After a couple of posts about my jacket making presses, I thought I'd post something about the #1 press used for bullet swaging. The press frame is identical to the others (#2 and #3) except for a below bench auto eject and and a die plate for 7/8" swage dies. The press has a 3 inch stroke and uses a custom ER20 collet punch holder. Pressures start at 30psi for tipping the meplats up to 90psi for point forming. I do not use any mechanical stops for controlling the stroke. Instead I use the pressure regulator to determine final stroke length. This has proven the most consistent way to ensure uniformity.
The dies are all CNC machined two piece bodies. The form dies are D2 tool steel heat treated to 60 HRC. The point form and core seat internal surfaces are spark EDM machined and lapped with CNC machined brass laps in 0.0005" increments. I have designed all of the tooling and presses on CAD and have sent the files out to a couple of specialist workshops. All the die and punch parts are from a supplier who mainly works on precision plastic molds. The larger press parts were CNC machined by a local firm (very handy and if I need a special favor the currency is a slab of beer). The swage dies are designed to be loaded in from the top of the die plate. I found that instead of an O ring on the punch its easier to place a leather washer under the die lock nut. Even though I use a special tool to align the die and die plate with the punch holder I like the idea that there is a tiny amount of movement for the punch to give if needed.
Currently I'm testing a 6.5mm 143 grain HPBT. I am now making a thicker and longer jacket for approximately 1.35-1.4" long bullets. The bullet uses a 16/5 ogive hybrid profile. If I use the tipping punch the meplat is reduced down to 0.050". The approximate BCs are G1 .62 and G7 .31.
The dies are all CNC machined two piece bodies. The form dies are D2 tool steel heat treated to 60 HRC. The point form and core seat internal surfaces are spark EDM machined and lapped with CNC machined brass laps in 0.0005" increments. I have designed all of the tooling and presses on CAD and have sent the files out to a couple of specialist workshops. All the die and punch parts are from a supplier who mainly works on precision plastic molds. The larger press parts were CNC machined by a local firm (very handy and if I need a special favor the currency is a slab of beer). The swage dies are designed to be loaded in from the top of the die plate. I found that instead of an O ring on the punch its easier to place a leather washer under the die lock nut. Even though I use a special tool to align the die and die plate with the punch holder I like the idea that there is a tiny amount of movement for the punch to give if needed.
Currently I'm testing a 6.5mm 143 grain HPBT. I am now making a thicker and longer jacket for approximately 1.35-1.4" long bullets. The bullet uses a 16/5 ogive hybrid profile. If I use the tipping punch the meplat is reduced down to 0.050". The approximate BCs are G1 .62 and G7 .31.
