Upgrading my old Swagamatic

[kawalekm]

Along with my CH die sets and my Sportflite, I also have an old Swagamatic that gets some use. As some of you may know, the Swagamatic is limited to the production of straight-shank bullets (either soft or hollowpoint) because of the design of the full diameter ejection pin that pushes the bullet up out of the die on the downstroke.

I want to make a Swagamatic die though that will fold the jacket over the ogive like in C-H dies. Since I have a lathe now, I thought I'd try making the dies and punches myself.

Here's my idea. I'll use my current .451" commercially-purchased die with a modified punch that will slip down into the mouth of a annealed/shortened .45ACP case drawn down to .451". I will make a flat punch with a working diameter of ~.428"-.429" so it will just fit into a drawn case. Thus, I'll use this die for my core seating operation.

I'll then make a new curved ogive die with the nose of the bullet pointed down in the die, not up. I'll make an ejection punch in either soft point or hollow point versions. The top punch will be .452" in diameter and flat to form the bullet base. I'll be feeding the jacketed core nose down in the die, run it against the base punch, and a curved ogive bullet should pop out on the upstroke.

I was going to first try making a simple half reamer out of O1 tool steel. Most likely will just eyeball the ogive to get what I want by filing. I'm expecting my finished bullet to weigh about 250 grains with ~ a .250" diameter meplat, which will be used in my new 450 Bushmaster.

Can you guys give me some feedback on the merit of this idea?

[Cane_man]

glad to see you posting, you have some great ideas from the archives that i have used in my own die making...

how are you going to draw down the 45acp brass, are you going to make a draw die?

what are you using for cores, how will you size them?

all other parts of your plan look very do-able, should work fine...

for the d-reamer, make it approximately 0.006-0.008 smaller than your final OD to allow for lapping, as these reamers always seem to take off about 0.004 more than their diameter...

how are you going to make your laps, and what are you going to use for lapping compound?

hope you post pictures of you project, should be a good one

[kawalekm]

glad to see you posting, you have some great ideas from the archives that i have used in my own die making...

Thanks! The homestead is coming along nicely, and I need new stimulation to keep my mind active.

how are you going to draw down the 45acp brass, are you going to make a draw die?
what are you using for cores, how will you size them?

I've been sizing cases down incrementally with Lee bullet sizing dies. Am not so thrilled at the performance, but it works. Am thinking that I could make a draw die myself, but that might be down the road.

for the d-reamer, make it approximately 0.006-0.008 smaller than your final OD to allow for lapping, as these reamers always seem to take off about 0.004 more than their diameter...

I've really studied the sticky's you guys have assembled on die making. Those are really informative. Have also been studying youtube videos on die making from guys like tubalcain.

how are you going to make your laps, and what are you going to use for lapping compound?
hope you post pictures of you project, should be a good one

Was thinking about making laps out of aluminum rod. Haven't gotten to that point yet. Haven't found a polish source yet.

I bought a 12" Craftsman, that I'm in the process of getting set up. My concrete drill is up at the homestead now. I'll get that so I can anchor the lathe to the floor (after leveling). Then I'm off to the metal store to pick up some tool steel. I've been searching for economical supplies of rail bolts and such, but haven't yet found even one. Seems the railroad crews do a very, very good job of cleaning up their scraps.

[Cane_man]

the O1 is great for the dies, heat treat with a flame to orange then quench in oil, dont forget to temper in your kitchen over at 375F for 1 hour (you will get some warpage, so leave 0.002 or so for final lapping to take out any warpage)

1144 is great for the punches, easy to turn and you don't have to heat treat it