.he CHAPTER 1 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # HOW DO YOU SWAGE BULLETS? There are five different ways to swage bullets today. You can use: (1) A POUND DIE (2) A RELOADING PRESS (3) The CORBIN MITY MITE PRESS (4) The CORBIN MEGA MITE PRESS (5) The CORBIN HYDRO-PRESS Each of the five methods has certain advantages. The pound die requires no press, but instead, uses a mallet. It is somewhat lower in cost because you do not need to purchase a press, but it is much slower to use and doesn't produce jacketed bullets. It is ideal for swaging large caliber lead bullets, and is often selected by replica black- powder rifle shooters who wish to use an authentic reproduction of the earliest form of swaging die (from the 1890's). The reloading press system is economical since most handloaders already own a suitable reloading press. It is limited to smaller rifle calibers (from .257 to .224) and medium handgun calibers (from .357 to .25 ACP) because of the inherent weakness of the slotted ram. There are certain design restrictions imposed on this system by the press, so it is not ideal for special work or custom calibers. Corbin makes standard calibers and shapes only, in this system. The cost is thus kept low for the quality. Speed is greater than the pound die but less than the other, special swaging systems. The Corbin Mity Mite system uses a special horizontal ram press with more power than any reloading press built. It is much faster than a reloading press since it ejects the bullet automatically on the back stroke. The dies for this system, and the matching punches, do not interchange with the reloading press system. They are made to fit into the RAM of the press, instead of the press head. Calibers from .14 to .458, tubing jackets with walls of up to .030-inch thickness, and weights up to 450 grains, can all be swaged with the Mity Mite. Custom work is done in this system. The Corbin Mega Mite system is based on a massive machined steel press that can handle both reloading and bullet swaging. It can accept ANY of the Corbin dies, including those for the Hydro-press. This ability to interchange various kinds of dies can be important to some owners. However, there are limits to any hand-powered press. The amount of force the Mega Mite produces is awesome, but still less than required for certain large caliber, heavy-jacketed production work. The Corbin Hydro-press system is the ultimate in bullet manufacturing today. It features automatic stroke and pressure control, electronic sensors and timing, programmable stroke control, and many other advanced concepts that place it at the top of the list for custom bullet firms around the world. Any caliber from 20mm cannon to a 10 gauge shotgun slug can be swaged, in virtually unlimited weight or style. Solid brass or copper rod can be formed instantly into bullets of higher precision than lathe turning. Lead wire can be extruded like toothpaste. And the press adapts easily to standard reloading dies for the convenience of automatic sizing and seating. Any of the various swaging systems use the principle that cold metal will flow under sufficient pressure and take on the shape of the vessel holding that pressure. The swage die is a very strong, highly finished vessel for containing the pressure. You swage the bullet in all these systems by driving a punch against the material while it is held within the confines of the die cavity. Upward expansion from the internal pressure created is the key factor in forming the bullets. Reduction in diameter is called "drawing". Remember, swaging always expands the bullet or material upward in diameter. Drawing dies are used to reduce the diameter of an object, such as a bullet or a piece of copper tubing or a jacket. They differ from swaging dies, in that the drawing die has an open top and only one punch is used. The component is pressed through the die and out the top. In passing through a hardened constriction, it becomes smaller. Drawing has serious restrictions when applied to finished bullets, and can only be used for very limited amounts of reduction. But for reforming jackets and making copper tubing into jackets, it is a valuable tool. If you try to put a piece of lead or a jacket into a die that has a smaller diameter of cavity, the material will be forced down in size and will exert a strong pressure against the sides of the die. When the pressure is relieved, by ejecting the component, the material may exert a certain amount of springiness, and become slightly larger than the die cavity. In making swage dies, the die-makers have to contend with the various amounts of spring-back in different hardnesses of jackets, different thicknesses of jacket wall, and other factors. The die itself is normally a different diameter from the actual finished bullet that comes out of it. What this means to you as a potential bullet-maker, is that you should NEVER try to force anything into a swage die. If it won't fit easily, don't push it in. At best, it will make the wrong diameter of bullet. But generally, it will stick fast in the die and require special techniques to remove. And at worst, it can generate enough pressure to break the die! In the following chapters, we'll discuss the various methods of making bullets in more detail, one system at a time. Bear in mind that there are hundreds of possible variations on the techniques, depending on what you want to make. It would be impossible to send this manual to you by mail if every style of bullet were to be described detail, with each step required to make it. We have to give you the basics of making two or three styles, and refer you to the more detailed technical books for advanced techniques. It is far more important for you to understand the principle differences between lead bullet swaging, semi-wadcutter (and jacketed wadcutter) styles of swaging, and the styles that bring the jacket into the nose curve or ogive portion of the bullet. These three basic kinds of bullets form the basis for everything else. If you understand how to make them, then variations such as rebated boattails, liquid-filled internal cavities, partitions, and other advanced designs are fairly simple to pick up. They aren't different: they just expand a bit on the basic techniques. .he CHAPTER 2 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # MAKING THE LEAD CORES The two main components that go into most bullets are the lead filling, or core, and the outer skin, or jacket. We'll talk about jackets in the next chapter. Right now, let's make some cores. There are two main sources for lead cores. You can purchase a spool of lead wire in the proper diameter, along with a core cutter, and chop off accurately-measured lengths. Corbin has lead wire in pure 175,000 grain spools (LW-25), and the PCS-1 Precision Core Cutter to cut them. The core cutter has an adjustable stop screw that adjusts the amount of lead cut on each stroke of the tool. The second source is your own supply of scrap lead, the same as you might use for bullet casting. Corbin makes a 4-cavity, adjustable weight core mould that mounts to the reloading bench. You don't have to pick it up, and there are no handles required. Four pistons, precision fitted to four cylinders, slide up and down to eject the cores. The bottom position is set by a rest plate. This steel plate rests on a pair of nuts, fastened to two threaded rods at either end of the mould. Adjusting the nuts upward decreases the volume in the cylinders, and gives you a lighter core. Pouring molten lead into the top of the mould fills all four cavities. Moving a long sprue cutter chops off the lead at the top of the cavities, leaving even lengths of lead to be ejected straight up from the cylinders. The process is very fast, making it possible to produce at least 1000 cores per hour. Lead wire can also be manufactured at home. Corbin makes a lead wire extruder kit for the Hydro-press, capable of making lengths of lead wire from lead billets. Lead wire can be extruded in special shapes, as well, for use in stained glass work or as hollow tubing used for fishing sinker wire. The LED-1 Lead Extruder Die set comes with a selection of popular diameters of interchangeable dies, all of which fit into a master body. Included with the kit are billet mould tubes to form the proper diameter of lead cylinders for extrusion. These special forms can be the basis of additional income for the Hydro-press owner. Hand presses do not have sufficient stroke or power for commercial lead wire extrusion. Small diameter lead wire for the sub-calibers (.14, .17, and .20) can be produced in the Corbin hand presses with the LED-2 extruder kit. Only relatively short lengths are made at one time, but they are very economical sources of cores for the tiny sub-caliber bullets. For those who wish to make commercial quantities of lead wire, Corbin manufactures the EX-10 lead wire extruder, a dedicated, single- purpose machine to produce any size or shape of lead wire in 10 pound spools. The EX-10 uses lead billets of 2-inch diameter, which can be cast using Corbin's tube moulds. Write for specific information on this product. Lead wire for bullet cores can be used in two ways, and the diameter depends on what way you plan to use it. You can simply swage the lead into a finished bullet, with no jacket. In that case, the lead only has to slip easily into the smallest die bore in the set you are using. Dies made only for lead bullets are at final diameter of the bullet, and consequently your lead core should be just a little under bullet diameter. If the lead is too small in diameter, it will stick out the die mouth before you have enough of it to make the weight you desire. That is a situation to avoid -- never apply any pressure to a component that isn't completely contained within the die. The punch will probably slip off to one side and be damaged by striking the mouth of the die. The exact diameter isn't important as long as the core fits into the die easily and doesn't stick out the die mouth. But if you want to make a jacketed bullet, then the core has to fit inside the jacket (obviously!). You cannot start with a .357 caliber lead bullet and somehow "put a jacket on it" to wind up with a .357 caliber jacketed bullet. Instead, you use lead wire or a cast core that fits inside the .38 jacket, and expand it upward in the die. The lead pressure expands the jacket right along with it, resulting in a tight, uniform assembly. The walls of a .357 or .38 caliber jacket are usually about .017 inches thick. There is a wall on both sides of the core, and the jacket normally is made small enough so that it will work for .355 (9mm) as well as .38 caliber. Bullet jackets are almost always considerably smaller than the final bullet diameter so that they can be expanded upward from core seating pressure. This means that you have a jacket with an outside diameter of about 0.354 inches, minus two walls of 0.017 inches, for a remaining inside diameter of about 0.320 inches. Better quality jackets have tapered walls, so that the base is even thicker. In practice, a 0.318 inch core will fit inside most .38/.357 caliber jackets properly. But for higher precision, a die set for the Corbin presses usually includes a separate core swage die, which accepts the raw lead core and reshapes it to a more perfect cylinder, flattens the ends nicely, and expands the core diameter very slightly in the process. The die also extrudes a small amount of lead from the core to adjust the weight. Because of this extra die, it is necessary to use a bit smaller diameter of core. A 0.312 inch lead core fits nicely into the standard 0.315 to 0.318 inch core swage die, allowing for any bending or denting that the core might receive in handling. And that is how we arrive at the proper diameter of lead wire to use for any set of dies, in any caliber. For jacketed bullets, the core must fit into the jacket and it must also fit easily into any core swage die that is part of the set. For lead bullets, the core must at least fit into the final die and not be so long that it sticks out the die mouth. In the CM-4 Core Mould, six diameters cover most of the bullets you might wish to make. The .224 mould makes a core of about 0.185 inch diameter, which works well in the 6mm and .25 as well as the 6.5mm caliber. The .257 caliber mould crosses over slightly into the .25 and 6.5mm caliber range, but since different jackets have different wall thickness, it is useful for thinner wall .25 jackets and thicker wall .270 and 7mm jackets. The standard 7mm jacket takes a 0.218 inch core, so a 7mm core mould is made in that size. The .30 calibers all take a 0.250 inch core, as do most of the .32 and .338 jackets. Heavy walled tubing jackets in large bores can use the same core size as a standard jacket might in a smaller caliber. A pair of standard sizes cover the .38 and the .44-45 calibers. These are 0.312 inch and 0.365 inch, respectively. A slightly smaller size is made for the .41 caliber and the .40 Bren 10 caliber. Using the next smaller size normally serves quite well, without the expense of having a custom mould built. However, custom moulds CAN be made to order if desired. For large diameters of lead, Corbin builds special moulds to order at a correspondingly higher cost than the CM-4. Moulds for billets of half inch diameter can be used for shotgun slugs. Tube moulds, which have a steel base with a plug that slips into the bottom of a honed steel tube, are generally used for large diameter billets. Lead cores are discussed in great detail in the book, "REDISCOVER SWAGING". The advantage of using a lead core mould is the lower cost of using scrap lead. The advantage of using lead wire is the neatness, safety, speed, and ease of use. There is not much difference in potential accuracy. Lead wire has a slight edge over cast cores because of the great uniformity of the extruded product. You probably wonder about the hardness of the lead: can you use wheelweights, or casting alloys to swaging bullets? The answer depends on the caliber, and the system of swaging you plan to use. In most reloading press dies, you can't quite generate enough pressure to swage any lead harder than about Brinnell Hardness 8 (or about 3 percent antimony/lead alloy) before breaking either the die or the punch. But in certain circumstances, you can even swage linotype alloys of Brinnell Hardness 22. The Corbin Hydro-press can swage any alloy of lead ever made, or even solid copper if you wish. The reason that you can swage hard alloys in some calibers and not in others, in some shapes and not others, and in the Hydro-press but not in a reloading press has less to do with the power of the press than it does the strength of the dies and punches. If you are curious about the mathematics involved in engineering dies to withstand certain pressures, the book "POWER SWAGING" is full of revealing data, formulae, and charts that will make it all clear. As a rule of thumb, it's safer to use soft, pure lead for swaging in all circumstances because pure lead flows more easily at lower pressures, and thus puts less strain on the dies. But, if you have a need to swage hard lead for some reason, don't give up just because of a rule of thumb! We have a way to do it in every case, if you are willing to purchase the correct kind of tooling. Your stock of casting alloys can be used if the caliber, die, and press system is selected with proper specifications for hard lead. Tooling made for hard lead may, in some circumstances, not be as useful for soft lead because of the different size bleed holes. That is one reason why you need to talk to the die-maker before jumping in head first with a bar of hard alloy in hand! If you use Hydro-press dies, hard lead is perfectly acceptable in calibers up to .500 diameter, unless very deep and thin base skirts or other special designs are planned. The dies are so strong that they can handle any lead alloy. In the Mity Mite system, hard alloys can be handled if the die-maker knows in advance you plan to use them. In calibers above .358 diameter, they are a bit risky because of the die wall in the smaller Mity Mite series -- an imprudent stroke of the handle could crack a .45 caliber die used with too hard an alloy. In the reloading press, calibers of .243 and .224 work reasonably well with hard lead, but anything larger should be used with alloys of Brinnell Hardness 6 and under. Corbin supplies pure lead in billets and in lead wire form, but does not furnish alloy lead except on special order. A potential objection to lead wire is the cost of shipping. At the time of this writing, it costs about $10 to ship a spool of lead wire completely across the country. A spool of .22 caliber wire makes over 4,000 .224 bullets. The cost of shipping, then, breaks down to a mere 0.0025 cents per bullet (that is a quarter of a penny per bullet). This amount is not prohibitive, and consequently most people choose to use lead wire for the smaller calibers. In the larger calibers, the cost per bullet increases since there is more lead consumed in each bullet, but the trade-off of convenience and safety still results in a majority of bullet-makers using lead wire. Corbin has lead billets in 0.795-inch diameter for use in the LED- 1 extruder die (in case you don't care to cast billets), and can furnish lead in just about any size of billet. Alloys can be furnished only in minimum lots that generally are 100 to 250 pound, because of the minimum billet required for a commercial extruder operation. Many of our customers can provide you with the smaller quantities of alloy leads: check the "WORLD DIRECTORY of CUSTOM BULLET MAKERS" for addresses and phone numbers. .he CHAPTER 3 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # ABOUT BULLET JACKETS Bullet jackets are the skin of the bullet. They are what makes it possible to achieve velocities over 4,000 fps and still have no fouling from melted lead in your barrel. But besides elimination of lead fouling, the jacket has another important job. It helps control the terminal performance of the bullet. Bullet jackets are available from Corbin in packages of 250 or 500 jackets, depending on the caliber and length. Popular calibers are stocked in certain lengths that are most useful. Not all calibers or lengths are available directly. Some you have to make yourself, by re- drawing a more common size. This is done with a Corbin JRD-1 draw die. Other calibers can be made from copper, brass, or even steel tubing. A reloading press can only use the commercially available drawn gilding metal jackets, which range from 0.017 to 0.032 inches in thickness depending on the length and caliber. The Mity Mite press can form jackets from 0.030 inch thick copper tubing (hard drawn, straight tubing, not the soft coiled type). The Mega Mite can handle tubing in 0.030 and sometimes in 0.049, depending on caliber. The Hydro-press can handle anything, from the thinnest copper to the thickest steel walls (typically 0.050 steel or 0.065 brass is the heaviest practical jacket wall, beyond which you may as well swage solid copper rod). From .30 caliber rifle down, it is both easier and cheaper to use commercially made jackets and either use them as is, or redraw them for smaller or longer jackets. Jackets can expand considerably during the core seating operation, to become larger in diameter. Jackets for bullet swaging in Corbin equipment are all made several thousandths of an inch smaller than the final bullet diameter, so you can expand them upward for a perfect, tight fit on the core. This is one reason that it isn't feasible to pour hot lead into a jacket and make a jacketed bullet. The pressure of swaging is needed to expand the assembly to the right diameter inside a die. Another reason is that the hot lead would shrink away from the jacket during cooling, leaving a loose core that would not stabilize in the rifling. In the calibers from .309 to .338, it is possible to use regular .30 caliber jackets. Special techniques to expand the jacket evenly include seating the core in two short sections, so that the base will form properly. This is done on the .338 and .333 calibers, but isn't necessary on the .311 and .314 sizes. Using this method, it is even possible to expand a drawn .22 Magnum fired case into a nice 7mm (.284) bullet! It works best with a rebated boattail die set and with three or four short cores seated on top of each other, one at a time. The best known jacket among bullet-makers is the .22 Long Rifle case used for a .224 or a .243 caliber jacket. Corbin makes a die set called the RFJM-22 that turns these rimfire cases into straight-sided jackets of the proper diameter. Vernon Speer, Harvey Donaldson, and Fred Huntington were a few of the well-known experimenters who used this method in the late 1940's. Speer and Huntington both launched major businesses from this beginning. The process had flaws in those days, because rimfire cases used mercuric priming compound. This left the jackets weak and brittle, so they fouled the bores and often came apart on firing. Today, non- mercuric priming is used in rimfire cases. The jackets you can make for yourself not only are as good as any you can buy for most practical purposes, but they are free! The disadvantage of making rimfire jackets is that the bullets have very thin skins -- typically under 0.015 inches -- without the thick taper toward the base which commercial jackets have. This means that they are excellent for varmint shooting, because if they hit the ground they normally blow up and do not cause a ricochet. But they are not suitable for high velocity (beyond about 3500 fps they blow up in the air), nor are they suitable for serious game hunting. You may be surprised to learn that the commercial standard 52 grain bullet has a jacket that matches the length of the drawn .22 Long Rifle case. This is because the first .224 commercial bullets were made from such cases! When bullet makers switched to drawn strip metal, they kept the traditional length. Thus, you do not need to trim your home-made jackets or make excessive weights of bullets to use them. The jacket material is normally either commercial bronze or gilding metal. These alloys are 10% zinc and 5% zinc, respectively, with the balance of copper. The zinc is for strength and anti-fouling characteristics. A rimfire case is about 30% zinc. It is more brittle, but also less likely to foul the bore at normal speeds. By annealing the case, you can make it just as ductile as the regular jacket. A 6mm (.243-.244) bullet jacket can be made from the fired .22 case (a Stinger or other long case is best). The head is smoothly drawn off, leaving a diameter of about 0.219 inches at the end. The body of the fired case is about 0.225 inches in diameter. A special punch with a flare or bottleneck, like a bottleneck cartridge, is used inside the case. The jacket becomes slightly longer as it is drawn, and this lengthening forces the mouth partly over the tapered part of the punch. It is this tapered mouth that lets you seat a lead core into the undersized jacket and expand it to full .243 size during the core seating operation. The flared mouth seals the die against lead leakage and makes the jacket expand perfectly. The .22 WMR case takes a different die (a special type of JRD-1 die is used) to make a long 6mm jacket. By careful manipulation of core weights and seating technique, you can coax this jacket to become a .257, a 6.5mm, or even a 7mm bullet! This isn't something for the beginner to try, but once you have mastered the basics, it is fairly easy to learn. Bullet jackets have different wall thicknesses, not only between different calibers and makes, but also within the same jacket. Commercial jackets have a taper, to control expansion. This means that when you seat the lead core into the jacket, the core has to be small enough to fit easily into whatever jacket you are using. If you buy a set of dies that is made with punches for a certain jacket, and then change to another jacket (such as going from a commercial drawn jacket to a copper tubing jacket), you will probably need to obtain a different core seating punch. The core seating punch fits inside the jacket, rather than the die itself, whenever you want bullets with the lead seated down past the jacket mouth. (Bullets with large lead tips, such as semi-wadcutters and lead round nose bullets, are made using a core seating punch that fits and seals pressure against the die wall instead of inside the jacket.) If you change from a 0.020 inch wall jacket to one with walls of 0.050 inch thickness, then you need a punch that is considerably smaller in diameter to fit the new jacket. When you order dies, either let Corbin supply the right jacket to fit them, or send a sample of the jacket you want to use. If you want more than one jacket, remember that you may need more than one core seating punch. The other part that you may need for different jackets is the core swage die. Core swage dies make the core the right size and weight, starting with an undersized piece of lead. Reloading press dies don't use a core swage for technical reasons. Special swage presses almost always use die sets that can have a core swage as the first die of the set. When you order a set of dies for jacketed bullets, the diameter of the core swage die is important to the diemakers. The core that is produced must be small enough to fit inside whatever jacket you are going to use. If you later add copper tubing, or change to a thicker wall jacket (such as drawing down a larger caliber to get a longer jacket for a heavier bullet), it may require another core swage die of smaller diameter. The right size of lead wire or core mould for a certain caliber depends on the jacket you plan to use. Most standard jackets that are available from Corbin take standard, off-the-shelf diameters of lead wire and core moulds. If you furnish your own jackets, you may need to send samples to get a special size made to order. Core size for the jacket is not terribly critical: as long as the core fits and the weight is about right without being so long that the core sticks out the die mouth, you can use any size. One exception is that your core shouldn't normally be a press fit into the jacket, so that it traps air in the bottom. The short, thick half jackets for .38 caliber sometimes fit a bit snugly on the standard core, but they don't cause any problem. It is the long, tapered jackets of larger caliber handguns and of rifle bullets that create a potential problem with too snug a core. The problem arises when the core fits so tightly that air is pushed into a highly compressed disk at the bottom of the jacket. If the bullet is finished with the jacket brought around the nose or ogive section, you don't notice any problem. Accuracy is usually good because the air is normally quite highly compressed and centered rather well. But if you make a semi-wadcutter style bullet (and by that, we in the bullet-swaging field refer to ANY style of nose, be it round or flat, hollow or pointed, so long as the nose is entirely made of lead projecting from the jacket, and the jacket is NOT curved at all to lock the core in place), then the trapped air can expand when the bullets are brought into the hot sun. Sometimes, the cores will pop out with a loud bang and jump harmlessly across the room! The answer is to use a core that slips to the bottom of the jacket without force. Or, if you want to use a core swage die that is nearly but not exactly right, you might want to have the die-maker machine a special internal punch with a cavity in the shape of a boattail or Keith nose in its end. The cavity would form a mirror image of itself in the lead core, so that a section of the core would then fit nicely into the bottom of your tapered wall jacket without trapping any air. This technique lets you use the same core swage die with several calibers and with several different styles of jacket in the same caliber. The right core mould for heavy wall tubing jackets is much smaller in diameter than the right core mould for a standard drawn commercial jacket. In fact, the next smaller caliber of mould is normally used. For instance, a .30 caliber core mould might be used with a tubing jacket bullet in .358 caliber, whereas a .38 caliber mould would be used if you were to make commercial jacket bullets with those same dies. When you order, we supply the size of equipment needed for standard popular jackets that we stock unless you specify otherwise, or unless we know that tubing jackets are going to be used. Bullet jackets can make a wide range of weights even with the same length. The exact weight range for any given caliber and length of jacket depends on the ogive shape and base shape, as well as the degree of hollow point or hollow base and the lead density used, and the thickness of the jacket. There is no single "right" weight for a given jacket because of all these variables. But that means you, as the bullet-maker, can manipulate the variables and produce all kinds of different weights using a limited stock of jackets. For instance, in the .44 caliber, a 0.54-inch long drawn jacket is very popular with shooters who have 3-die sets, such as the FJFB-3 type, to make bullets with the jacket curved around the ogive. By adjusting the amount of lead used in the jacket, you can make any weight from 180 to 250 grains with this jacket. The lighter weights have open points, and the heavier weights have more and more lead exposed at the tip. The bullet-maker who uses a semi-wadcutter die limits himself somewhat on the range of weights possible with a given jacket, since he cannot take up any jacket length by curving jacket material around the nose. He can, however, change the amount of nose by selecting different punches, or change the amount of lead used by selecting hollow point or cup base punches and adjusting how far he presses these into the die. Then, he can follow with the regular Keith or other semi-wadcutter type of punch to shape the lead that is moved forward by the hollow point punch. This technique lets the bullet-maker adjust weight even on semi- wadcutter style bullets with the same jacket length and still have the same amount of lead showing! A technique not widely known is the use of ordinary cornstarch as a filler in the base of the jacket. By placing cornstarch in the bottom of the jacket and seating a lead core over it, you can produce very high velocity, light weight bullets in jackets that everyone else thinks only make heavy weight slugs. In the .25 ACP caliber, you can make jackets from fired shotgun primers using the SPJM-25 die set. This kit lets you push out the anvil and cap, and draw the top hat battery cup into a smooth-sided jacket for a 45-50 grain .25 caliber bullet. Jackets for sub-calibers, such as the .14, .17, and .20 caliber, can be made from ordinary .224 commercial jackets using three drawing dies. The jackets need to be annealed by heating to a dull red briefly, so that the bottoms won't crack out when you draw them to .14 caliber. Dies that use larger caliber jackets, such as the sub-caliber draw dies, can be made with a pinch trim punch so that surplus material is pinched off as the jacket is drawn. In order to pinch trim a jacket, there must be a reasonable amount of reduction taking place. It is difficult to pinch trim a .38 jacket being drawn to .350, for instance, because most .38 jackets begin at .3545 diameter. That doesn't leave enough difference for a pinch trim punch to work. But drawing from a .308 to a 7mm, or from a 7mm to a 6.5mm, leaves plenty of metal for pinch trimming to any desired length. You don't have to use a jacket. Many handloaders don't yet realize that bullet swage dies can be used with or without jackets, and that a swaged lead bullet can be made faster, more precisely, and with far greater control of weight and style than a cast bullet. The same dies can be used for jacketed bullets or lead bullets. (This doesn't necessarily work in reverse: if you buy a LSWC-1 lead semi-wadcutter die, designed just to make lead bullets, it won't make fully jacketed bullets because the bleed holes in the side of this die would then be covered by the jacket.) Lubrication on a swaged, smooth-sided bullet is accomplished by changing from Corbin Swage Lube to Corbin Dip Lube. Dip Lube is a liquid wax that is applied to the core before swaging a lead bullet. The pressure of swaging forms a hard, tough film of wax all over the bullet. The wax doesn't melt or affect the powder like bullet greases do. Since it covers the whole bullet, no lead is exposed to the air or to the bore without having some lube between the bore and the lead. Naturally, this "liquid jacket", as some people call it, doesn't stand up to the torque and heat of high velocity firing like a regular jacket would. It does serve well for most shooters using loads up to 1,200 fps, and cuts the cost of shooting by eliminating the jacket as well as speeding up the whole bullet-making process. Corbin Dip Lube is available in pint cans or gallons. A sample 2-oz. bottle is available as well. Re-forming jacketed, factory or military surplus bullets in a standard swage die (the point forming die, usually) is also possible. There are some cautions and limitations. The bullet must be smaller than the final diameter desired, because you cannot expect a .308 bullet to fit easily into a .308 diameter hole and eject easily after reforming. It should be a 0.3085 to 0.3090 inch die in order to use a .3080 inch diameter bullet for reforming. Also, there are some minor problems with lead coming forward out the nose of a finished bullet when you change the ogive shape to reduce the total internal volume. But, on the other hand, we have made hundreds of single-die swages that turned rather inaccurate military surplus bullets into soft points of very good accuracy simply by swaging them backward, so the base became the nose and the pointed nose became a solid base! And in other cases, we have made 5.56 and 7.62 mm bullets shoot twice as well by simply bumping them up half a thousandth of an inch while making their open bases more perfect and even. These transformations are quick and easy when they can be made to work with a standard die. I would not recommend putting a lot of money into tooling specially built for it unless you have a tremendous number of surplus bullets to reform. Bullet jackets can be made that have partitions, variations in thickness (selective heavier base sections), completely closed bases, solid copper bases, and multiple jackets stacked inside each other. Most of the heavy duty jacket making, using copper or brass tubing and such styles as the partition or H-mantle, are done on the Corbin Hydro- press. Hand presses and dies made for them do not have the ability to produce or withstand the extreme pressures used. Within a more limited range, however, you can still make exotic jacket designs by using the telescoping jacket idea: putting smaller calibers inside of larger ones is a very effective way to control performance. A thorough discussion of bullet jackets can be found in the book "REDISCOVER SWAGING", and the various technical bulletins published by Corbin Manufacturing have further details on making tubing bullet jackets, rimfire cases into jackets, and even the use of fired brass cases as bullet jackets. .he CHAPTER 4 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # SWAGING IN THE RELOADING PRESS If your reloading press accepts standard 7/8-14 TPI dies and its ram will take regular RCBS button-type shell holders, then you can use it for swaging certain calibers and kinds of bullets with Corbin reloading press swage dies. A heavy-duty press makes the work easier, but any modern press capable of resizing a .30-06 case is strong enough for bullet swaging in the styles and calibers we offer. There are limits to the pressure you can safely apply to the soft screw-stock rams used in nearly all current reloading presses. The size of the frame or leverage of the press has nothing to do with this. A massive press like the RCBS Big Max still has a four-inch stroke, to get a magnum rifle case in and out. Small arms bullets, on the other hand, need only about two inches of stroke in order to be successfully swaged. This wastes half the leverage in a reloading press. Single station, ram-type presses are the only kind currently supported by swaging equipment. Presses with turrets, rotating shell holder plates, aluminum frames, mechanical type shell holders that adjust to different size cartridge heads, progressive loaders, and bar- type rams used in H-frame presses all have features that make some swaging operations difficult or impossible. Standard swage dies for reloading presses do not require a massive press, but they do work best in a simple, single-station conventional round-ram press. A special swaging press like the Corbin Mity Mite (CSP-1) or a combination reloading and swaging press like the Corbin Mega Mite (CSP- 2) has the capability to more than double the leverage in a reloading press design. It does this by cutting the stroke in half. The same effort that moves a reloading press ram four inches is now put to work moving the ram only two inches. The effort is converted into higher pressure within the die. Such presses have many special features designed to allow higher stresses, equalize the torque on the ram, align the die and punch more precisely, and provide for automatic ejection of the bullet on the back stroke. The die can be designed to withstand higher pressure, since it doesn't have to fit into the constraint of a standard reloading press dimension. In these presses, any caliber from .14 to .458 rifle bullets with tubing jackets as thick as 30 thousandths of an inch are perfectly feasible. In a conventional reloading press, you are limited to the .224, .243, and .257 rifle calibers, and the .25 ACP, .30-32 Handgun and carbine (130 grains or less, no spitzer rifle shapes), 9mm and .357/.38 Handgun calibers. Within those calibers, there is considerable latitude for weight and style variation. Regardless of the press or system, you can make lead bullets or gas-checked bullets in any die capable of jacketed bullet swaging. And, you can use longer or shorter jackets in the same set of dies. There are some dies made just for lead bullets, combining the steps of core swaging and core seating so that you can make a lead bullet in one quick stroke, and these special (model LSWC-1) dies are not generally suited for use with more than a half-jacket. These dies are not made for the reloading press, in any case, since they require bleed holes in the die wall. Core swage dies and other lead-forming dies that have extrusion holes through their walls to let you automatically adjust the lead core weight on each stroke (instead of just using whatever weight of core you happen to put into the die) need room around the side of the die for the lead to come out. In a reloading press, the die is put into the head of the press. Because of the length and top position of the ram in a reloading press, the die has to be located so its walls are surrounded by the threads of the press. This doesn't leave room for correctly located bleed holes. In order to do it right, core swaging and lead semi-wadcutter dies that adjust the core as they form the bullet are made only for the special swaging presses, and not for use in reloading presses. You can still make lead bullets of equal quality in a reloading press, but to get there, you must be more careful about how you cut or cast the cores. What you put into the die is what you get out, in regard to weight control. This is a major advantage of the special swaging press systems, and is one of the things that makes it difficult to "convert" or adapt many of the advanced kinds of dies for use in ordinary reloading presses. Reloading press swage dies are made with a UNIVERSAL ADAPTER BODY, which is the same for all styles and calibers of dies. This component holds the actual die "insert" and internal punch together in the proper relationship, and fits into the 7/8-14 TPI threads of your reloading press. All adjustment for different weights and styles of bullets is made by turning the whole die, universal adapter and all, up and down in the threads of the press like a big micrometer thimble. There are two punches in every swage die. The INTERNAL PUNCH stays inside the die. It is held there by two restraints: the punch has a head on the top that won't let it fall through the die on the "downstroke", or ejection cycle, and the universal adapter body only lets the punch head slide up a certain distance before it strikes the top of the hole machined in the adapter. The EXTERNAL PUNCH fits into the slot in the press ram, just like a shell holder. It can easily be removed and changed. Most people own several external punches for each of their die sets. A small hole goes all the way through the top of the adapter. It is .257 inches in diameter, and takes a quarter-inch diameter KNOCK-OUT ROD (also called the ejector rod or simply K.O. rod). The Knock-Out rod is long enough so that it can push the internal punch down nearly the same distance as the die is long. That pushes the bullet out the die mouth. On one end of the Knock-Out rod is a knurled head, big enough to give you a good target to tap with a plastic mallet or a piece of wood. This drives the bullet back out of the die after swaging. The ejector rod comes completely out of the die, so you can use it on any of your reloadin press swage dies. Another way to eject bullets -- one with a little more sophistocation -- is to slip a Corbin POWER EJECTOR UNIT over the top of the die and fasten the three set-screws into the ring machined around each of the universal adapter bodies, right below the knurled part. The power ejector is an optional accessory item. It speeds up the operation by eliminating the need to pick up a mallet and tap the ejector. Instead of using the regular ejector, you install a straight piece of quarter-inch diameter steel rod, supplied with the PE-1 ejector. Following the instructions that come with this tool, adjust its ram so that all the free play is taken up when you have a bullet in the die, ready to be ejected. From this point on, your swaging operation is reduced to two levers: the press handle swages the bullet, and the power ejector handle gently but firmly pushes it out of the die. The internal punch in your reloading press swage die can be removed easily. Identify the die insert itself. This is the super- hard high-carbide alloy steel cylinder at the very bottom of the whole die assembly, just protruding from the adapter about a quarter inch. Most of the die insert is up inside the adapter body, which is machined to accept the 5/8-24 TPI threads on the other end of the die. To remove the die, grasp the small protruding surface with pair of pliers and unscrew it. (Don't worry about marring the die -- it is so much harder and tougher than your pliers that you can't hurt it this way. On the other hand, don't grasp the oxide-blued adapter body with pliers: it isn't very hard, and you can damage the threads. Just hold it in your hand.) There are basically three dies available for the reloading press that are swage dies, and several kinds of draw dies. The swage dies are: (1) The CORE SEATER (2) The POINT FORMER (3) The LEAD TIP DIE The core seater (CS-1-R designation, in the reloading press system) can perform two different jobs. It can be used by itself to make any kind of bullet that has straight, parallel sides, a small shoulder, and a lead nose from the shoulder up. The whole bullet can be lead, or any amount of it can be covered by a jacket right up to that shoulder. Think of a Keith handgun bullet with a jacket coming right up to the semi-wadcutter shoulder and then stopping. Right up to this point, the bullet is straight. The jacket can't be curved past this point in this kind of die alone. However, the nose can be any shape you like. The nose is formed by letting the lead core flow down into a cavity machined in the end of the external punch. You can make a round nose, a Keith nose, a wadcutter (very little cavity, if any, in the external punch tip!), a conical nose like a pencil point, or anything else including fancy multi-cavity hollow points (instead of just a cavity, there is also a probe or rod in the end of the punch to make these). The point is, while you can just change the punch to whatever the lead core flow down into a cavity machined in the end of the external punch. You can make a round nose, a Keith nose, a wadcutter (very little cavity, if any, in the external punch tip!), a conical nose like a pencil point, or anything else including fancy multi-cavity hollow points (instead of just a cavity, there is also a probe or rod in the end of the punch to make these). The point is, while you can just change the punch to whatever thickness to its edge, or it would quickly crumble away. A 0.015 to 0.025 edge thickness is standard. This small edge comes up against the jacket in our example, and presses hard on the thin jacket material. One of them has to buckle and fold. Usually it is the jacket. If you try to make a semi-wadcutter bullet, and the jacket comes out with radial folds, much as if someone sat on your top hat, then see if you have enough lead sticking out the jacket to completely fill up the cavity in the punch you selected. If not, that's the problem, and the solution is to use a heavier core, a shorter jacket, or a punch with less of a cavity. Another solution is to use a hollow point punch first, moving lead up and out of the jacket, and then form your nose using the extra amount of lead displaced from inside the jacket. Let's back up a minute in case anyone is lost at this point. We are talking about the most basic kind of swage die, the core seating die. It is called a core seating die because it can be used to seat or press the core down into a jacket, expanding the core and the jacket together until they contact the walls of the die. The internal pressure becomes uniform as soon as the jacket is pushed out against the die walls evenly, and the base of the jacket comes hard against the internal punch face. This uniform internal pressure can exceed 20,000 psi (and usually does). Compressed oxygen gas in a welding tank is in the 2,000 to 3,000 psi range. Compressed air in your car tires is usually 35 to 45 psi. When you fire a typical rifle, pressures momentarily peak at levels that reach 25,000 to 55,000 psi typically. The average pressure over a second of time is vastly lower. The swage die must be able to sustain anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 psi constantly, year after year, without change in its diameter, roundness, straightness. It can't develop a barrel shape inside, nor can it grow with the continued stress. Tolerances in a casting mould usually are held to 0.003 to 0.001 inches, plus or minus. Tolerances in the core seating die are usually held to better than 0.00005 inches, plus or minus! Your bullet doesn't need to be within that tolerance of some arbitrary standard diameter, of course, but it is nice to know that whatever diameter it comes out, it is repeatable to such high precision. The typical absolute diameter tolerance on the bullet diameter is normally 0.0005 inches plus or minus, although this has long been proven of little importance, as long as the variance is held to high precision tolerances. In other words, if you have a .308 rifle, and you know for sure that your barrel has a .3000 bore, with all grooves at exactly 0.0040 inch depth, it still doesn't matter nearly as much whether you shoot a .3079 bullet or a .3090 bullet down that barrel, compared to whether your bullets vary from one to the next as you try to put them into one hole. Many competitive shooters find a bullet with nearly 0.001 inch larger than nominal diameter shoots better at long range than a conventional "correct" diameter bullet. In any case, the core seating die is a straight hole die. If you take it out of the adapter body and pull out the internal punch, you will be able to see straight through it. The hole is round, straight, and highly finished. The internal punch is a very close sliding fit. The external punch can fit the die bore, for making those semi- wadcutter and wadcutter type bullets, or it can fit inside the jacket for making rifle-style bullets. Let me make a definition of these two general kinds of bullets. It's important to understand what I'm talking about so you can make proper and cost-effective decisions later on. There are semi-wadcutter styles, and rifle styles of bullets, relative to the kind of equipment needed. When a swage die-maker talks about a semi-wadcutter (or wadcutter) style, it isn't just a specific nose shape. In regard to the kind of equipment required, it means any bullet that is made with a lead nose, ending at a small shoulder, and having the jacket at full bore diameter all the way to the base (if there is any jacket). This kind of bullet can be made in a single core seating die in one stroke of the press. One pass -- all done. No lubricating, no sizing. Just load it and enjoy shooting it. Lead bullets are swaged with a film of flexible, hard wax bonded to them under swaging pressure. This is accomplished by dipping the core in a liquid "Dip Lube", which some people call "liquid jacket", just prior to swaging. The film evenly covers the bullet, making it usable to speeds of 1,200 fps with no grooves, no separate lubricating steps. Cup bases? Hollow bases? No problem -- just remove that flat ended internal punch, and install an optional internal punch with a probe shaped like the cavity you want to form. Both the nose and base are formed at the same time, by pressing against the two punches. Unlke a mould, there is no conflict between hollow bases and hollow points. They are independent of each other and can be mixed or matched any way you like. In fact, you can turn the swaged bullet over and swage it the other direction, perhaps using a little higher setting of the die to get slightly less penetration of the punch. This gives you shapes that neither of the punches has by itself, and demonstrates one of the more powerful experimental features of swaging equipment. We mentioned seating the core inside the jacket. If you wanted to, you could select an external punch (the one that slips into the slotted ram like a shell holder) with a small enough diameter to fit right inside the jacket. Jackets usually have some taper in the wall thickness to control expansion. The punch will contact the jacket wall at some point if it is a close fit. Obviously there are some limits as to the depth of insertion of any given diameter punch, and to the range of weights of cores that you could seat with each punch. If the punch is too small, lead will spurt out around it and you may not be able to build enough pressure inside the jacket to expand it properly. This produces undersized and tapered bullets. If the punch is too large, it may not go into the jacket at all, or it may plow up jacket material as it presses down. This isn't always bad -- it can be used to thin the front of the jacket, or to help lock the core into place. Usually, though, the jacket and punch need to be made for each other to avoid this. Fortunately, Corbin is the world's largest supplier of bullet jackets of all types, and can provide the right punches for any jacket or core weight, as well as the jackets to match. The reason for seating a core inside the jacket is to make that second kind of bullet, the rifle-style bullet having the jacket curved around the ogive, with an open tip. Let's define open tip and hollow point for bullet swagers. An open tip bullet has the core seated below the end of the jacket. The jacket extends forward, past the core. This leaves an opening or an area devoid of lead just below the tip. A hollow point, on the other hand, is made by pressing a punch with a projection or probe machined on the end into the core. The hole or cavity thus formed in the core is further shaped when the ogive is made. The result is a bullet with a hollow area in the point, formed in the lead itself. A hollow point bullet can have a lead tip, or it can have the core seated down inside the jacket. Usually, it has a lead tip exposed beyond the end of the jacket. But an open tip bullet can't, by definition, have a lead tip. The reason to be clear about these terms is so that when you order tools and punches, everyone will be talking about the same thing. It makes a big difference whether you can make what you want once you get the tools. A hollow point is made with an optional punch, during the core seating stage. An open tip is made by using a punch that pushes the core down inside the jacket. It is the standard, "default" design for any regular set of dies that includes more than a core swage and core seating die. And a lead tip bullet takes a lead tip forming die in rifle styles, but seldom requires anything special in the blunt, wide-tip handgun styles. To make that second kind of bullet, the rifle-style bullet, you still need the straight-walled core seater. The uniform pressure that this die produces is necessary to expand the jacket to correct diameter, mate the core and jacket perfectly, and produce the straight and round tolerances in the jacket. But with the core seated down inside the jacket, all you have now is a very accurately formed cylinder! To put the ogive (that's OH-JIVE, by the way, like "Oh, don't gimme no jive, man!") on the bullet, we'll use the second kind of swage die, the point forming die (designated PF-1-R for reloading press dies). Now, the term "point" is often confused with the term "tip". Again, it's nice to talk the same language when ordering parts over the phone. A point on a bullet refers to anything past the shank or straight part. A point is the same thing as a nose. The tip, on the other hand, is just the very end of the point. It is the part that ends, technically, after the meplat, and begins at some arbitrary place on the ogive curve that is close enough to the meplat so that it can have a different curve and not affect the over-all bullet outline significantly. Simply put, the tip is the very end of the bullet's nose. The point is everything from the tip to the start of the straight part (shank) and the point is the same thing as the nose. To add confusion, some people even call the point the ogive, so really the terms point, ogive, and nose all refer to the same thing in general sales talk. But tip is different. The ogive is formed by pushing the straight cylinder you made in the core seating die into the point forming die. It goes in nose first. If you want the nose to be made on the open end of the jacket, then the open end goes in first. You can make a solid nose, or full metal jacket (FMJ, as it is called, though strictly speaking, the open tip also is a full metal jacket bullet) design by pushing the seated core and jacket into the point forming die base first. Special notes on this technique can be found in Corbin technical papers and books. The point forming die has the actual shape of your bullet frozen in tough die steel, diamond lapped to extremely fine finish and tolerance by skilled die-makers. It is a hand-made die, produced by craftsmen with years of experience. It isn't much like a punch press die or a plastic moulding die, and people who have skills in those fields usually can't produce good point forming dies without a great deal more training. To make this die, both reamers and laps have to be cut to precisely the right shape and diameter for your desired bullet. In reloading press equipment, the great attraction is the lower cost since you can use an existing press. If your main goal is economy, then it doesn't help that goal to increase the cost of the dies by adding extra labor, so we manufacture only standard shapes and offer no custom work in the reloading press line. By doing this, we have been able to produce swage dies superior to those costing ten times as much, that are made to special order. Corbin makes the only serious attempt at mass production of hand-crafted swage dies: by eliminating all the stages of custom fitting and tooling, we've been able to bring swaging equipment of high quality to every corner of the earth, and introduce thousands of people to swaging who could not otherwise afford to try it. If you want custom shapes and diameter, on the other hand, then we do have another system set up to handle it at reasonable cost. In fact, this system is designed on two levels: semi-custom and fully custom work using the same basic equipment. The advantage is that we can use all standard blanks, that fit into standard presses and use the same general parts. Your cost is lower, your replacements or repairs are much simpler, and the whole system is so well proven it has become the world's defacto standard for swaging. It's called the Mity Mite system, and we'll discuss it shortly. Semi-custom outfits can be obtained by selecting from the wide variety of off-the-shelf components kept in moderate supply for immediate delivery. Fully custom outfits can be produced, subject to the usual waiting list. In the reloading press, the point forming die is built very much like the core seating die. It fits the same universal adapter body, so both dies look almost identical from the outside. The difference is easy to tell: push on the ejector rod. The core seating die has no internal spring. The ejector rod will slide the internal punch down and you'll see it at the mouth of the die. The point forming die has a small (0.080") spring-steel wire pin passing through the tip of the cavity. This pin is a press fit into a steel button "head". The head is machined to go into one end of a coil spring. The spring presses between the top of the die and the head of the ejection pin. We call the internal punch an ejection pin. The heavy rod that pushes on it is called the ejection rod, you'll recall. If you order a new ejection rod, you'll get this quarter-inch diameter rod with the knurled head. If you order a new ejection pin, we'll want to know the diameter of wire, or at least what caliber of die it fits. The reason for having a spring in this die is to hold the pin out of the main part of the die cavity during bullet swaging. The only purpose of the ejection pin is to push the bullet out of the die by its nose. If the pin were down in the cavity, the bullet would form up around the pin, and then it would be stuck in the bullet. This is exactly what happens if you forget to use lubricant. Now it's time to mention a very important part of swaging: the correct lube. For lead bullets, you have seen that a wax solution called Dip Lube can be applied before swaging the core. For jacketed bullets, a different kind of lube, serving a totally different purpose, is required. Swage lube is made to stand up to extreme pressures without losing its protective film -- a barrier between the smoothly finished die wall and the moving jacket material. Ordinary case lubes are useless. Don't try them. Swage lube is a little more expensive, but it goes a long way and it works. Your dies will last virtually forever if you use the right lube and clean materials. Every component needs a thin film of lube applied before it goes into the die. Lead or jacket, there must be a film of lube between it protective film -- a barrier between the smoothly finished die wall and the moving jacket material. Ordinary case lubes are useless. Don't try them. Swage lube is a little more expensive, but it goes a long way and it works. Your dies will last virtually forever if you use the right lube and clean materials. Every component needs a thin film of lube applied before it goes into the die. Lead or jacket, there must be a film of lube between it You simply press the seated core in (using proper lube), and eject the final bullet out. The bullet goes in nose first, pressed in with an external punch that is as big as the bullet base. It comes out base first, pressed out by a tiny ejection pin that bears on the tip of the bullet. The reason you cannot form the complete bullet in one stroke in this die is that the pressure required to expand the jacket uniformly is not present in this kind of die. There are two exceptions. You can make a full metal jacket bullet in this die alone. And you can make a lead bullet. The techniques for FMJ styles are discussed in other books. Lead bullets are simply a matter of shoving the lead into the die. It has to be smaller than the die cavity, naturally. Everything about swaging assumes you know better than to push a larger component into a smaller die cavity. The match between core seating die and point forming die is very good. For many years, bullet makers thought that it was necessary and desirable to have a slight pressure ring at the bottom of the bullet. This "pressure ring", as it was called, was promoted as increasing accuracy by many die-makers of the 1950's. It may not hurt accuracy at all, and it could help in some cases. In reality, though, the story is a little different. Most die- makers of the past worked at home or in very small shops, and didn't have the money for really expensive, high-precision instruments to measure the bore sizes of the dies as they were being produced. As a result, a match of 0.002 to 0.0008 inches between core seat and point form die cavities was about all the die-makers could manage. Even today, that is typical of the best amateur work and is seen in some of the higher priced benchrest dies as well. Because of this difference, the seated core and jacket always went into the point forming die considerably under final diameter. The pressure of swaging the point expanded the jacket slightly, but most of the expansion took place at the base. These bullets won a lot of matches, but they still had a bit of taper and a bulge at the base. The die-makers, not knowing how to get rid of it, and noticing that even with this defect, the bullets still outshot most factory slugs, started hinting that maybe this was really a design feature put in by plan, instead of something they hadn't yet acquired the tools to eliminate. Today, we still run into a number of precision shooters who read the old literature and come to believe that a "pressure ring" is necessary for good shooting. I don't think that having a 0.001-inch larger base is harmful to accuracy, but I don't think it necessarily does anything valuable. On the other hand, a bullet that is up to 0.001-inch larger than standard size, and straight, is probably going to be a good shooter and it won't expand the case neck as it is seated, then leave the case somewhat loose on the forward part of the bullet. With much taper on the bullet, the act of feeding the round can push the bullet back into the powder, and I know that won't help accuracy. We can make bullets tapered, straight, or with a pressure ring. In the reloading press, we don't offer a choice. In general, it is one of those features that is best left to the die-maker, since specification of too many "nit-picking" details only runs up your cost for special charges on the die-maker's labor, and doesn't give you any more accurate bullet one way or the other. But, if you need something very special in this regard, it is one more thing that has been pinned down and can be offered to anyone who feels it is worth the extra expense. The core seating die has made us some semi-wadcutters and seated some cores for rifle-style bullets (I say rifle style because they could just as well be .32 handgun bullets or .243 rifle bullets -- it is exactly the same process, same kind of die, and the only difference is the size of the hole and the size of the components going into it). We have used the point forming die to shape the rifle-style bullet by forming the ogive, and in two steps we have made nice open tip bullets. What about lead tips and hollow points? The hollow point is made by seating the core with a hollow point punch, then forming the ogive. If the hollow point is also a lead tip, then the lead is longer than the jacket. Trying to eject this bullet may cause some deformation of the tip, since the ejection pin has to push on the tip with some force. The third die we mentioned (lead tip die) is made to finish off the tip so it looks as good as or better than factory bullets. The lead tip die (designated LT-1-R for the reloading press) is much like the core seating die, except that it has a slightly larger bore size, and the internal punch has a cavity that matches the ogive in the point form die. The deformed lead tip fits up inside this cavity. Applying gentle pressure reshapes the lead tip, shears off any surplus lead, and leaves a fine looking lead tip that can be flat, sharp, or radiused. The lead tip die is a nice addition to any set, giving you the ability to reform the tips and even to close the open tip more tightly than you can do it in the point forming die alone. The smallest tip opening is the same diameter as the ejection pin in the point form die. This ejection pin has to be strong enough to push the bullet out of your die, or you will be constantly replacing the ejection pins and having stuck bullets. So, a diameter of about 0.080-inch is used in reloading press sets. This is a good compromise between design strenght and appearance. You can close the tip even further by using the lead tip die carefully. This takes a little practice to avoid pressing a little shoulder in the ogive, but once you figure it out, it is easily repeated. How do you know how hard to push on the handle? Just push a little bit, very lightly. See if the jacket and core remain in the core seating die, or if they come back with the punch. Normally, the correct pressure just expands the jacket enough so that it stays up in the die. In point forming, use just enough pressure to form the bullet until you start to get a parallel pipe of jacket or lead on the tip (pushing the bullet material up into the ejection pin hole). That is as far as you can expect to go. Back off slightly on the die adjustment by raising it higher a half turn or so in the press, and you can then use the full ram stroke to set your insertion depth each time. One key to uniform swaging in the reloading press is to use the top of the stroke, so that each time you move the press handle, you are using the physical limit of the press to control how far the punch inserts into the die. This controls amount of hollow cavity, the degree to which you reshape a bullet, the amount of tip closure on your ogive, and whether or not you are going to get a good lead tip. Everything depends on uniform stroke, uniform insertion of the punch. And that is most easily set by raising the die, so that the ram goes as far up as it can. Then lower the die, to obtain the desired shape or insertion. The right pressure should be about like sizing a case. The larger the caliber, the more pressure you will feel on the handle. In no case is it necessary to throw your weight on the handle, or break your loading bench, or use a cheater bar. Doing these things will quickly make the die-makers more wealthy, because you will soon break your die and mash your punches into pancakes, requiring that you replace them. If you feel generous toward die-makers this week, by all means jump up and down on the press handle a few times. Otherwise, a mild one-hand force is quite enough. Another point in regard to destruction of parts: always try a punch by hand first. If it won't fit, wipe it off several times with a clean cloth, oil it lightly, and try again. If it still won't fit, make sure that you have the right punch! Punches must fit closely but with relative ease into the dies. Keith nose punches, and others with deep cavities, expand slightly and may not fit easily by hand after they have been used. But they do fit, given a little oil and a little gentle pressure. I have seen .242-inch diameter rifle punches (for the 6mm point forming die) pushed into a .2238-inch diameter hole in the .22 core seating die. "I thought it went in a little hard," the bullet-maker said. Yes, I guess it might. Comes out a little hard, too. Try it by hand first. The slot in the reloading press ram collects primer residue and metal shavings. Take a cotton swab or a wood pick and scrape it out before installing your bullet swage punch. The material stuck in the slot can tip the punch, causing it to ram into the die at an angle and tear a nasty gouge all down the side of the punch. Again, be gentle when you first start out. Don't use speed or force on the first stroke, but instead, gently guide things together and notice how they fit. Then go after it, once you know everything is lined up. Making .22 caliber bullets out of rimfire cases is one of the most popular swaging activities today for a reloading press bullet-maker. It has been so for twenty years. The process takes three steps. Draw the jackets, seat the cores, and form the points. Lead tip bullets add a further step of forming the tips. Detailed instructions come with the die sets, and further information is found in the various technical bulletins and text books we publish. The photos in this book will give you a good idea of how the process works. The most questions are about annealing and cleaning .22 cases. First, annealing is usually done after boiling in hot soapy water and vinegar (to clean and shine the brass). Annealing is only so that the ogive will form without any folding. If you make a big lead tip, you probably can avoid annealing. There are several ways to go about it. Putting a group of clean cases in a tuna can, inside a lead pot, and letting them turn dark brown (15 minutes, usually) will do it. Using a toaster oven on high, or putting a pan of cases in a self- cleaning oven for the duration of the self-clean cycle is also good. Using a propane torch or electric heat gun (Corbin FHG-1) is also good, primarily for smaller lots. The older books suggested 600 to 650 degrees F. I have found that modern cases take 800 to 900 degrees F., and that a standard electric oven doesn't usually get hot enough. We do make excellent quality heat treatment furnaces, but for the hobbyist they are too expensive. The time and quench after heating are not critical. Quenching has no effect on the hardness. It merely helps to knock of any scale that might have formed. If you use the right temperature, you won't get any scale, and you can forget about any quench. Just let the cases air cool. Use swage lube on the punch when you draw the jackets. Just slip them over the long, 0.2-inch diameter punch and push them into the die, following instructions provided with the tool. Rimfire cases are good to about 3,000 or 3,200 fps before they start to come apart. Actual speed depends on rifling depth and sharpness. They force you to load a .22-250 down to .222 Mag velocity, but on the other hand, they also make you save powder, barrel, and cost nothing for material. When they hit, you'd swear they were going over 4,000 fps compared to a factory bullet performance. And there is no problem with barrel fouling or wear: if anything, the thinner jackets are easier on your gun than a standard bullet. Try it! You will be surprised at the accuracy. .he CHAPTER 5 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #.op SWAGING WITH THE MITY MITE SYSTEM Swaging with the Mity Mite press and dies is a huge step up from using a reloading press. It's faster, easier to use, more than doubles the power you have, so that the effort is cut by more than half, and extends the caliber and design range to dizzying heights. You can obtain dies to make any caliber from .14 to .458, any weight up to about 450 grains, with a maximum bullet length of about 1.3 inches. You're read about the CORE SEATING DIE, POINT FORMER, and LEAD TIP DIE in the previous chapter (or, if you skipped it, you should read it now). Let's explore other kinds of dies that can actually adjust the weight of the bullet as you swage, or form boattails on the normal flat-base jacket. There are FIVE kinds of swage dies for the Mity Mite system: (1) The CORE SWAGE die (2) The CORE SEATER die (3) The POINT FORMING die (4) The LEAD TIP die (5) The REBATED BOATTAIL die set In addition to swage dies, there are draw dies, and special jacket forming dies. Copper tubing can be formed into bullet jackets for those calibers where regular drawn jackets are not available, too thin for big game hunting, or too expensive and difficult to obtain. Tubing jackets can be made in the Mity Mite in 0.030-inch wall thickness, in the calibers from .308 to .458. The quality of such jackets is outstanding, even if they are produced from ordinary copper water tube. The literature that comes with the kit of dies explains the process in detail. The one die that is used in this set and not discussed here is the END ROUNDING DIE, which rolls over the tubing in preparation for closing one end. In reality, it is simply a special size of point forming die, with a round nose cavity and special punches for tubing. The core swage die is made like a core seating die, except that both the internal and external punches are very close, sliding fits to the bore, and the bore is just large enough to accept a cast or cut lead core. Also, there are three orifices in the walls of the die, at 120-degree positions around the circumference. You can easily tell this die from the others by looking for these three bleed holes. It is easy to determine which punches go with the die: the punches are far too small to fit closely in any other die of the same caliber set. Just try them by hand. If they fit smoothly into the die cavity, they are right. There are really two forms of core swage die. One is the ordinary core swage, used to adjust the lead core weight shape before making a bullet from it. The other is a variation called the LEAD SEMI- WADCUTTER DIE, or LSWC-1. In the Mity Mite system, we place a -M after the model number of the die set, and for the same kind of set in the Hydro-press system, we place a -H after the model. There is no LSWC-1 or, for that matter, any kind of core swage or bleed-off die for the reloading press. The LSWC-1-M can be used to make a complete bullet in one stroke. It has a bore size that is finished bullet diameter, and the punches have ends that are shaped just like a reverse of the bullet nose and base you want to form. Because the punch forms the nose by flowing lead into its cavity, there has to be a small shoulder between the nose and shank, where the edge of the punch presses into the core. The LSWC-1-M cannot make a smoothly curved ogive without a step. Let's make a bullet in this die. First, cut or cast a small quantity of lead core as described in the earlier chapters. But leave from two to five grains more lead than you actually want in the final bullet weight. Locate your LSWC-1-M die set. You can see that the die has no adapter body like the reloading press die. The Mity Mite dies don't use an adapter body, because they are made to screw directly into the RAM of the Mity Mite press! The die is a very tough knurled cylinder of costly, special steel, heat treated in electronic furnaces with a special kind of atmosphere. The Corbin process of die-making has been developed over the past twenty years to a level far beyond that used by most of the mass-production arms and ammo companies. The dies you receive are superior in construction and in design to the usual production die, and the bullets you can make in them should be superior to those you can purchase, if you do your part! The die has an internal punch, which normally is left in the die (no need to remove it). It goes into the die from the threaded end of the die. The threaded end of the die screws directly into the press ram. This is just the opposite of reloading press dies, which screw into the press head. In the Mity Mite, the press head holds a FLOATING PUNCH HOLDER. This black oxide finished, 7/8-14 TPI threaded cylinder looks like a reloading press die. But it holds the external punch. The ram of the Mity Mite press is machined so it performs all the functions of the universal adapter body. There is a shoulder that stops the internal punch from coming out of the top of the die when you move the ram forward to swage. There is also a hardened tool steel pin with a knurled head, passing through a slot in the side of the ram. This is the STOP PIN. It's job is to stop the backward movement of the internal punch when you pull the ram back, so that the internal punch is forced to slide forward and eject the bullet. You don't need a mallet, ejector rod, or the power ejector unit with the Mity Mite. When you consider the wide range of calibers, styles, and jobs that Mity Mite dies must do, then think of the years of development that went into the complete system of interchangable, simple dies and punches to fit the Mity Mity press, you may realize why it is better to purchase the ready-made system rather than trying to modify reloading presses, come up with custom parts or tools, or try to modify dies to work in arbor presses, hydraulic jacks, or vises. The universal interchange of calibers, jobs, and styles in the Mity Mite system is a major benefit, and the ease which which future changes or special work can be done in this system makes it far more cost-effective than trying to come up with one-of-a-kind tools for specific jobs. The FLOATING PUNCH HOLDER, (Model FPH-1), is included with each Mity Mite press. Instead of moving the die to adjust for depth of punch insertion, you screw the die all the way into the ram until it comes to rest on a shoulder. This shoulder, not the threads, takes all the force. Adjustment is all done with the micrometer-like movement of the threaded punch holder. Screw it toward the ram to make lighter bullets, or to push a punch further into the core. Screw it away from the ram to fit a heavier core, or to push a punch a little less far into the die. To install the LSWC-1-M die and punches in the Mity Mite, first make sure that the internal punch is correctly placed in the die. The internal punch has a 1/2-inch diameter head at one end, and a short "tail" protruding from the other side of this head. The tail is about 5/16-inch diameter, and its length varies from a quarter inch to five eighths of an inch, depending on the nominal weight (length) for which the punch was designed. This tail, working with the over-all punch length and the dimensions of the ram itself, determines the lightest and heaviest weight of bullet that you can get into the die. Lighter bullets require less of a tail, and heavier ones take a longer tail. You don't need to know the technical details -- just let us know what general weight range you want, and we'll see that the punch provided will do it. If one punch won't handle the whole range, we may suggest a second punch. Usually, the range is so great that you can reasonably expect to make handgun weights with one punch and rifle weights with another. The punch tail determines how much volume is left in the die cavity, which You don't need to know the technical details -- just let us know what general weight range you want, and we'll see that the punch provided will do it. If one punch won't handle the whole range, we may suggest a second punch. Usually, the range is so great that you can reasonably expect to make handgun weights with one punch and rifle weights with another. The punch tail determines how much volume is left in the die cavity, which nger pressure. It isn't necessary to use a pair of pliers. Now identify the external punch. The external punch fits the die cavity, but it has no "tail" section on its half-inch diameter head. Whereas the internal punch has to be as long as the entire die, so it can push the bullet out the mouth, the external punch needs only to fit half-way or less into the die bore. It is shorter. The part that is matched to the die cavity diameter is less than half the entire punch length. There is a section of the punch just after the head that is turned to about three eighths of an inch in diameter. This section slips into a hardened bushing that you will find inside the floating punch holder. There are three parts in the punch holder besides the body itself. First, there is a hexagon-shaped bushing or retainer that threads into the mouth of the punch holder. Remove this bushing. It should unscrew easily by hand. Inside the punch holder are two hardened tool steel parts. One is a half-inch diameter bushing or ring. One side is flat, the other curved. This part is called the ROCKER BUSHING. It slips over the external punch, so that the flat side rests against the head of the punch, and the curved side faces toward the small end of the punch (toward the die). On punches that must be made larger than 0.375-inch diameter, the hex bushing and the rocker bushing are permanently assembled to the punch. These punches must have the end opposite the head larger than the standard hole size in the two bushings. We make them fit the standard system by building them with a removable, cap- screw secured head. We assemble them here, so you don't have to take them apart and reassemble them every time you want to install a bushing. If your caliber takes a punch smaller than 0.375-inch tip diameter, the rocker bushing and hex bushing supplied with the press, in the punch holder, will easily slip over the punch. Assemble them now. Put the hex bushing over the punch so it will hold the punch into the punch holder. Look inside the punch holder. If you use your little finger, or a toothpick, you can probably pick out the last part, called the ROCKER BUTTON. This part looks just like the rocker bushing, but is solid. The rocker button fits into a V-shaped surface in the bottom of the punch holder cavity. It allows the head of the punch to transfer all the tons of swaging force to the punch holder in a safe manner, yet still allows the punch to rotate slightly so it can line up with the die bore perfectly. If the punch were held rigid, it could not self- align or float to keep the punch perfectly aligned under stress. This is another advantage of the Mity Mite system over other swaging methods. Notice that the rocker button has a curve on one side, and is flat on the other. Make sure that you put this button into the punch holder so that the curved side goes in first. You want the punch head to rest against the flat side of the button. And the flat side of the rocker bushing presses against the other side of the punch head. The curved side of the rocker bushing matches a curve machined in the inside edge of the hex bushing. When you screw it all into the punch holder, the punch is held so that the exact center of its head is in the center of a 1-1/4 inch ball, most of which is not physically present, but the working parts of which are formed by the curves and their mating surfaces. You don't need to take any special precautions with this assembly. It doesn't need oiling or maintenance. Just make sure you assemble it correctly. Look at the pictures in this manual before you try it. If any of the three parts are missing, your punch will not be properly supported and could be damaged under swaging pressure. Many people purchase spare punch holders so that they can assemble the punch and leave it, locking the lock ring on the punch holder to repeat their favorite adjustment quickly. This is nearly as fast as having several presses, since it is the only adjustment that ever needs to be made. With the die assembled into the ram, and the external punch in the punch holder, back off the punch holder several turns away from the ram. Pick up a core, moisten it with a little Corbin Swage Lube (or Corbin Dip Lube, if you want to make a lead bullet with a wax film for up to 1200 fps velocity), and place it into the die mouth. The core must fit into the die easily. If it won't fit, it is too large and you should not attempt to swage it. Never swage anything too large to fit into the die by hand. If it is far too small, you will tend to get folds and wrinkles in the shank, and it will be hard to get enough weight without having the core stick out the die mouth. The maximum length of core still must fit into the die before any pressure is noticed on the handle. Never try to swage something that is just barely inside the die, or sticks out of the die mouth. Carefully move the ram forward so that you can align the external punch and die. Don't pinch your fingers! Just help the punch go into the die this first time, and then, when you have it inside, gently snug up the hex bushing so that the punch doesn't move freely (it will still move under swaging forces). The Mity Mite press is so powerful it can pinch your finger off just by dropping the handle with your finger between the die and punch. Always keep your hand firmly on the handle when you are adjusting a punch, and don't trust gravity or friction to keep the handle from falling! I never place my finger between the die and punch. Any time I make a manual adjustment or help the punch line up the first time, I always keep my fingers on the sides of the punch, away from the tip. If I should drop the handle on the press, the die would move my hand out of the way. I might pinch myself against the end of the punch holder, but that wouldn't be too bad. If the punch won't reach into the die at this point, move the punch holder forward. The ram should be moved to its foremost position, so it reaches as close to the press head as it can go. This happens at the point of maximum leverage, with the pivots in the handle lined up in a straight line with the ram centerline. This press is unique in having all its linkage and ram concentric and in a straight line with maximum forward travel. Most presses have a side-torque caused by offsetting the handle, and several can't reach full leverage because they physically run out of travel before then. If the die can't be moved forward because the lead core comes up against the external punch, back off the external punch by turning the punch holder. When you have the ram all the way forward, hold it there and screw the punch holder toward the die until you can't turn it any more. The punch will have come up against the lead core. Back off the ram slightly, and move the floating punch holder half a turn forward. Stroke the press forward again. Then pull the handle back and almost, but not quite, eject the bullet. You can see the bullet at the die mouth, ready to be ejected. Notice whether or not the nose is completely filled out. If not, adjust the punch holder forward another half turn and swage the bullet again. Within a few strokes you will have the press set up so that the nose is forming completely. A small quantity of lead should begin to move out the bleed holes. I like to make my cores so that about one eighth of an inch of lead extrusion comes out the bleed holes on every stroke. Also, I like to swage the cores so that they are double-swaged: every stroke goes over and past the "top dead center" position, and then passes "over the top" again on the back stroke. You will notice that the Mity Mite retracts the ram slightly as you continue through the end of the stroke. This slight retraction gives you a double-swaging action on each stroke, if you use it. If you eject the bullet and weigh it, you can see whether or not to adjust the punch holder and in what direction. If the bullet is too light, then you may need to adjust the punch holder away from the ram (to make more room in the die at the end of the stroke, and extrude less lead). If it is too heavy, then you need to adjust the punch holder toward the ram (to reduce the volume in the die at the end of the stroke, and force more lead out the bleed holes). Obviously, if your lead cores start out too light, there is no way to make them all weigh the same by swaging and still come up with a heavier bullet. The only way to get consistent core weight by this method is to start out with plenty of lead, and remove all the surplus along with the variation. The hardness of the lead has a good deal to do with consistency of weight. Harder lead will flow more slowly. You may get variations in weight with harder lead, because you don't allow enough time for the lead to quit flowing. I recommend only pure, soft lead for the Mity Mite. You can get by with alloys of up to 3% antimony, in the smaller calibers. If you don't notice any lead coming out the bleed holes, stop swaging and figure out whether the core is so short that it lets the external punch move past the bleed hole location. If this happens to be the case, then you need an internal punch with a shorter tail section. Most people assume the external punch is too short. But making it any other size tends to cause other problems. The right way to adjust for extreme weight ranges is with the design of the internal punch tail. After you have swaged some bullets, the internal punch may be more difficult to move. This is because the three extrusion holes in the die become filled with the last lead wire extrusion made. The ends of the lead wire press against the punch sides. This is normal. You should still be able to remove and re-insert the external punch, though there is no reason to do so unless you want to change to another style (such as going from flat base to cup base). Read this part over again and make sure you understand the principle involved. This is the same operation you use with all the various core swages and lead semi-wadcutter dies. It works the same way whether you use the automatic proximity detectors and pressure transducers of the Hydro-press or whether you do it by hand on the Mega Mite or Mity Mite press. It doesn't matter whether you are making benchrest .224 rifle cores, handgun .44 Magnum cores, or .40 Sharps rifle bullets for paper-patching. Airgun pellets or precision lead weights for phonograph cartridges all are made exactly this way. Two notes about high precision: (1) Make sure the ram does indeed go past the "top of stroke" position each time, and (2) try to use the same timing for each stroke. Timing is important because lead flows on an exponential curve with time. Lead has a creep rate that can continue for years under a constant low stress. If you maintain a steady rate, your cores will come out much closer than if you whip the handle back and forth one time, and lean on it to drink a cup of coffee the next. You should be able to get less than 1% variation in total core weight on your first attempt. If you are really good, you can get less than 0.5% variation. Some people actually achieve such high precision that there is no discernable weight variation on a normal reloading scale. It is all the same equipment. Your skill in operating it makes the difference. But think about what this means: If you start with a 100 grain core, one percent is one grain. Half a percent is half a grain. With a 50 grain core, one percent is half a grain. With a 500 grain core, one percent is five grains. In other words, don't just expect half a grain or less on everything, because it is very sloppy for light bullets and beyond any reasonable expectation for heavier ones. Besides which, weight variation alone has very little to do with accuracy. Weight variation that is caused by differences in jacket thickness or alloy composition is a bad thing for accuracy. It means the trouble is elsewhere, and it means differences in bore friction, bullet upset, and other factors. Weight variation that is merely the result of having another grain or two of lead is quite insignificant. I have won matches with bullets that varied more than five grains in weight. Fortunately, there was nothing else wrong with them. A great number of factory bullets have horrible weight variation from lot to lot. If it came from having more or less core material, I wouldn't worry about it. But usually it comes from having differences in jacket material, and that affects groups. You've made some nice lead semi-wadcutter bullets now, using the LSWC-1-M, and they are ready to shoot if you used Dip Lube on them. Using Corbin Swage Lube, you would have made lead cores that could then be further processed into bullets. In that case, you would want to clean off the cores to remove any lube before putting them into jackets. The reason is that any lube inside the jacket contributes to a possible unbalance of the bullet. Put the cores in a strainer or wire basket and slosh them around in a strong solvent. Corbin Cleaning Solvent comes in pint cans, and is able to remove any lubricant traces, fingerprints, and grease from either cores, jackets, or from your guns. It will remove some finishes, too, so be careful around stocks and table tops! After cleaning the cores, spread them out to dry. Change the core swage die for the core seating die. We've already talked about the reloading press core seating die. It is exactly like the one for the Mity Mite and Hydro-press systems. Only differences in size and how it is held in the press apply. A core seating die looks like a core swage without any bleed holes. That is your first clue. The second is that the bore is larger, and it accepts the right caliber of jacket for the bullet you want to make. Try a jacket in the die -- if it fits, probably it is the same caliber as the die. A positive test for caliber is to swage a lead core in the core seating die, and then use your trusty micrometer to measure the diameter of the lead after swaging. Core seating dieore swage without any bleed holes. That is your first clue. The second is that the bore is larger, and it accepts the right caliber of jacket for the bullet you want to make. Try a jacket in the die -- if it fits, probably it is the same caliber as the die. A positive test for caliber is to swage a lead core in the core seating die, and then use your trusty micrometer to measure the diameter of the lead after swaging. Core seating dies or rifle bullets, and there is no need to purchase another special die for lead bullets, and (2) you can sometimes get a more precisely formed bullet for critical applications by doing it in more steps. This is especially true for harder lead alloys. The internal punch of the core seating die fits into the die bore, and either has a flat face, a probe (for hollow base bullets), a dome (for a dish or cup base bullet), or it can have a cavity (for some kinds special bases, not usually on jacketed bullets as the jacket edge has a hard time jumping over the edge of the punch). The external punch can be almost anything! If you want to make a handgun bullet, the external punch will have a nose cavity shaped like a mirror image of the nose. This is only for lead nose bullets, not for those with the jacket curved around the ogive. If you want to make an open tip bullet, as most rifle bullets tend to be, then the external punch should fit into the jacket rather than the sides of the die. This means that the external punch can be quite a bit smaller than the die bore. A hollow point bullet uses a core seating punch with a probe machined on the tip. This probe pushes down into the lead core and displaces lead around itself. The punch is made so that it centers itself either in the jacket (for an internal hollow point, having the jacket wrapped around it), or on the die walls (a typical lead tip hollow point). This keeps the cavity concentric with the sides of the bullet. You can use another external punch in the same die. First press a cavity into the lead core, as deep as you wish (you don't have to use the full extension of the punch into the core, you know...). Then, change punches and push a Keith nose or a round nose punch into the die, setting the adjustment so that you don't completely reform and close the cavity you just made. Again, you will soon see that there is a lot of control possible between not forming the bullet sufficiently, and completely forming it to the punch shape. Your first punch should be used with reasonable force, compressing the lead core and filling out the jacket to meet the die walls. It should leave the jacket and core in the die, not pull it out with the punch. But any subsequent punch that you want to use does not have to be pushed so far or hard into the core. The shank is already formed. Everything else is just a matter of styling the bullet. Go ahead and experiment. Two punches can make twenty different bullet shapes if you use them with various degrees of insertion and in different orders. But the point forming die really brings out the power to experiment! You read about this die already under the reloading press section. It has a cavity shaped just like the bullet, except there is a little hole in the tip for a strong, spring-wire ejection pin to push the bullet back out again. In the Mity Mite system, this die has a major difference from the reloading press types. It has a captive internal punch instead of a retraction spring. You'll recall that the point forming die has a very small ejection pin instead of a conventional internal punch, and it is held out of the die cavity by a spring. In the Mity Mite press, there is no spring. That stop pin we discussed earlier is pulled out of the top of the press, and slipped into a slot in the head of the ejection pin after you screw the die into place. Don't forget to do this, or you can damage the ejection pin. The first thing I do is pull out the stop pin. Then I place the ejection pin in the end of my point forming die (it goes in from the threaded end, just like all internal punches in all dies), and screw it into the ram as one assembly. With the ram in the right position, it is easy to grasp the tip of the ejection pin while it sticks out the die mouth. I do this, and slide and turn the ejection pin until I can see the slot underneath the stop pin hole. Then I push the stop pin back into place, and give the ejection pin a tug to make sure it is actually locked in place. Now, the ejection pin will be retracted automatically from the die without any spring pressure, and it will be held in place to eject the bullet. The Mity Mite system has less of a problem with a stuck bullet, since you can use the press to retract the pin again and make another attempt to swage it. If you feel resistance to ejection, it is usually better to unscrew the die and use a short piece of the same diameter of spring wire as the ejection pin, along with a small mallet, to tap the bullet out. This happens when you use over-sized components, try to reswage a finished factory bullet in the same diameter of die (many people do this, not realizing that you usually need a slightly larger die for it to work), or forget to use the right lubricant. The most common problem people have when first starting to swage is bending the ejection pin. After a while, you get a better feel for the kind of resistance that is normal, and bent pins become less and less frequent. It is a good idea to purchase spares if you would be under any pressure because of having your set out of commission for a little while due to a damaged ejection pin or a stuck bullet (usually the cause). One or two spare ejection pins can save your day. Now let's talk about a set of dies that we usually consider one package: the RBT-2 set, or rebated boattail forming dies. This is actually a matched pair of dies, not just one. They replace the usual straight-walled core seater whenever you want to make a rebated boattail bullet. A rebated boattail bullet has a step, or shoulder, like a Keith nose on a pistol bullet. That step acts like a spoiler to break up the blast of hot muzzle gas just as the bullet exists your barrel. On a conventional smooth boattail design, the gas flows with the streamlined shape and zips past the bullet, flows along the ogive, and then breaks up right in front of the bullet as it tries to get away. A boattail means that you are probably shooting through your own muzzle blast turbulence! That can add perhaps another 10% error factor to the bullet dispersion. The small rebate has a minor drag effect, but over-all, the improvement in total performance is greater. Not only do you gain ballistic coefficient by reducing base drag, but you also retain the natural good disperson characteristics of the flat base bullet during that critical exit time from the muzzle. Add to that the fact that the dies and punches last longer, there is less gas cutting and a better seal in your barrel. Those are compelling reasons to forget about a conventional boattail design if you have the option of making your own bullets. The process is just like seating a regular core. You use the same external core seating punch that you would use with your flat-base core seater. But instead of using the flat base core seating die, place the core and jacket into the BT-1 or BOATTAIL PREFORMING die. This die has a standard boattail shape inside. You push the flat-base jacket into this die, seat the core, and the jacket is converted into a boattail. Having this taper on the bottom of the jacket makes it easy to form the rebated step or edge. The next die, BT-2 or RBT FINISHING DIE, has a shoulder that transposes itself into the jacket when you once again seat the core. If you tried to use this die alone, the shoulder would catch the jacket bottom and tear it. But the taper gets the bottom of the jacket past the shoulder before any real pressure is applied. The jacket moves outward to take on the die shape, instead of trying to draw over this shoulder. Included with the RBT-2-M set (which can be purchased as an add-on to a conventional three-die or four-die set) is a special external punch for the point forming die. This punch has a cavity in the tip, to match the shape of the boattail. The punch supports the rebated boattail shape, and keeps it from being mashed out of form. The punch is a little fragile, so don't use it for other experiments without considering the forces you plan to apply to those edges. In a short, fat pistol caliber, you can use a Keith nose punch for a rebated boattail bullet. First form a conventional jacketed bullet with a nice truncated conical nose. This is done in the point forming die. In fact, you can make the whole bullet in the point forming die if you put the jacket into this die backward (base first) and then use a core seating punch to seat the core. Eject this bullet, turn it over, and now you have a tapered section facing out of the die and an open tip flat end facing in. Use the Keith punch to push the bullet into the die. The tapered nose will fit into the Keith punch nicely, and will be made into a rebated boattail base. The flat open end will be formed into a new nose in the point forming die. It is simple, effective, and the bullets seem to gain between 20% and 40% in ballistic coefficient at subsonic speeds. This doesn't work if the bullet is much longer than its caliber, so don't try it with conventional rifle bullets. Lead tip dies for the Mity Mite system are just like those described for reloading presses, except, of course, they are made to fit the press ram. They look very much like a core seating die. Some people wonder why we can't use a core seating die. The reason is that the bullet won't slip back into the core seater after it is finished at full diameter. It will go in, but only under some force. And the force is greater than that required to form the lead tip. Making a lead tip bullet requires a little experience. At first, you will probably have some experimenting to do, because you need to have just enough lead protruding so that the cavity in the internal punch of the lead tip die can reshape it fully. Too much lead showing doesn't hurt, but too little is a problem. It can't fill the cavity, and won't shape up properly. With the lead tip die, it is necessary to use very light pressure. Pressing too hard makes a ring in the ogive of the bullet. In some small tips, it helps to grind a sharp wedge shape on the ejection pin of the point forming die. Then, the ejection pin will split the protruding, deformed lead and come to rest against the jacket edge. The jacket edge won't split easily, so the bullet can be ejected. Then, when you put the bullet into the lead tip die to finish the end, the neatly split blob of lead will reform nicely and become whole again. This technique is useful for problem cases, where one must have a small tip size and bring the jacket nearly closed. Generally it isn't required. Large handgun-style lead tips, which are probably a quarter of the caliber or more, don't generally require the lead tip die in order to form properly. A conventional three-die package for open tip bullets works well for making large lead tips of this type. The lead tip die (LT-1-M) can be purchased separately as an add- on, or it can be included with your set of dies in the LTFB-4-M, RBTL- 5-M, or the FRBL-6-M sets. These all have an "L" in their catalog number. The "L" stands for "Lead Tip". All it means is that a lead tip die has been included: you can still make open tip bullets. All the various sets of dies are assembled from the same basic individual dies. Everything but the LSWC-1-M set starts with a core swage and a core seating die, and adds a point forming die, and various combinations of lead tip and rebated boattail dies. A "FB" in the catalog number means "Flat Base". It indicates that you have a standard core seating die in the package, not necessarily that you are limited to flat base rather than cup, dish, or hollow bases. In fact, if you order a pistol set with the cup base specified, you could very well receive a set that doesn't have a flat base punch at all, but it still has the basic ability to make one if you get the right punch. We'd still call it a "FJFB-3-M" if it has a core swage, core seat, and point forming die. The "FJ" only stands for "Full Jacket", and is primarily to fill in space in the catalog number, since any set with a point forming die can be used to make a full jacket bullet. The letters "RB" or "RBT" in the catalog number stand for "Rebated Boattail", and they mean that the two RBT dies are included, along with the proper RBT punch for the point forming die. If the "F" for "Flat base" is also in the catalog number, then it means that you can make both flat and RBT bullets. Both the standard core seater and the two RBT core seaters are included, in that case. The number in the catalog number tells how many dies are in the set. For instance, in a "FRBL-6-M" set, you have flat base (F) core seater, two RBT core seaters (RB), a lead tip die (L), and of course a core swage and point former, which are assumed present in anything above a two-die set. That makes six dies, ae both flat and RBT bullets. Both the standard core seater and the two RBT core seaters are included, in that case. The number in the catalog number tells how many dies are in the set. For instance, in a "FRBL-6-M" set, you have flat base (F) core seater, two RBT core seaters (RB), a lead tip die (L), and of course a core swage and point former, which are assumed present in anything above a two-die set. That makes six dies, a one die with matching punches, and it makes the same kind of bullet with the exception that you cannot use jackets so long that they cover the bleed holes. That means half-jacket and straight lead bullets are the proper kind for a LSWC-1-M. The techniques of swaging are covered in much greater detail in the other books. I recommend that you invest a little time in reading about the process, if you have not done it before. Bullet swaging is quite simple, but also quite powerful. Because there are so many possible variations, it is far more important to learn the principles than it is to try and follow a block of pictures and repeat each step exactly. With six different kinds of dies, and hundreds of different techniques and styles in thousands of calibers, can you imagine the number of pages you'd need to keep on hand, in order to have a "1-2-3-" cookbook to follow for each possible bullet you wanted to make? On the other hand, if you understand how a core swage works, how to use a core seater, and what kind of bullets you could expect from a point forming die and a lead tip die, you can work out all the variations for yourself, and probably come up with others that none of us have yet discovered! In the Mity Mite system, pressures run from 20,000 to 50,000 psi or more. That is some kind of power! And, it's all under your control. .he CHAPTER 6 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #.op SWAGING WITH THE HYDRO-PRESS SYSTEM The manufacture of custom bullets has grown tremendously in the past decade: people with a diverse range of jobs (and quite a few who were between jobs), people who had successful professional careers, have found custom bullet manufacture to be pleasant, profitable, and a wonderful way to plan a comfortable retirement income or to build a business at low cost that can be turned over to a son or daughter. There is no typical custom bullet maker, as far as I can tell. I know doctors, carpenters, locksmiths, attorneys, laborers, people who had severe physical handicaps, people who are the picture of a robust outdoors athlete, people with gruff personalities and a lot of mechanical aptitude, and people who are extremely pleasant, quiet types who have a hard time with a screwdriver. All of them seem to be doing quite well in the custom bullet field. Today, you can purchase a complete package, ready to start production of bullets so advanced, and so difficult for mass production, that none of the big names in bullet making can compete with you. It may seem hard to believe, but none of them have machinery capable of forming some of the extremely tough, thick jackets, in heavier weights of large calibers, that you can easily make on a small machine that fits in your den or garage. The reason they don't (and can't) compete in so many areas is their committment to volume. Their very size dictates that limited production items are not profitable to them. The wiser executives at these firms welcome my customers into the field: they know that the need for quality specialty bullets can be met by custom bullet makers and that there is no direct competition, but in fact a benefit: they can now forget about pressure to make unprofitable (to them) small runs, and just refer clients to you, the custom bullet maker. Besides, the kind of equipment needed to mass produce heavy walled jackets in larger diameters is extremely expensive. The stroke length and tonnage of the multi-station presses for high speed production is quite beyond anything used for ordinary target and smaller diameter hunting bullets. It would cost a minimum of half a million dollars to install the equipment required, and the market for specialty bullets of this kind is far too small to be investing even that kind of money, not to mention the promotion, inventory, and special materials required. On the other hand, what is unprofitable to a big outfit is enough to keep a family or two living in high style! A custom bullet typically is sold for prices from 50 cents to over two dollars per bullet. They are NOT price competitive with mass produced bullets, and they don't have to be. Even at twice those prices, there are between ten thousand and one hundred thousand (typically fifty thousand) bullets sold in any given specialty size and caliber each year, on the average. Who pays that for bullets? People who own exotic calibers. People who like to hunt big game and have experienced repeated failures of cheaper mass produced bullets. People who want a specific weight or style in some caliber and don't mind investing a little more than usual to try it. People who... well, basically, people interested in something better, different, or unavailable elsewhere at any price. You don't sell a lot of these bullets to local plinkers, of course. But serious competitors, people spending five thousand dollars or more to make a trip to Africa for hunting, special police teams who need bullets of unusual design for tactical situations, and the everyday handloader with a spark of curiosity in his soul -- these people are the ones who produce backlogs for my customers, often cleaning out their entire supply at trade shows or by magazine advertising sales. The machine that makes it possible is the Corbin Hydro-press. Everything about the machine is designed so that you can get into the field at minimum cost, and grow without having to worry about outgrowing the capacity of the equipment. It is capable of forming solid brass bullets in one stroke, making a 10-gauge shotgun slug from a chunk of raw lead, forming partitioned jackets in heavy tubing, making brass, copper, or even steel jackets with thin or heavy walls, and extruding lead wire in any diameter. It can turn right around and reload some ammo for you, too, using regular RCBS type dies and shell holders. When you suddenly realize that all your reloading presses are now complex progressives or turrets and you have lost the old rugged simplicity of a powerful single-station machine, the Hydro-press greets you with a "can-do!" and barely begins to unleash its tremendous power on jobs that would shatter the fragile parts of modern reloading machines. It's not large -- only 34 inches tall, 23 inches wide, and 15 inches deep (about like a small refrigerator). But the design is the essence of rugged simplicity. We use a Hydro-press to cold-forge steel parts (used in other Hydro-presses, by the way!). It can stamp, blank, coin, trim, and punch steel, in addition to its regular duties as a profit center for your bullet making. The major advantage of the Hydro-press is its built-in electronic controls and logic circuits: the "brains" of the press and the sensitive transducers that tell it what is going on in the world. Anyone can assemble a hydraulic cylinder to a ram, somehow adapt it to a set of dies, and let it slam blindly back and forth. That won't make good bullets, however. The ability to control pressure in the die, exact position of the punches, and precise amount of time that the pressure is being applied, is needed in order produce a consistently good product. The Hydro-press uses transducers that sense the position of the ram and control its movement though logic circuits. The earlier versions used high quality limit switches to tell top, bottom and loading position. Current versions use electronic proximity detectors that have no moving parts and do not contact the ram. Solid state timing controls the application time of the pressure. Pressure transducers control the level of pressure applied. All this is automatic, locked away in the steel innards of the cabinet. What you see is a colorful Lexan-laminate-on-steel top panel, with a digital counter, adjustable inspection light, key-locked power switch, selector switches for various modes of operation, and brightly colored oversize push-buttons to cycle the press. At the left rear corner of the cabinet is a massive steel press head with inch-thick plate for a base and head, and hardened, ground tool steel ram and guide rods running on bearings. As powerful as it can be, the Hydro-press is also sensitive. You can set the pressure, speed, and timing in seconds. It can reload a .25 ACP case just as easily as it cold-flows a solid hunk of copper. Blind force cannot begin to accomplish the tasks you can handle with the intelligent Hydro-press system. The dies and tooling for the Hydro- press are capable of sustaining much higher pressures than smaller dies for the reloading press or Mity Mite. They use 1.5-inch diameter blanks, with 1-12 TPI threads. The press head accepts a floating punch holder with 1.5-inch by 12 TPI threads, and an adapter for standard 7/8-14 TPI dies as well. The ram can be adapted to 7/8-14 TPI, or to a conventional shell holder. Shell holders for 20 mm and for 50 Browning Machine Gun cartridges are also available. Fifty caliber MG dies (for reloading) are made by C-H Dies and they fit directly into the head of the Hydro-press. I recommend them. Corbin builds a lead wire extruder kit, jacket maker kits, and of course the full range of bullet swaging dies for the Hydro-press. Calibers are virtually limitless. No small arms bullet is too large. Weights and styles are also quite open to a wide range of designs. If you want something that cannot be made in a hand press, this is the system that is most likely to handle it. (If the Hydro- press won't handle it, chances are it cannot be done.) The dies and punches are massive, far too large for use in a reloading press or the Mity Mite. And smaller dies do not fit into this press for good reason: it would be too easy to destroy the dies by using pressures only a Hydro-press die of that caliber could sustain. All of the kinds of dies previously discussed are available in this system. They work the same way. The only difference is that the die goes into the ram so it faces straight up, and the external punch fits into the floating punch holder so it faces straight down. This arrangement makes it possible for you to drop a component into the open mouth of the die, then move your hands back to the two- hand, safety controls to start the stroke. In the key-locked manual start mode, it would take a contortionist to put a part of their body in the way of the moving ram. (An automatic mode, controlled by the key switch, is also available -- you need to know the code sequence to start it. It is handy for sizing long runs of cartridge cases with the ram set for a moderately slow travel). Rather than describe all the modes and controls of the Hydro-press here, I will refer you to the book "POWER SWAGING", which is all about the use of power presses including the Hydro-press. Basically, the adjustment is still done with the punch holder, just as it is in the Mity Mite. The main difference is that you can control exactly where the start and stop of the stroke takes place, so that the stroke length is adjustable to precisely what you need for any job. (Up to six inches of stroke can be used, if need be!) The press can stop and reverse itself, after a applying pressure for whatever time you tell it (0.1 to 10 seconds). It will continue down, eject the bullet gently to the top of the die, and then raise slightly to retract the internal punch so you can put another component into the die. The point at which it reverses can be a physical location set by the position transducer, or it can be a pressure level achieved by the compression of the material, sensed by the pressure transducer. Naturally, if you set the press to stop when it reaches a certain position, it is possible to adjust the punch holder so that the bullet has yet to be contacted, or so that it is pushed too far for the shape you want. I like to set the stroke length first, leaving myself enough room to easily put components into the die but not wasting time moving the ram any further than it needs to go. Then, after I have a pleasant working stroke length set up, I back off the punch holder, put a component into the die (core, jacket, whatever I might be doing at the time), and run the press ram up to the top of its stroke. With the position switch and pressure switch both turned off, the ram will simply stop when it reaches this point. It is now as far up as it will go during this particular job. Then, I screw the punch holder down by hand, until the punch contacts the material within the die. I back the ram down slightly (press the green "ENERGIZE" and yellow "DOWN" buttons, then release them after the ram moves down a bit). Then I give the punch holder another quarter to half turn downward, just to put some compression on the component on the next up stroke. The ram is then moved up (press the green "ENERGIZE" and the red "UP" buttons). Again, with pressure and position switches turned off, the ram will do one of two things: if the component is being compressed and is resisting with pressure equal to that of the press (as read on the gauge), then the ram will simply stop and hold the pressure. I can read it on the gauge, and I can hear the motor and pump inside the cabinet as it pushes oil over the by-pass valves. Or, if the pressure I have set is great enough to move the component into a more compact shape, so that the position sensor is activated, then the pressure gauge will drop to zero, the red LED light on the top position sensor will come on, and the ram will stop. The motor and pump will make their usual idling sound. It's easy to tell whether or not you have formed the component to a limit that was set by position or by resistance to the pressure. In some jobs, you want consistent pressure. This would be true of a core seating operation. The Hydro-press can form seated cores far more accurately than you can do it by hand, on the larger calibers. (On small calibers, I still think a person can do it better -- given enough experience). But on a core swage operation, or when making a lead bullet with a LSWC-1-H (note that the die designations are the same as the Mity Mite, except that the letter "H" is added to indicate the big Hydro-press design), using constant pressure would simply move all the lead out through the bleed holes! It would come out very consistently, under the precise control of the pressure and logic circuits, but there would be no indication of when to stop pressing. In this operation, you adjust the pressure sensor to a value lower than that listed in "POWER SWAGING" as maximum safe pressure for the caliber of die. Then, you actually stop the ram using the position sensor (turn on the "POSITION" switch). The location of the top position transducer will control the length and weight of the bullet in this case. It is extremely important to use sensitive, high-quality transducers for this kind of work, because variation in their range of sensing will cause variation in bullet weight. I use a highly precise electronic proximity detector that can sense position within millionths of an inch, far better than the human eye. In manufacturing a bullet jacket with the Hydro-press, the same basic steps are used as with thinner materials in the Mity Mite. First, a piece of tubing is cut to length. The length is determined experimentally and is different for various weights, styles of tip, ogive radius, and kinds of bases, as well as for partitions or conventional cup jackets. (We work this out when we build the dies -- design is a large part of the making of a tubing jacket set). Tubing is cut to length using a turret lathe with air feed, or an automatic screw machine. Corbin cuts tubing for customers, and furnishes the correct temper and wall thickness, alloy and length to make the bullet you order. Or, you can farm this out to a local job shop, or cut the tubing yourself with a fine-tooth saw (bandsaw, circular saw, or even a hand saw, using a V-block and a stop to get even, square cuts). Boxes of from 100 to 5000 pieces of tubing are normally purchased with the dies. One end has been deburred and chamfered. The other is left with as much of the cut-off burr as possible on it. It will form the base, so any extra metal is welcome and causes no problem. The piece of tubing is placed over a punch that fits precisely inside, with a length that allows at least half the caliber length of tube to protrude beyond the punch tip, unsupported. The punch has a shoulder that presses on the other (chamfered) end of the tube. One simply installs the END ROUNDING die (or, as some call it, the JACKET MAKING die) in the press, making sure that the steel pin that passes through the punch head is indeed installed correctly (on top of the knock-out bar, but under the retraction spring -- pictures in POWER SWAGING illustrate how). Thof tube to protrude beyond the punch tip, unsupported. The punch has a shoulder that presses on the other (chamfered) end of the tube. One simply installs the END ROUNDING die (or, as some call it, the JACKET MAKING die) in the press, making sure that the steel pin that passes through the punch head is indeed installed correctly (on top of the knock-out bar, but under the retraction spring -- pictures in POWER SWAGING illustrate how). Th end of the tube will now be rounded like a round nose bullet, and will have a small projection on the end. If the tube isn't closed this far, check the position sensor and make sure that the right pressure is being used, and the position sensor isn't coming on before that pressure is reached. (If it is, move the floating punch holder down a bit -- don't adjust the position sensor). The next step is to draw that piece of rounded-end tube to a diameter that will fit into the core seat die for your caliber. Draw dies are part of the jacket-maker package if they are required. Again, it is the working system you are purchasing, with all the development and testing that went into making it work with as few steps as possible, not a specific number of parts. We provide what it takes to make the jacket. Sometimes it takes thousands of dollars worth of die- maker labor to develop some little change that you might desire, but we don't charge you for it. On the other hand, if we can come up with a process that eliminates one or two steps by putting in all this work, then I think you can see that it's a better deal even if you don't need some specific die or punch that might otherwise be included. I mention this because not every jacket design is made the same way. Some alloys, thicknesses, calibers, or combinations of jacket features take differnt paths during production. Because this is almost entirely unique, one-of-a-kind development work done just for you, to make your bullet, it is impossible to predict whether your set will include any given number of punches, dies, or whether certain steps will be necessary in advance. Instructions are written after the set has been developed and tested. Generally, they all follow the process oulined here. Sometimes there are radical exceptions. Rather than charging you for full shop time every time something requires a lot of working out, we just have one standard price for a package of tools we call the "Copper Tubing Jacket Maker Set", or "CTJM-1-H". This set is NOT a fixed physical number of parts, but varies with whatever is needed. You are purchasing the completed concept, the process of manufacturing something that no one else in the world has worked out quite this way. If it takes an extra die or two, then the extra material you got may be considered a bonus -- I would consider it unfortunate, since it makes the bullet manufacture a little slower. On the other hand, if we were able to eliminate everything but one or two dies in the set, you might consider it an over-priced set if you just looked at the parts received and not at the time that went into developing this faster, easier method for you. I would consider it a blessing that someone had eliminated all the extra steps in my bullet making operation! But, as I was saying, the next step is usually to draw down the end-rounded tube. For this, a die is provided. The die fits into the head of the Hydro-press, using an adapter that takes it from 7/8-14 TPI to the 1.5-inch by 12 TPI press head. Adapters are available separately, if you want to permanently install one on each die for convenience, or you can use the one that comes with the press, and simply change the dies. A very long punch is provided, with a base that looks like a die. It screws directly into the press ram. This drawing operation is exactly a mirror image of the usual swaging set-up. The die and punch positions are reversed, and of course there is no internal punch since the draw die is an open, annular or ring die. The tubing is simply dropped over the punch and pushed through the die, coming out the top. After drawing, the tubing normally must be annealed to avoid cracks in the base. We make a very nice electronically controlled furnace for this, which can be optionally equipped with a Nitrogen atmosphere for even greater control (no scale, no oxidation). If you don't feel ready for the electric furnace (which is the same quality that we use to make our dies, by the way), then a propane or gas welding torch will do. Heat the tip red and drop the jacket in water. The water quench is to knock off scale. It doesn't do anything for the anneal. Now remove the draw die and punch, replace the floating punch holder, and install the regular core seating die from whatever swage set you plan to use with these jackets. Some kinds of jackets, especially partitioned ones, have a different internal punch to install. Instructions will be included with those sets to tell you how. Otherwise, just use the normal flat internal punch. The external punch is a special one in all cases, however. The external punch is made for a specific wall thickness and length of tubing. It fits into the jacket, supporting the walls while pressing on the open mouth. The length of this punch is a bit shorter than the end-rounding punch, but otherwise they appear to be similar. The END-FLATTENING punch, as it is called, fits inside the drawn jacket snugly, but it does fit. The end-rounding punch only fits inside the tubing, before drawing. As with most swaging tools, sorting out the parts is just a matter of knowning what they are supposed to accomplish, then seeing if they fit into the parts they are supposed to fit. If they don't fit by hand, chances are they are not the right parts. If they do, then they probably are! The purpose of the end-flattening punch is to flatten the rounded end of the tube, and make a closed jacket. Application of the recommended pressure, as given in the instructions that come with the set, will produce a flat base. The jacket is now finished! It can be used just like any other jacket. The operation just described can be applied to the Mity Mite system, using the 0.030-inch wall tubing suitable for this press. Tubing jacket manufacture is considerably easier and faster on the Hydro-press, even with thin jackets, since the stroke length is considerably greater and the press has full power anywhere in the stroke. The Mity Mite and the Hydro-press systems both use different size dies, and do not interchange. The Hydro-press can use reloading press swage dies, though I don't recommend the practice: it's too easy to over-stress a swage die by applying more pressure than the recommended limit (the charts in POWER SWAGING are for Hydro-press dies, not the smaller diameter reloading press dies). However, the Mega Mite press is a common ground for all Corbin dies. .he CHAPTER 7 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #.op SOME SPECIFIC BULLETS AND HOW TO MAKE THEM I've already written seven books and my editors tell me I have over 400 articles in print, describing the various things you can do with swaging. It would be ridiculous to try and explain every possible bullet style in this book -- you'd need a flat-bed truck to haul it out and a crane to flip the pages! Rather than that, I will try to explain how each of several examples of bullets can be made, selecting very simple and very exotic kinds of bullets, including features that shooters find exciting, and designs that appear difficult or impossible until you have seen how simple swaging makes it. From these few examples, you should begin to gain an understanding of the process and how much more you can do with it. HOLLOW BASE TARGET PISTOL WADCUTTERS Lead wadcutters with hollow base can be made in a reloading press in the calibers from .25 ACP to .357/.38, up to .458 caliber in the Mity Mite, and up to .75 caliber in the Hydro-press. The reloading press makes as accurate a bullet in regard to diameter control, but for superior weight control, you should use the Mity Mite or larger swaging presses. Select either a core seating die or a lead semi-wadcutter die. The core seating die should be ordered with a wadcutter nose external punch, and a hollow base internal punch. So should the LSWC-1 die, if you wish to use that one. (I would -- it isn't available in the reloading press system, however.) Prepare your lead cores by either casting them in the Corbin 4- cavity adjustable weight core mould, or by cutting uniform length pieces from a spool of lead wire. Specific instructions are found with the tools or in other sections of this book. More detailed information can be found in the book "Rediscover Swaging". To establish the proper weight of core, make one and put it in a scale pan. Then adjust the next few until you get what you want. If you plan to use a core seating die (CS-1) without a core swage (CSW-1), then what you put in is what you will get out in regard to weight. This is the case with reloading press die sets, since there is no core swage for them. It isn't necessarily a bad situation. I shot a lot of good groups when I was in the Navy using bullets that had 3-5 grains variation in my trusty .45 Colt Government pistol. If you do use the Mity Mite or other special swage press, and plan to use a core swage or the all-in-one lead semi-wadcutter die (LSWC-1), then make the cores from 2 to 5 grains heavier than you want in the bullet. That gives you some extra lead to extrude along with any variation in weight. Lubricate the core by one of two methods. If you want a clean lead bullet with no lubrication, use Corbin Swage Lube on your finger tip and thumb, and just give each core a little rotation between them as you pick them up to put them in the die. It's simple and natural, no big deal. Let the benchrest rifle fanatics worry about measuring out lube with a hypodermic needle on a special stamp pad: it won't make any practical difference in where the bullet lands. The other method is for placing a wax jacket on the bullet itself. Instead of lube grooves which apply a little band of lube and let the rest of the bullet scrape along the bare metal contact with your bore, the whole surface of the bullet can be covered by a thin, hard film of high temperature wax. The product that does this is Corbin Dip Lube. Some call it "Liquid Jacket". That's what it acts like. You dip the core in a small container and put it wet into the swage die. Then apply pressure, swage the bullet, and it comes out nearly dry. Let it cure for fifteen minutes, and you are ready to load and shoot it! No sizing, no lubricating, and more lube contacts the bore than if you had it plastered with conventional drag-producing grooves. Drawback? Alox-beeswax lube works at somewhat higher velocity levels than Corbin Dip Lube. If you are pushing the bullets toward magnum speeds, you may be in for some leading. On the other hand, that is what Corbin bullet jackets are made to prevent. From 1,200 fps down, I have had excellent results with the Dip Lube. Many commercial firms purchase it in gallon lots for their bullets, so I know that it works as well for their customers. Any lead bullets can produce leading in some guns and with some loads, of course. I certainly do not claim this product is the best lubricant made, but it is one of the most convenient and easily used, especially with swaged bullets. Before swaging the bullets, you may want to know how to put the dies in the press. For the Hydro-press, you should have the book "Power Swaging" at hand. You need it, period. Without it you will break dies. For the Mity Mite, a brief reading of the instruction sheet that comes with the press and dies should make the installation and operation fairly clear. For the reloading press, ditto. But here's a quick run-down: the Mity Mite die goes into the ram of the Mity Mite press. The ram is the steel cylinder that moves in and out of the press frame when you pull on the handle. It has a 5/8- 24 TPI thread in the working end, and the handle forks attached to the other end. There are two punches with the die (each and every die has two punches that are required to operate it, except for draw dies). Lead tip dies come with one punch, but use your existing point forming die bottom punch. We are not going to be using those dies now. The reloading press has an internal punch captive inside the black, threaded adapter body. It's external punch slips into the press ram, and the die screws into the pressd head like any reloading press die. In the reloading press, you would be using the CS-1-R core seating die, and you would have the hollow base internal punch inside the die. If you wanted to install this punch (because the die normally comes with a flat base internal punch, and you order the other base shapes as optional punches), you would unscrew the die insert from the bottom of the die and then pull the original flat base punch straight out of the top of the die insert. You would clean the new punch, and press it gently into the top of the die insert, then screw the die and punch together back into the adapter body. In the Mity Mite press, you would see that the die has threads on one end and a venturi (funnel-shaped) opening at the other end. This venturi opening helps align the external punch. The threaded end should have a steel cylinder with two diameters protruding from it. This is the head and tail of the internal punch. The tail is about 0.312 inches in diameter, and the head (right next to it) is about 0.50 inches in diameter. The rest of the punch is the same size, minus a tad, as the die bore. It is a diamond-lapped sliding fit. If you want to change the base shape, you slide this punch out of the die, clean the new one carefully of all grit and dust, and slide it carefully into the die from the threaded end. Flat base, cup base, hollow base, and dish base shapes can all be made this way. Bevel base can be simulated but remember that all end shapes which are formed by pressing against a punch will have some degree of shoulder or step where the edge of the punch contacts the bullet. A true bevel base is not made in this simple kind of die. Screw the die into the press by hand. In the Mity Mite, screw it in all the way. Don't use tools. Hand-tight is tight enough. Don't confuse the swage die, which is about 3/4-inch in diameter, with the black threaded floating punch holder (FPH-1-M) in the press head! Many people think the punch holder is the die, because it looks like a reloading press die. The external punch is held in the punch holder. In a previous chapter this was covered with photos and detailed description. The hex bushing unscrews from the end of the FPH-1. Inside is a collar or bushing that slips over the punch. (If the punch is smaller than .375 diameter -- if not, the punch already has the bushing and hex bushing assembled to it. Just remove the one in the FPH-1 and set it aside, take out the round rocker bushing but leave in the solid rocker button. Install the punch as one unit.) Assemble the round rocker bushing and then the hex bushing over the external punch. If you have any doubt as to what part is the external punch, look for the one part that does NOT fit into the die full length so that it comes to the mouth of the die and fills it completely from end to end with some left over! The die is the round steel cylinder with the hole through it. You can see through it if you pull out the internal punch. The internal punch will NOT fit into the floating punch holder properly. It has a tail section that keeps it from fitting. The head of the internal punch and the head of the external punch are the same diameter, but the external punch has no projection or tail section. It steps down from the head (about .50 inches diameter) to the shank (about 0.36 inches diameter) to a section that is just below bullet diameter, having a portion that is closely fitted to the die bore. The punch should be held finger-tight in the floating punch holder at this point. The adjustment of the punch holder is made by putting one of the lubricated cores into the die mouth, and carefully moving the ram forward so that the external punch can be aligned with the die and moved into it. The object now is to adjust the punch holder so that the press handle can be moved to the point where the die is forward as far as it can go. If the punch and holder stops the ram from going forward now, back off the punch holder. If the punch doesn't contact anything yet, that's fine. Just get it into the die. Make sure that the ram is capable of going as far forward as possible, unlimited by coming against the punch or holder. No pressure should be generated, no particular force required. The weight of the handle should be more than sufficient to move the ram forward all the way. Have you got that adjustment made? Make sure the ram is free to move back and forth on both sides of its foremost extension. You can tell if it is right, because the pivot pin that holds the ram to the press handle will line up on the same plane as the bolt that holds the handle to the two links. Now, holding the handle so that the ram is at the furthest position forward, screw the floating punch holder toward the ram. Keep turning it by hand until the punch contacts your lead core and you can no longer turn the punch holder by hand. If, at this point, you are able to screw the punch completely into the die and the die face comes up against the hex bushing on the punch holder, something is not right. The possibility is that you didn't have enough lead core for the set the way it is. The cure is to obtain a hardened steel bushing to slip over the tail of the internal punch, extending it forward. Do NOT try to machine or modify the external punch or die to cure thholder by hand. If, at this point, you are able to screw the punch completely into the die and the die face comes up against the hex bushing on the punch holder, something is not right. The possibility is that you didn't have enough lead core for the set the way it is. The cure is to obtain a hardened steel bushing to slip over the tail of the internal punch, extending it forward. Do NOT try to machine or modify the external punch or die to cure thward again. Did any lead come out the bleed holes in the side of the LSWC-1 die? Or, did you feel a rather sudden increase in the resistance in the CS-1 die? Back off the ram, eject the bullet, and see if it is nicely filled out. See if it stays in the die, or if it comes back out with the punch. Normally, the bullet will stay in the die even if it is somewhat undersized at this point. Jacketed bullets often come out with the external punch until enough pressure has been applied to expand them to die diameter. When you run the ram all the way back, the internal punch comes up against the stop pin in the back of the press and pushes the bullet out by holding the internal punch still while the die continues to move back with the ram. If the bullet is poorly formed, adjust the punch holder a fraction of a turn forward and try another core. When you get it right, the bullet will be properly formed and will measure the correct diameter from one end to the other. The internal punch will have formed a deep hollow cavity and the external punch will have transferred its nose shape to the end of the bullet (in this case, a wadcutter nose). If you have voids or unfilled edges on the bullet, then you might have a bit too much lube. Wipe the lube off the external punch and try another core without so much lube applied. If that still doesn't come out well, adjust the punch holder slightly forward again. But do NOT keep adjusting the holder forward until you feel an extreme resistance. One hand force is all you should ever need to apply. If it feels like you should be using both hands, something is wrong and you may be on the verge of breaking your die. Stop and find out what is wrong. If the lead is too hard, this can be a serious problem. Hard lead does not flow or swage very well. Soft lead swages very nicely. The pressure required to swage even a 3% antimonial alloy of lead is at least double that of pure lead. When you first start, it may be hard to judge how much pressure is enough. The press is so powerful that a very light pressure on the handle produces a very great force on the ram. With calibers in the .375-inch range and up, you can break the die without seeming to apply undue effort, so be careful to stop applying force or adjusting the punch holder forward as soon as you reach the point where the bullet begins to form nicely. With a little pressure on the ram, while swaging a bullet, cinch the hex bushing on the punch holder up snugly by hand. This keeps the punch aligned with the die, so you don't have to do more than check it from time to time. Swage all your bullets with the punch holder set at this position and the locking nut secured against the face of the press head. If you want to repeat this setting soon, lock down the set screw on the punch holder. Having several punch holders gives you quick repeatability by leaving each punch in its own holder with pre-set lock nut. Now, back to the reloading press. The adjustment is exactly the same, except that you put the external punch in the slotted ram, and adjust the die downward toward the punch, while the punch is raised to the topmost position of the ram. It is important that you realize that the furthest extension of the ram is what controls consistent results. If you swage by feel entirely, you may get widely changing weights. Use feel to judge whether or not a core is a great deal lighter or heavier as you approach the top of the stroke. Do NOT continue to press if you meet resistance before you normally did on similar bullets during a run. You will probably swage a heavier than usual bullet, at best, and at worst you may break the die or mash the punch flat. Set aside any cores that either developed less or more resistance to swaging than your usual bullet during any given run. Those are light or heavy cores. They can be used for some other weight, or melted down for a cast core. We have covered a lot of elementary material here. Refer to this basic bullet and adjustment procedure for just about any other die. The concept is the same: approach the right adjustment from the loose side, where you have no pressure, and increase it in small bits until you achieve the desired result without exceeding moderate efforts on the handle. It is a lot like experimenting with a new powder charge: build the load in small increments and watch for signs of pressure. Here we are dealing with pressures that could destroy a rifle when they are normal. But they don't contain much total energy, so no parts fly around when a die breaks. You hear a crack, and you see one in the die. That's about it. With just reasonable care, you'll never know what a broken die sounds like. For the rest of the bullet styles, I will give only a brief description of the process, detailing only the unusual aspects of making the bullet. Please remember the basic rules: swage dies increase diameter, never reduce it. Lubricant is required for every swaging operation (I won't keep mentioning it). The punch must fit easily into the die, or it is the wrong one to use. The force you feel should on the handle should be mild, never requiring double-handed effort. And while you can experiment, do get a good understanding of the basic operations for each die first. HOLLOW POINT JACKETED HANDGUN BULLETS The hollow point is made during core seating. Instead of using a flat faced punch to push the core into the jacket (in the core seating die), you need to order the optional hollow point external punch. This punch has a conical probe on the face, which presses down into the lead core and forms a cavity at the same time that the lead is pressurized to move the jacket walls out and meet the die. A more uniform hollow point can be made if you first seat the lead core with a flat punch, then change to a hollow point to form the cavity. This step is for the perfectionist, and may be unnecessary even then, depending on how deep the lead seats in the jacket and other factors. In any press, this operation takes place as a result of using a hollow point punch during the core seating operation. The dies themselves are the same, regardless of whether you select a hollow point or a soft point, an open tip or a full jacket. In a single core seating die, for making semi-wadcutter or wadcutter hollow points, you can use the HP punch either before or after using another nose punch. The key to successful use of more than one punch on the same bullet is to realize that you do not have to press the punch all the way into the die. Using a portion of the possible extension into the die and lead gives you almost total control of how deep and how big the cavity will be. Whether you swage the HP first or use another punch, such as a Keith nose punch, first, determines the cavity size and the shape of the bullet. A Keith punch and a hollow point punch can produce a wide range of shapes, including a simulated round nose! Experiment with various insertion depths. In other words, adjust one punch to go in further and the other one to stop short of going in all the way. Using both to the full extent possible only means that the bullet will be primarily formed by the last punch you press against the lead. Whichever punch is pushed in hardest and further against the lead is the one that gives the bullet most of its final shape. If you use a point forming die, then of course you do not need to experiment with semi-wadcutter nose punches. The point forming die will shape up the ogive for you. It will also smoothly close the hollow point to a more long and narrow shape, depending on how far into the point forming die you wish to push the bullet. If you adjust the press and die so that you just barely push the bullet into the point forming die, then you will have a very large hollow point. On the other hand, if you push the bullet into the die as far and as hard as you reasonably can, you may well close the hollow point completely. This can produce an unusual result: you can fill the hollow point cavity with a fluid or powder, or a steel ball, and then cause the end of the bullet to roll over this material and trap it in the cavity. If the hollow point is much deeper than the ogive length, a good portion of the cavity will remain at its original size while the part toward the end of the bullet becomes more narrow. This means you can make hollow point completely. This can produce an unusual result: you can fill the hollow point cavity with a fluid or powder, or a steel ball, and then cause the end of the bullet to roll over this material and trap it in the cavity. If the hollow point is much deeper than the ogive length, a good portion of the cavity will remain at its original size while the part toward the end of the bullet becomes more narrow. This means you can make th your more experimental designs. BOATTAIL HANDGUN BULLETS With a long shanked rifle-style bullet, a special set of dies is required to manufacture a good boattail base. At Corbin, we make the rebated boattail base, popularized by the fine Lapua match bullets. But in a short, stubby handgun bullet, it is easy to make a rebated or a regular boattail using only a special punch (and not really all that special). Usually, it's necessary to seat a lead core in the jacket using a core seating die. The die is sealed on both ends by punches, so pressure can be built up inside the jacket to expand it like a balloon. If you turn the jacket over so the closed end is toward to top of the cavity in a point forming die, then you can apply a fair amount of pressure inside the jacket with an external punch that fits down into the jacket. The fit must be close, to keep the pressure from extruding lead around the punch. But it is practical and works well. If you put a core inside a handgun jacket, then use a punch (ordered as an open tip core seating external punch) that fits into the jacket to press against the core, and put the assembly into your point forming die (base first), you will produce a full jacket, open base handgun bullet. Should you have a truncated conical point forming die, rather than a round nose shape, you will actually have what could be considered either a nose or a boattail base! To use it as a base, eject the bullet and change the external punch to a regular Keith nose punch that fits into the point forming die by hand. (Remember, in your experiments, to try each punch by hand first -- you don't want to fit the punch to the die permanently!) Now, with the Keith nose punch installed in die, rather than a round nose shape, you will actually have what could be considered either a nose or a boattail base! To use it as a base, eject the bullet and change the external punch to a regular Keith nose punch that fits into the point forming die by hand. (Remember, in your experiments, to try each punch by hand first -- you don't want to fit the punch to the die permanently!) Now, with the Keith nose punch installed in point (depending on how much lead you moved forward) TC nose, a short shank, and a rebated boattail base -- what a combination! But give it a try. You can load it either direction. I like to make these bullets with about one caliber length of straight shank. That usually means a bullet with one of the longer jackets and toward the heavier end of the weight scale. But as you can see from some of the tests in the magazines (one of which is reproduced in the Corbin Technical Bulletins) this design can result in a 40% improvement in ballistic coefficient and as good or better accuracy than conventional shapes! SHOTGUN SLUGS WITH ATTACHED BASE WADS This is a task for the Hydro-press system. There are many possible kinds of highly accurate slugs you can produce. One is a slug that fits inside the Winchester Red Wad, and is thus made slightly under normal diameter to use the sabot effect of the standard plastic wad. Another is the slug with wad attached to it. This operation is quite simple. A die set can even be produced to stamp out excellent wads from various materials. The details of operating the press are in the book "Power Swaging". I will just outline the process here. The wad is made with a hole through the center. The hole is precisely centered as a result of the die-forming process. The pre-swaged core and wad are put into a die with a nose cavity punch in the die, and a base punch having a slight depression in the face, like a smooth rivet head, follows the wad into the swage die. A core seating or lead semi-wadcutter type die is used. As pressure is applied, the lead flows up into the nose punch cavity and forms any desired shape of nose. Usually a conical flat tip or a domed shape is made. The lead also presses hard against the wad, and finds a pressure escape through the hole in the middle of the wad. The lead flows through this hole, and fills the cavity in the head of the punch that is backing up the wad. The wad is compressed under tons of pressure, and so is the lead. The lead extrusion through the hole in the wad forms a perfect rivet head on the other side of the hole. When the bullet is ejected, you have a lead slug firmly attached to the wad, which now tries to spring back to original size and keeps pressure on the base of the slug. Another unique twist on this is to form a hollow base cavity with a post in the middle, and with a hole in the middle of the post that will take the threads of a number six or eight metal screw. It might seem very complex, but in reality all you have to do is imagine a punch having a mirror image of this cavity and post and hole formed into the steel face. The reamer and polishing work required is, of course, somewhat expensive. But it is well within reason for anyone who wishes to manufacture a unique kind of slug. The idea is to shift the weight forward, maintain a longer bearing surface for alignment, without having a massive weight, and provide solid support in the middle of the cavity so that the wad is not blown into the cavity upon firing. The screw attaches the wad to the post. It might even be possible to fill the cavity with cornstarch and then swage the wad to the slug, but this has not yet been tried (maybe by the time this book has been out a year, it will be common). PRECISION AIRGUN PELLETS Airgun pellets are really no different from any other hollow base semi-wadcutter bullet. The dies have smaller punches and cavities than most calibers. Corbin makes .20, .14, .17, .224, or anything else you like. Diameter is critical. Rather than the waisted design, these are like a precision handgun bullet in minature. They have a deep hollow cavity and thin skirts to give a good seal, and they usually are made slightly smaller than a waisted pellet so that the bore friction is reduced. Swaged with a Dip Lube coating, they provide good lubrication that is consistent and dry in all temperatures. The nose can be conical or of the Keith style with equally good results. Such pellets in .2235" diameter make excellent indoor practice bullets or mouse shooters in a conventional centerfire rifle used with a primer only. There are complex ways to swage the waisted pellet, but it isn't usually worth the effort compared to the results you get with the simple single die method in either reloading press or Mity Mite. In the reloading press, only a .22 pellet is offered, unless a run of at least 100 dies is ordered (for resale). But in the Mity Mite, you can have anything you wish. PLASTIC TIP RIFLE BULLETS Several of the common plastic rod materials swage nicely to form lead tip replacements in any conventional rifle caliber. Nylon, polyethylene, and other "soft" plastics that can be shaped by pressure and retain that shape after pressure is removed make nice tips for your hunting bullets. The idea of the plastic tip predates the current Nosler design by many years, as seen in the early Norma nylon tips and in home-swaged bullets using Nylon tubeless tire patches (plugs) in stark black or white. The FBI once contacted Corbin about making Nylon bullets for handgun use in an indoor training facility. The idea came about because a conventional Speer Nylon bullet had a sharp shoulder that prevented the use of speed loaders. When these bullets were re-swaged in a simple Corbin point forming die, right off the shelf, they acquired a more bullet-like profile and worked in the conventional speed loader. A side benefit turned out to be that the agency could reload these plastic bullets seemingly without end, after reswaging to remove the rifling and other impact marks. I have one left in my collection that was shot and reloaded and reswaged over 25 times, and it could still go on without any apparent change. Nylon rod can be obtained from most plastic suppliers. It can be cut to short lengths in a lathe or bandsaw. The bullet is made in the same way as any open tip design, by seating the lead down inside the jacket with a punch which fits into the jacket. But before the point is formed, the short piece of Nylon is placed inside the jacket. The diameter should be close to the jacket ID. When the point is formed the jacket and Nylon plug smoothly swage into one profile. The ogive locks the plastic in place (it crimps into the material since the plug is larger inside than at the external tip). FRAGMENTING BULLETS Bullet swagers have been making their own fragmenting defense bullets for years. It is extremely simple. Just dipper a charge of number twelve lead shot into a jacket, and seat the shot like it was a solid core. Press a bit of soft wax or a thin cardboard wad over the shot. A wad can be made in a regular swage die of smaller caliber by putting a bit of cardboard between the punch and die and pushing through it. Then, form the ogive in a point forming die. To increase the fragmenting effect, first roll or tumble a quantity of shot with a little dab of Corbin Swage Lube. This lube keeps the shot from sticking together -- it may appear solid when you swage it, but on impact it break up nicely. HYPERSPEED BULLETS What would you call a bullet that goes 2000 fps from a snubby .38 Special? Impossible? No, you can develop an ultra-light bullet in any caliber and then find a fast-burning charge of the right powder to propel it at unbelievable speed. Some of the effects are dazzling. Here is how you retain enough bearing for a semblence of accuracy and still keep the bullet weight down: use cornstarch as a core! The secret is out...but only bullet swagers know about it. Cornstarch swages under high pressure to form a sort of hard plastic material that is much lighter than any conventional jacket filling, yet expands the jacket as well as lead under swaging pressures. Because of the low density of the material, even when swaged to a plastic state, you can make a regular length bullet that seats and balances as it should, yet has very low inertia. The sectional density is very low, which means it doesn't penetrate very far and it also doesn't fly very far before losing its speed. Those can be good features in a defense bullet used in populated areas. When you top the cornstarch with a small amount of lead, you can produce a method of delivering a devastating high velocity projectile without nearly as much danger to people behind the intended target. Make the filling out of swaged lead shot of small diameter, rolled with Corbin Swage Lube, and you have just produced a superior fragmenting bullet with ultra-high velocity. You need nothing special to do all this, except the right punch to fit into the jacket at the depth where you want to swage the material. PARTITION STYLE HANDGUN OR RIFLE BULLETS Putting a partition across the middle of a bullet is as easy as telescoping two different diameters of jackets together. This is covered in some detail in the book "Rediscover Swaging". Basically, the inside jacket is of smaller caliber and is about half the length of the outside jacket. When jackets do not exist ready-made to fit this way, a Corbin JRD-1 draw die can turn some available jacket into the right size. In the Hydro-press system, it is possible to make partitions by folding and pressure-welding the actual jacket wall material into a band across the jacket at any desired point. Copper tubing is normally selected, so you have both the benefit of the soft copper tubing and the partition effect. If you want to go one further, add Corbin Core Bond and a little heat, and you have a bonded core, partitioned, copper tube bullet -- something none of the famous firms who are known for making one of these features apiece have managed to combine. PENETRATOR CORE OR LIQUID FILLED CAVITY BULLETS I group these two styles because they are made the same way. A set of special punches is made to seat a very light core in the bottom of the jacket. One punch seats the core, and the other puts a center in the core. Then a long hollow point punch slips down into the jacket, finds the center, and starts extruding lead up along the punch sides. Plenty of good lube is required on the punch. The punch is withdrawn, leaving a long, deep cavity precisely centered in a lead sheath inside the jacket. A carbide, uranium or other heavy metal core can be placed in this cavity. It works best if the insert material is slightly larger than the cavity for a gentle press fit. A punch can also be made to do this. Corbin does not provide these heavy metal cores. Most of the people who do this work are able to obtain their own from defense agencies or suppliers. Such bullets are usually made for special projects within the military and are discussed here only to show the possibilities. Liquid filling for the same cavity can easiy be substituted. A lead ball is placed in the end of the cavity to help seal it, and then the bullet is put into a point forming die and the ogive shape extrudes lead over the widest part of the ball and locks the assembly together. ULTRA PRECISION BENCHREST RIFLE BULLETS The quality of the bullets you can make in a typical Corbin swage die for the Mity Mite or Hydro-press will equal or exceed that of any bullet made today. You do not need to pay thousands of dollars for special "benchrest" quality. The best quality that money can buy comes far less dear than some folks imagine possible. On the other hand, I do not recommend the die sets that we manufacture for use in a reloading press as benchrest bullet dies. They are good dies, and have often been used to make match-winning bullets. But the system does not lend itself to what I would call the ultimate control over the bullet weight and style. Reloading press dies are made to work in a press that was not designed specifically for bullet swaging. Corbin Mity Mite and Hydro- press dies were designed along with the press, without having to consider factors necessary for reloading. The Hydro-press and the Mega Mite press both handle reloading as a side benefit, not as a primary goal that might restrict optimum design for bullet making. Alignment, sensitivity of control ("feel", if you like), balance of the forces that tend to produce ram torque, amount of press head movement under stress, maximum leverage potential, and other factors from how ejection is handled to where the top of the ram comes to rest in relation to the press head, are all optimized for bullet making the the special swaging presses. These things simply are not there, in a reloading press. It doesn't matter how big or strong or expensive the press is: if it was made primarily for reloading ammo, it wasn't optimized for making bullets. I have had a few perverse clients shoot winning matches with bullets made in our standard reloading press dies, and they enjoyed telling their fellow shooters (who had spent thousands of dollars, in some cases, for the "right" benchrest equipment) how little their equipment cost (usually under $250 for everything -- dies alone cost about $160). But while it can be done, I certainly feel that you are better advised to use equipment made with all the benefits of the special swaging press in mind. There are two secrets to making benchrest bullets. First, the jackets themselves must be very concentric and should be weighed so that you can cull out any over or under a nominal value. Different weight by itself has little effect on the bullet path, within a factor of from 1 to 2 percent of the total bullet weight. (Calculate the drop difference and you will see that one-hole groups at 100 yards are still possible with bullets that weigh plus or minus half a grain in a 55 grain .224 caliber, or bullets that have 1.5 grain variation in a 150 grain .308 caliber). The problem with weight variation is that it can be caused by a thicker base, thicker walls, or even a difference in wall thickness from one side to the other. If it is merely a bit longer jacket, it won't have much effect. And the heavier or lighter jackets, by themselves, do not cause bad groups. It is a mixture of different jackets that can throw off the group size. A heavier or lighter wall is not bad, it just can't be used with something different in a benchrest match. The next secret is consistency in the method of making the bullets. The little rituals and weird theories about what makes a bullet shoot are a lot of fun for the people who believe in them, and even if they make little sense to rational people, I see no harm in following the latest fad in regard to many of the rituals. But for a person who is mainly interested in fact, and wants to see what really does and does not make a difference, it doesn't take too long to see that a machine rest in an indoor tunnel easily proves that consistency makes more difference than any specific method. In other words, whatever you do in regard to how you apply your lubricant, whether or not you "rest" the cores overnight before swaging, or whether or not you spin and weigh each bullet in some questionable fixture or tool made to point up some mysterious accuracy factor, the real effects will come from doing things the same way each time, so all the bullets do indeed come out looking and shooting the same way. Some of these rituals help produce a more consistent bullet, often for reasons not entirely related to the goal that the shooter feels he is trying to reach by that ritual. Benchrest shooting originally brought a great many serious benefits and pointed out errors in how bullets were being made during the 1940's and 50's. To some extent, a level of mystique and fraternalism has moved into the place that used to be held by serious investigation, with the quirks of the latest winner being slavishly repeated by next year's would-be winners. But this is true in all competitive sports. Winning matches does not necessarily make the shooter an expert on every aspect of the tools and equipment used to win. Sometimes a good deal of winning is attitude and practice, especially when equipment differences become very slight at the top levels. All of this is merely to point out that making benchrest quality bullets is not necessarily the exclusive realm of a white-bearded wizzard who knows cosmic secrets which you, mere mortal, can hardly be expected to understand. As a matter of fact, nearly anyone with a reasonably good set of dies and careful attention to what he is doing can turn out bullets capable of one-hole groups. Then it is up to the rest of the system, including the handload and the gun, the shooter and the fates that blow the winds, to let that one-hole group appear on any given day. This information doesn't play well with those who would like to have you believe there are dark secrets beyond your reach, which only certain people (who happen to have something they might -- hold your breath! -- be persuaded to sell you) have in their posession. But you can prove it to yourself, and to anyone else who doesn't have too big a stake in keeping it quiet! There is no fundamental difference in the potential quality of a .458 bullet, a .600 Nitro bullet, or a .224 benchrest bullet made by the process of swaging outlined here. All swaged bullets made by hand on good equipment, using consistent components, can be made carefully and well. They can all be benchrest bullets of their caliber. A heavy recoiling .458 isn't likely to produce as tight a group as a conventional .224 short case benchrest cartridge using specially selected primers, but if you compare similar kinds of guns and loads, you will soon see that your own home-built bullets stack up in the same way as benchrest .224 bullets stack up against the average factory offering. You have nothing to fear in the accuracy department, in regard to the dies or the bullets you can make, given the material and care necessary. Do not, however, make the error of assuming that a perfect bullet will turn an average rifle into a benchrest gun. It will not. The errors caused by poor bedding, a light barrel, gas cutting in the throat or leade, improper powder charges, or even a less than steady shooter, will completely overwhelm the slight errors produced by a bullet of average quality. No difference between a perfect bullet and an average one could be told with most of the guns that are capable of being carried afield, if the load is right and the shooter does his part. A good discussion of accuracy and bullet design can be found the the textbook, "Rediscover Swaging". The techniques for obtaining greater than usual core weight consistency and proper core seating are also discussed in this book. Multiple passes at core swaging, holding the pressure for a consistent length of time, application of a precision film of lube rather than the usual transfer of lube with the fingers, and other factors that increase the consistency of results are discussed. .he CHAPTER 8 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # BOOKS FOR BULLET SWAGERS Learn about bullet swaging, the fast accurate process that gives you total control over bullet design and production! The combined knowledge of generations of master die-makers has been collected in the Corbin Swaging Library -- seven volumes of easy-to-read, fact-filled information. More than 840 pages of authorative work, with charts, photos, data, drawings, and technical reports, in a special package to save you money! USE YOUR VISA/MASTER-CHARGE AND ORDER BY TELEPHONE: 503-826-5211 The Corbin Swaging Library includes these books: The BULLET SWAGE MANUAL, T.Smith The CORBIN TECHNICAL BULLETINS, Vol. I The CORBIN TECHNICAL BULLETINS, Vol. II The CORBIN TECHNICAL BULLETINS, Vol. III POWER SWAGING, D. Corbin RE-DISCOVER SWAGING, D. Corbin The CORBIN HANDBOOK & CATALOG of BULLET SWAGING Order catalog number BP-7 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The BULLET SWAGE MANUAL, T. Smith, 1976, 45 pgs. This book is one of the earliest works on bullet swaging, written by a pioneer in the field. Many of the illustrations are of early Corbin swaging tools. The book is intended as a primer for beginners, but belongs in any complete library of swaging as a historical work. Catalog number BSM ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The CORBIN TECHNICAL BULLETINS, Volume I 1977, 66 pgs. The first collection of Corbin technical papers, this book contains a detailed section of definitions, specific questions and answers about swaging technique, comparisons of cost, speed and accuracy between casting and swaging, and answers to the most commonly asked questions about bullet swaging. Rimfire jacket-making, hollow and cup points, designs for deep penetration, and other similar subjects are covered. Catalog number TB-1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The CORBIN TECHNICAL BULLETINS, Volume II 1980, 102 pgs. This book gives a detailed chapter by chapter discussion of specific calibers and how to make bullets for them. Included are obsolete, foreign, current centerfire rifle and handgun calibers, in fifteen chapters. In addition, there is an experimental .375 design with loading data, chamber dimensions, and test results. A wealth of information about the history of swaging is included. Catalog number TB-2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The CORBIN TECHNICAL BULLETINS, Volume III 1983, 106 pgs. Experimental work with custom bullets, the rise of the survivalist movements, and concerns about the future supplies of bullets in the US and abroad brought a flood of technical articles addressing these subjects. Original papers and translations from trade journals are included. Bonding and heat treatment of jackets, manufacture of copper tubing bullets, and hunting bullets are covered in detail. Catalog number TB-3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- POWER SWAGING, D. Corbin 1984, 195 pgs. Also known as Corbin Technical Bulletins, Volume IV, this is the bible of commercial bullet making. It is filled with data on pressures, forces, and die strength, calculations, charts, computer programs, and photos. Hundreds of dollars worth of dies were destroyed to test the limits of the formulae, and photos of these are included as well. The book serves as an operator's guide for the Hydro-press, although it also covers several earlier models of air and hydraulic power presses that are no longer manufactured. Two very valuable chapters deal with organization of a custom bullet business, and with the numbers involved in production volume. Marketing, promotion, feasibility studies, and selection of a product line are written so they can be understood by a beginner, yet interesting enough to attract experienced engineers. Catalog number TB-4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- RE-DISCOVER SWAGING, D. Corbin 1983, 244 pgs. This is the standard textbook of swaging. The washable morroco cover is gold-embossed. It is used by law enforcement agencies and schools around the world, in public and private libraries from Brussels to Perth, read by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and by the students at gunsmithing schools. You'll find detailed, accurate information arranged in twenty-two chapters, covering everything from lubricant to lead, pressure to press design, history of swaging (including original letters from Biehler and Astles, Fred Huntington, and Capt. G.L. Wotkyns at critical points during the 1940 to 1960 period) and just about anything else you might care to know about swaging. If you only want one book, make it this one. Catalog number RDS ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The WORLD DIRECTORY of CUSTOM BULLET MAKERS Data has been collected from all over the world for a decade on bullet markets, and the people who are active in the custom bullet field. If you are looking for a certain caliber -- modern, obsolete, wildcat, foreign, or experimental -- this is the sourcebook for people who can make it! Articles of interest to experimenters, purchasing agents, engineers, and ballisticians as well as those who might wish to enter the custom bullet field as suppliers are included. Editors, writers, and publishers of firearms journals around the world have a copy of this book for reference. Buyers in government and industry, defense agencies and law enforcement operations, game control commissions, ballistic labs, and applied science libraries can turn to the sources listed to find out who makes what. Corbin customers who are selling bullets commercially are invited to write for a free listing in the book's next edition. Advertising space is periodically available to qualified firms. Agencies dealing with firearms-related suppliers should check out the tremendous market exposure this book gives. Catalog Number WD-1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The CORBIN HANDBOOK and CATALOG of BULLET SWAGING, No. 7 You are reading a copy now! If you would like additional copies for friends, order directly from Corbin. This is the seventh edition: it is not the seventh book of the collection, or the seventh year, since Corbin has been in business much longer than that. We publish a new edition whenever the information becomes outmoded and continued editions of the same book begin to lose their relevance to newer ideas. Catalog number HB-7 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER LITERATURE... The BASICS of BULLET SWAGING This is a color brochure, 6-pages, telling what swaging is and what you can do with it. Single copies are available postpaid for $1 (to cover postage and handling). Write for quantity prices to clubs and schools. The Corbin HYDRO-PRESS brochure A color folder describing the powerful CHP-1 Hydro-press. Single copies are $1 (for postage and handling) -- no additional charge if ordered with other literature. Write for quantity prices to clubs and schools. The Corbin IMMEDIATE DELIVERY LIST This is a list of dies available for immediate delivery. Since Corbin dies are all hand-made products, individually diamond lapped and fitted, there can be a considerable backlog on certain calibers from time to time. The Immediate Delivery List tells what is on the shelf right now. It changes from month to month, and is not a guarentee but only a temporary listing. If you see something you want, call immediately and use your VISA/MASTER-CHARGE card to have it shipped right away. (Sorry - no holding for future payment! Demand is just too high to tie up products in this manner.) This list is free for the asking, when ordered with other literature or products. Included with most shipments is also our current price list, any specials we may have on supplies or products, announcements of new books or computer software, etc. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- CORBIN COMPUTER SOFTWARE Now you can design bullets quickly, easily, with Corbin's DC-1001 Bullet Design program. All you need to know is the weight and style of bullet you want to make -- the program asks these simple questions, and then calculates the ballistic coefficient, form factor, average density, stable twist rate, core and jacket volumes, core weight, over- all length, length of ogive and length of shank, and a number of other parameters of importance to makers of commercial bullets. If you don't know what to answer, the program supplies a standard default value. You can just hit the "enter" key, and run the calculation automatically with all default values if you wish, to see how it works. You need absolutely NO math background, NO experience in bullet design or ballistics. Automatic tables appear on the screen for each question that requires some special knowledge, and the program checks your input to see if it is reasonable. If not, it gives you another chance to input a value, or just hit return and let the program supply a value. There is no way you can "mess up" this program. And best of all, when you have designed the bullet (which takes perhaps two seconds), those values can be printed out, and/or automatically used in a second program that is part of the first one: kinetic parameters. You can "fire" the bullet at any velocity within reason, see what kind of energy density, muzzle energy, momentum, and other values the bullet would have. And, you can change one or more parameters and try it again to see the effect, all within seconds. The program keeps all the values you put in last, and uses them until you change them. If you turn off the program, it resets to standard default values so you can't "get lost" or forget important standard values. The DC-1001 program is currently available on 5-1/4" floppy disk for IBM-PC/XT or /AT computers. The program is completely self- contained in executable machine code for the 8088 processor, and runs at either 4.77 mhz or at accelerated clock rates. Either color or B&W monitors will work. All display is in the text mode. The disk is NOT copy protected and can be loaded onto your hard disk drive. Don't confuse DC-1001 with ordinary external ballistics programs: it is not merely an electronic table of values, but a powerful calculus-based tool for design of bullets. It is not the same as a program that gives you drop and remaining energy for an existing bullet, but a way to create new bullets of your own design. You can input various densities of core and jacket material, and find out what effect aluminum, tungsten, brass, or plastic might have on the bullet paramters. You can even select the target material density and find out what spin rate would stabilize the bullet in space, in air, under water, or in any other media. DC-1001 is a one-of-a-kind program for the bullet maker. (To run the program, simply type "Bullets"). Catalog Number DC-1001 -----------------------------------------------------------------------.he CHAPTER 9 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # KITS for your RELOADING PRESS The easiest way to get started is to purchase a complete kit, with everything you need to start making your own private "brand" of bullets! Here are several kits that you can put together yourself. Just specify the caliber, and order however many bullet jackets and other supplies you may want. I've made suggestions for reasonable amounts of supplies with each kit... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ECONOMY .224 KIT Order these items to make up your own minimal cost kit, for making excellent quality .224 caliber bullets (.221, .222, 5.56mm, and .220 Swift as well as every other centerfire .22 made today uses a .224" bullet). The equipment listed can produce jacketed bullets using fired .22 long rifle or short cases in the weight range of 45 to 60 grains, with a 6-caliber spitzer ogive and a flat base. (No boattails, other ogives, or special work in the reloading press series -- rather defeats the whole reason for it, since these extras would bring the cost more in line with the Mity Mite system, and then you would be far ahead to get a Mity Mite!) BSD-224R Core Seater and Point Former, 2-die set RFJM-22R Rimfire Jacket Maker, 224 caliber CSL-2 Corbin Swage Lube, 2-ounce bottle CM-4 Corbin 4-cavity adjustable core mould (specify 224) If you prefer the speed of cutting lead wire to the slightly lower cost of cast cores, you might prefer this package instead: BSD-224R Core Seater and Point Former, 2-die set RFJM-22R Rimfire Jacket Maker, 224 caliber CSL-2 Corbin Swage Lube, 2-ounce bottle PCS-1 Corbin Precision Core Cutter LW-25 Lead Wire, 25-lb. spool (specify 224) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DELUXE .224 KIT A faster, easier system includes the power ejector unit and a hand cannelure tool, plus a supply of commercial drawn jackets for high precision benchrest work. I personally like this because it gives a good chance to compare your own free jackets with the best commercial ones made today. BSD-224R Core Seater and Point Former, 2-die set RFJM-22R Rimfire Jacket Maker, 224 caliber CSL-2 Corbin Swage Lube, 2-ounce bottle CM-4 Corbin 4-cavity adjustable core mould (specify 22 cal) LW-25 Lead wire, 25 lb. (specify .185" -- 22 caliber) PCS-1 Corbin Precision Core Cutter J-22-705 Jackets, 224 caliber, .705-length, box of 500 HCT-1 Corbin Hand Cannelure Tool PE-1 Corbin Power Ejector Unit ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ECONOMY .243 KIT If you want to make 6mm bullets (.243 -.244 caliber) from fired .22 cases, then this is the right kit for you: BSD-243R Core Seater and Point Former, 2-die set RFJM-6MR Rimfire Jacket Maker, 6mm from 22LR CSL-2 Corbin Swage Lube, 2-ounce bottle CM-4 Corbin 4-cavity adjustable core mould (specify 6mm) * Note: the 6mm and .224 both use the same .185 core -- You can use the same core mould for both. Or, you might consider replacing the CM-4 mould with a lead wire cutter and a spool of lead wire, for safer, faster bullet-making. If you wish to use commercial jackets, leave out the RFJM-6M and instead, order the following jackets: J-6M-750 Jackets, 6mm, .750-inch length, box of 500 J-6M-825 Jackets, 6mm, .825-inch length, box of 500 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DELUXE 243 KIT You can put together a nice kit that would also be my personal choice for making .243 bullets in the reloading press by ordering the following items: BSD-243R Core Seater and Point Former, 2-die set RFJM-6MR Rimfire Jacket Maker, .22 LR to 6mm LW-25 Lead wire, 25 lb. spool. (specify 6mm) PCS-1 Corbin Precision Core Cutter CM-4 Corbin 4-cavity adjustable core mould (specify 6mm) CSL-2 Corbin Swage Lube, 2-ounce bottle PE-1 Corbin Power Ejector Unit HCT-1 Corbin Hand Cannelure Tool J-6M-750 Jackets, 6mm, .750-inch length, box of 500 J-6M-825 Jackets, 6mm, .825-inch length, box of 500 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .25 RIFLE KIT We've not advertised the .257 rifle dies for reloading press for a number of deep, dark reasons: primarily, we didn't want to get too far behind. But now, with our new die-works going full-blast, it's time to let you know that we have .257 caliber dies developed for the reloading press in a flat base, 6-caliber spitzer design similar to our .224 and----------------------------------------------------------------- .25 RIFLE KIT We've not advertised the .257 rifle dies for reloading press for a number of deep, dark reasons: primarily, we didn't want to get too far behind. But now, with our new die-works going full-blast, it's time to let you know that we have .257 caliber dies developed for the reloading press in a flat base, 6-caliber spitzer design similar to our .224 andkets in stock. Here is a potential group of kits you could put together to use either 6mm jackets or drawn 7mm jackets (or, when available, regular .257 jackets): BSD-257R Core Seater and Point Former, 2-die set CSL-2 Corbin Swage Lube CM-4 Corbin 4-cavity adjustable core mould (specify 257 cal.) J-6M-825 Jackets, 6mm caliber, .825-inch length, box of 500 Or, you could go the deluxe route, and add the convenience of a power ejector and the ability to install precision cannelure grooves, the speed of cutting lead wire, and the ability to use 7mm jackets by adding these items to the above list: PE-1 Corbin Power Ejector Unit HCT-1 Corbin Hand Cannelure Tool LW-25 Lead Wire, 25-lb spool. (Specify .257 caliber) PCS-1 Corbin Precision Core Cutter JRD-1-R Corbin Jacket Reducing Die (Specify 7mm to .257 cal.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- HANDGUN CALIBER KITS for RELOADING PRESS In the handgun calibers, we offer these calibers: .25 ACP .30 Mauser/Luger .32 ACP .32 S&W Long .32 H&R .30 Carbine .380 ACP .32 Colt .38 S&W .38 Long Colt .357 Maximum 9mm Browning .38 Special .357 Magnum .32-20 WCF For those of you who know the score, many of the above calibers are actually the same diameter, such as .380 ACP and 9mm, .38 Special and .357 Magnum. Thus, you can make several calibers with the same set of dies, if you know what diameter each caliber is supposed to be. This is covered in great detail in the Corbin Technical Bulletins, Volume II. Rather than repeat each and every one of these calibers along with the items that would make kits, I'll just list a generic catalog number and you can pick the numbers to fill in from this list: Available diameters in Corbin Handgun Reloading Press Swage Dies... .251 .308 .312 .314 .355 .357 .358 To order a specific caliber of die, specify either the actual caliber or the diameter of the bullet from the above list. If you specify the caliber of the cartridge, we will use standard specifications to determine what diameter to ship. Unless you specify the actual diameter from the above list, it isn't possible to guarentee that what you really wanted is the same as the standard specifications for the caliber you ordered. If your 9mm happens to have a .357 bore, then order a .357 diameter rather than a 9mm. Die makers go by the actual diameter, not by the cartridge designation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ECONOMY HANDGUN KIT The basic handgun package can have just the core seating die and the Keith nose punch provided with it, to make semi-wadcutter type bullets. To add greater versatility, purchase the point forming die to go with the set. Here is the basic wadcutter or semi-wadcutter package that I would suggest. It makes lead, gas-checked, half-jacketed, or 3/4-jacketed bullets (not with the jacket curved around the ogive, however. That is the job of the point forming die). CS-1-R Core Seating Die, with Keith punch. (Specify caliber) CSL-2 Corbin Swage Lube, 2-ounce bottle CM-4 Corbin 4-cavity adjustable core mould. (Specify caliber) Now, in the department of bullet jackets, there are certain options open for .25 caliber that don't apply elsewhere. You can purchase a .25 ACP jacket-making kit (SPJM-25R) that turns fired shotgun primers into 45-50 grain jacketed bullet cups. In all the .30 calibers, from .308 to .314, you can use one size of jacket. In the .380, 9mm, and all .38/.357 Magnum calibers, you can also use one size of jacket (diameter). There are several lengths available in .38. The right length of jacket for a semi-wadcutter of standard weight is the .437-inch length in .38, and for stacking multi-projectiles or half-jacket bullets, the .250-inch jacket is ideal. The 0.5-inch long jacket is a bit heavy for most single-die sets, but if you add the second die (point former) it is the best all-around choice for all but the very heaviest weights. For 200 grain and up, the 0.7-inch jacket is what you need. To complete your kit, select one of these jackets for the single die set, or the jacket-making kit for the .25 ACP: SPJM-25R Shotgun primer jacket-maker kit J-30-375 Jacket, 30 caliber, 3/8-inch length, box of 500 J-38-250 Jacket, 38 caliber, 1/4-inch length, box of 500 J-38-437 Jacket, 38 caliber, .437-inch length, box of 500 J-38-500 Jacket, 38 caliber, .500-inch length, box of 500 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DELUXE SEMI-WADCUTTER SWAGE KIT FOR HANDGUN CALIBERS I don't see how a person could consider his swaging outfit as being deluxe unless he has the point forming die. With this die, you multiply all the previous styles and shapes to incredible levels. You add the ability to curve the jacket around the ogive, to make boattailed and full-jacket bullets, and to curve the ogive around so that a hollow cavity becomes a pear-shaped or even a closed cavity within the tip of the bullet. When you order the PF-1-R point former separately, be sure to send a sample lead slug and a few seated cores from your existing core seater die (CS-1-R). The die has to be carefully matched in diameter, and this is one way we can do it. Another is to get your die back, but you may not want to part with it while we work on the new die. When you order these items, substitute the diameters listed for the "XXX" in the die set catalog number. BSD-XXXR Core Seater and Point Former, 2-die set CM-4 Corbin 4-Cavity adjustable core mould. (specify caliber) CSL-2 Corbin Swage Lube, 2-ounce bottle PE-1 Corbin Power Ejector Unit HCT-1 Corbin Hand Cannelure Tool LW-25 Lead wire, 25 lb. spool (specify caliber) PCS-1 Corbin Precision Core Cutter ----------------------------------------------------------------------- .he CHAPTER 10 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # INDIVIDUAL DIES FOR THE RELOADING PRESS You can make up your own swaging kit for a reloading press, or you can add dies to existing kits and expand your bullet-swaging capabilities caliber by caliber. With the suggested kits in the previous chapter, I didn't suggest any lead tip dies. They are very useful in the three rifle calibers, when you want a nice factory-finished lead tip. But they are something you can add at any time. It isn't necessary to match this die as exactly as with the core seater and point former. A half-thousandth of an inch tolerance is plenty, and that is easy enough for the die-makers to handle without getting your set back. Individual dies are available in these styles and calibers: .224 6-S Ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R, LT-1-R .243 6-S Ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R, LT-1-R .257 6-S Ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R, LT-1-R .251 RN, TC ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R .308 RN ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R .312 RN ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R .314 RN ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R .355 RN, TC ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R .357 RN, TC ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R .358 RN, TC ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R When you order the CS-1-R, it comes with a flat base internal punch and a Keith external punch in the handgun calibers. In rifle calibers, it comes with flat base internal and open tip external punches. If you would like to add other shapes to the handgun calibers, you can order these additional punches: (1) Conical (semi-wadcutter angled to a point, like a pencil) (2) Round Nose (semi-wadcutter eliptical round nose) (3) Hollow Point (universal projection punch, used with any other) (4) Wadcutter (slightly raised button nose style) (5) Cup Nose (a shallow, round cup shape) (6) Open Tip (a punch that fits inside the jacket, for 2-die sets) Those are nose shapes available, in standard off the shelf designs only. In this system, the punches are made to standard patterns and cannot be made to special order without incurring regular time and material charges over the usual punch price. With current salaries for die-makers where they are, you may not be thrilled to hire one to make a punch slightly different from standard (chances are, your target would never know the difference anyway). Base shapes can also be changed by ordering an extra punch. There are internal punches to replace the standard flat base. You can order: (1) Dish Base (very shallow curve to the edge of the jacket) (2) Cup Base (slightly deeper, like the cup nose, with flats to the edge of the bullet) (3) Hollow Base (very deep, like the hollow point punch. Not well suited to jacketed bullets but nice for lead bullets) The rifle calibers are always ordered with a matching point former die. You can't make a complete bullet in the CS-1-R alone for a rifle caliber, since the velocity is so high that pistol designs tend to be unstable and have poor ballistics. You are welcome to order these dies for replacements, but good luck trying to make a finished bullet in one! When you order the core seater and point former as a set, it makes up the BSD-xxxR catalog number. You don't need to order each one, if you specify the BSD-xxxR. All punches are ordered with the catalog number "PUNCH-R" for reloading press use. Then, specify internal or external punch, caliber, and shape (if it needs to be specified, as with noses for handgun punches). To order a replacement ejection pin for the point forming dies, always specify the caliber. You can call it a "PUNCH-R" and specify ejection pin, plus caliber. That will get it. Core seating punches for the rifle calibers are made in different diameters to fit inside the various jackets available. Either tell us the diameter you want and we will supply the closest standard diameter that we have, or send a sample jacket to match. In the .224, we have two core seat external punches. One fits the rimfire jacket, and one fits the commercial jacket that we sell. The diameters are 0.204 and 0.197 inches, respectively. Many people have commented that they were not able to make a light enough bullet with a certain jacket. After I checked it out, I found that the problem was the style of bullet. Most of the standard jackets make just about any weight you like, if you know how to make use of the punches and dies. The open tip core seating punch will push a short lead core as far into the jacket as you like. Then the point forming die will wrap the end of the jacket around the ogive, and the bullet can be as light as you wish. The problem is with solid lead tip Keith style bullets. They fill the jacket, and then some. Typical jackets available today make maximum weights for the caliber with this sort of style. The answer is to use the hollow point and cup base punches on the bullet first, then follow with the Keith punch. This lets you use a lot less lead, moves it forward so it can form lead nose within the cavity of the Keith punch, and thus produces a very light bullet in a very long jacket. One last point about reloading press dies: they are just as good as any other kind, except that they are made to fill the need for entry-level, lower cost bullet-making. Rather than cut corners on quality, we decided long ago that the best approach was to limit the styles, calibers, and options available to a managable, popular group and then make the equipment in longer runs, without the expense of individual, custom work. When someone calls and insists on having a reloading press die, but with some special options that are not standard ones, they are in effect crashing the whole idea of equal quality at lower cost. If one can afford the expense of the custom work, they can probably save money by getting the Mity Mite system to start with. It was designed with custom work in mind. And if someone doesn't want to buy the press, but just wants the dies made special, then they should consider the cost of the die-maker's time. It amounts to buying the press anyway. Why not get it? Then, everything made in the future will still fit and interchange properly. Custom work usually doesn't. .he CHAPTER 11 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # DRAW DIES Draw dies, or drawing dies (as they are also called), are simply ring dies used to reduce the diameter of a component. When you size a cast bullet, you are using a much less precise version of a draw die. The draw dies made by Corbin are extremely hard, tough venturi-shaped tools held in a 7/8-14 TPI body. A punch pushes the component through the die and out the top. There are two general types of draw dies. The JRD-1 can be made either for bullets, or for jackets. The bullet draw die reduces a finished bullet by a small amount, sometimes as little as 0.0005 inches, and sometimes as much as 0.003 inches. However, greater reductions cause distortion of the bullet and are not feasible. Jacket draw dies can reduce an existing jacket by a whole caliber. This is the way that .41 caliber jackets are obtained today, for instance. A .44 caliber jacket is pushed through a draw die and reduced to .41 caliber. This would not work with a bullet. Jacket drawing punches fit inside the jacket, and actually push it through base first, while bullet draw dies push the bullet through nose first. Special versions of draw dies turn fired .22 cases into .224 or .243 caliber rifle jackets. The .22 WMR case can be drawn to a long 6mm jacket in another die, and shotgun primers can be turned into free .25 ACP jackets with another. Draw dies perform a remarkable service. Their limitations are discussed in "REDISCOVER SWAGING" in detail. Dies ending in "R" fit the standard reloading press and have a punch that fits into the press ram. Dies ending in "M" fit the Mity Mite press, and have a punch that screws into the press ram. The die goes into the press head, replacing the floating punch holder. Dies ending in "H" are made for the Corbin Hydro-press. They have a long punch that screws into the ram, and the die fits into a 7/8-14 adapter which in turn fits the 1.5-12 thread of the press head, also replacing the floating punch holder. RFJM-22R Rimfire Jacket Maker, 22 LR to .224 caliber RFJM-6MR Rimfire Jacket Maker, 22 LR to .243 caliber SPJM-25R Shotgun Primer Jacket Maker, 25 ACP caliber JRD-1-R Jacket Reducing Die, specify starting and ending caliber. Draw dies for the reloading press are used by adjusting the die position so that you can push the component through the tightest part of the die using the end of the stroke. Careful die setting is necessary so that the component is pushed far enough into the die, yet the more powerful portion of the stroke is still utilized. If you simply put the die in the press at random settings, it might not be possible to push the component far enough so the next component pushes it out the top. Or, it might require so much effort that the operation becomes impossibly difficult. It is important to realize that effort varies quickly with the exact part of the stroke where the most resistance is met. This is adjustable by your setting of the die. Too high, and the press easily pushes the component in, but not nearly far enough. Too low, and the press has little leverage or power to do the job, even though there is plenty of stroke to push the component through. The optimum adjustment can be found in a few attempts, if you bear the critical nature of this balance in mind. It might seem as if a draw die is a very inexpensive way of creating a custom bullet. In a few limited instances, it is. But, for most calibers, reducing an existing factory bullet to a smaller size is more expensive than making it yourself, produces a far less accurate bullet, and limits you to the same weight and basic style as the factory bullet itself. Giving up the advantage of superior accuracy, the ability to make the bullet in any weight or style you wish, and the cost savings of using jackets and lead instead of buying ready-made bullets, seems like quite a bit to give up just because drawing a bullet down seems simple. The lure of getting an inexpensive bullet-production die sometimes overwhelms one's sense of values, though, and it isn't uncommon for someone to sacrifice all these advantages -- all the real power of bullet swaging -- in order to draw down some existing bullet. In the instance of the .357 and 9mm, the two 8mm diameters, and sometimes in the reduction of a military bullet purchased very cheaply in quantity, the process works well enough to justify the lost advantages. It isn't a general cure, and it certainly does not replace swaging your own. On the other hand, a jacket draw die makes good sense. The jacket will be expanded by internal lead pressure during swaging, so any diameter changes made to it are rather unimportant to the final product. The ability to change standard diameters, to use an existing longer jacket or heavier design in the next smaller caliber, is a good advantage. Sometimes, it is the only way to obtain a good, inexpensive jacket. In .41 caliber, a drawn .44 is the standard jacket used by bullet swagers. Likewise, for the .40 calibers. One does pick up a little longer draw on one side of the jacket when the reduction is extreme. This is unavoidable without extremely high cost equipment, but its effect is primarily cosmetic: the tip of an open tip jacket may appear uneven. Accuracy generally seems unaffected by this, since the jacket walls themselves seldom become eccentric in any normal drawing operation. A set of dies to make .14, .17, and .20 caliber bullet jackets from commercial .224 0.6-inch length jackets is available from Corbin. The process of making sub-calibers involves drawing the standard .224 jacket through these three stages, stopping at the stage you desire. The jackets must be annealed after the first draw (from .224 to .20 caliber) or else the end will break out on the next draw or during swaging. Since the jacket for a .17 or .14 usually is shorter than that for a .224, the jacket must be trimmed at some point. This can be done in the first draw, from .224 to .20, using a PINCH-TRIM die and punch. The punch is made with a shoulder, so that the shoulder to tip length determines the length of the jacket. Any jacket that extends beyond this punch step or shoulder will be sheared off as the punch passes through the die constriction. The process works well provided the correct jacket is used, since the temper, grain, and diameter as well as wall thickness are somewhat critical for proper shearing action. Usually, the jacket will be made quite short, and will be drawn longer in the .17 and .14 stages. The exact final length is a bit experimental, since variations in jacket lots, temper, wall thickness, and material composition will produce a somewhat different final drawn length. But it seems quite consistent within one lot or kind of jacket. Jacket and bullet draw dies that fit the reloading press or the Mity Mite press require careful adjustment so that the maximum leverage can be properly utilized to push the component through the tightest point in the die, yet still gain maximum stroke within the required leverage range. In some cases, such as drawing copper tubing to make long rifle jackets, there isn't any easy way to get enough stroke and enough power at the same time. In those instances, a short "helper" punch or rod must be used. The jacket is drawn in two stages. First, the jacket is started into the die using the end of the stroke, where there is sufficient power. Then, the ram is drawn back, the helper rod inserted in the jacket, and the ram is run forward again, gaining extra stroke to push the component all the way through the ring die. This is, admittedly, a slower way to do the job. But in some cases, it is the only thing that works in a hand press. Dies made for the Hydro-press, on the other hand, seldom have any such difficulties because the programmable Hydro-press develops whatever power is needed, at any point in the stroke cycle. With a full six inches of stroke to work with, and full power from top to bottom, it is a simple job to draw just about any length or thickness of jacket in one stroke. Copper tubing jackets are a product that point up the advantages of the Hydro-press design. Remember that in most home swaging operations, you are accomplishing tasks in very few steps, with relatively inexpensive equipment, that the major factories spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in time and equipment to accomplish, often in 10, 12, or 14 stages. Sometimes, there are obvious limitations to what you can do without a bit of leeway in your final lengths or weights. (Sometimes, the amazing thing is that the process works at all!) On the other hand, for the person who doesn't mind experimenting and can put up with things coming out just a bit differently than his original blueprints might have demanded, these processes offer a great deal of freedom from high costs, abritrary supply sources, and the ability to make bullets that are extremely accurate and unusually high in performance. Just don't confuse accuracy and performance with predictable adherence to a pre-existing design concept! Sometimes, the way it happens to come out is what you have to work with, in the practical world of limited costs, simple operations, and available supplies. Fortunately, the way it comes out is usually pretty darn good! .he CHAPTER 12 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # SWAGE DIES of the MITY MITE SYSTEM There are so many different styles, calibers, and kinds of bullets possible in the Mity Mite system, that it isn't practical to list "kits" or tables of standard bullets you can make. If it falls in the range of .14 to .458 caliber, with a weight not over 450 grains, and a length not to exceed 1.3 inches base to tip, you can probably make it in the Mity Mite. In the realm of jacket making, the Mity Mite system can form copper tubing into excellent jackets with limitations to wall thickness: the standard thickness offered is 0.030-inch, in copper tubing. Steel, brass, or thicker walls are not practical in this system, but require the power of the Corbin Hydro-press system. If I were to suggest a good starting package for the beginning bullet maker, it would usually consist of the following items: (1) One or more Mity Mite presses (CSP-1) (2) A set of dies in the style desired (normally, FJFB-3-M) (3) A bottle of Corbin Swage Lube (CSL-2 or CSL-16) (4) A jacket supply... which could be one of these: (a) A CTJM-1-M tubing jacket maker (.030-wall) (b) A quantity of Corbin bullet jackets (usually, 1000) (c) A rimfire jacket-maker (RFJM-22M or RFJM-6MM) (d) A sub-cal jacket drawing die set (JRD-1-M, one each for .20, .17, and .14 draws) (e) No jackets -- for lead bullets (f) A JRD-1-M jacket reducer and supply of next-larger jackets, where required (5) A lead core supply... which could be one of these: (a) Lead wire (LW-25) and core cutter (PCS-1) (b) Core mould (CM-4) (c) Sub-cal extruder (LED-2) kit These are all you really need to consider. There are optional items that I might want, having been through it all before. They simply make life a bit easier and produce better bullets. These optional items include: (1) Cannelure tool (HCT-1) (2) Bullet polisher kit (BPK-1) (3) Dip Lube (CDL-16) to preserve finish, or for lead bullets. (4) Instrument grade lubricating oil (FSO-16) to preserve dies (5) Cleaning solvent (CCS-16) for dies and bullets (6) Core Bond (CCB-16) to make bonded core bullets (7) Extra floating punch holders (FPH-1-M) (8) Extra ejection pins (PUNCH-M, specify caliber, internal PF, and/or actual diameter if known) As to exactly WHICH size of jacket, mould, lead wire, or die set model to get, you can just indicate the weight and style of bullet you want to make, either with a sketch, a sample, or reference to one of the drawings or photos in any Corbin book (give title and page number). The die-maker will work out the correct combination to get where you want to go, using the closest available materials. That still leaves you a bit in the dark as to which of the many sets of dies will make the bullets you want. Here is a check-list describing many general kinds of bullets, and the dies that will make them: A. LEAD BULLETS WITH SMALL SHOULDER BEFORE START OF NOSE (1) Use LSWC-1-M single die set (2) Specify caliber (3) Specify base shape: a. Flat Base (standard) b. Dish Base (shallow concave from side to side) c. Cup Base (flat margin around deeper concave portion) d. Hollow Base (more than 1/2 caliber deep cavity) (4) Specify nose shape: a. Keith Nose (standard for handgun) b. Round Nose c. Wadcutter Nose d. Conical Nose e. Hollow Point (a universal HP, used with any above) f. 1-E (1-cal. long eliptical, standard for rifle) (5) Specify weight range desired (max. 450 gr.) B. LEAD BULLETS WITH NO SHOULDER BEFORE START OF NOSE (1) Use CSW-1-M and PF-1-M (core swage and point form dies) (2) Specify caliber (3) Specify ogive radius or nose shape a. Tangential ogives from 0.5 to 10-S (6-S standard) b. Spire point (12-degree standard) c. Round Nose (same as .5-S or .5-E shape) d. Eliptical ogive from .5-E to 2-E (1-E standard) e. TC (truncated conical - standard handgun) f. Dual-diameter, other special form (send sketch) (4) Specify base shape (same as in A.) (5) Specify weight range desired (max. 450 gr.) C. JACKETED SEMI-WADCUTTER OR WADCUTTER (1) Use JSWC-1-M (core swage and core seater) (2) Specify caliber (3) Specify Nose shape (same as A.) (4) Specify Base shape (same as A.) (5) Specify weight range (max. 450 gr.) (6) Specify jacket (Corbin size, or send sample) D. FULL JACKET, OPEN TIP OR HANDGUN SOFT POINT, OR FMJ OPEN BASE (1) Use FJFB-3-M (core swage, core seater, and point form) (2) Specify caliber (3) Specify ogive radius or nose shape (same as B.) (4) Specify Base shape (same as A.) (5) Specify weight range (max. 450 gr.) (6) Specify jacket (Corbin size, or send sample) E. FULL JACKET, LEAD TIP RIFLE OGIVES (1) Use LTFB-4-M (as in D. but with lead tip die added) (2) Specify all items as in D. (3) Specify tip shape a. flat b. spitzer (sharp point to match PF-1-M die shape) c. semi-spitzer (radius at tip) d. round F. REBATED BOATTAIL OPEN TIP RIFLE STYLE (1) Use RBTO-4-M (core swage, RBT-2 set, point form) (2) Specify all items as in D. G. REBATED BOATTAIL AND FLAT BASE, OPEN TIP RIFLE STYLE (1) Use FRBO-5-M (3-die set with RBT-2 set added) (2) Specify all items as in D. H. REBATED BOATTAIL WITH LEAD OR OPEN TIP (1) Use FRBL-5-M (same as F. with LT-1-M added) (2) Specify all items as in E. I. REBATED BOATTAIL or FLAT BASE, LEAD or OPEN TIP (all style) (1) Use FRBL-6-M (complete set of all dies) (2) Specify all items as in E. Note that each set of dies simply adds additional kinds of dies to one of the more simple sets. You don't lose any capability as you go up in versatility. The only decision that might be somewhat difficult is between a LSWC-1-M lead semi-wadcutter die and a JSWC-2-M two-die set for either jacketed or lead semi-wadcutters. The LSWC-1-M is a bit faster if you are certain that you don't want to make jacketed bullets. But the JSWC-2-M set handles both kinds well. The FJFB-3-M and all higher sets still preserve the ability to make lead bullets or semi-wadcutters, provided you order the desired nose punch to fit into the core seating die. The exception is that the RBTO-4-M and the RBTL-4-M do not have a standard core seating die for flat base bullets. They cannot make a conventional handgun style without a rebated boattail, since there is no die included to do it. When you order a die set for rifle calibers, and we know it is for a rifle caliber, we provide a punch to fit INSIDE the jacket you specify (and if it isn't one of ours, we need samples or we cannot make the dies). Rifle style implies that the jacket will curve around the ogive like a rifle bullet jacket. It is very popular for open tip or soft point handgun bullets, not just for rifle calibers. A more limited handgun style is the semi-wadcutter. This is a generic term to the die-maker, not a specific shape. It means that the bullet has a nose made of lead, with the jacket stopping short of the ogive, so there can be a shoulder where the end of the nose-forming punch presses against the lead. In a rifle-style set with a point forming die, there is NO nose-forming punch: the point forming die itself controls the shape of the ogive and nose. INDIVIDUAL DIE DESCRIPTIONS CSW-1-M Core Swage Die, Mity Mite This is the first die in most sets, except for the LSWC-1-M. In the lead semi-wadcutter set, the single die performs the function of the core swage and the core seater in one operation, since it operates on lead and has no jacket. It is, in essence, a core swage made to final diameter, and fitted with nose and base punches. The true core swage die has flat-ended punches, and is used only to adjust the diameter and length, roundness and weight of the raw lead core. The core swage die has bleed holes through which surplus lead is extruded to adjust the weight on each stroke. Core swage dies are made to a diameter which accepts a standard size of lead core, and increases it to a close fit to the proper jacket size. Since jacket wall thickness can be selected from a wide range of jackets, including tubing or thin rimfire case jackets, the core swage must be matched to the jacket wall as well as caliber. Some sets use more than one core swage, to allow changing to different jacket thicknesses. LSWC-1-M Lead Semi-wadcutter Die, Mity Mite A special form of core swage, in which the bore diameter is made final bullet size and the punches are made to form the base and nose shape. This die operates on lead or half jacket bullets only. It is faster than using a two-die set such as the JSWC-1-M, but is less versatile since it does not handle a 3/4-jacket. CS-1-M Core Seating Die, Mity Mite The core seater can form a finished handgun bullet of the semi-wadcutter style (or wadcutter style) either with or without the use of a core swage to adjust the core weight. Combined with a core swage, it makes up the JSWC-2-M jacketed semi-wadcutter set. It is always used prior to forming the ogive on an open tip or soft point bullet, in order to generate enough internal pressure to expand the jacket and form a straight, round shank on the bullet. RBT-2-M Rebated Boattail 2-Die Set, Mity Mite The rebated boattail set consists of a pair of dies that replace the regular CS-1-M core seater. The jacket (ordinary flat base type) is put into the first die, which is called the preform or BT die. The core is pushed into the jacket. A punch enters the mouth of the jacket and presses on the core, expanding the jacket to fit snugly against the die walls. The base of the die cavity has a boattail shape, which transfers to the jacket base. The second die of this set has very closely matched diameter and taper to the first die. It also has a shoulder or edge machined into the cavity. The smoothly tapered jacket from the first die is placed in the finishing, or RBT die (second die). The same external punch is used to push on the lead core, creating internal pressure that presses the tapered base against the shoulder in the die. A rebate or step is created in the jacket from this internal pressure. The seated core and jacket are now ejected and put into the point forming die to be completed. The regular core seating die (CS-1-M) is not used when making a RBT bullet. PF-1-M Point Forming Die, Mity Mite The point forming die has the actual bullet shape machined into its interior cavity. It does NOT use a nose forming punch, as in the CS-1-M or LSWC-1-M dies, but has a small spring-steel ejection pin in a tiny hole at the tip of the die. The seated core and jacket from the core seating die (CS-1-M) or from the RBT-2 die set is put open-end first into the PF-1-M die (to make open tip or soft points), and a full-caliber-size punch that fits into the point forming die presses on the bullet base to shape the ogive. It is not advisable to make the complete bullet in this die only, except for full-jacket, open-base styles. The reason is that this die does not form a sealed system, as with the core seating die, since one end is virtually open during forming. The pressure within the die tapers from base to ogive in a complex pattern depending on ogive shape, and is not normally capable of expanding the jacket shank properly by itself. That is why the core seating die pre-forms the shank prior to using this die. Several different bullet shapes can be made with the same die set by purchasing various point forming dies. The match of the point forming die to the core seater is extremely critical. Samples of seated cores are required to make another point forming die for a given set. It is normally best to order additional styles of point forming dies with the original set, but with sample seated cores or the return of the set, a new point forming die can be matched to the core seater. LT-1-M Lead Tip Forming Die, Mity Mite The lead tip die shapes the exposed lead at the tip of the bullet after the bullet has been formed in the point forming die. It is normally used only for sharp rifle ogives, not for blunt handgun shapes. When the tip of the bullet must be smaller than the diameter of the ejection pin required for a given caliber, the lead tip die can be used as a finisher to bring the tip slightly more closed, or to shape the exposed lead into a proper point after the ejection pin in the point forming die has deformed it during ejection. A lead tip die can be added to any set, provided that the set has a point forming die. Lead tip dies are not used with JSWC-1-M or LSWC- 1-M sets. A lead tip die cannot be used by itself to form a bullet. It must act as a "clean-up" die for the tip of bullets formed in the point forming die. The internal punch of the lead tip die can be changed to various shapes, in order to make flat tip, blunt round tips, semi-spitzer or sharp spitzer lead tips. A benefit of the lead tip die is that one can use a sharp ogive point forming die, and yet produce a good-looking flat tip. This can be desirable with a .308-caliber set, where bullets for .30-06 and .300 Winchester can be made at the same time as bullets for the tubular action .30-30, by finishing the .30-30 bullets with the LT-1-M die. MATCHED SETS OF DIES LSWC-1-M Lead Semi-wadcutter 1-die Set, Mity Mite A "set" can be any number of dies, including one, as long as it makes a completed bullet without the need of other dies or punches. The LSWC-1-M is listed here because it forms a complete semi-wadcutter style bullet (or a wadcutter, or a lead rifle bullet with a small shoulder between the ogive and the shank). Normally the external punch forms the nose and the internal punch forms the base, especially in handgun bullets. Some rifle bullets are made using the internal punch to form the nose. Remember that the external punch fits into the floating punch holder, a threaded cylinder which fits into the press head and does all the adjusting for die volume and bullet weight (as a direct result). The internal punch remains in the die, and is operated by the geometry of the ram, sliding back to allow maximum bullet weight while sealing off the threaded end of the die against swaging pressure, and sliding forward to eject the bullet. The LSWC-1-M is normally stocked in .25 ACP, .308", .312", .314", .355", .357", .358", .400", .410", .429", .452", and .458" diameters. It can be ordered in any diameter between .14 and .458 as a special order. Normal punches are either flat, cup, or hollow base, and wadcutter, Keith semi-wadcutter, round nose, conical, or hollow point (a universal and very deep hollow cavity punch that can be used with any of the other punches to produce interesting results). Rifle calibers normally are made with a one-caliber-length, eliptical round nose, and either a flat or cup base. The LSWC-1-M is made for soft lead. It can handle hard alloys without breaking if you are very careful, but it is folly to use them in calibers over about .314" diameter. It is not the hardness of the alloy that breaks a swage die: it is the fact that the operator pushes too hard trying to make the hard alloy flow and fill out the die. You are perfectly safe in using hard lead if you don't push any harder than you would for soft lead. But that amount of force may not be enough for the hard alloy to flow. Hard lead by itself does no harm to the die. If you use a .44 caliber die or larger, it is almost a certainty that sooner or later you will break the die if hard lead is used. Dies broken by excess pressure are the responsibility of the operator who applied the pressure. Old Theodore Smith, a pioneer of swage die manufacture and, prior to the growth of the Corbin firm, one of the largest suppliers of swage dies in the world, used to say that he ought to write his instructions to read "jump on the handle with all your might, then remove the die you just ruined and send it and a check for a new one to the die-maker". Anyone who has ever broken a swage die says "...but I wasn't applying THAT much pressure! It felt about like it always does, then the die broke!" With a little more experience, it is easy to feel the little bit of excess force that breaks a die. A swage die for the Mity Mite press can handle 171,745 psi in .224 caliber, and 103,548 psi in .458 caliber. That is the ultimate strength. A tiny bit more and CRACK! When the press is adjusted to go "over center", using the nearly infinite leverage of the short stroke system, it is easily possible to generate pressures over 200,000 psi. Use only enough so that soft lead -- pure, soft lead -- forms correctly. If a hard alloy can be formed with that pressure, wonderful. But if it refuses to form without "a little bit more", then check your replacement die funds before proceeding to apply it! This friendly warning applies to any of the dies, but it is especially true with the LSWC-1 since many people order these in large calibers and want to make alloy bullets. If you truely need hard alloys, I strongly suggest that you consider the Hydro-press dies and either the Hydro-press itself, or the Mega Mite press. The Mega Mite doesn't always have enough leverage for hard alloys in the largest calibers, but it makes a good .50 caliber soft lead bullet and it can handle hard alloys in any caliber without breaking the die. The Hydro- press never says never. It just idles along while swaging linotype alloy, and yawns with boredom when you try to challenge it with jobs that leave hand press dies in a pile of rubble. JSWC-2-M Jacketed Semi-wadcutter 2-die Set, Mity Mite The job of making jacketed or lead bullets in two steps, instead of one like the LSWC-1-M, means you can use jackets that cover the sides of the bullet. These would normally block the bleed holes on the LSWC-1-M. If you plan to make both lead and jacketed semi-wadcutters, this is the right choice. It consists of both a core swage and a core seating die. The core swage is made to produce a lead core to fit into the normal jacket used in the caliber. The core seater is made final diameter for the bullet, and has nose and base punches. Some people want a bevel base bullet, a boattail bullet, or a round nose with no step between shank and ogive. These things can only be approximated in the straight-walled core seater die. The nose punch does not have an invisible, razor-sharp edge. It has about 0.020-inches of metal at the edge. This lets it last for your lifetime and probably that of your grandchildren, instead of wearing away in a few bullets. It also means there has to be a step or shoulder of about 0.020-inch depth between the nose (formed in the punch cavity) and the shank (formed against the die wall). I see little point in the bevel base in this kind of die, since the shoulder made necessary by the punch really doesn't solve the problem of getting the bullet easily into the case mouth. A very slight bell to the case mouth solves it. If you want a true bevel, get the next die set. It has a point forming die, which has NO internal punch (in the normal sense of forming the bullet nose), but forms the bullet against die wall all the way to the end. You can reverse the bullet and tap in into the die lightly (with a precise adjustment of the punch holder, this is more repeatable than I made it sound). This gives you a perfectly formed bevel or taper on the base, very slight but also very streamlined and adequate to align the bullet in the case. FJFB-3-M Full Jacket, Flat Base 3-die Set, Mity Mite This is the workhorse of the system. More of these sets are made and sold than any other. That is because they do what most people want, making lead bullets, semi-wadcutter bullets, or fully-jacketed bullets of either open base or open point style. When we say full jacketed bullet, it can mean two different things. Most people mean a military full jacket with open base, which is formed by putting the base of the bullet jacket into the point forming die first, instead of the open end going in first. But handgun people often use the term full jacket to mean that the jacket curves around the ogive, covering part or all of the nose section. The alternative is the three-quarter jacket, or the half-jacket design. A three-quarter jacket bullet is the kind that is formed when you use the JSWC-2-M set and a jacket that covers the shank completely, but leaves the lead nose to be formed in the punch cavity. The JSWC-2-M die set can't bring the jacket up around the nose at all, not even a tiny bit. This is because the edge of the punch which forms the nose in that set strikes the edge of the jacket, unless you have enough lead to completely fill the punch cavity. A half-jacket bullet has half its shank covered by jacket and half the shank made of exposed lead (as well as the entire nose). Half- jacket bullets are not really much better than lead ones as far as velocity and fouling are concerned. But half-jackets still make great short, light bullets in a 3/4-jacket style! Confused? Look at it this way: there are names we give the jackets that are based on the normal bullet weight made in that jacket, and then there are the names we give bullets regardless of weight. If you make a light bullet in a short jacket, it can have the whole shank covered by jacket. And then, it is a 3/4-jacket bullet even if the jacket was originally made for 1/2-jacket designs. Conversely, if you use a so- called "full" length jacket for a handgun, and make a normal weight of rifle bullet (such as using a 0.7-inch long .38 handgun jacket to make a 250 grain .358 rifle bullet), you really wind up with what amounts to a half-jacketed bullet. So, if you want to play with unusual weights (and I say, go for it! Why not explore it all since swaging gives you the power to do so?) you may wind up having to order jackets by their catalog number and forget about what the rest of the world considers that jacket good for making. The terms half, three-quarter, and full jacket are a crude approximation, anyway. We'd be better off without them. Length in inches is much more precise. The three-die set (FJFB-3-M) has a core swage and a core seater, but the core seater usually is made just slightly (0.0005 to 0.0001 inch) smaller than if you were to order the same caliber in a JSWC-1-M. Does this mean you can't add a point forming die to a JSWC-1-M and thus produce a new set exactly like a FJFB-3? No, but the die-maker should either get the set back or should be given several lead slugs swaged in the core seating die. Then he can use the slugs, or the die set itself, to make a point forming die that is 0.0005 to 0.0001 inches larger than the core seater! One way or the other, there needs to be a microscopic difference to allow proper ejection of the final bullet. Remember that swaging is a process of upward expansion to meet the die walls. Shoving a bullet that is already at final diameter into the same diameter of die is a formula for stuck bullets and difficult ejection. While we are on the subject, let me comment that diameter differences of even 0.001 inch make very little difference in where the bullets will group, provided all the bullets fired are the same diameter. In the real world, you can get away with shooting a .309 bullet in a .308 barrel and probably win the Nationals either because of or in spite of it, and everyone else will rush out to buy the same kind of oversize bullet once you do it. What counts is consistency, not absolute size. On the other hand, you can get considerably worse groups if the bullets are 0.001 inch smaller than bore size. So, I usually recommend the nominal size, or larger. The FJFB-3-M set makes soft points (provided the die is made with a handgun kind of ogive or a flat tip, and is not brought to a spitzer point cavity) as well as open tip, open base (full metal jacket) as well as open point, and hollow points (which are made with a hollow point punch during the core seating operation) as well as open points. An open point has the jacket longer than the core. A hollow point has a hole poked into the lead core. You can combine both. To do this, the core seating punch has a projection on its face that makes the cavity in the lead core, and it also fits inside the jacket. A normal hollow point punch fits the die bore, so that only the probe fits into the jacket. Most hollow points are also lead tips. The usual kind of punches supplied with the FJFB-3-M set depend on whether it is a rifle or handgun caliber. Most rifle dies are purchased to make open tip bullets, so a core seating punch with a flat face, fitting inside the selected jacket, is provided. The base punches (internal core seating, and external point forming) are flat faced. The handgun sets normally have a Keith or a hollow point external punch with the core seater, and flat base punches in the core seater and with the point former. However, just because the simple way to name this set required using the term "Flat Base", don't be confused with the optional bases you can make. Any kind of base that can be formed by pressing the bullet base against a punch is perfectly suitable for this set. A dish base, a cup base, or a hollow base set of punches (meaning, one for the inside of the core seater, and one for the outside of the point former to match it) will convert the set from flat base to any of these other base styles. Flat base is used here to differentiate the set from the Rebated Boattail sets. Those sets have a different kind of core seater die: in fact, they have two dies to replace the one flat base core seater. If you want to make bullets for longest range shooting, or if you want to experiment with low velocity, high efficiency bullets even at close range (where the speed during flight will approach or cross the transonic region at Mach I) then I would suggest the rebated boattail sets that follow. But first, a word for the lead tip bullet.... LTFB-4-M Lead Tip, Flat Base 4-die Set, Mity Mite You can make lead tips with a three-die set, provided that the ogive is blunt enough to allow extremely easy ejection. The ejection pin pushes on the lead tip, and with sharper ogives (such as the normal rifle styles other than round noses) the pin pushes into the lead because it usually takes a bit more pressure than the lead can withstand to eject a very pointed bullet. The result is a deformed blob of lead at the tip of the bullet. To reshape this into a neat lead tip, and possibly to shear off surplus lead, the LT-1-M die is added to the set. If you wish, you can purchase the LT-1-M separately and make any open tip set into a lead tip set. Or, you can purchase the set together under the LTFB-4-M catalog number. This set makes all the bullets that the 3-die set makes, plus good lead tips. Good lead tip bullets take a little experimenting, to get the right amount of exposed lead. Too much exposed lead usually doesn't hurt anything. Too little, and you won't have enough to fill the cavity in the internal punch of the lead tip die. The tips don't completely form, as a result. A very light pressure is required. If you apply too much, you'll put a shoulder in the jacket just below the tip from pressing the punch edge against the jacket. The right amount of lead for the length of jacket used places some limits on the weight of bullet that will work properly and form a good lead tip. Some combinations of jacket length and core weight don't form a good lead tip in certain shapes of bullets, which you will find out quickly by experimenting. But a few grains more lead hurts nothing, and gives the results you want. RBTO-4-M Rebated Boattail Open Tip 4-die Set, Mity Mite Here is the set for the long-range target shooter. If you shoot high power rifle with a capital HP, meaning serious matches with a .30 caliber, then you should consider the lower drag coefficient and consequent shorter time of flight of the RBT design. The rebate gives you an edge in accuracy at the muzzle, deflecting the muzzle blast gasses to the side so that they do not flow along the streamline of the bullet and break up in front of it. If you plan to make survival bullets, or copper tubing bullets, I usually feel that the slight gain in ballistic coefficient isn't worth the extra cost and trouble of making these bullets. There is one more step involved, and with tubing it is a little more difficult to produce as good a bullet as with flat base styles. It can be done, and it is practical, but most situations involving bullets at more than twice the speed of sound just don't benefit enough from the base design to bother with any extra trouble. This set doesn't have a regular flat base core seating die included. It makes rebated boattails, of the open tip style, only. It doesn't usually make FMJ styles, but you can use the point forming die alone and make a pretty good open base full jacket "military" style bullet with a flat base. Making an open base rebated boattail is not practical with this equipment, nor does it have any advantage since the open tip is usually more accurate and easier to produce. FRBO-5-M Flat or Rebated Boattail, Open Tip 5-die Set, Mity Mite This set adds a regular core seating die to the previous one, so you can make either flat base or rebated boattails with the same set. It is better to purchase this set together rather than adding on, since the die-maker can match the diameters better when he has all the dies in one place at the same time. This set makes it easier to get a wide range of weights. A flat base design lets you get lower weights in the same ogive shape, and a rebated boattail lets you get lower weights for the same jacket length. A flat base gives you the ability to make heavier weights using the same jacket length. If you have a "universal" caliber like the .308, which can produce anything from an 80 grain .32 ACP bullet to a 220 grain .300 Magnum slug, then this is a pretty good choice in die sets. RBTL-5-M Rebated Boattail Lead Tip 5-die Set, Mity Mite This set just substitutes a lead tip forming die for the core seating die, which means you can make either open tip target bullets or lead tip hunting bullets, but only with the rebated boattail base. The reason for a person buying this set is to use the same kind of bullet that he normally uses in his target shooting, and with which he is presumably quite familiar, in a soft point hunting bullet. The odds are that the high power shooter who does take such a bullet (and, of course, the familiar cartridge and powder combination to fit it) afield after game with a properly-sighted hunting rifle, probably has a much better chance of coming home with meat for the freezer than someone who uses a completely different caliber than his usual, more familiar target experience requires. The boattail design probably doesn't add much to the hunting success, but it doesn't hurt. It's contribution is familiarity: if you fire thousands of the same kind of bullet, less the lead tip, at 200, 300, 600, and perhaps 1000 yard targets in all kinds of wind conditions, then chances are better that you can connect with a similar bullet and load even if the range is less certain and the target is moving. The range is probably 60 yards to 200 yards, more than half the time, and the bullet is going so fast it doesn't have time to notice its tail in that range, but the shooter has a good feel for the drop and knows better how to hold for wind. FRBL-6-M All Style 6-die Set, Mity Mite Whatever you need, you can probably make it with this package of dies. Many people go for this one simply because "you never know" what you might want to try. That's not a bad reason. If you have the dies, you can try things that you might otherwise never get around to doing. And dies are a good investment: they don't seem to get any less expensive with the passing of time. If you think there is much chance you'll want to make a variety of different purpose bullets in a given caliber, this is the right choice. On the other hand, most handgun bullets can be produced just fine with a 3-die set. There isn't much point in having either the lead tip die or the rebated boattail dies for a .357 Magnum or a .45 ACP, since there are tricks that let you make as good a boattail as anyone could possibly use on these bullets, with the ordinary 3-die package. And lead tips on blunt handgun bullets don't usually require the LT-1-M die because the short bullet length and blunt taper make ejection easy enough that the broad lead tip doesn't deform. If you have rifle calibers in mind, and want to go first class, by all means give the 6-die set some consideration. Even if you don't use all the dies often, they will be ready when you do need them. SPECIAL DIES FOR THE MITY MITE Draw dies have already been discussed. In the Mity Mite system, you can get sets of dies to reduce the bullet or the jacket diameter. The punch fits into the press ram, and the die replaces the floating punch holder in the press head. This is just the opposite of the normal swaging set (where the die screws into the press ram, and the external punch is held in the floating punch holder, in the head of the press). For details on these dies, turn to the chapter on Draw Dies. A unique die set for the Mity Mite is the LED-2 Lead Extruder Die Set. This set solves a problem for the maker of sub-caliber bullets: how to produce lead cores for the tiny .14, .17 and .20 bullets. Lead wire is available, but a normal 175,000 grain spool makes more bullets than a person could shoot in a reasonable time. Core casting is possible, but very tedious with such tiny core diameters. The LED-2 outfit uses a standard .44/.45 caliber lead core, cast in a .365-inch diameter core mould. You can also use a cast .38 bullet, if you wish. Cast these more reasonable sized slugs, and then put them into the mouth of the extruder die. Run the press ram forward with the extruder punch screwed into the press ram. Adjust the die so that you can easily apply enough pressure to spurt lead wire out the end of the die, like toothpaste from a tube. The extruder die comes with die inserts for making .20, .17, and .14 caliber wire. The insert can be changed easily. Lubrication on the cast slug is essential for easy operation. This outfit is made to extrude soft lead only. Hard alloys usually don't extrude well in a hand press or, for that matter, a power press. I would not own a set of sub-caliber dies without the LED-2 outfit to make my own sub-cal wire. It is more economical, easy and satisfactory that any other method except perhaps for buying a spool of wire to pass on to the grandchildren (especially in .14 caliber). Dual diameter bullets can be made in a special order die that combines the functions of a core seater and a draw die. I don't even have a catalog number for this one, but just call it a special. It fits the press ram like a core seater, but has a dual inside diameter. It acts like a draw die, in that you press your finished bullet into the die and the forward portion is reduced by the depth of the rifling (usually about 0.008 inches total reduction). A punch matching the ogive pushes the bullet back out on the ejection stroke of the press. This kind of die is somewhat expensive to produce, and is never in stock (being made specifically for experimental applications and custom bullets), but it does allow certain advantages over a conventional bullet design. First, the reduced nose section rides atop the rifling and reduces friction in the barrel. This means you get higher speeds and less pressure at maximum loads. Second, the amount of reduced nose section is adjustable so you can set your own freebore, even in a gun without any barrel freebore. It is like having a non-rifled, bore- sized guide section built on the bullet instead of in the gun barrel. The advantage is that you can retain the accuracy you need, yet still get higher powder charges and more velocity, and at the same time you can use a heavier or longer bullet than the gun and cartridge would normally feed and chamber. Feeding through the magazine is a different problem: this doesn't help in that department. But feeding into the barrel is no longer a problem in regard to the amount of freebore in your gun. If the bolt would not close before because the rifling came up against the longer bullet too soon, you can make it work now. For want of a better name, I just call this a "dual-diameter" draw die. We also make point forming dies that swage the bullet with a dual diameter. There are some problems, however, that keep this from working in all cases. One is that the seated core and jacket are one diameter, correct for the shank of a normal bullet. Yet, the forward part of the point forming die is undersized by so much that it is like using the wrong caliber, and the bullet can stick or be very difficult to eject. This happens when the reduced portion extends back very far from the ogive. There are many special instances where experimental processes work very well in one instance and not at all or with great difficulty in a similar but slightly different case. When possible, stick to the proven and tested sets of dies: they have great versatility just as they are. But if you do need something special and don't mind the extra cost involved in working out the details to make it work for your case, Corbin is one of the few places in the world where you can get expert assistance at reasonable cost. CTJM-1-M Copper Tubing Jacket-Maker Set, Mity Mite A special set of dies that forms 0.030-wall hard drawn, straight copper tubing into bullet jackets with flat bases. The bases are not completely closed, but are nearly so. Partitions cannot be formed in the jacket material itself, but can be made by using a smaller caliber jacket telescoped inside the tubing. This technique works well and is described in "Rediscover Swaging". Tubing jacket-makers are practical for calibers from 7mm to .458 in the Mity Mite system. LED-2 Lead Extruder Die, Mity Mite A special sub-caliber extruder die set that makes wire for the .14, .17, and .20 calibers, using either a .38 cast bullet or a cast core from a .44/45 core mould (or cut wire of .365-inch diameter). All three calibers of wire are made with the standard set, without ordering any special parts. JRD-1-M Jacket Reducing Die, Mity Mite Can be ordered for either jackets or bullets, within practical limitations. Popular use is for turning a .357 into a 9mm bullet, or for reducing a .44 jacket to .41 caliber. Specify starting diameter, send samples to help the die-maker adjust the die, and specify desired final diameter. Without samples, it is impossible to guarentee the final bullet diameter closer than about 0.002 inches. With samples, diameter can be held to better than 0.0005 inches. RFJM-22M Rimfire Jacket-maker, .224, Mity Mite This is the functional equivalent of the same die in the reloading press (RFJM-22R). It turns fired .22 cases (short, long, long rifle, or Stinger) into excellent .224 caliber jackets by drawing out the head and reducing the diameter. The only difference between this die set and the one for the reloading press is the punch. The Mity Mite version uses a punch that screws into the ram, and the die screws into the 7/8-14 TPI press head just as it would in a reloading press. RFJM-6MM Rimfire Jacket-maker, .243, Mity Mite This is the functional equivalent of the same die in the reloading press (RFJM-6MR). It turns fired .22 LR or Stinger cases into preforms to make a 6mm jacket. The final forming takes place as the core is being seated, expanding the drawn case to 6mm diameter from the .225- inch diameter body typical of a fired .22 case. The head is drawn until it becomes a smooth 0.219-inch section, but the rest of the case is NOT pushed through the die. This is different from forming a .224 jacket (because the .224 requires that the whole case be pushed through the die). A two-diameter ejector rod presses the partly-drawn jacket back out of the die. PUNCH-M Mity Mite Punch To order a punch for any Mity Mite die, specify the caliber, the function (CS, CSW, PF, etc.), and whether it is internal or external. External punches fit the floating punch holder. Internal punches fit inside the die and the ram of the press. They are the longer punch with the small tail on one end. .he CHAPTER 13 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # SWAGE DIES OF THE HYDRO-PRESS SYSTEM Hydro-press dies are huge. They are larger than the ram of the Mity Mite press and their punches are like night sticks, so big they could just about replace the Mity Mite ram. Naturally, there is no way they would "interchange" with dies from a hand press or the Mity Mite. The reason for making these large dies is to withstand super-high pressures -- pressures that would blow a firearm to bits. For instance, a .224 caliber die in the Hydro-press design can withstand 176,667 psi repeatedly. Even the huge .512 caliber die can take pressures of 102,198 psi. These pressures would crack a smaller die immediately. Because these dies can withstand such monumental pressures, it is possible to do things with them that were not possible before in home swaging. In fact, things that are impractical for any of the major bullet plants can also be done easily at home because of the design of both the dies and the press. The same dies that are made in the Mity Mite are also produced in the Hydro-press system. Turn to the chapter on Mity Mite dies for a list of all the styles and sets you can obtain, and what they do. Just replace the -M at the end of the catalog number with a -H, and you have a catalog number for the same thing in the Hydro-press system. For details on the operation of each of the various kinds of dies, I will refer you to the section on Mity Mite dies. The operation is basically the same, except that much greater pressure can be used safely in the Hydro-press die than is possible in the Mity Mite. Hydro-press dies also fit into the Mega Mite press, but it isn't always practical or even possible to develop enough pressure to form the bullet. The Mega Mite is strong enough and so are the dies, but some calibers, materials, and designs simply require a full-power hydraulic system in order to operate properly. On the other hand, many bullets can be made in the Mega Mite, including lead .50 calibers and jacketed .458 calibers with up to 0.030-inch wall tubing. There are special dies that the great control and power of the Hydro-press can utilize. One is the LED-1 Lead Extruder Die set. This extruder makes any size of lead wire, from the .224 to the .458 caliber size. Four standard LED-D inserts are provided (.185, .250, .312, and .365-inch diameters), and you can order any other standard diameter you need, or have a special diameter made to order. The LED-1 comes will instructions for use. Basically, the die replaces the floating punch holder in the press head. It accepts a 0.795-inch diameter lead billet four inches long. Corbin makes packages of four such billets under the catalog number of LB-4, from pure chemical lead. The kit also comes with a set of two mould tubes and a base, which lets you cast your own soft lead into proper-diameter billets in rapid order. Extra mould tubes can be ordered by name. A special, long punch assembly with floating head screws into the press ram. This punch self-aligns with the die bore, and is a very snug fit. I don't recommend pushing it in by hand, because it can be difficult to remove. To extrude lead wire, simply lubricate the lead billet with Corbin Swage Lube, and drop it into the top of the extruder die. The punch and die should be adjusted so that the punch is just inside the die mouth, and it will support the lead billet. Then, place the desired diameter of die insert (LED-D) carefully in the top of the die body, with the smooth, dished side toward the lead. Slide it into place in the top of the die. Then screw the bushing down into the top of the die body to hold the die in place. Start the press moving up. Normally, I like to adjust the top position sensor so that the ram is just short of the top of the die when the press stops. This is best done by running the ram up before the die is installed, then screwing the die down until it stops against the punch face, and finally backing it off slightly for clearance. Then set the location of the top sensor to shut off the press and reverse it at this point in the ram travel. Small diameter wire can take 1,800 psi or so to extrude. Larger diameters can take as little as 1000 psi on the press gauge. The exact pressures are suggested in the literature that comes with the LED-1. When you start up the press, lead will come out the top of the die quickly. It will be hot, so don't immediately grab it with a bare hand. Trapped air or lube can cause bits of lead to be expelled with great force from the top of the die, so never lean over the die or place any part of your body over the top of it while you are extruding lead. If you ever observe this rare occurrance, you will be careful to follow that advise. The quality of wire that you can produce this way far exceeds nearly any commercial supply. It looks like chrome, and it is so even and consistent that it is hard to believe the material is soft lead. Many Corbin customers sell their lead wire at a premium price, and get it, because it is indeed a premium product. Copper tubing jacket-maker dies, CTJM-1-H, for the Hydro-press can be ordered in .030, 0.049, or 0.065-inch wall thickness. Brass, copper, or even steel jackets can be formed. In copper of 0.030 and 0.049 wall thickness, it is practical to form a partition or wall across the middle of the jacket in several of the larger calibers. This isn't possible or practical in all calibers or wall thicknesses, but generally works well above .30 caliber in 0.030 wall copper tubing, and with most of the larger calibers in 0.049 wall copper tubing. The base closure that is possible with the Hydro-press die set is total, in flat base designs. Recently, we have developed methods of making nearly total closures in a rebated boattail, copper tubing jacket. Solid noses can also be formed to a high degree of closure. Bullet designs that far outshine any conventional factory design can be produced at home. Hundreds of fired bullets, recovered from trophy game by excited customers, line the shelves in my office. Their performance all over the world, time and time again, proves that a person can produce a better bullet in his own garage or loading room than most of the very expensive factory bullets available today. JRD-1-H Jacket Reducing Die, Hydro-press Available for tubing reduction, bullet drawing, or jacket redraw operations. Also used for reducing the diameter of pieces of cut, solid tubing in copper or brass alloys, in order to produce solid metal bullets for special applications. The JRD-1-H fits a 7/8-14 to 1.5-12 thread adapter in the press head, and the punch screws into the press ram. For unusual applications, automatic stripper plates and guide frames can be built to fit on the CHP-1 Mark IV Hydro-press, quickly removing the drawn component from the punch on the down stroke and allowing rapid, hand-fed operation that approaches automatic feed production (at a fraction of the cost). CTJM-1-H Copper Tubing Jacket-maker, Hydro-press Normally used in calibers above .308, up to and including the .600 Nitro, special sets can be used in calibers such as .270 and 7mm. Usually, smaller calibers can utilize commercially available jackets at lower cost, or use commercial jackets reduced in diameter to thicken the walls. Wall thickness of 0.030, 0.049, and 0.065 are standard in the larger bores. Special sets can be made for other wall thickness tubing. The flat-base sets round the end of the tubing, draw it down to proper size, and flatten the end in the regular core seating die of your swage set. The partition sets utilize two punches to fold and pressure-weld a band between their ends, making a partition in the middle of the bullet (exact position can be set by punch length ratios). The base is rolled over after the core is inserted. Two short cores are inserted, one from either end. Partition sets are the same price as regular sets, although different kinds of parts are included. Five punches are normally used to convert a conventional flat base set into a partition set. Rebated boattail sets can be produced as well, again at the same price. RBT and partition designs are not usually combined. CSW-1-H Core Swage Die, Hydro-press The core swage makes precise lead cores from soft or hard lead. Unlike the Hydro-press dies, there is no restriction on lead hardness. Special diameter bleed holes are utilized to produce a soft or a hard lead swage die. Specify which kind of lead you wish to use when ordering, in order to get optimum performance. CS-1-H Core Swage Die, Hydro-press The core swage die can make a semi-wadcutter handgun bullet with or without a jacket, or it can be used as a preliminary step in forming a rifle bullet (where the final stage is the point forming die). Pressure limits for each caliber of die are given in the book, "Power Swaging". Punches can be ordered by function and shape under that catalog number PUNCH-H (for this and all other Hydro-press dies). PF-1-H Point Form Die, Hydro-press The point forming die has the actual bullet shape lapped into its cavity. It can form both jacket and lead into the ogive, unlike the straight wall core seater which uses a punch to shape just the lead nose. The internal punch is a tough spring-steel ejection wire. Larger calibers normally use a wire that can be 0.180 to 0.200 inch diameter. This assures easy ejection on lead tip bullet designs. Smaller calibers normally utilize wires of 0.120 or less, down to as little as 0.080 inches for very small caliber bullets. It is important to know the ejection pin diameter and length so you can order replacements easily. One of the first measurements you should record is the diameter and length of the wire part of this punch, just in case you ever need a replacement sent quickly. LT-1-H Lead Tip Forming Die, Hydro-press The lead tip die shapes the extended lead tip of the bullet, and it can also be used to close down the open tip of a bullet below the diameter of the ejection pin (as discussed under the PF-1-H heading). The internal punch of this die has a cavity that determines the tip shape. You can order extra internal punches to make flat nose, spitzer tip, or semi-spitzer (rounded end) tips. This die uses the same external punch as the point forming die, and cannot be used without first having a point forming die of the same caliber. It does not come with external punch for that reason. RBT-2-H Rebated Boattail Add-On 2-die Set, Hydro-press This set ounch of this die has a cavity that determines the tip shape. You can order extra internal punches to make flat nose, spitzer tip, or semi-spitzer (rounded end) tips. This die uses the same external punch as the point forming die, and cannot be used without first having a point forming die of the same caliber. It does not come with external punch for that reason. RBT-2-H Rebated Boattail Add-On 2-die Set, Hydro-press This set o The combination of a core swage with bleed holes and the base and nose forming punches of a semi-wadcutter or paper-patch rifle core swage die makes this die. The weight is adjusted and the nose and base formed all in one stroke. The die is used to make lead or half- jacketed handgun and rifle bullets. Typical rifle ogive would be a nose punch having a 1-caliber long, eliptical shape. Typical handgun nose shape might be a Keith or wadcutter. Other shapes can be made to order. Standard shapes include conical, Keith, round nose, wadcutter, or hollow point, and flat base, cup base, dish base, and hollow base shapes. JSWC-2-H Jacketed Semi-wadcutter 2-die Set, Hydro-press This set breaks up the operation of weight adjustment and final sizing into two steps, making it possible to use 3/4-jacket lengths. It can also make lead or half jackets. Since bullet noses and bases are formed by pressing against punches, there can be no curve or radius of the jacket away from full bore diameter. The nose must be formed entirely of lead, with a small step between the end of the ogive and the start of the shank, also formed in the lead extending beyond the jacket. FJFB-3-H Full Jacket, Flat Base 3-die Set, Hydro-press The 3-die set described under the Mity Mite section is also the basic set for the power press. Any caliber from .14 to .72 (or so) diameter may be ordered. Standard calibers for every conventional factory bore size are available, though demand is quite high and delivery times depend entirely on the current backlog: call or write to get a copy of the immediate delivery list. LTFB-4-H Lead Tip, Flat Base 4-die Set, Hydro-press Lead tip bullets or open tip styles can be made with this set. Generally, the lead tip styles are for rifles, because a blunt handgun ogive can usually be formed with a lead tip even without the special lead tip die. Sharper ogives require the extra die to shape up the lead tip after the actual ogive is formed. RBT0-4-H Rebated Boattail, Open Tip 4-die Set, Hydro-press The open tip, rebated boattail is a favorite amount competition rifle shooters and is rapidly becoming popular among winning metallic silhouette shooters who use long range handguns. The rebated boattail can be made in copper tubing jackets in the Hydro-press. Hard alloys are also feasible with these high pressure dies and the press that "thinks" so it can avoid over-pressure conditions when properly programmed. RBTL-5-H Rebated Boattail, Lead Tip 5-die Set, Hydro-press The five die rebated boattail, open or lead tip rifle set is popular among shooters who take their firearms afield as well as to the range. Choosing a lead tip offers greater expansion than the same weight of open tip (and most people think it is the opposite!). The open tip bullet brought to a small meplat (typically less than 0.1 inches in diameter at the bullet tip) brings a considerable thickening to the jacket tip. Many factory bullets that were advertised as being 0.049-inch wall thickness showed over 0.060 inches at the tip as a result of this unavoidable thickening when the jacket is drawn to a point. Using the lead tip gives you a greater opening at the actual jacket's end, since the lead extends beyond it to serve the purpose of a smaller tip for better ballistics. It is the jacket thickness and opening size that controls expansion, rather than the mere fact of whether or not the tip is open. FRB0-5-H Flat or Rebated Boattail, Open Tip 5-die Set, Hydro-press A set for the person who likes open tip (which is NOT the same as hollow point, no matter what some of the mass producers of bullets say in their literature) bullets, but wants the widest possible range of weights. Many people purchase an extra point forming die, as well, getting a 6 or 7-S ogive for their longer range target work and for more conventional weights, then getting the extra PF-1-H in a 1-E or a round nose ogive (.5-E or .5-S -- it is the same thing) for both the very light weights (short shank and short nose) or the very heavy weights (long shank, short nose). The advantage of the blunt ogive is that it gives you a greater range of useful bullet weights. The advantage of the sharper ogive is less drop and higher delivered velocity over a given range. FRBL-6-H All Style System, 6-die Set, Hydro-press Finally, the set that gives you everything. This set makes all the styles of any of the other sets, except that you would need to order extra punches (PUNCH-H, External, specify caliber and shape) to make semi-wadcutter noses in the core seating die. Naturally, it doesn't make every possible ogive shape, since the ogive is controlled by the cavity lapped into the point forming die. Various ogive curves would be made by ordering extra PF-1-H dies made in those shapes. Usually one or two shapes will suffice for the widest range of hunting and target shooting situations. LED-1 Lead Extruder Die Set, Hydro-press The lead extruder die set has a large heat-treated steel body that fits into the press head, a long floating punch or piston assembly that fits snugly into this die, a series of four die inserts which control the diameter of the lead wire you can extrude, a bushing to hold the die insert into the top of the die, a pack of lead billets, and a mould base with two mould tubes to make your own billets from scrap lead, if you wish. Standard sizes of .185", .250", .312", and .365" die inserts are included. Others can be ordered in any desired size down to .125" (which is the smallest size this extruder can safely produce -- pressure and system size increase with the reduction in wire diameter). LED-D Lead Extruder Die Insert, for LED-1 The die insert for the LED-1 is a heat-treated button which is about three-quarters of an inch long and equally broad, made to fit precisely into the top of the LED-1 extruder. Corbin also makes various kinds of wire drawing dies for major lead wire manufacturers and others involved in defense or sporting ammunition manufacture. You can order a standard size for a caliber, or you can specify a custom diameter. Lead wire diameters depend both on the hole size in the die and on the extrusion velocity and ambient temperature, the lubrication used and the particular alloy being extruded. If the application is critical, it may be necessary to purchase a set of dies in 0.001-inch increments to adjust the size to your conditions and materials. LB-4 Lead Billet, Pack of 4, for LED-1 Corbin has pure (99.95 percent) lead billets in 0.795-inch diameter, four inches long, sealed in packets of four. A complete set of specifications is included with each packet. A simple Brinnell hardness test can be made using a steel ball, a vise, and these known hardness cylinders of lead. Details can be found in the Corbin textbooks. RLA-1 Reloading Adapter Kit, Hydro-press This is one accessory I would consider necessary with any Hydro- press. You would be amazed at the number of times you'll find yourself putting regular type 7/8-14 dies and shell holders of the RCBS type into your Hydro-press. It is so fast and easy to set it up for power case sizing and depriming, using the automatic cycle. Case forming, military case conversion, depriming crimped primers, and other tough jobs that put a strain on your progressive press are trivial jobs for the Hydro-press. The bushing from the RLA-1 is required on JRD-1 type dies, which makes it possible to use your Mity Mite or Reloading Press draw dies, along with a different punch, in the Hydro-press. Come to think of it, you can use a reloading press punch, too, with this adapter kit. (The longer Hydro-press punches are sometimes more convenient, however.) RLA-50 .50 BMG Shell Holder, Hydro-press The .50 caliber 1-1/2 inch threaded dies that CH and RCBS make screw directly into the head of the Hydro-press. Using the reloading adapter kit, you can screw this large shell holder directly into the ram extension that is part of the kit. Primers are shunted to the side and out an exhaust port in the side of the extender. If you load the .50 Browning Machine Gun cartridge, this is a handy accessory. RFJM-22H Rimfire Jacket Maker, 224 cal., for Hydro-press Why not automate the making of free .22 jackets? With the CHP-1 Hydro-press set for an automatic stroke cycle, you can slip cases over the punch and let the press shove them all the way through the die and out the top in one stroke. It certainly is more fun than doing it by hand! RFJM-6MH Rimfire Jacket Maker, 6MM cal., for Hydro-press The 6mm or .243 caliber (also .244) jacket maker utilizes long rifle or Stinger cases to make 65 to 70 grain bullets. A special JRD- 1-H die and punch set can be made to draw .22 Magnum cases to 6mm or .257 (undersized, but they expand nicely in the core seating operation). SPJM-25H Shotgun Primer Jacket Maker, 25 ACP cal., for Hydro-press For 50 grains and less, a spent shotgun primer cup can be made into a good jacket for the .25 ACP or the .25-20, .256 Winchester, or other light-weight quarter-inch bore. The .25 ACP uses a .251-2" bullet and the .25 rifles all use a .257" bullet, but the same jacket diameter works for making either. .he CHAPTER 14 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # CORBIN SWAGE PRESSES There are three presses currently made by Corbin for bullet swaging. These are the Mity Mite press, the Mega Mite press, and the Corbin Hydro-press. They are discussed in detail in previous chapters. The operation of the Corbin Hydro-press is discussed in the book, "Power Swaging", D. Corbin. On special order, Corbin has built air presses and other custom machinery for military and special ammunition manufacturing operations. Whenever possible, I would suggest that you consider the Hydro-press. This machine will handle nearly any kind of job you have now or in the future. The cost of building special, one-of-a-kind versions of some other design, even if it appears to be quite a bit more simple, usually involves enough set-up and development time that a person would have been better off financially to purchase the more versatile standard product. A great many ideas which have merit also have development and set- up costs associated with them, which make them less economical than a person would imagine in comparison to a well-developed standard product. I mention this because I am constantly asked to build or at least to quote on modifications to reloading presses, adding power to the Mity Mite press, building dies that would fit into some punch press or home-made press, etc. The design of the press used for swaging has to be closely matched to the punches and dies, not only the ones made today but the ones you might need in the future. Years of consideration have gone into the design of the present systems, in order to make them true systems which work together, have replaceable components, and have as much interchange as it is practical to obtain between various operations and tools. While another press might be perfectly suitable to the one job at hand, when one looks down the road a little way, it becomes evident that most special designs and modifications to other presses have built-in problems with replacement parts, expansion to new products, and versatility. Basically, why re-invent the wheel every time you need something different, when so much time and thought has already been put into developing swaging systems that can grow with your needs? It stands to reason that if a company makes thousands of identical punches and dies, it will cost far less for much higher quality than if they had to stop, figure out what you need this time, and build it all from scratch. In the Corbin systems, we have combined a degree of custom adaptation to your needs with a base of standard components and dimensions. Thousands of blanks, semi-finished parts, are run in production. Hundreds of them are turned into standard sets in the popular calibers. Then, custom orders are filled using the standard dimensions and materials with which the die-makers have become so familiar. Rather than starting from scratch each time, your custom order is based on generations of accumulated experience and semi-finished, standard blanks that can be more quickly finished to the exact shape and size you need without distrubing the versatility of the system. The popular magazines often state that Corbin's major contribution to the shooting industry has been the development of a wide range of swaging products and hundreds of articles on swaging techniques. I feel that the most important single thing we have done for shooting has been the development of the semi-custom production method, where most of the benefits of mass production are retained, and most of the benefits of totally hand-made, custom products are still realized. Small wonder that Corbin has been swamped with orders for over a decade, with no end in sight. Prices are kept in the mass-production range, but the results are custom made with skilled die-makers working one-to-one with you on your order. When I hear someone offer an improvement, I listen... but looking at the whole picture, I think the general welfare of most shooters is served well by the present course. CSP-1 Corbin Swage Press, Mity Mite Model The Mity Mite is a 2-inch stroke, balanced torque swaging press with horizontal ram, having the die in the ram and the external punch in a floating punch holder in the press head. This arrangement, together with the geometry of the ram and punches, permits self ejection on the back stroke. The CSP-1 press takes a die with 5/8-24 TPI thread, which screws finger-tight into the ram. The external punch is held in the floating punch holder (in the press head) by means of a hexagon-flanged threaded bushing, which slips over the punch and presses against its head. The floating punch holder and details of press operation are covered in the prior chapter on the Mity Mite system. CSP-2 Corbin Swage Press, Mega Mite Model The Mega Mite is a long-stroke, balanced torque swaging and reloading press, built to accept reloading dies and shell holders, Mity Mite dies and punches, and Hydro-press dies and punches. Various adapters and inserts change the press to suit the kind of dies being used. The Mega Mite is quite possibly the strongest and most certainly the most precisely built hand press available for the handloader today. It is machined from steel, with the ram moving on bearings against hardened and ground guide rods. While it cannot substitute for the power and stroke control of the electronically controlled Hydro-press, the CSP-2 fills a need for those who wish to manufacture bullets just larger than the sizes which the CSP-1 can handle, or in harder alloys than are recommended for the CSP-1 dies. Because many other reloading manufacturers have concentrated on progressive type presses, most of which do not have the strength or simple rigid design features required of a heavy-duty reloading press, the CSP-2 finds use as the ultimate hand press for the advanced handloader as well as a premium choice for the person who wishes to invest in only one universal handloading press. CHP-1 Mark IV Corbin Hydro-press The Hydro-press (trade-marked name of the CHP-1 series) has gone through four generations of development. The current model (Mark IV) incorporates all the features of the earlier models, plus electronic proximity sensing transducers and pressure transducers, solid state dwell time control, and accuracy far beyond the ability of an ordinary hydraulic or manual press. The great power of this system is secondary to its precision control. The ability to precisely set stroke length, maximum pressure, the time the pressure will be held, the speed with which the ram will move, and the point of ejection of the bullet (as well as the stopping position for loading in another component), is coupled with programmed stroke cycles that offer manual, one-stroke, or automatic stroke modes. Even the various modes offer programmable methods of determining how the component will be formed. Operations which depend upon precise volume generation use electronic position sensing and stop when a precise volume has been achieved in the die. Operations which depend more on accurate pressure levels use the built-in pressure transducers to apply a pre-set level of pressure and then hold it for a pre- determined length of time before backing off the ram and ejecting the part. The ram can be set to move like the hour-hand of a clock, for set up of a new operation. Then, the throttle control can be adjusted for ram velocity of up to 120 inches per minute -- faster than any conventional electric hydraulic system of 20-ton capacity, capable of operating from ordinary household current. The secret is the multiplex or time-shared technology that makes the system appear to be developing impossible efficiency from the 1.5 HP motor, gaining both speed and pressure out of proportion to the power used. Since swaging only requires maximum power at the end of the stroke, most operations utilize the high speed only to move the ram into position and apply the first 500 psi of drive pressure. If the system calls for more than 500 psi drive, then the second pump takes the load and moves up to 2000 psi more pressure into the lines. Since the movement has already been handled by the high-speed pump, the automatic pressure switching circuits make the press appear to be running at both high speed and high pressure at the same time. Actually, the system switches from one mode to the other instantly, and is only using the exact amount of power required to handle either one or the other. The drive line pressure is multiplied 8.3 times by the system before being applied to the swage punches. A drive line pressure of only 1000 psi produces 8300 pounds of ram force. The ram force is further multiplied by being channeled through the punch face area, which can result in pressures well over 170,000 psi inside of the swage die. A chart of pressures in the dies for a given gauge pressure on the CHP-1 can be found in the book "Power Swaging". EX-10 Lead Wire Extruder This machine is not a swage press, but a special purpose lead wire manufacturing machine for commercial operators. It is one of the most economical and versatile extruders available today, costing a fraction of what most lead plants have had to invest in their machines. For making spools of 1, 5, or 10 pounds of lead wire, hollow core fishing wire, or special extruded shapes for stained glass work, the EX-10 can serve as the basis for a profitable home business. Utilizing a 2-inch diameter billet, the EX-10 operates from 220 volt single phase 60 Hz power (using the same kind of electricity as a standard electric dryer or range in the USA -- special versions can be built for 50 Hz or 3- phase operation). The ram automatically advances into the huge extrusion die, and is controlled by pressure transducers. When the pressure reaches a preset safe level at the end of the stroke, the ram reverses and retracts from the die. If anything should cause the system to meet undue resistance, the ram will reverse and back out of the die. At the full extent of the back-stroke, the ram stops and the system goes into idle state again, waiting for another billet to be inserted. Lead extruded from the EX-10 can be coiled or cut as it comes out, in order to make convenient packages. Extrusion rate is fast enough to be practical, yet slow enough so that it is easy to handle the output without expensive high speed coilers and feeds. Even a simple hand- wound bobbin is adequate. The billet size and machine design are suitable for one-man handling and operation. Unlike larger machines which use billets too large for safe handling by one person, the EX-10 makes a compact package for the garage operation. .he CHAPTER 15 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # ACCESSORIES FOR THE HYDRO-PRESS The Hydro-press comes with a standard floating punch holder, a tank of hydraulic fluid (you may need to add a little), and the USA models comes with a standard 115 volt power cord. Export models come with a power cable but without a plug, or with a plug matching a standard US 3-prong 220 volt outlet (which may have to be replaced with a plug meeting conventional standards for the country to which it is exported). The machine is designed to operate with Corbin swage dies of the Hydro-press type without any optional accessory items. The external punches fit into the punch holder and the dies with their internal punches screw into the press ram. There are a number of items which a commercial operator would be wise to have on hand, either as spare parts or as accessory supplies to increase the versatility of the machine. FPH-1-H Floating Punch Holder, Hydro-press One comes with the press. Having extras with the punch installed and a locking nut secured makes it possible to pre-set commonly used punch depths for quick installation. One can also order this unit with a hole and retainer bushing size for 12 gauge shotgun and other larger calibers (70 caliber and up). Specify the "shotgun" version. The regular punch holder does not work with huge 12 gauge and larger punches. A-220V 220 Volt Power Option, Hydro-press For use on 50-60 Hz single phase 220 volt current, which is standard line voltage in many countries besides the United States, one should order the Hydro-press with this option factory installed. Conversion in the field is NOT recommended, although a qualified electrician can do it with the correct components. The conversion includes an internal transformer so that the standard 115 volt indicator lamps and electronic circuits can still be used (one does not need to purchase special 220 volt bulbs, etc., for the machine after the conversion). RY-1 Logic Relay, Hydro-press There are a number of logic relays in the Hydro-press to control various functions. They are highly reliable and interchangable, so that it is easy to troubleshoot a potential defective relay by changing it with one of the others to see if the problem goes away or shifts to another function. It is a good idea in isolated areas, or for critical schedules, to have at least one spare logic relay on hand "just in case". Logic relays plug into sockets in the Hydro-press. They only go in one way, so it isn't possible to put them in "backward". PUNCH-H Punch, Hydro-press As with the other swaging systems, the Hydro-press system can be expanded to other operations by adding optional external or internal punches to an existing die set. To order any punch, as a replacement or spare, or as a new option, use this catalog number, followed by the caliber, whether INTERNAL or EXTERNAL, the kind of die it works with (such as CS-1, PF-1, etc.), and any special face shape or diameters that are needed to make it work for your application (as, Keith nose, or diameter to fit inside sample jacket provided with order). TDL-1 Timer Module, Hydro-press An electronic timer module, also known as a time delay relay, controls the dwell time at the top of the Hydro-press stroke. You can adjust it for any desired dwell, from milliseconds (0.001 seconds) to several seconds. A top-panel knob gives you immediate control of the dwell time on mid-1986 and later models. The solid-state electronic module is very reliable, but it is easily changed by plugging in a new unit if trouble should ever develop. In critical or isolated situations, a spare module is a good idea. PDX-1 Position Transducer, Hydro-press The electronic position transducers are sophistocated proximity detectors, which sense the position of the ram by the near-field effect of a magnetic detector circuit inside the unit. These small threaded cylinders hold a considerable amount of electronic circuitry, and are highly reliable. A red LED indicator shows you if the unit is working by lighting when steel objects come close to the sensor face. There are THREE of these transducers on the mid-1986 and later model Hydro-presses, replacing the earlier Micro-Switch roller-arm limit switches. They offer remarkable accuracy and ease of adjustment -- simply slide them up or down their steel standard to set the top, bottom, and loading positions for the press stroke. However, if you should happen to physically set the transducers too close to the ram, you can run the ram into one and smash it. Replacement is moderately easy: remove the back cabinet cover, and trace the shielded cable from the broken transducer to the terminal strip on the logic board. Loosen the screws and remove the wires from the unit to this terminal strip, and replace the new transducer with the same connections. If you are careful not to adjust the transducers forward so they obviously are in the path of the moving ram guide plate, this damage will never happen. It is not really necessary to adjust the position horizontally at any time. Vertical adjustment is made by sliding the transducer up and down on the standard, in its slot. Finger pressure is all you need to hold the transducer locked in position with its locking nut. This is a spare part that probably won't need replacement, but in very remote areas and critical applications, where being out of operation for a week or ten days would cost more than the transducer, it is a good idea. SV-1 Solenoid Valve, Hydro-press The main hydraulic control in the press is the 4-way electric valve that switches oil flow direction in and out of the drive cylinder. This valve usually has a very long life, but can be damaged by contamination in the hydraulic fluid, incorrect kind of fluid, chips or dirt in the fluid, or normal wear. Since it takes about 30 minutes to remove the old valve and install a new one, the first time, it isn't a troubleshooting technique to do this routinely and spares are usually a good idea only if the application is very critical. The main symptom of a bad valve is erratic movement or variation in speed from stroke to stroke, loud noises from hydraulic fluid vibrating as it tries to move past a partly stuck valve opening, failure to stop at the top or bottom position of the stroke, and other failures related to ram movement or speed that are erratic in nature or produce accompanying loud noises. A defective solenoid valve does not cause harm to the press, and can be operated if you can put up with the symptoms. But one failure mode (where the valve sticks in position instead of switching every time) can cause the press to continue upward when it should be stopped, and this can cause a problem (such as extruding all the lead out of the core swage die instead of making the right weight of core!). Fortunately, such problems are extremely rare. The solution is to remove the valve and replace it. Solenoid valves do not require removal of any plumbing for replacment. They are mounted on a sub-plate which carries all the steel tubing and ports. The valve control wires (4) unplug from the rest of the system using a very obvious connector that you will see when you open the cabinet and trace the wires out of the solenoid valve. A cover plate on top of the unit removes (with corner screws) to expose the box that holds the wire connections and also gives you vertical access to the corner scews that hold the valve on the sub- plate. Removal of these corner screws allows you to lift the valve straight up, off the sub-plate. A small amount of oil will trickle out, but as long as the pump is turned off there will be no need to worry about a flood of hydraulic fluid. There are four o-rings on four recessed port openings beneath the valve, which you must make sure are not lost. Other than that, replacement is as simple as unplugging and unscrewing the old valve, and putting the new one in its place. Since this component is moderately expensive, and is kept in stock, it is not something that most people need to stock as a spare. The ends of the coil housings contain a movable manual plunger that shifts the valve so you can test the operation. If a symptom appears that you suspect is related to a sticking valve, press on the center of one and then the other end cap (solenoid valve covers) with a small dowel to push the valve spool and help it shift into correct position while the press is trying to run. If this cures the problem then the valve is probably at fault. The right end to push depends on which direction the press is running. One must be careful not to reach into the top panel electric wiring while fooling around inside the cabinet -- we recommend bringing in a qualified electrician for any internal service work. CHF-128 Corbin Hydraulic Fluid, Gallon Can Spare fluid is handy if you should ever need to replace a fitting or if you spill fluid while moving the press. If the press isn't tipped too far, but is kept vertical while moving, it should not spill any fluid. Fluid lasts for years in a typical operation without undue contamination. Condensed moisture, bits of metal powder from natural wear of the pump vanes and valves, heat by-products in the fluid from long, hard use, and dust from outside the system are potential reasons why you might want to change the fluid after a few years of operation. A combination of temperature and oil level gauge is located right on the oil reservoir, inside the cabinet. You can easily see if the fluid is low or the temperature rises above the recommended maximum of 140 degrees F. Extended use at high temperature will cause the oil to break down, and can lower the pressure you are able to generate. Eventual failure of the cylinder and valve seals, as well as those on the pump, result from prolonged high-temperature operation above the recommended levels. Low fluid level leads to high temperature operation since the oil does not have sufficient thermal mass to transfer and adsorb the heat over the back surface of the tank (which is designed to act as a heat exchanger with the air compression of the dual cooling fans and air expansion during exit through the closely- spaced exhaust grill. IL-1 Logic Indicator Bulb, Hydro-press Telephone-quality 115 volt indicator bulbs are used in order to provide bright display of the status of the logic circuits. LED indicators were not chosen here, since a clearly-visible display in bright light was deemed necessary for operator safety. Spare bulbs are a good idea. They are not expensive and last a very long time (typical bulb life is over 10,000 hours). The bulbs are changed by unscrewing the colored caps from the indicators, and pulling straight out on the glass bulb. There are THREE IL-1 bulbs in each Hydro-press. IL-2 Work Lamp Bulb, Hydro-press The inspection lamp has a pre-focused ellipsoid spotlight bulb of the R-14 type, with screw base. This bulb provides excellent inspection lighting with low power and heat. It is a 115 volt bulb with a long life in normal use. A spare is handy. Only one such bulb is used in each Hydro-press. FSO-16 Corbin Gun Oil, Pint Can This instrument grade ISO-15 oil is highly recommended for lubrication of the ground rods and bearings in the Hydro-press head, as well as for preservation of the dies and punches while they are in storage. It is a very economical product that works quite well as both an instrument and lathe oil. Originally marketed as Five Star Gun Oil, the pint can contains as much oil as EIGHT conventional 2-ounce cans for about half the price. .he CHAPTER 16 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # BULLET JACKETS Bullet jackets are available from Corbin in popular calibers and lengths. The current list is always available from Corbin on request. The typical packaging is in boxes of 250 jackets for larger calibers and lengths, and in boxes of 500 units for half-jackets, smaller calibers, and shorter lengths. Gilding metal jackets with very consistent wall thickness and with an expansion controlling taper from edge to base are usually about half the cost of a quality bullet made from the same material. In some cases, you can save considerably more. In a few cases, you can find surplus or low-cost factory bullets that are available for about the same price as a good quality jacket. In the .224 caliber, this is often the case, since many firms contract with the government to manufacture .223 bullets and can use much of this investment in machinery to turn out low cost .224 projectiles for reloaders. However, in the .224 market, you can also make FREE jackets using fired .22 cases, so you have the last laugh anyway! Sizes and lengths that are not popular enough (yet) to be stocked can often be made from existing calibers and lengths. Any larger caliber can be drawn down to a smaller size in a simple draw die, such as the Corbin JRD-1. The reduction usually is practical from .284 to .270, from .270 to .257, and from .243 to anything down to a long heavy .224 jacket. Sub-calibers can be drawn from .224 jackets, and pinch trimmed to length in the same operation. Jackets can be pinched off as they pass through a constriction to the next smaller caliber size, by having the punch that pushes them through the draw die made with a shoulder. The smaller diameter of the punch, from the shoulder to the end of the punch, is made to fit inside the reduced diameter of the jacket. The larger diameter from the shoulder back to the base of the punch just fits through the draw die by itself, leaving no room for any jacket material. A minimum reduction of at least the thickness of the jacket wall is required to do this pinch-trim operation. But it works well and gives you one more tool to control your jacket supply. In many cases there is no need to reduce a jacket length as well as its diameter. A .41 and a .40 caliber jacket can both be drawn from a standard .44 jacket, for instance. Taking the jacket down in two steps is usually better than trying to reduce it all at once. Copper tubing provides for a superior jacket in calibers from 7mm up. Conventional water tubing such as type L hard drawn copper works very well and makes bullets so accurate you would swear they came from a custom bullet works (and, come to think of it, they DID: -- YOURS!). Tubing normally costs more than conventional jackets unless you find a good deal on a large lot, or have an uncle in the plumbing or commercial refrigeration business. Typical prices at this writing are about five cents average price for a good commercial jacket, and about eighteen cents average price for a pre-cut and de-burred piece of tubing. If you cut and de-burr your own lengths of tubing, then of course the cost can be lower. It is still hard to beat the price of commercial jackets. Trouble is, they are not always available in the calibers you want, and they are usually much thinner than you need for big game. Premium quality game bullets selling for as much as $2.50 each can be reproduced for about eighteen to twenty cents, and they can include partitions, bonded cores, selective jacket thickness, brass or steel as well as pure copper jacket material, plus the weight and styles you want instead of those someone else wants to make for you. Those are some of the reasons people often choose to make tubing jackets even when commercial ones are available at lower cost. Price is often a secondary consideration when people get serious about big game, defense, or competition shooting. Performance is the issue. After all, taken to its extremes, a fellow only worried about cost should get a slingshot: it throws a cheap projectile! When you start saying, "...but what about accuracy, expansion, delivered energy, etc., ", then it becomes important to start weighing these factors against the cost of equipment to achieve them. Tubing jackets, made correctly, can be such huge steps above ordinary jackets that cost really is out-distanced by performance. Corbin supplies cut pieces of copper, brass, or steel tubing in the 0.030, 0.049, and 0.065-inch wall sizes. Cut pieces are made to order (so they are non-returnable) for the weight and style of your caliber. A minimum run is 100 pieces of stock material, 200 pounds of custom material. If you do want a custom wall thickness or alloy, we can probably get it made or make it for you, in the 200 pound minimums. Prices typically have been running about $6 per pound with cutting and material included, but write for an accurate quote. .he CHAPTER 17 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # LEAD Corbin supplies lead in several forms, including lead wire and lead billets made to fit our extruder dies and machines. We are not a primary supplier of large quantities of lead, however, and recommend that you locate a lead firm near your bussiness area for large lots of lead. If you wish to enter the extruded lead wire market, we can help you with machinery and billet moulds, but we do not manufacture lead pots and would recommend that you contact the cast bullet suppliers for these. Corbin lead wire comes in sizes that are suitable for all calibers of rifle and handgun bullets. The size of the wire usually is much smaller than the caliber of the bullet, since the wire is made to fit into a jacket. Jackets are usually smaller than the caliber by a few thousands of an inch, themselves. Everything expands upward under swaging pressure to make a uniform, tightly fitted bullet. Custom diameters and alloys are available on special order for a different price than the stock pure lead in standard diameters. When you order lead wire by caliber, we supply the size that fits into the standard jacket for that caliber unless you specify some other size. If you order at the standard price and catalog number, but specify a special size, then we supply the nearest stock size that appears likely to fit into your jacket. Lead wire can be very economical, depending on the caliber. In .224 caliber, for instance, a single 25-lb. spool of lead wire makes well over 4,300 conventional 50 grain bullets (the jacket weighs over 10 grains). Even with coast-to-coast shipping, your lead cost per bullet is about one cent. Who needs to bother with casting cores, when you can snip off lead wire for that low a price? On the other hand, if you already have plenty of lead, you may as well use it with a core mould, which makes around 1000 cores an hour. LW-25 Lead Wire, 25-lb. Spool To order lead wire, specify caliber or diameter you need to fit into your jacket or core swage die. Standard diameters are: .125 (1/8") for .17 caliber, .156 (5/32") for .20 caliber, .185 (3/16") for .224, .243, .25 caliber, and thick-wall .270 caliber, .218 (7/32") for thin-wall .270, .284, and thick-wall .308 caliber, .250 (1/4") for .308, 8mm, and other calibers up to .338 plus some tubing jacket big- bores, .312 (5/16") for .38/9mm, .358, .366, .375 and some big bores with tubing jackets, .340 (11/32") for the .40 and .41 calibers, and .356 (3/8") for most big bores except those with thick jackets. The decimal size is the right one -- the fractional size is the nearest size you will normally find elsewhere. Corbin makes wire to the exact size that fits rather than to match the common fractional diameter. However, you can use the next smaller wire in any jacket so long as there is enough bulk to it that your desired weight doesn't come out too long to fit into the die. Custom sizes and alloys are available but they are not stocked and there is an additional cost involved in making special drawing dies and in getting a special alloy drawn. A minimum of 100 pounds applies on any special diameter or alloy. Stock lead wire is made in 99.95% chemically pure lead with trace silver, packaged on spools of 25 lbs., and is not sold in smaller lots since this would be a costly way to stock and sell wire. Many Corbin clients do manufacture lead wire in smaller lots for other bullet makers. The book "World Directory of Custom Bullet Makers" is full of information by and about other bullet makers who can help you with these purchases. If you wish to make lead wire or bullets for sale, please request a form to allow us to list your business in the next edition of this directory. LB-4 Lead Billets, Pack of Four This is a package of four chemically pure Bh 5 hardness 0.795-inch diameter cylinders, four inches long. The package weighs 5,687.5 grains and the density of the lead is 0.4092 pounds per cubic inch. You can use this as a test standard for other lead, or as raw material to extrude excellent wire in the Hydro-press LED-1 extruder kit. LB-5 Lead Billet, 1.5-inch Diameter These billets are for melting down, primarily, although you can use them to make 5 pound lengths of wire in an extruder. If you need a source for good quality pure lead, and cannot find anyone near to you, we stock a moderate quantity of these billets to help solve the problem. BMT-1 Billet Mould Tube, for LED-1 The LED-1 Lead Extruder Die kit comes with two mould tubes to make your own 0.795-inch billets. If you need more, these tubes are honed, blued, and ready to slip over the steel mould base that you fasten to your workbench. Fill them full, pull them off the base, and give them a shake to slide the billet out! PCS-1 Precision Core Cutter The Corbin precision core cutter uses a pair of hardened steel dies which slide over each other to slice off pieces of lead wire to proper length. You can adjust the length with a threaded stop screw that is supported by a steel bar below the dies. The cutter comes with a complete set of dies in standard wire sizes. The dies are held in the two cutter bars by set screws and are easily changed. Mount one bar of the cutter to your bench. The other has a nice padded handle that you pull to cut the wire. Push the wire down through the stationary top bar and die, with the handle in a straight line so the dies are above each other. Adjust the stop screw so that the lead wire will shear off at the length you wish (weigh a few pieces to adjust the length for the right weight). The stop screw can be set off to just catch the edge of the lead, so it doesn't drag across the top of the screw. This gives you more accurate weights. The Corbin Precision Core Cutter is made for soft lead to .365-inch diameter, and will handle lead of Bhn 10 hardness up to .312-inch diameter. For larger diameters, or for alloys up to Bhn 22 in any size, I recommend the PCS-2 "Magnum" model, instead. PCS-2 Corbin "Magnum" Core Cutter This huge version of the PSC-1 is built with over-sized pivot, extra large frame and handle, and accepts much larger diameter dies than the PCS-1. We make this on special order -- it is not a stock item -- and will make the dies at the same time, to fit any size of wire you wish up to half an inch in diameter! Few people need this tool, but for those who do, it is available from the die-works that makes whatever you need to produce bullets. PCS-D Core Cutter Die, Pair Sometimes people lose a die or need a different size for some reason. If you need a standard size, they are very inexpensive and are in stock for each of the standard wire diameters (we use the .365-inch wire die for the .340, since it works just fine). If you want a special diameter, this can be made at standard shop rate rather than the stock die price. Normally there is no need for any size other than the standards. These dies are for the PCS-1 standard core cutter and are kept in stock in standard sizes. I recommend that you use standard sizes in the PCS-1, and order your custom diameters along with a PCS-2, since the cost will be about the same either way for custom work. CM-4 Corbin Four-Cavity Adjustable Weight Core Mould Turning your own scrap lead into useful lead cores is easier than casting bullets, and much faster. These moulds do not require handles. One arm mounts to the bench. The mould projects from the bench, and hangs over the edge. The other arm is a sprue cutter, but a long one that doesn't need to be beaten to open it. There are four pistons and cylinders in the mould, just like a four-cylinder in-line car engine. The engine head would be like the sprue cutter. Adjustable weights screw up and down on the bottoms of four connecting rods that project from the cylinders. You can set all four cavities to have exactly the same displacement by means of these adjustment weights. The over-all weight range is from zero to some large maximum for each standard caliber. This is achieved by resting the four pistons on a sliding captive bar, which we call a rest plate. The rest plate has two over-sized holes that let it slide easily up and down on a pair of threaded rods. The rods have a locking pairs of nuts on them, under the holes in the rest plate. You adjust the weight by setting the nuts on the rods, thus changing the displacement or volume in all four cylinder at one time. To eject the cores, you open the sprue cutter by pivoting it to one side, and then press up on the rest plate. It easily moves up, pushing all four pistons at once in front of it, and pushing the cores out the top of the die! Core moulds are made in all standard sizes from .224 to .458, in the same step ranges as the lead wire. For sub-calibers, Corbin does not make a core mould. It is not worth the trouble to cast these cores, when you can easily extrude a life-time supply using a LED-2 kit in your Mity Mite press! The LED-2 uses a regular .44/45 caliber (.365") core mould for its billet supply. CM-I Core Mould Insert (Piston & Cylinder Unit) Each Corbin Core Mould has four piston and cylinder units, or inserts, installed in a steel frame with set screws. You can change these if you wish, to use one core mould for several calibers. I would advise a person with a fairly active shooting schedule not to change inserts, but to purchase a mould for each caliber. First, you will find that it is faster and much more convenient to have a complete, ready-to-use mould when you want to make cores. Time is short enough for enjoying the shooting part and most of us don't need to waste any of it if there is a faster way to get the bullets made. Second, you will find that after changing the mould inserts a few dozen times, they are hard to get in and out. This is because every time you tighten the set screws, you raise a little burr which eventually builds up the diameter of the insert so it won't fit the frame. The interchangability is fine for someone who only changes mould inserts a few times a year. You can easily stone off the burrs that result on the mould inserts. Eventually, if you change them often enough, they get sloppy in the mould frame and have to be replaced. The best plan is to use a separate mould for each caliber as originally intended for this design, and to use replacement inserts only when damage or dirty, gritty lead spoils the honed inside of the die insert and makes the lead stick. CM-2 Corbin "Magnum" Core Mould, Two-cavity Adjustable Weight This adjustable weight two cavity mould is a huge version of the CM-4, which has more cavities but is limited to diameters of .365-inch and less. When you want a special, larger diameter, order one of these moulds custom made to your requirements. Custom inserts are no less costly for the CM-4, and you may as well have the larger equipment since it will stand up longer when used with large diameters. For diameters of half-inch and less, the CM-2 offers a rugged steel frame with interchangable mould cylinders and pistons, made to your order. These are not stocked, and there will probably be a waiting list. Examples of possible need for this mould would be the case of a person who wants to manufacture a lead .50 caliber Sharps bullet and wants a mould to turn out .490-.495 inch cores. .he CHAPTER 18 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # TOOLS FOR BULLET MAKERS The basic tools of swaging are the press and dies. We have already discussed the core mould, core cutter, and the supplies of jackets and lead. Beyond this, most tools are to help you prepare commercially-acceptable bullets for sale or to help you make bullets more quickly, easily, or with a wider range of performance. Some of these special tools involve controlled heating of the components. For instance, you can make bonded core bullets using Corbin Core Bond and either a Flameless Heat Gun (FHG-1) or one of the electronic Heat Treatment Ovens (HT0-1 or HTO-2). Heating the jacket materials to precisely controlled temperatures gives you the ability to control the ductility and expansion in a way that most people, including many otherwise experienced shooters (and writers) never dream is possible. A cannelure is not something that your bullets must have in order to function properly, but it can add value to your commercial offerings and perform useful functions in your own handloads. The cannelure tends to stop expansion of the jacket within a limited range of deceleration rates, and helps hold the core within the jacket on impact. It gives you an area into which the case mouth can be crimped if you wish to do this. And it identifies the bullet and points out the correct seating depth if you wish to make it do so. Bullets that have been polished to a high gloss have greater sales appeal than mottled, dull bullets, even if there is no difference in their actual performance. The BPK-1 Bullet Polisher Kit is a safe and easy way to polish bullets, since it operates on the opposite principle of a case tumbler. Case tumblers roll the components around against the media and each other. They work fairly quickly, but they are also rough on the exposed lead tips of your bullets. Vibratory polishers work by rapidly shaking the polishing medium against the slowly moving component. In other words, the medium does the moving instead of the component (although the bullets do slowly move round in the boiling mass of polishing material). This keeps the bullets themselves from striking each other with such force that the tips are damaged. HCT-1 Corbin Hand Cannelure Tool No, it isn't for canneluring your hand: the HCT-1 uses a hand- turned crankshaft to put professional cannelure grooves on your bullets. A cannelure (that's CAN-A-LOOR) is a ring or groove around the circumference of the bullet. Little serrations on the groove help the cannelure wheel get a grip on the shiny bullet surface, and let you put as deep a groove as you wish into it. The HCT-1 tool received high marks from the American Rifleman staff in a report in the "Dope Bag" of December, 1985. Since then, we have found ways to make it even better, with knurled adjustment knobs to set the bullet position and cannelure depth on any caliber from .224 to .50 MG. The comfortable padded handle is wide enough for your entire hand to press down, while powerful leverage puts tons of force on the contact point of the bullet and roller. A roller V-block supports the bullet as it turns. Unlike vertical designs, the Corbin tool doesn't have to fight gravity to hold the bullet in position. Also, it's a lot easier and more comfortable to apply pressure by leaning slightly down on the handle than it would be to try and press sideways. The leverage of the Corbin tool is roughly three times more than the nearest competitive model available today. But best of all, the HCT-1 works as it is supposed to do, and then some. You'll find it handy for hard lead and jacketed bullets, as well as straight pistol cases like the .45 ACP. PCM-1 Corbin Power Cannelure Machine This machine is a model of rugged simplicity. Housed in its own steel case, with a powerful 115 volt drive motor and torque-multiplying gear train, the PCM-1 takes bullets as fast as you can feed them to it, and applies precisely located cannelures automatically. The bullets ride on a rotating disk, through a machined steel guide plate, and out the other side. The cannelure wheel itself is unique to each caliber: you order the tool complete with one wheel, and order additional wheels for each caliber of bullet. This arrangement assures precise alignment and exact control that cannot get out of adjustment during production runs of millions of bullets. The position of the cannelure is set by steel spacer disks that locate the wheel on a keyed shaft. Again, nothing can get out of adjustment because the adjustment is a solid steel disk. The machines are individualized for your order: they are standard products, but the cannelure wheel is set for the caliber, and the spacer disk is made for the proper cannelure height. Extra spacers are provided so you can set make minor adjustments in position. While the PCM-1 is obviously slower to set up for a job than the HCT-1, and requires different cannelure wheels for various calibers, it does take all the work out of big runs of cannelured bullets, and is very fast. Order this tool by caliber and by the location, from the base, of the bottom edge of the cannelure groove. Specify also the width of the groove if you do not want the stock width (.050-inches wide, serrated, very much like the conventional factory standard -- which it should be, since many factory bullets are cannelured on a Corbin machine!). If you want multiple grooves, be sure and send a drawing and sample bullets if you have them already. Cannelure wheels are non-returnable since they are made to your order -- a drawing will assure that you get what you thought you ordered! BPK-1 Bullet Polisher Kit The Corbin Bullet Polisher Kit has been popular with handloaders for well over a decade: long before any of the commercial vibratory polishers were dreamed of, Corbin customers were happily making their own for a fraction of the price! This kit contains a thermally-protected vibrator motor, a steel mounting bracket to hold it onto the bottom of any convenient container (a 3-pound coffee can is most often used), a 1-pound bag of walnut shell polishing medium, the self-locking nuts and bolts to assemble the polisher, and instructions. The motor comes wired with its own power cord and in-line switch, and runs on 115 volts AC. (Sorry, no 220 volt models for export -- but Corbin DOES have a 220 to 115 volt converter unit available). Simply punch four holes in the bottom of your container to accept the four 1/4-inch mounting bolts, fasten the steel mounting bracket to the container bottom (on the outside), slip the motor into the bracket, and secure the clamping bolt that pulls the bracket tight around the motor housing. Suspend the container by means of a coat hanger made into a bail (punch two holes near the top, on opposite sides, and bend the ends of the coat hanger wire through them). A door spring helps to make the unit vibrate more efficiently and more quietly. The other end of the door spring should be hooked over a shelf bracket or suspended from a rafter by a cord. This is the simple and quick way to do it. Many people have sent us pictures of attractive stands with walnut bases and a single curved steel rod made into the shape of a question mark, with the container suspended under it. We don't make a base unit, since most handloaders seem quite willing and able to make their own, and I'm not sure we'd do as well as some of you have! If you have a tumbler now, you may still want a vibratory polisher for your finished bullets. The large tumblers are hard on bullets -- they bang the tips and scratch up the ogives. The vibratory action of the BPK-1 is much more gentle. The particles of polishing medium are set into rapid motion, instead of rolling the whole contents of the container to get relative movement. The more massive bullets are not banged into each other as they are with a tumbler. WS-1 Walnut Shell Polishing Medium Corbin packages walnut shells in the correct granulation for bullet polishing, in one pound bags. Two of these bags is just about all you want to put into a 3-pound coffee can. One is adequate. Extra bags are economical and will work in your tumbler as well as the BPK-1 bullet polisher kit. FHG-1 Flameless Heat Gun A propane torch can be used to melt lead in a bullet jacket for bonding the core (with Corbin Core Bond), or to anneal tubing or a bullet jacket for improved performance or for reforming to different calibers. But propane torches apply a very high temperature if you are not careful. The flameless heat gun applies a lower, very even temperature. It takes longer to do the job with the heat gun, but you can do many at one time by making a small enclosure out of boiler bricks and aiming the heat gun air stream into the opening. A metal shelf made from a cookie tray will hold the bullets. General purpose heating jobs such as drying washed jackets and cores, applying a stress-relief heat to gun springs and parts that you have made, and simlar 600-750 degree F. jobs can be done without open flame, using the super-heated air from the 115 volt FHG-1. The control switch has three positions: heat, cool, and off. Operate the gun in the cool mode for a few minutes before turning it off. PE-1 Power Ejector Unit We met this tool in the section on reloading press dies. It fits over the top of any Corbin reloading press swage die, and most of the jacket-drawing dies. Three set-screws fit into a groove machined around the circumference of the die, just below the knurled top. The PE-1 applies the multiple leverage of a minature compound lever press to the top of your reloading press die, to eject the bullet with a quick pull of a handle. This operation replaces the mallet and ejector rod normally used. A short piece of 1/4-inch diameter steel rod fits into the top of the die instead of the normal knurled-head ejector rod. An adjustable position ram with fine screw thread can be set to take up all the slack in the system, so that you get full benefit of the compound leverage (no wasted motion). The PE-1 uses a forked handle made with a remarkable alloy, by the way: it is a high-tech version of the aluminum-iron bronze which was once tried in the Winchester Model 1886 firing pin! The paramagnetic alloy took nearly 100 years of development to reach a point where you could have a machined handle on a modestly priced hand tool formed from it, but there it is: stronger than iron, corrosion and rust proof, with over 110,000 psi tensile strength and the combined characteristics of stainless steel and bronze bearing material. I mention this because if you have a reloading press and purchase the PE-1, you might want to take a good look at the handle of the tool. The entire frame and handle of the Mity Mite presses made in 1985-6 were machined from castings of this alloy, making the Mity Mite the only swaging press in the world to have ever been constructed of bronze, and also making it the most indestructable hand swaging press ever made (until the advent of the Mega Mite). HTO-1 Corbin Heat Treatment Oven, Model 1 Experimental labs and prototype shops all over the world use the Corbin HTO-1 for precision heating of alloy steels, manufacturing springs and gun parts, and of course for routine core bonding, jacket annealing, and heat treatment of copper or brass tubing prior to forming into jackets. The HTO-1 is one of the most economical ovens in its size range. Nearly any other furnace you will see advertised with the features, or somewhat fewer, will be priced at two to three times as much! Corbin purchases lab grade Thermolyne furnaces, strips out the cook-stove type thermo-mechanical heat control, and completely rebuilds the furnace with an electronic "brain" that applies a precise heating pulse, senses heat rise, turns off the power, and senses heat loss. Then, it compensates for the amount of heat loss by adjusting the next power pulse width. In this manner the HTO-1 is able to maintain heat control much more precisely than any standard furnace. It is so accurate that you can set it and forget it -- the temperature will go to the level you set regardless of the oven load, and it will not go over it no matter how long you leave the furnace on. A stainless steel 2000-degree sensor probe replaces the original open junction thermocouple, and RF- shielded input cable keeps the electronics from picking up motor noises and other extraneous data. The HTO-1 has a direct-reading knob setting. It is not calibrated in relative units which have no relation to the actual temperature, like the furnaces sold by others which look like the Corbin unit. The furnace you would normally be able to purchase for about half the price of the Corbin furnace has the original cook-stove type control. With this very simple thermostat, there is no feedback from the furnace. The control does not know what the temperature is in the furnace: it only knows how long it has been feeding power to the furnace in relation to how hot an internal bi-metal strip is getting, heated by its own internal heating wire. You could mount the thermostat in another room, and it would operate just the same way. If you connected a lamp to the control, and didn't even have a furnace wired to it, it would perform exactly the same service of turning the lamp on and off at regular intervals. The reading on the dial has no relationship to actual oven temperature. It is merely the relative amount of time that power is applied to whatever is connected to the control. This means that you have to be right there, watching the pyrometer reading, to know what is going to happen to the temperature. You twiddle with the knob, setting it higher to try and get the temperature to rise, and then watching to make sure it doesn't rise too high. If you change the mass of material you put into the furnace, it will come to a different temperature. As the oven is used and the radiation of heat from it changes with time, the settings will mean different temperatures even with the same load. In other words, it is a type of control that gets you by, but only if you have plenty of time to watch the meter and play with the knob. The Corbin system is absolute. You set the temperature. The electronics takes over and brings the oven to that temperature. The pyrometer is still there, so you can read the temperature if you like. But you don't need to be there if you have something better to do. The cavity size of the HTO-1 is approximately 4 inches by 4 inches square, with a five inch depth. The furnace runs on standard household 115 volt current, no special wiring required. (Export versions are available at no extra cost, using 220 volts). HTO-2 Corbin Heat Treatment Oven, Model 2 This is the commercial, heavy duty version designed for more accurate setting and control, longer life, and slightly larger cavity size. It has a built-in forced-air cooling system for the electronics, a standard 1/4-DIN slip-out, interchangable controller box (and we stock spares so if you should ever need a new controller, it is a fast and easy job to slip in a new unit). The HTO-2 also comes with a 50-degree plus or minus deviation meter readout, in addition to the full scale 2000-degree F. pyrometer, and an LED indicator tells when the controller is applying a heating pulse to the furnace coils. The main power switch is also a 5-amp circuit breaker, controlling power to the electronics and power switching relay. The furnace can be ordered with Nitrogen atmosphere, so that you can apply a small charge of inert Nitrogen gas to the cavity and keep scale and oxidation at a minimum. The cavity size is approximately 4.5 inches by 4.5 inches square with a 6 inch depth. The larger oven cabinet allows for additional ceramic fiber insulation (a space age material similar to the that used on the Space Shuttle), and for generally heavier construction desirable in a production unit. If you plan to manufacture bonded core bullets in batches, this is the correct choice in a heat treatment furnace you can depend on. (We use this same model every day, and have for a decade, to make your dies!) HTC-1 Heat Treatment Compound, 1-lb. If you heat treat steel, this compound is going to make life a lot easier for you! As you know, iron and steel parts oxidize and the carbon "burns out" of the surface, leaving a softer alloy at the surface, and often leaving pits or scale that destroys a finely finished part. A nitrogen atmosphere furnace is useful in reducing this oxidation or decarburization, but at higher temperatures and with more sensitive alloy steels, If you heat treat steel, this compound is going to make life a lot easier for you! As you know, iron and steel parts oxidize and the carbon "burns out" of the surface, leaving a softer alloy at the surface, and often leaving pits or scale that destroys a finely finished part. A nitrogen atmosphere furnace is useful in reducing this oxidation or decarburization, but at higher temperatures and with more sensitive alloy steels, temperatures, for as long as you could reasonable want to heat the part. Then, when you quench the part or air-cool it, the compound protects the surface from pitting and checking. The glass is almost impossible to remove by grinding, wire brushing, or handling. Only one thing works quickly, easily: boil the part in hot water! The black protective coating dissolves, leaving your part clean and heat-treated without any damage to the highly- finished surface. This remarkable compound has been used to protect Corbin swage dies, finished to 50 millionths of an inch with diamond lapped interiors, for the past 15 years. We're willing to share this important discovery with our friends in the gunsmith trade. .he CHAPTER 19 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # CHEMICALS AND SUPPLIES BOX-25 Bullet Packaging, 25 Boxes Available in packages of 25, the Corbin commercial bullet packaging system is one of the most cost-effective ways to sell and ship your custom-made bullets. Each bullet is individually nested in its own "chamber" surrounded by charcoal-color soft foam. There is a 5 by 5 matrix of chambers or cells in the 2-inch-thick foam block, which results in either 25 large bullets or 50 small ones being safely held in the foam. There are years of research behind the packaging. Let me share with you some of the reasons for this particular arrangement before going into the other details of the box itself. First, why 25 instead of 100 or 50 holes, or some other number? Experience shows that handloaders will pay more per bullet without complaint when the quantity purchased and priced is smaller than the standard factory package of 50 or 100 bullets. Since there are half as many or less in the package, your price for the package will seem lower than it really is to the buyer who is comparing numbers in his head. Second, good marketing practice in this field does not match the number of bullets with the typical number of empty cases to be reloaded at one sitting. Most rifle cartridges are packaged in lots of 20. When a handloader reloads, he usually will reload all twenty cases. With your custom bullets packaged in lots of 25, this gives him five extra bullets. The reason for the five is so that he will be more likely to take one of them along with him to the range, to show his friends the bullet he is test-firing. Also, he will have five bullets left over, and few people want to throw away five bullets. They will probably wind up on display somewhere, or be given to a friend, or, even more likely, will remind him to purchase another package from you! If you feel that there is space going to waste in the box with smaller bullets, you can put two bullets in each chamber. There is a foam cylinder in each hole, which will compress as much as needed in order to hold any reasonable length of bullet on either side. Load one side first, pressing the foam down with the bullet, then slip the box over the foam block. Turn the box over, so the other side of the block shows, and press 25 more bullets down against the foam cylinder (now a disk compressed between the two bullets). The package itself is square, and has triple fold end walls, to make it highly crush-resistant. While plastic boxes look good on the dealer shelves and on your reloading bench, they often are damaged in handling and shipping when you try to send them without another package around them for protection. And if you do that, your cost is more than double what it would be with the single Corbin box. The Corbin box is made for direct mail or UPS shipment without any other protection. It is finished with eggshell white, and stores flat until you need it. The interior dimensions are just right for the foam block and foam pad which accompanies it (for tip protection). One of the best features is that the box takes any size of bullets from .14 to .600 Nitro! The special plastic foam material stretches without tearing to hold the larger calibers snugly, and is soft enough so that your small calibers will not be scratched up. Styrofoam (white semi- rigid foam such as most ammo-makers use in the cartridge boxes) quickly crumbles and becomes dirty from handling. The charcoal color sponge foam looks good and stands up for your customer to use. The double- wall corrugated box is actually tougher than either pasteboard or plastic when it comes to handling. If you wish to have a custom label made, your local printing firm can make a self-adhesive label that is perfect for both shipping label, box sealer, and advertising. Write for a free pattern and suggested designs to assist your printer. Remember, when you begin selling your product, the package is extremely important. It can make or break your sales until your reputation for a quality product is secure. If your package arrives in good condition, has good eye appeal, and obvious thought has gone into the way it is assembled and holds the bullets, then your customer will be impressed with your concern for the product. You can spend a lot more for plastic or reinforced pastboard without getting as much benefit for the dollar, and wind up having to repackage all your boxes in another shipping carton, adding to your expenses. The Corbin packaging system does it all, and gets it there, at miminum cost and with maximum protection. CSL-2 Corbin Swage Lube, 2-0unce Bottle CSL-16 Corbin Swage Lube, 16-Ounce (Pint) Bottle All steps of swaging a bullet require a thin film of high-pressure lubricant on the surface of the lead or jacket. Even if the instructions don't mention it, proper lubrication is assumed any time you put a piece of metal into a die. Core swaging, jacket drawing, bullet reducing, and swaging all require Corbin Swage Lube for long die life and proper operation. The natural components of Corbin Swage Lube are clean, acid-free, and good for the skin. Lanolin-based, but not lanolin alone, Corbin Swage Lube has been used for over 20 years by the masters in the swaging field. Synthetic lubes have come and gone, but this proven formula remains the best choice. Corbin Swage Lube is normally applied by putting a drop on your fingertip and giving the component a twist between your finger and thumb as you raise it to the die. This quick, natural movement saves you time and does a good job. A thin film on the surface is all that you need. A two-ounce bottle will normally service about 2,500 bullets. The pint size is a lifetime supply for most shooters. Many handloaders have found that Corbin Swage Lube is far superior to most of the case-sizing lubes on the market, and they use it exclusively for resizing cases. The converse it not true: do not try to use a standard case lube for swaging, as you will have stuck bullets or worse. Case lubes simply are not designed to stand up to the high pressures involved in swaging. They either break down or diesel (ignite from high pressure within the die), neither of which does much good and can result in a badly stuck bullet. CDL-2 Corbin Dip Lube, 2-ounce Sampler CDL-16 Corbin Dip Lube, 16-ounce (pint) Can CDL-128 Corbin Dip Lube, 128-ounce (gallon) Can Dip Lube, also called "Liquid Jacket", is a special wax lubricant in a solvent carrier. If you manufacture lead bullets, you can dip the lead cores into Dip Lube prior to swaging, then swage them while damp. The lube works well enough for lead in the swage die, and then drys quickly to form a tight skin or jacket of wax on the bullet surface. No grooves or cannelures are needed to hold this film, which is hard and non-sticky, yet flexible enough for rough handling. The lube works by the process of molecular attraction, using polarized wax molecules to attract to the metallic surface of the lead bullet. The special wax is designed both for this feature and for resistance to high temperatures. You can also use it for cast bullets, if (heaven forbid!) you should still want to cast bullets once you have read this manual! It takes the work out of the process. Instead of having to size and lubricate each bullet, you can put them in a strainer or wire basket and dip them all at once in a can of Dip Lube. No particular time is required for the wax to attract to the bullet. Once it touches the lead, a film of wax molecules has already bonded to the surface. If you want to let the wax cure and then dip again, you can repeat the process. But successive layers are held by a different mechanism than the first one. Repeated dipping may help with guns and loads that tend to foul the bore with lead bullets, as will rolling the damp, freshly dipped bullets in graphite or a product called "Motor Mica". Most users, including some large commercial bullet makers who buy it by the gallon, find that Dip Lube works quite well just as it comes. Other uses for this quality wax compound include a stock wax that is tougher than most, a boot water-proofing that gets in all the seams, a protective film for gun metal exposed to the rain, and a great way to keep screws and nuts from rusting when used outdoors. Wood screws dipped in Dip Lube go in easier and are not attacked by the acids and moisture in the wood. I have even soaked cardboard rolls in Dip Lube and used it as a very safe-to-carry fire starter for my campfire (the supposedly dry undersides of standing deadwood even get soaked in our Oregon rains!). CCB-2 Corbin Core Bond, 2-ounce Sampler CCB-16 Corbin Core Bond, 16-ounce (Pint) Bottle CCB-128 Corbin Core Bond, 128-ounce (Gallon) Bottle Most people only need this product to make good hunting bullets. If your interest is target shooting, there isn't much point in using it. Core Bond makes it possible to form an alloy junction by diffusion of metal, between the lead core and the jacket. Core Bond forms a junction stronger than solder, and more easily. The reason you might want to try it is that bullets made this way will outperform the same bullet made with a partition by 50% or more, judging by retained weight and expansion. Partition designs typically lose most of the front core when they expand. We like them because they manage to protect the rear half of the core. But a bonded core bullet typically holds 90 to 100 percent of the original weight with just as great, or greater, expansion! In test after test, including more than 150 Cape Buffalo to date, and both domestic cattle and a wide variety of game, the bonded core bullet will outperform nearly any other kind of construction. And best of all, you can use the bonded core IN ADDITION to other designs. Several Corbin clients have established high quality businesses making partitioned, bonded-core bullets for people who feel they want both features, or for people who want the partition and think it does the job while actually the bonded core is what is making these bullets so good. To use Core Bond, swage your cores as usual. Then, swab the inside of a group of jackets with Core Bond. Use a liberal amount. Some people use a cotton swab large enough to squeeze into the jacket and thus wipe the entire inside in one pass. Put the cores into the jackets. They should fit closely but not so tightly that they have to be pressed in. Use an eyedropper to put one more drop of Core Bond down the gap between the core and jacket wall. If you have a small quantity to make, you can use a propane torch to heat the jackets, thus melting the lead inside and letting it form an alloy with the jacket wall. If you have many to make, the Corbin HTO-2 furnace (or the smaller HTO-1 for less frequent production) is the best way to apply controlled heat. Raise the temperature enough to melt the lead. Then let the jacket cool. Do NOT quench in water! Cautions: First, do NOT lean over or look into the jackets while you heat them. If the core fits too tightly, the gas pressure in the base will pop the core out of the jacket and splatter you with molten lead! If your core does fit somewhat snugly in the jacket bottom, and you experience a problem with the cores popping out, then you may need to get a smaller core swage, or at least rig up a screen to put over the top of your jackets to keep the core inside during heating. Second, be careful with Core Bond. It contains a strong acid, among other things, which can cause blindness or painful burns to the skin. Wash up spills immediately, and neutralize with baking soda. Do not use Core Bond in aluminum or steel containers, as it attacks them quickly. Batch processing of bonded cores usually involves making a rack out of stainless steel mesh. Water systems often use a wide- spaced woven stainless wire grid to keep foreign matter out of the intake. If you can find some of this material, it is ideal for folding into a rack to hold jackets upright, simply by placing them in the grid holes. Other methods involve making a rack (like a test tube rack) with aluminum blocks drilled with holes to support the jackets. Make the rack so it fits into the cavity of the HT0-2 oven without touching the sides. About half an inch of space should be left between oven walls and the first jacket. You can stack two such racks in the oven at one time, with most jackets. About 100 jackets can be bonded at one time this way. But even if you do them one at a time, using a propane torch, the bonding process is fairly quick and well worth the effort. When you have finished and the jackets are cool, lubricate them well and seat the core in the normal manner. If there is a surplus of black oxide at the top of the core, you may wish to tumble the bonded cores and jackets or vibrator polish them before going on. Make certain that you do NOT use any abrasive in your walnut shells, if you plan to seat the cores after polishing. Abrasive particles will embed in the jackets, and will quickly lap the dies at random, just as they are lapped on purpose with brass and diamond. CCB-2 Corbin Bore Cleaner, 2-ounce Sampler CCB-16 Corbin Bore Cleaner, 16-ounce (Pint) Can CCB-128 Corbin Bore Cleaner, 128-ounce (Gallon) Can Some of the top shooters in the world have stated that they "couldn't have won without it". That's very kind of them, but I think they'd win no matter what they used. Still, this cleaner is very effective and much different from the others that have so loudly appeared and enjoyed a brief spotlight of publicity, then vanished. For the past twenty years, Corbin Bore Cleaner has been quietly at work in the commercial gunshops, in the gun rooms of top competitors, and in military and law enforcement armories, removing rust, leading, powder fouling, plastic from shotgun bores, and copper traces from jacket fouling. We haven't raised a big fuss about it: it is just one more of those products waiting for the curious handloader to discover on his own. When you do, you'll wonder why anyone is impressed by all the advertising that floods the magazines and impresses the writers concerning cleaners that promise to get "all the fouling out". Just try this some day: clean your gun with anything else. When you think it is clean, dip a cloth patch in Corbin Bore Cleaner and run it down the bore. Look at the patch. You'll see why Corbin Bore Cleaner is one of the quiet secrets of many master shooters around the world. Now, if you like, you can really clean your barrel with a couple more patches. And then follow it up with one of the other fine products that doesn't shout at you from every magazine article and page, then fade into the night: Hoppe's Number Nine! No, I had nothing to do with developing this and I don't sell it. But it works very well as a follow-up to protect your bore and to remove the last traces of Corbin Bore Cleaner, which holds the last traces of fouling in its grip. Between Corbin Bore Cleaner, Hoppe's Number Nine, Corbin Cleaning Solvent, and Corbin Gun Oil, you need nothing else to take expert care of your firearms. These four products will remove gunk and accumulated grease, clean out the bores and protect them, and apply a thin film of protective oil to lubricate and preserve the metal. CBL-2 Corbin Bore Lap, 2-ounce Bottle If you have a badly rusted or pitted bore, severe fouling, or a newly-cut barrel to be lapped, this abrasive compound is formulated to remove as little steel as possible while taking off burrs and high points, and anything that projects above the steel surface, such as fouling. The 40-micron particle size is fine enough not to scratch or damage your bore, yet the disc-shaped particles align under pressure so that they tend to act in one direction, along the axis of the bore, rather than cutting in all directions like conventional grinding compounds. This is a product for people who know how to lap bores, not for casual use on a new barrel. But if you have an old barrel and want to try to save it, clean it up, and get it shooting reasonably well again, a good polishing with Corbin Bore Lap is worth a try. (Try to remove fouling with Corbin Bore Cleaner first. If that doesn't do it, try anything else you care to spend money on to assure yourself that Corbin Bore Cleaner really is the most powerful safe cleaner available. Then, when you are convinced that only lapping the bore can save it, use CBL- 2. If that doesn't do it, have it rebored!) FSO-16 Corbin Gun Oil, 16-ounce (Pint) Can There must be a good dozen gun oils on the market. The reason we offer another one is because it is probably the same thing you are already purchasing in small lore to spend money on to assure yourself that Corbin Bore Cleaner really is the most powerful safe cleaner available. Then, when you are convinced that only lapping the bore can save it, use CBL- 2. If that doesn't do it, have it rebored!) FSO-16 Corbin Gun Oil, 16-ounce (Pint) Can There must be a good dozen gun oils on the market. The reason we offer another one is because it is probably the same thing you are already purchasing in small lo from Corbin, in pint cans that give you more gun oil (which is really high grade ISO-15 instrument and lathe spindle oil) for the money. You can wind up paying three times as much per ounce in the little cans. So, save your last little can and refill it yourself with Corbin Gun Oil in the bulk (pint) container! We recommend using this oil on moving parts of Corbin presses, to protect Corbin dies that are not going to be used for a while, and for your fine firearms. We use it for our lathes and mills, and general purpose lubrication, as well as packaging the dies with a few drops of the preservative oil inserted into the poly packs. CCS-16 Corbin Cleaning Solvent, 16-ounce (Pint) Can This is a good general purpose clean-up solvent for removing fingerprints, grease, and oils from metal. It is flammable, but not as volatile as gasoline or alcohol. It can be used to remove Corbin Bore Cleaner from the bore after it has done its job of removing the fouling, if you would rather use it than Hoppe's. This solvent actually pulls oils from the surface of whatever it contacts, so it will draw the natural oils from your skin as quickly as it removes oil from metal. I recommend using dishwasher gloves when degreasing any significant number of gun parts, and avoiding any unnecessary contact with the skin. CCS-16 is also good for cleaning jackets and cores prior to swaging, to remove any traces of lubrication inside the jacket or on the core. (First you lubricate the core, then swage it, then remove the lube completely so there will be nothing between the core and jacket to prevent a close, non-slipping bond.) CHF-128 Corbin Hydraulic Fluid, 128-ounce (Gallon) Can Specially formulated for the Corbin Hydro-press, this hydraulic fluid stands up to hard use and is safe with the seal materials used in the valves and cylinder of the CHP-1 series presses. If you should lose oil from moving the press or doing any work on its hydraulic circuits, a gallon of CHF-128 is the right quantity for most minor service replacements. The red gallon container makes a nice spare gasoline can, too! SL-4 Silver Lube, 4-ounce Can Silver Lube is a high temperature, high pressure lubricant that can stand up to 2000 degrees F. It is used for extreme drawing jobs such as heavy copper, brass, or steel tubing jacket manufacture, for certain kinds of swaging where regular swage lube is not suitable, and has applications where heat and pressure are extreme. It prevents rusting and corrosion when used on lead moulds, such as on the pivot points and sprue plates, adjustments and mounting screws. It is also rather messy and turns everything silver, including your hands! When you need it, nothing else does the job. Most of the time, if you can use CSL-2 Corbin Swage Lube, it's a lot neater and easier to clean up. Special note for makers of bonded core bullets: If you form a bullet jacket using Silver Lube, as recommended with most of the heavy copper tubing jacket-makers, you must clean off every trace of the lube before trying to bond the core. Silver Lube protects the surface against the action of Core Bond and prevents alloy formation with the lead core. Strong solvents such as MEK or Tri-Chlor are needed to remove the lube film. Remember, it takes heat to 2000 degrees F., so there is no way to melt it off. WS-1 Walnut Shell Polishing Medium Corbin packages walnut shells in the correct granulation for bullet polishing, in one pound bags. Two of these bags is just about all you want to put into a 3-pound coffee can. One is adequate. Extra bags are economical and will work in your tumbler as well as the BPK-1 bullet polisher kit. .he CHAPTER 20 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # TAKING CARE OF YOUR DIES A good quality bullet swage die should last a lifetime in normal operation. With the right lubricant and normal pressures, wear is virtually non-existent. Here are some tips for avoiding damage: (1) Use only CLEAN components. Never use dusty, corroded, or dirty lead or jackets in the dies. Keep a clean work area. Wipe the inside of the dies with a clean cotton swab prior to use. Never put a die away with a component inside it, especially one that has been used with Core Bond. If you tumble or vibrator polish your components prior to swaging, make absolutely sure that no abrasive compounds have been added to the polishing medium. Abrasive additives will embed in the jacket and core material, and will act just like laps to wear the surface of the die when you swage the bullet. (2) If you should stick a bullet in a die, never try to drill, dig, scrape, or pry out the bullet. Certainly never heat the die to melt out the stuck bullet, as this will ruin the precise temper of the metal. Instead, use the methods outlined in the book, "Rediscover Swaging". No tools are required, and the methods work 100% of the time. A detailed description is also given in the "World Directory of Custom Bullet Makers", on removal of stubborn stuck bullets. (3) Do not attempt to "improve" the dies or punches unless you are willing to accept responsibility for the warranty yourself. If a punch or die does not seem to be the right size, send it back with a note and samples of your components. If you decide to go after it with a file, you've probably spoiled it for anyone else to use, so sending it back then doesn't help anyone. By now, any basic design problems have been solved a thousand times over, and any problems would either be misuse, a defective part or the wrong part sent by error, or mismatch of components to the dies. These can all be solved by a phone call or, at most, an exchange or replacement. (4) Use the right lubricant. Most problems with stuck bullets or hard operation can be traced to lubricant (or lack of it). (5) Never force any component into a swage die, if the component is larger than the bore of the die. This is a major bad thing to do. You can destroy the die, the punches, or both. If a part won't go into a swage die by hand, then do not force it under pressure. Swaging always increases the diameter, never reduces it. To "swage down" is a contradiction. You can "draw down" with an open-end ring die. (6) Use jackets and core lengths recommended for a given set of dies. If you want to experiment, bear in mind that you will quite likely reach some limits for any given shape and size of die. Each set has a wide range of latitude in bullet weight, but you cannot always make both the weight and the style you want in the jacket you select. Sometimes, you have to trade off one parameter against another to make the system work with the available supplies. Part of the practical side of bullet making is recognizing that some of the arbitrary specifictions can be moved one way or the other without really affecting the bullet performance. If you are practical about your bullet design, you will have no trouble coming up with designs that are easy to make in existing equipment. (7) Swaging pressures are high because of the small area of the typical punch, through which all the force of the ram is channelled. It is NOT necessary to use all your might to operate the press. If any operation seems to be taking more than a comfortable, one-hand pressure, then it is likely something is wrong and you should find out what it is. I have seen .243 caliber punches shoved into a .224 die, drawing down the solid tool steel of the punch and wrecking it. But the operator kept on making bullets with his newly-formed .224 punch, only returning it when he finally realized that the operation took more force than it should. I have gotten back point forming dies with a piece of solid brass or copper pushed into them, which started out being 7/16-inch diameter (.4375"). The die bore was .429-inch diameter. You can't do that. Use a draw die first, to bring the material down to less the bore size. (8) There may be some initial confusion over the punches and dies. It looks like confusion could reign supreme whenever you accidently mix up a set of dies with another one. But actually, the components will serve as quick gauges to sort everything fast. All you have to do is slip a punch into the die to see if it fits. To discover which caliber of die you have, just slip a jacket into it. If it fits easily but closely into the core seater, then you have the right die. Core swages have punches that fit closely into the die on both ends. Core seaters have an internal punch that fits the die bore and an external punch that fits either the die bore (semi-wadcutter styles) or the jacket inside diameter. A micrometer is handy for checking out the dies. If you have a set of 9mm and a set of .38 dies, for instance, there is only about 0.003-inches difference, at most, between their bores. You cannot see that small a difference. So, make a lead core using whatever external punch fits easily into the die. Measure the lead core. That's your caliber. (9) If you should ever find yourself getting frustrated over a seemingly difficult problem in swaging, don't keep fighting the problem: give me a call. With thousands of people around the world now making their own bullets, and with a history of better than two decades of operation of the equipment, it is unlikely that you have equipment that won't work or that the process is too difficult for you. The odds are that (1) I didn't write the instructions clearly enough and a little discussion on the phone or in a letter would make some point clear to you that solves everything, or... (2) Someone in the shipping department picked up the wrong die or punch when they were testing and packaging, and you got it, or... (3) You are trying to do something that seems reasonable to you, but which a little more experience with the principles of swaging would quickly show to be impractical or impossible. In any case, remember that help is a phone call away. Most problems resolve themselves with great ease when the die-maker gets in on the case. Sometimes a die or samples may have to be exchanged, and in difficult cases where you are trying to make something with components other than those we used to design the set, it may take two or three exchanges to solve the problem. But rest assured, you are not alone to solve everything yourself. I have had a taste of that in the computer industry, where you can spend tens of thousands of dollars and get a shrug when nothing seems to work right, the warranties all expire before you even figure out that the system isn't working right, and you wind up with no choice but paying more for something you should have gotten in the first place. Corbin is noted for outstanding support, and that is the way it should be. .he CHAPTER 21 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # DELIVERY AND PAYMENT INFORMATION Corbin dies are hand-made, often to custom order. We are the only die-works in the world willing to offer so many calibers and styles of equipment. In fact, the development of the entire field of bullet swaging in the past twenty years has primarily been due to the heavy investment of time and effort we have made in bringing bullet swaging back from the brink of oblivion to a commonly-used process for handloaders. Part of that effort has been to bring the cost of the dies within reach, while maintaining the custom features and quality. And part of the cost of the dies has often been the fact that we are absolutely buried in orders, making it necessary to have a waiting list for delivery on many items. I often state "If you can't wait, don't order!", because it is easier not to know that I lost an order from someone impatient than to try and explain over and over how much work I have backed up and how long it takes to get to any given job. Since 1985, most of the orders have been shipped within two days of receipt. The new plant, which is the world's largest bullet-swage die works, is stocked with most of the common calibers most of the time. We do get behind even on common calibers, but not the two and three years we used to quote. Today, you have a good chance of delivery on standard items within two days, a slight chance that we may be out and will be making more within 30 to 45 days, and a very slim chance that what you ordered is odd enough that it will take us several months to schedule in the making of reamers, laps, and tooling to produce your dies. Still, I would rather that you are prepared to wait than that you expect immediate delivery and are disappointed. So, I cannot guarentee delivery on any specified date, or within any specified period of time. Making as many custom dies as we do, and with the limited number of skilled die-makers to do it, I cannot guess how long the next five, fifty or five hundred orders will actually take from start to testing and completion. Each one presents its own problems, its own special differences in tooling and technique to be developed and tested. The end result, though, is that each set of dies will produce the bullet it is designed to make. We can develop a whole new product for you to sell or use, one that did not exist before, and you do not have to bear the expense of the lost time developing it. Once we have worked it out, solving problems you will never have to know existed, you get a set of tooling that is subtly modified to perform your particular job correctly. If you took your bullet idea to just about any other die-works in the world and had them make tools to produce it, you would most likely be paying time and material charges for every hour spent chasing down the problems and trying different ideas. We are working as fast as we can, and there is nothing more we can do. Offers to "buy a lot more later" or threats to "go somewhere else" are both beside the point and have no effect. As I say, if you decide you want the equipment and support that goes with it, both of which have a hard-earned reputation that reaches back a couple of decades, then you should make up your mind before ordering it whether or not you have the patience to wait for delivery. I have simply cancelled orders and handed back deposits to people who become unpleasant to deal with. Life is too short and I enjoy my other customers far too much to waste time with blustering fools who don't appreciate the effort that would go into their dies, and don't realize how closely a die-maker needs to work with his clients both before and after the dies are done. One is not motivated quite by the same things in this business as, for example, in selling a conventional kind of mass produced tool. I don't mind spending hours with a beginner explaining how something works, if necessary, but I have no time for demanding individuals who think that money substitutes for manners. We do publish a periodic list of items that are available for immediate delivery, called our "Immediate Delivery List". Ask for a copy when you write or call. The items on this list are on the shelf and can be sent to you straight away. Quite often, we have new things that are not yet on the list, and if you have some particular caliber in mind you might mention it when you write or call. We can let you know, then, whether or not the item is available for delivery. It is harder to let you know when it will be available...many factors affect the delivery of dies, including the possibility that a nearly completed run may have to be thrown away because of tiny flaws that show up in final testing. If this should happen, our original estimate may be off by months. It is always best to place an order as soon as you are sure you want it and are willing to wait for it. The sooner your order is placed, the sooner we will have enough backlog on a particular item to schedule it. We run non-stock or special items based on when the order came in, you see. If your order for a .416 Rigby bullet swage came in four months ago, and someone else wanted a .577 Snyder set six months before, we'd schedule the earliest positive order first. I say positive order because the mention on the phone that you might be interested in something is not an order. If we have a deposit on it, and your written order in hand, then it is an order and we will place it in the computer scheduling system. It will be done as soon as it can be done. Otherwise, it probably will be lost in the constant flood of phone calls that continues morning to night. A good way to assure prompt delivery on a phone order is to give alternatives where such alternatives are acceptable to you. In other words, if you don't really care whether your .366 rifle bullet has a 4- S or a 6-S ogive, then let us know either is acceptable. The first one finished goes to you. It might be that we finished a fine set of 4-S ogive dies a day after your order came in, but since you specified a 6- S ogive, we never even considered sending that set. And it may well be months before we can get time to make the 6-S reamers and laps. Likewise, if the diameter can be 0.429 or .430, either way, and still be acceptable to you for your battery of .44 Magnums (practically speaking, it doesn't usually make much difference and there is probably that much or more variation in the bores anyway), then let us know. We may have a dozen sets of .429 dies just like you want, but if your order specifies .430, then we will wait until we can make the .430 size to fill it. If a cup base or a flat base is equally acceptable, let us know that. We will give you exactly what you specify unless you give us a range of acceptable differences that might speed up delivery. It doesn't necessarily slow up delivery to specify exactly what you want with no alternatives. It is just that many times we have something close on hand. If it really does not matter to you, then we could ship the available package and you'd be making bullets within a few days. On the other hand, if you really do want a specific style or size, we are glad to provide it. Just be patient until the die-makers work their way through the mountain of orders and can get your work done. I hope that this makes sense to you, and doesn't offend anyone except people neither you nor I would like to deal with in the first place! The alternative to being swamped with orders is to raise prices so few people could afford to buy. Then, those who could would let us work a lot less for the same income. That was the situation before we came into the swaging field, many years ago, and that is how most die makers operate today. But motives other than simply making money brought us to this field and inspired us to develop it. I'm no more altruistic than the next fellow, but I do feel somewhat responsible for the survival of the bullet swaging art. You are the carriers of that torch: all I can do is make sure the equipment continues to be available at a reasonable price, and that new ideas continue to be explored and written about. TERMS OF PAYMENT Corbin accepts VISA and MASTER-CHARGE orders by letter or telephone. If an article will not be availble for some time, we normally submit a bank card payment request only for those items we can ship quickly. The rest of the articles will not usually be "put on your card" until they are ready to ship, unless you specify otherwise. Corbin accepts postal money orders, bank money orders drawn on U.S. banks in U.S. dollar amounts, certified checks, International Money Orders, and other instruments of immediate negotiability drawn on U.S. banks for U.S. dollar amounts. Checks from other countries, drawn on correspondent U.S. banks, must be sent for collection. This process usually involves a delay, and the local banks charge a healthy fee for this service. Sometimes this doesn't leave enough actual payment to pay for the equipment. Thus, we ask our friends in other countries to use one of these methods of payment: (1) International Money Order (2) Postal Money Order for U.S. Dollars (3) VISA or Master-Charge (4) Direct funds transfer to our current account number. Please write for the address and number. At the time of this writing, it is Jefferson State Bank, Medford, Oregon 97501, USA, but problems can develop if you send funds to an account we have closed or to a bank from which we have switched our account. If you plan to transfer funds, please write first and get instructions. When you do make a transfer, insist that your bank send notification to us and have our bank notify us as well when they receive the funds. This is simply good business and makes sure funds are not misplaced or stolen. Domestic orders paid with personal or business checks do require at least two weeks for check clearance. We will hold any items on the Immediate Delivery List, upon first receipt of your funds, so that check clearance will not cause the last item to be sold while you are still waiting. Remember that UPS delivery usually takes about 10 days, and that the UPS will not even begin a trace on a package until at least 15 working days have passed. Foreign shipment usually involves both fairly long transit time by surface (or fairly high air mail cost) and a delay in getting through foreign customs offices. We send a notice when packages are shipped, to let you know they are in transit, in these cases. We do accept COD orders, but if you are not there when the package comes, it may come back to us. If a package sent COD comes back, we send you a card to let you know, wait about 15 days for some response, and if we hear nothing, cancel the order and any pending orders that are COD, and sell the equipment. If a COD package is refused, we do the same thing. When packages are refused, or otherwise undeliverable, it costs us to ship and receive the same package back. For this reason, we do not accept additional COD orders when we have had any significant number of problems with sending them before. COD orders may be paid to the UPS delivery man by certified check, money order, or in cash. If someone signs for a COD order and pays for it, then UPS has a record of where and to whom they delivered it, and if for any reason you did not receive it, let us know. We can have UPS trace the delivery, and find out who got it. When a COD shipment is sent, a postcard is also mailed telling you the amount and date of shipment. I can't guarentee that the postcard will get there before the package does, because that is up to the US Mail. But it usually does. In some rare cases, a person might have sent funds for something, and then received it COD. If you want it quickly, the best solution is to go ahead and accept the COD, notify us immediately of the error, and let us credit your account or send a refund check. Otherwise, it may be weeks before the package finally is routed back to us and we are able to get it re-shipped again. Usually, this latter kind of error only happens when a person orders by telephone, follows up by letter, and repeats the order, or uses both COD and prepayment at different times on parts of the same order. The most trouble-free method is to send payment with the order, or to use a bank card. Bank cards give you a good tax record and simplify the entire payment operation, and are only a little more paperwork for us, so don't feel reluctant to use them on our account! .he CHAPTER 22 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE # WARRANTY INFORMATION If any Corbin product proves defective in materials or worksmanship, call 503-826-5211 and request authorization to return the product. If, upon inspection by Corbin, the product does prove defective, it will be repaired or replaced without charge other than transportation. The warranty in this section is in lieu of all other warranties, including any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Firearms safety requires that individual handloaders and shooters ascertain at their own discretion and risk the proper loads, bullets, and cartridges to use in their firearms. Corbin has no control over the circumstances of loading, and can assume no liability for the results obtained. We can guarantee only that our products are capable of producing bullets which meet our own high standards of quality. The accuracy of firearms is dependent upon a number of factors, most of which are beyond the control of the manufacturer of the bullet or the tooling which produces the bullet. Individual firearms require careful load development to achieve satisfactory accuracy. A bullet which performs well in one firearm may not perform as well in another, very similar firearm, for a variety of reasons, some of which are not well understood. The responsibility for accuracy rests with the handloader and shooter. Corbin has no control over the circumstances of either loading or shooting, and can therefore assume no responsibility for the results obtained by any particular shooter, handloader, or firearm. Delivery of Corbin products cannot be guaranteed at any particular time nor within any specified period. Purchasers of equipment must bear full responsibility for the results of their advertising and promotion, contracts or agreements between themselves and other parties, which could be affected by the delivery of Corbin equipment. Corbin advises that NO committments be entered which depend upon timely delivery of equipment from Corbin for their successful completion. Potential commercial operations based on swaging bullets made on Corbin equipment should wait until delivery has been received before offering products for sale, entering contracts for delivery of bullets, or making other agreements involving the use of such equipment.