"Bumping up" a jacketed bullet

[rookie wildcat]

Took a bit to find this again, but I once read that Ken Waters used swaging dies to "bump up" some jacketed bullets. Found it again in his notebook.
So, I am now looking to find someone who makes swaging dies for my Rock Chucker that will bump up a 220gn .308" Sierra bullet to a .315". I have an old (8198) LEC that could really use this.
Anybody....?

 

[A&Shuntr]

Corbins are the guys to see. You will probably require a bullet swaging press. That operation will take considerable force to complete. Anyhow, those guys are experts on exactly what you want. 3w.corbins.com

 

[marshman]

Drawing down a .323 or .318 would be way easier/better, as you will soon discover. but you'll be waiting a longgg time for the dies, plus your rock chucker might not have enough stroke on the cam, but can be done. good luck, Marshal

 

[rookie wildcat]

Well, Ken was told not to draw down because it would weaken the jacket and could cause it to fragment. He also carried out this operation on an RCBS A-2. I am not worried about the press. I have that taken care of. I think I will just thread a block of steel with a 7/8"X 14 hole. Mount that in my 12-ton Princess Auto shop press. It will be upside down but it should still work fine, no?
So, Corbin is the only way to go, then? Guess I'd better get hold of them, then.

 

[bearhunter]

I've bumped up jacketed bullets. I will tell you right now, performance is usually abysmal. Same goes for swaging


diameters down.

This is just a suggestion, but why not get into casting your own and using gas checks.

The next best situation, is to get a complete set of swaging dies and make your own jacketed bullets.

There have been a couple of fellows on CGN that have done this in the past. One was even selling the 220 grain bullets he was casting. He finally quit selling them because he couldn't keep up with demand. If you decide to swage down .323 diameter bullets, it is much easier than bumping the bullets up. The bullets seem to change inside though and it's hard to keep them square and consistent.

CIL, Dominian, IVI, used to make 220 grain bullets from .311 to .315 diameter. The old metford style rifling used to like the larger diameters bullets. Many Lithgows used to come in with .314-.315 bores as well. It wasn't at all uncommon for the gunshops that carried reloading supplies to carry 30 calibre bullets that ranged from .308 to .329. Sadly, that is no longer the case. Hornady might still have them available on special order. They are making .329 bullets for the 8x56 so you never know, until you contact them.

 

[trevj]

Well, Ken was told not to draw down because it would weaken the jacket and could cause it to fragment. He also carried out this operation on an RCBS A-2. I am not worried about the press. I have that taken care of. I think I will just thread a block of steel with a 7/8"X 14 hole. Mount that in my 12-ton Princess Auto shop press. It will be upside down but it should still work fine, no?
So, Corbin is the only way to go, then? Guess I'd better get hold of them, then.

You can't afford them, or the wait for their stuff. Either of the Corbins.

Richard Corbin, at rceco.com, has some parts of his book online to read. Didn't look to see if the bullet bump and draw stuff was up. He's the fast one. Wait times between one and two years, reportedly. Sometimes has stuff listed that is in stock, available without the calender. Standard stuff, not special or custom stuff.

David Corbin, at corbins.com, is reputedly a bit slower, or more backlogged, depending on how you look at it. I think they are both working as hard as they want to be. Anyone else that sells swaging stuff is either hugely more expensive, or selling stuff they are making without anywhere near the precision level.

Come to the shop tomorrow and we'll talk.

Cheers
Trev