I have divided this into two posts. There are lot of pictures. This is where it happens. This bench has three bullet presses. Two are RCECo Walnut Hill presses - Richard Corbin. The one on the left is a Corbin Series II press. (Dave Corbin)
All my bullets have flat bases and protected points. They are faster to produce and do not require anything fancy, like polymer tips. I can add them, but takes more time and isn't really required.
This picture shows a wooden block with 200 holes for 200 bullets. I have 100 empty jackets on the tray and a bag of degreased cores on the right. You can see the white bucket and lead wire in the background. The bucket holds 2600 .705 inch J4 jackets inside. The price is $210 USD for a bucket. The lead cores for these bullets were cut from the lead wire in the background. The lead wire comes coiled up in plastic buckets. I pull it out and cut approx. 20 inches of wire, roll it flat and cut it into cores. The raw cores are put into a core forming die (not shown) and squeezed to 50.0 grain cores. They are degreased, allowed to air dry and are then ready to use.
Here are the 100 jackets with the cores inserted. The open end will become the tip of the bullet. Before they are squeezed into bullets, the approximate diameter of the jackets is .222 inches.
Here are the four steps of the actual bullet making process. The first two are reversed. From left, the core after seating. The core ready to be seated. The bullet after it has been formed, but with a ragged bit of lead at the tip. And finally, the lead tip smoothed over. There is some bullet making lube on each, but it can be wiped off, or swirled in Varsol.
I will say here that bullet making lube is much better for cartridge reloading than standard case lube. It is also much cheaper. 16 oz is about $24.
The first step is to seat the cores using the bullet die. I dab a little bullet maker's lube on my fingers and roll the jacket in it.The core is seated and the expanded diameter is approx. .2235. The point forming operation will squeeze it out to .224.
Like a reloading press, I pull the arm down full travel to seat the core. A punch applies the pressure. The punches are different diameters for the different jacket types (jackets made from 22LR cases are thinner, so the punch must be a tad larger) As well, core weight can be a factor. Much depends on how deeply the punch is pushed into the core.
The seated core comes out at almost the right diameter - .2235 inches. The point forming operation (next) will squeeze it out the rest of the way.
All my bullets have flat bases and protected points. They are faster to produce and do not require anything fancy, like polymer tips. I can add them, but takes more time and isn't really required.
This picture shows a wooden block with 200 holes for 200 bullets. I have 100 empty jackets on the tray and a bag of degreased cores on the right. You can see the white bucket and lead wire in the background. The bucket holds 2600 .705 inch J4 jackets inside. The price is $210 USD for a bucket. The lead cores for these bullets were cut from the lead wire in the background. The lead wire comes coiled up in plastic buckets. I pull it out and cut approx. 20 inches of wire, roll it flat and cut it into cores. The raw cores are put into a core forming die (not shown) and squeezed to 50.0 grain cores. They are degreased, allowed to air dry and are then ready to use.
Here are the 100 jackets with the cores inserted. The open end will become the tip of the bullet. Before they are squeezed into bullets, the approximate diameter of the jackets is .222 inches.
Here are the four steps of the actual bullet making process. The first two are reversed. From left, the core after seating. The core ready to be seated. The bullet after it has been formed, but with a ragged bit of lead at the tip. And finally, the lead tip smoothed over. There is some bullet making lube on each, but it can be wiped off, or swirled in Varsol.
I will say here that bullet making lube is much better for cartridge reloading than standard case lube. It is also much cheaper. 16 oz is about $24.
The first step is to seat the cores using the bullet die. I dab a little bullet maker's lube on my fingers and roll the jacket in it.The core is seated and the expanded diameter is approx. .2235. The point forming operation will squeeze it out to .224.
Like a reloading press, I pull the arm down full travel to seat the core. A punch applies the pressure. The punches are different diameters for the different jacket types (jackets made from 22LR cases are thinner, so the punch must be a tad larger) As well, core weight can be a factor. Much depends on how deeply the punch is pushed into the core.
The seated core comes out at almost the right diameter - .2235 inches. The point forming operation (next) will squeeze it out the rest of the way.