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  #1  
Old 10-21-2010, 06:21 AM
huntnfish08 huntnfish08 is offline
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Default Cost to set up for 22lr jacketed bullets?

The idea is interesting. The dies at http://rceco.com/MN.asp?pg=Dies are $85. I believe I would need the 22lr to 224 jacket maker and the bullet sizer die?

So $170 to get set up. I think I could use these on my single stage press?

From what I've been able to find the LR cases are annealed then formed into a jacket. Then a seperate step of filling with lead wire and size the bullet?

I just want to make a couple thousand to get into prairie dog shooting and reduced loads of trailboss for plinking and small game.

I've also read that wheel weight lead may be too hard to use. Is this the case? What other sources are there for cheap lead? Car batteries or just buy a spool?

If it is cheap enough make it worthwhile I'd like to giveit a try. Any info you guys havewould be helpful.

Thanks,
Adam
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  #2  
Old 10-22-2010, 12:23 AM
MIBULLETS MIBULLETS is offline
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huntfish08,

The die for $85, is the die to turn the 22 case into a jacket, but the sizer die is for sizing a finished bullet to a smaller size. Say you want to make a 9mm (.355 or .356) from a .357 bullet.

To actually make a bullet, you would need the Flat Base, Open Tip. Three Die Set for $540.

To top that off, these dies are only for the Walnut Hill swaging press sold by RCE. He used to make dies for reloading presses, but no longer lists them. You may want to contact him to see if he still has any. They were fairly reasonable price wise.

Dan
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  #3  
Old 10-22-2010, 01:25 AM
The Old Redneck The Old Redneck is offline
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Default Lead/bullets

His answer on dies is good, for lead core the lead needs to be a soft lead. Most use lead wire to make their cores or buy cores already made. You can cast cores. It is also possible to make lead wire. You can buy a lot of cheap bulk bullets for what it cost to get into bullet making. On the other hand if you can make your own you can make what you want. I make and shoot some bullets using 22 cases for jackets. They are for low velocity loads and work great. They work up past 3000 fps. Dave Corbin had a lot of info on line at one time about getting into bullet making.
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  #4  
Old 10-23-2010, 02:36 AM
MIBULLETS MIBULLETS is offline
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I use 22 cases for jackets too, and i'm having a lot of fun with it.

I didn't mean to scare you away. I only wanted to make sure you didn't get let down when you planned to order or worse yet, order them and find out they don't work as you thought they would.
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  #5  
Old 10-23-2010, 10:26 AM
ray h ray h is offline
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You might want to check out Larry Blackmon dies, the prices I seen were good. You might save a little if you're just experimenting.
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  #6  
Old 10-27-2010, 04:39 PM
iiranger iiranger is offline
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Default OK.

The big dog, advice wise anyway, is Dave Corbin, corbins.com, swage.com, etc. And he takes email questions. Obviously, he is trying to sell his wares. (Buy something and get on the sale list and save a bunch...)

He has his book "Rediscover Swaging" online at his web site for review, study, download and in there he covers all of this. (And a lot more...)

You need two sets of dies. One to de rim the case and a second set to make the bullet. Rimfire jackets are good up to about 3200 fps. .222 great. .22/250, not so much.

Lead is around. You wouldn't want wheel weights anyway. Too hard. Boat supply has lead wire. Plumbers supply usually has lead, pure. Some scrap yards althought the lead plumbing has been much replaced... .22 bullets don't use all that much. 7000 grains to a pound.

Great hobby and others have made business out of it. Sisk. Hornady. Speer. Etc. Corbin also has a list of bullet makers. Find a couple in your area and you might be able to see if this is for you... Luck.
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  #7  
Old 10-28-2010, 12:47 PM
Greyfox1947 Greyfox1947 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by huntnfish08 View Post
The idea is interesting. The dies at http://rceco.com/MN.asp?pg=Dies are $85. I believe I would need the 22lr to 224 jacket maker and the bullet sizer die?

So $170 to get set up. I think I could use these on my single stage press?

From what I've been able to find the LR cases are annealed then formed into a jacket. Then a seperate step of filling with lead wire and size the bullet?

I just want to make a couple thousand to get into prairie dog shooting and reduced loads of trailboss for plinking and small game.

I've also read that wheel weight lead may be too hard to use. Is this the case? What other sources are there for cheap lead? Car batteries or just buy a spool?

If it is cheap enough make it worthwhile I'd like to giveit a try. Any info you guys havewould be helpful.

Thanks,
Adam
If you're looking to save $$, just go buy some of the bargain bullets from Midway or Midsouth. Swaging bullets is worthwhile, but you won't get started for anywhere near $170. Larry Blackmon is probably your best bet for some low cost steel dies, but Larry does this as a hobby and you can expect to wait a year of more for .22 dies if he will even make them. Yes, you could use your Rock Chucker, but that will require a conversion that will cost near $100 with postage. I would guess you will have $700-800 invested in dies and conversions before you swage the first bullet and a considerable wait time. Corbin will cost you much more.

I'm not trying to talk you out of it, but you need to see the big pic if this is the road you choose.

Rick
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  #8  
Old 10-29-2010, 04:09 PM
huntnfish08 huntnfish08 is offline
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Thanks for the replies.

I could get 5-6K bullets for the cost of set up. That would last me a very long time! Too bad it isn't affordable for the hobbiest looking for the "cool" factor of "branded" bullets. My initials are AW so aguila and winchester would have been personalized. The song "bullet with a name on it" comes to mind.

I'll keep an eye out at the gun shows for a few.

Again, thanks for the info,
Adam
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  #9  
Old 01-31-2011, 05:46 AM
georgeld georgeld is offline
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Default

there's a guy on www.ammobrasstrader.com that makes dies for sale
to produce jacketed bullets from fired brass. I got a sample of ten of his slugs
and they look very good.
You might want to go over there and check around. He's still around last I knew.
Sold several sets to other members there. Just post the questions and you'll get
all the replies you can handle. Sounded like he had quite a business going just making
the dies.

Good luck and have fun.
__________________
George

"Gun Control is NOT about guns,
it's about CONTROL!!"
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