Time to make the donuts....

[AlNyhus]

Some years back, I became acquainted with an engineer at one of the 'big box' bullet companies....he's a smart guy and very much into precision shooting. The company he worked for was exploring getting into supplying jackets and he sent me some prototype 1.00" .30's to make up and report back. They were really thin and very light. I had a helluva time pointing them with the failure rate from folds running about 25%. I tried all sorts of lubes and brews with zero luck. Whether it was jacket hardness, jacket thickness or a combination of both (my thoughts)....that's what happened. Maybe it would have been different with a carbide die setup instead of steel??

But.....the ones that survived the pointing process shot like the Hammers Of Hell .

Good shootin' -Al

 

[AlNyhus]

Yesterday was -15 degrees (-35 wind chill factor) and for whatever reason, it seemed like a good time to do a modification on the Blackmon press. The through bolt hole on the handle is 3/8" and is a bit loose by design. To keep it from getting out of round, it seemed like bushing it would be reasonable. Getting the handle fixtured up in the mill vise was like a monkey making love to a milk jug. I'll spare pics of that Rube Goldberg affair.

The reaming was done in two steps with straight fluted chucking reamers...first one 7/16" and then a 1/2". For a bushing, I used three 1" long bronze bushings. The handle is exactly 3" wide so that worked good for my math skills....even I can do 3X1=3. I'd soaked the bushings in acetone to remove the impregnated oil so they could be epoxied into the handle. They were coated with JB Weld, stacked nose to tail on a shoulder bolt and pushed into place at the same time. Today, I'll hone them as needed and get it back together. The clearance will likely need to be fairly loose as this style press design uses clearance in the linkage as part of the self centering aspect. The fit of the ram in the press is very snug, though.

Good shootin' -Al

 

[Fuj]

The monkey and milk jug analogy is really a thing.....LOL This post is
timely regarding your mention of the ram. I sorted thru several RCBS
JR3's for a bullet project of a different idea. It's ram is a bit too cut away
in areas I need for other work. I have my eye on a particular shot out
barrel in the safe as donor material. It needs to be a little longer also.
I like the idea of the bronze bushings. The particular press I'll be playing
with, I went and fitted new pins several years back, then had them hard
chromed, and used white lithium grease.

 

[D Coots]

Dave , Weight is just jacket thickness the hardness is due to the varying amount of zinc they were throwing in also what annealing process used. Here is a tech sheet from Wieland thats here in town that makes winchesters and sierras jacket material ASTM B130 is used for jacket material it would be 95/5 copper zinc

George, I recall you bought an oven when there was a jacket hardness problem going on. I think Lowell said he was going to have all his jackets drawn back after having problems. Then all that went away and you were stuck with the oven. I suppose the next batch of jackets had a different composition??

Later

Dave

 

[JoeDuke]

Al, as you know, on my press the pin connecting the handle to the ram broke. I replaced it with a grade 8 bolt and lock nut. I have wondered if both the holes through the handle need to be bushed to keep the handle from wearing or perhaps fracturing. These little presses generate a huge amount of pressure.

 

[AlNyhus]

Al, as you know, on my press the pin connecting the handle to the ram broke. I replaced it with a grade 8 bolt and lock nut. I have wondered if both the holes through the handle need to be bushed to keep the handle from wearing or perhaps fracturing. These little presses generate a huge amount of pressureView attachment 1633402.View attachment 1633404

Joe, I haven't done anything with the ram pin. There's a certain amount of float needed to let the die center on to the jacket during core seating and point up. If bushing the handle arm has taught me anything, it's to resist trying to make these presses into something they're not. Like a good Partner loading press, they're loose enough to allow the dies to do the work. Pretty ingenious, actually.

By the time I got done honing the bushings today for a smooth, no bind operation...the clearance was just where it was prior to bushing. Of course, bushing the hole lets the load spread out over more area and if the bushings ever do 'egg' out, it's a simple matter to replace them.

By the way, if you make or buy some new ejectors, check to make sure the back of the ejector (behind the notch) doesn't bottom out in the ram at the very end of the ram stroke.

Good shootin' and thanks for the pics! -Al

 

[AlNyhus]

After seating cores with both dies and pointing with both dies, I'd say it was a worthwhile project. There's definitely better feed back from the handle. -Al

 

[Fuj]

Now some feed back from the targets after all that careful work......

 

[Fuj]

Yeah, we'll get that along the lakes coming Monday. We are used
to it but, it is getting old this year. Supposed to get freezing rain
first, and that's never good.

 

[tom]

We're headed into the deep freeze for a while.

National Weather Service

forecast.weather.gov

Some of us just stupid enough to go anyways



Emphasis on stupid!

Tom

 

[Gabe22BR]

some done planning to do same thing…

 

[Mulligan]

Some of us just stupid enough to go anyways

View attachment 1635118View attachment 1635119

Emphasis on stupid!

Tom

I seen the pic Wheeler posted of the testing target of your heavy 30’s. Maybe, Crazy like a fox? But not stupid! Nice work!
Clay

 

[jrb06]

Some of us just stupid enough to go anyways

View attachment 1635118View attachment 1635119

Emphasis on stupid!

Tom

Good thing you brought your fan!

 

[SongdogHunter]

Dave. It takes a lot more effort at the handle to make the 30’s. I use the regular RCBS Presses to make my 68 grn 6MM. I use the big modified Lee 50 cal presses for the 30’s. And the point up even has the handle extended.View attachment 1613011

Ulrich press conversions ?

 

[jackieschmidt]

Ulrich press conversions ?

Yes, with a few of my own minor touches.

 

[yukonal]

What a thread Al! Thanks for starting it...I certainly learned a ton about a subject I was not familiar with. Glad your hand didn't get stuck in the "cookie jar" when applying lube...lol

 

[AlNyhus]

Glad your hand didn't get stuck in the "cookie jar"...lol

That happened enough when I was a kid.....slow learner.

 

[AlNyhus]

While our collet system is being refined, I took time to set the Robinett carbide point die up on a new George Ulrich converted Lee Classic. This uses the traditional punch nut setup to hold the point up punch. At this point, I'm still tweaking the lube amount needed to carry forward what's still on after the core seating operation. I've found the too-high and too-low amounts...so I know where not to go. In the middle of those, the dimensions stabilize, ejection is easy, the pleats settle right down and the metplats look reasonable.

Again, many thanks to Randy and George for all the help and advice. You guys rock.

Good shootin' -Al

 

[JoeDuke]

Very nice setup Al. I am envious.

 

[AlNyhus]

If anyone has some pics of what you're doing for a bullet chute after they eject on the Lee presses, maybe you could post them here. -Al