Peter Johnson's Ballistic Precision. I forget which. Both are long gone as are my dies and the press which were sold to Fred and Marion Clarke of Empire Arms, Edmonton when I decided it was less effort to commission RCBS via Edgard Brothers to make a run of one hundred .455 Mk II moulds. What happened after Empire Arms had them I know not.

Edited by enfieldspares
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2 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

I used to commercially swage .455 Mk II and Mk III bullets with Corbin equipment. I could also make (as was specified when ordered) .455 Mk IV and jacketed .455 Mk VI bullets. The PITA was not the swaging but making the cores. I used to buy my made to 220 grains from either Mountain & Sowden or Peter Johnson's Ballistic Precision. I forget which. 

Mountain and sowden

now there's a blast from the past lol 

I got quite sufficient at swaging the 22 jacketed bullets once I got everything dialled in shot as good as anything I bought 

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Back in the olden days I had my .32 match pistol bullets swaged by the chap who always had a stand at the Bisley AD pistol meetings. The cores were chopped from a reel of lead wire with a simple guillotine with a length stop, then placed in the swaging die and a tiny worm of extruded surplus lead  about 1mm thick squeezed out the nose of the die. These were .313 98gn hollow based wadcutters. Absolutely perfect size and weight.

I've recently tried swaging some bullets for my .357 Westlake muzzle loading revolver. I started off with a cast .44 lead ball and just shoved it through a .356 Lee sizing die. They didn't shoot badly but no better that a straight cast flat nosed round bullet so didn't progress the idea. They did come out consistent size and weight though.
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Bottom group swaged, top group cast .357. (20 yards, rested)
RNbxgJam.jpg

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It take a bit of getting used to the swaging game

but once you get everything come together and your equipment dialed in you can get very good results

it took me ages to get right but when it finally all come together i got to enjoy swaging the.224 dia jacketed 55 grain pills foxes didn't like em at all

Edited by hafod
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29 minutes ago, 1066 said:

 

I've recently tried swaging some bullets for my .357 Westlake muzzle loading revolver. I started off with a cast .44 lead ball and just shoved it through a .356 Lee sizing die. They didn't shoot badly but no better that a straight cast flat nosed round bullet so didn't progress the idea. They did come out consistent size and weight though.
tcn2WuHm.jpg

 

You've just explained, for those that wonder "why" the original thinking behind the .38 Long Colt...supposedly! That is take a bullet the same WEIGHT as the proven "stopping power" .44 round ball in a large frame size muzzleloading revolver and then swage it down to nominal .36" size to enable it to be fired in a medium frame breechloading revolver...the Colt 1892 Army. And hey ho you've .44 stopping power but in a smaller and lighter sidearm. Or that was the the often told story about it. But as the Americans found out in the Philippines bullet diameter mattered also!

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18 hours ago, Andy H said:

I think the guy who was at the Bisley ad's was selling the Nylan swaging press.

Absolutely right Andy - I just couldn't think of the name. I've had a quick search and can find no mention of photos of the press. I do remember it was a real meaty affair and really no effort to swage the little .32 wadcutters, turned out really high quality bullets. Another good quality swaged wadcutter from the same era was  Bingley .38's.

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