Saw where hornady came out with a set of blank making dies so I bought a set to play with. Figured I'd keep it simple & made these for the 1st test run.



These bullets were caveman simple to make. Simply dropped a cast bullet into a 380acp case (no case trimming necessary) and ran the bullet/lead core up in the blank notching die. Then I used a 222 fl die to form the bullet nose.

I'm a little confused. If those are supposed to be blanks why did you seat a bullet in the case?

They do look good...

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That's just it, their not blanks, they are actual bullets made with brass cases and lead.

I bought the blank making die kit to use the notching die to make real bullets out of cheap/free range brass (range brass ='s bullet jackets) and free range scrap lead (range scrap lead ='s free cast bullets to use as cores).

Other people sell just the notching die for $200 + shipping. Or sell blank making kits for specific calibers for $155 + shipping. The hornady dies are $95 delivered to the door.

What you're looking at in the pictures above are actual bullets that will be loaded into 357 cases.

That's pretty interesting. Could you post more pics of the bullets you used before you put them into the cases? Were they hollow-pointed prior to assembly?

Rob

That's pretty neat. I guess if you wanted to size them you could run them through a Lee bullet sizing die. How do they weigh?

Excellent. 380 brass for .38/.357 bullets. I have been saving .40 S&W brass to make .44 cal jacketed bullets, but it would prolly just be a "see if I can" adventure. I need more research to find dies, but life gets in the way sometimes...

Go to the swaging section of the cast boolit forum and look for BTsniper. He has a sticky.

I use 40s&w brass all the time to make 44cal & 45cal bullets. after I get done with the .357 bullets I was going to move on to 44cal's using the notch die and either my .429 swaging dies or 6mm rifle dies to form the bullets.

It will be a couple of days before I have time to swage anymore bullets but it would be easy enough to take pics and walk people thru the process.

I have 3 different sets of swaging dies to make .357 bullets along with wc/swc/rn/2x hpswc nose forming dies. All of them produce/swage/make strait walled .357 bullets. I used a fl 222 sizing die because I wanted to make a long bodied tapered bullet.

Why the long body/taper?
Because they should be extremely accurate in revolvers/forcing cones + have the ability to withstand max pressure/speeds/recoil. If you look closely at the bullets you'll see a shinny line below the cannalure. The bullet measures .358" until the shinny area ends. From the end of the shinny area on the bullet to the top of the cannalure measures .357". From the top of the cannalure to where the notches start on the bullet's nose measures .356".

The .358 body provides extra holding tension/excellent for recoil and getting a better powder burn.
The .357 cannalure is for a heavy crimp/excellent for recoil and getting a better powder burn.
The .356 nose aids in bullet/forcing cone alignment, hence, better accuracy.

After I test these I will be making 175g/180g bullets for the .357 made with the same hornady/222 combo. But I'll be using untrimmed 9mm brass and 125g 30cal bullets for cores. I have 3 different lite weight 30cal bullets to use and should produce a 175g hpswc, a 180g fn and a 180g sp bullet.

How do you seat cores? I am familiar with the swaging methods, make my own 223 from 22lr brass, but you need to seat cores & size jackets or am I missing something?

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If I had to guess ...
smells like he drops the core into the case then sizes the case down around it.
the rest is a truly fascinating misuse of dies.
I'd have tortured some steel on the lathe before I ever thought to form the point n a standard issue rifle die.

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it just needs more voltage

Very impressive!

Ingenuity at play...

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The crime scene forensics could be real interesting. When I concealed carried a M459 (?) with 15 round mag, it was loaded with 5 different brands of bullets.

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Interesting to say the least. After you shoot them, get back to us on how accurate they shoot. Larry

I would think the core has to be properly seated, or accuracy will suffer. At least that is what happens swaging 223 from 22lr brass.

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A couple things come into play with the cores and seating them.

Rifle bullets have to withstand higher pressures, velocities and rpm's.
Rifle bullets have to be more concentric for accuracy @ longer distances.

Pistol bullets have a whole different set of rules that they can be made by. The cores can be seated/formed to the cases as the bullets are being formed.
The cores don't have to have to be centered in the cases/jackets and at times are purposely offset.

!!

Does the brass casings need to be annealed? I would think that the brass would be very hard on the rifling?

Yes, at least for rifle bullets. Hard on the dies plus the points won't form correctly & fold.

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Do you shoot jacketed bullets? Brass forms the jacket for them. All brass is softer than steel.

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