Just another mould..or two.

[Kurt]

Jim,

I have swaged straight ww in the Corbin walnut hill press and dies. I don't know what the bhn was, not all ww are the same. I don't think I would use Dave Corbins dies they are not as strong as Richards are.
I blew a Dave .50 caliber die using 1/16 but never Richards.
Here are some of the .308 bullets I used when I was in the HP games They are like the Lapua's rebated BT Also the .45 hard ball bulls eye. The Jackets are made with copper tubing and I also used pistol cases for some.
The swaged are a lot better in consistency than over the counter. They put me in the high master class.

[Don McDowell]

It takes a lot of lead powder and primers to get thru that thing but it’s a grand time
And if you’ve shot the Hightower matches there you already know what twisted witch the wind can be

[JKR]

Kurt,

The that’s some beautiful work. The Lapua clone is especially impressive!

JKR

[Distant Thunder]

All I ever swaged was .22 bullets for my .223. That's all soft lead stuff and easy to do in any press. Had lots of fun doing it back in the 80s.

I still swage 9mm for pistol. It's rare when I buy bullets. I did just buy some .270 bullets. I'm good for another 5-7 years.

[J.B.]

Got to tell you guys...that I know it must get frustrating looking at so much snow for so many weeks/ months of the year...but coming from Down Under... that looks mighty pretty. There are a couple of pockets of the country that get snow but they are
few and far between and geographically dont take up much land area when compared to the rest of the country. Jim that is a magic photo. Kurt and Don on occasion have posted photos snow and trees outside their back door. Just seems magical. Those swaged Sharps bullets look incredibly tidy Kurt. I was sorely tempted to get into swaging but the cost to set up was prohibitive. A friend down here invested in some of Daves gear I believe a few years back but he's sold it after one or two attempts. Amazing to me is that those magic looking Sharps bullets we see from antique ammo collections were virtually all swaged and up to 14/1 in mix apparently. No obvious mark on the meplat and a beautiful radius. That must take some pressure.

J.B.

[Kurt]

Gavin,

Swaging does make a fine bullet but today with these fine custom moulds I can cast a bullet just about as good and I cant see any difference in performance between them. Right now I don't have the swage presses even mounted on the bench and they have been dust collectors for many years. Having a new set of dies made is not practical anymore when Steve and BA makes a quality mould that don't take the back seat to the swaged bullet.
I started swaging back in the 60's you could buy a swage press for $10, $15.using the Herter's, Herkner or Hemp equipment for HP bullets because back then I could not buy bullets I wanted to use over the counter and cast moulds short of the Hensley&Gibbs moulds just didn't appeal to me.
Times have changed.

Kurt

[Steveu]

Kurt,
That's a great looking clone of the Laupa. I shot a bunch of their 150 grain in palma matches and I still have some of the 170 grain that are .309". They shoot great in my Finn 28/30.

[Kurt]

I swaged then at 185gr and 200 gr. They took over where the 168 Sierra match fell apart

[J.B.]

Well for any that may be interested, my base pour , 44 Brooks mould arrived in yesterdays mail. Great service from Steve and Gayle as always and really happy with the example bullets sent with the mould. Never quite manage to have mine
turn out as blemish free as the examples Steve sends but they come close. Very happy with the design, form & dimensions . The bullet , once again designed around the 1/17" twist.. is 1.41" long. Base measuring approximately .443" across and the bore riding portion running at .4325-.4335 depending on how hard I squeeze the verniers. A couple of photos below to let you have a 'look see'. The proof is in the shooting but I'm fairly confident this will be a performer if I hold up my end of the deal . Steves examples are in 30/1 and the scales show 519 grns. I'll likely be casting in 16/1 so that will drop a tad and the bore riding section likely hover around the .433/434 area. About perfect going on my limited experience to date.
regards.. J.B.

[Don McDowell]

That's a good looking bullet.