112 lines
7.1 KiB
Plaintext
112 lines
7.1 KiB
Plaintext
.he CHAPTER 10 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #
|
|
|
|
INDIVIDUAL DIES FOR THE RELOADING PRESS
|
|
|
|
You can make up your own swaging kit for a reloading press, or you
|
|
can add dies to existing kits and expand your bullet-swaging
|
|
capabilities caliber by caliber.
|
|
With the suggested kits in the previous chapter, I didn't suggest
|
|
any lead tip dies. They are very useful in the three rifle calibers,
|
|
when you want a nice factory-finished lead tip. But they are something
|
|
you can add at any time. It isn't necessary to match this die as
|
|
exactly as with the core seater and point former. A half-thousandth of
|
|
an inch tolerance is plenty, and that is easy enough for the die-makers
|
|
to handle without getting your set back.
|
|
Individual dies are available in these styles and calibers:
|
|
|
|
.224 6-S Ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R, LT-1-R
|
|
.243 6-S Ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R, LT-1-R
|
|
.257 6-S Ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R, LT-1-R
|
|
|
|
.251 RN, TC ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R
|
|
.308 RN ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R
|
|
.312 RN ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R
|
|
.314 RN ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R
|
|
.355 RN, TC ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R
|
|
.357 RN, TC ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R
|
|
.358 RN, TC ogive CS-1-R, PF-1-R
|
|
|
|
When you order the CS-1-R, it comes with a flat base internal
|
|
punch and a Keith external punch in the handgun calibers. In rifle
|
|
calibers, it comes with flat base internal and open tip external
|
|
punches. If you would like to add other shapes to the handgun
|
|
calibers, you can order these additional punches:
|
|
|
|
(1) Conical (semi-wadcutter angled to a point, like a pencil)
|
|
(2) Round Nose (semi-wadcutter eliptical round nose)
|
|
(3) Hollow Point (universal projection punch, used with any other)
|
|
(4) Wadcutter (slightly raised button nose style)
|
|
(5) Cup Nose (a shallow, round cup shape)
|
|
(6) Open Tip (a punch that fits inside the jacket, for 2-die sets)
|
|
|
|
Those are nose shapes available, in standard off the shelf designs
|
|
only. In this system, the punches are made to standard patterns and
|
|
cannot be made to special order without incurring regular time and
|
|
material charges over the usual punch price. With current salaries for
|
|
die-makers where they are, you may not be thrilled to hire one to make
|
|
a punch slightly different from standard (chances are, your target
|
|
would never know the difference anyway).
|
|
Base shapes can also be changed by ordering an extra punch.
|
|
There are internal punches to replace the standard flat base. You can
|
|
order:
|
|
|
|
(1) Dish Base (very shallow curve to the edge of the jacket)
|
|
(2) Cup Base (slightly deeper, like the cup nose, with flats to
|
|
the edge of the bullet)
|
|
(3) Hollow Base (very deep, like the hollow point punch. Not well
|
|
suited to jacketed bullets but nice for lead bullets)
|
|
|
|
The rifle calibers are always ordered with a matching point former
|
|
die. You can't make a complete bullet in the CS-1-R alone for a rifle
|
|
caliber, since the velocity is so high that pistol designs tend to be
|
|
unstable and have poor ballistics. You are welcome to order these dies
|
|
for replacements, but good luck trying to make a finished bullet in
|
|
one! When you order the core seater and point former as a set, it
|
|
makes up the BSD-xxxR catalog number. You don't need to order each
|
|
one, if you specify the BSD-xxxR.
|
|
All punches are ordered with the catalog number "PUNCH-R" for
|
|
reloading press use. Then, specify internal or external punch,
|
|
caliber, and shape (if it needs to be specified, as with noses for
|
|
handgun punches). To order a replacement ejection pin for the point
|
|
forming dies, always specify the caliber. You can call it a "PUNCH-R"
|
|
and specify ejection pin, plus caliber. That will get it.
|
|
Core seating punches for the rifle calibers are made in different
|
|
diameters to fit inside the various jackets available. Either tell us
|
|
the diameter you want and we will supply the closest standard diameter
|
|
that we have, or send a sample jacket to match. In the .224, we have
|
|
two core seat external punches. One fits the rimfire jacket, and one
|
|
fits the commercial jacket that we sell. The diameters are 0.204 and
|
|
0.197 inches, respectively.
|
|
Many people have commented that they were not able to make a light
|
|
enough bullet with a certain jacket. After I checked it out, I found
|
|
that the problem was the style of bullet. Most of the standard jackets
|
|
make just about any weight you like, if you know how to make use of the
|
|
punches and dies. The open tip core seating punch will push a short
|
|
lead core as far into the jacket as you like. Then the point forming
|
|
die will wrap the end of the jacket around the ogive, and the bullet
|
|
can be as light as you wish.
|
|
The problem is with solid lead tip Keith style bullets. They fill
|
|
the jacket, and then some. Typical jackets available today make
|
|
maximum weights for the caliber with this sort of style. The answer is
|
|
to use the hollow point and cup base punches on the bullet first, then
|
|
follow with the Keith punch. This lets you use a lot less lead, moves
|
|
it forward so it can form lead nose within the cavity of the Keith
|
|
punch, and thus produces a very light bullet in a very long jacket.
|
|
One last point about reloading press dies: they are just as good
|
|
as any other kind, except that they are made to fill the need for
|
|
entry-level, lower cost bullet-making. Rather than cut corners on
|
|
quality, we decided long ago that the best approach was to limit the
|
|
styles, calibers, and options available to a managable, popular group
|
|
and then make the equipment in longer runs, without the expense of
|
|
individual, custom work.
|
|
When someone calls and insists on having a reloading press die,
|
|
but with some special options that are not standard ones, they are in
|
|
effect crashing the whole idea of equal quality at lower cost. If one
|
|
can afford the expense of the custom work, they can probably save money
|
|
by getting the Mity Mite system to start with. It was designed with
|
|
custom work in mind. And if someone doesn't want to buy the press, but
|
|
just wants the dies made special, then they should consider the cost of
|
|
the die-maker's time. It amounts to buying the press anyway. Why not
|
|
get it? Then, everything made in the future will still fit and
|
|
interchange properly. Custom work usually doesn't.
|