Swaging/ Jackets

[blarby]

Ok, so must uf us know by this point that 22LR brass can be swaged into bullet jackets for ,223. There are even kits out there just for this purpose.

I know that ReloaderFred Swages some neat HP bullets for other calibers out of other sizes of brass.

Anyone know, or can think of, or by golly has actually done- any jacket swaging for 30 cal ?

What would work ? What could work ?

 

[KansasSasquatch]

I believe 5.7 brass can be used for most .30 bullets. I believe there's a few others too, I seem to recall either .25 or .32ACP can be formed to work. .22lr works for .224 jackets, 9mm works for .40 jackets, .40 works for .45 jackets. It seems like you just find whatever the next smallest caliber is and use that brass.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Here is a list of the brass I've used to make swaged handgun bullets:

1. .32 acp into 9mm/.357
2. .380 acp into .357
3. 9mm into .40
4. 9mm into .41
5. .40 S&W into .44
6. .40 S&W into .45

There are many combinations that work, but the key is starting with something that is smaller in diameter so it can be bumped up to the final diameter. You also have to have a way to fully anneal the entire case, since you'll be moving brass around, including the solid base of the case.

Many people will also make draw dies, so they can reform annealed brass into a smaller diameter, which also makes the "jacket" longer, and is ideal for making rifle bullets. In some cases, the original cartridge case has to be trimmed, since they are too long. I've worked around this in most cases by folding the excess brass back into the very large hollow point.

When I get some spare time, I'm going to experiment with making swaged bullets for my .444 Marlin, which is a challenge, since the velocity is so much greater for this rifle round. It requires a tougher bullet that won't come apart when it hits something.

So many projects, so little time...........

Hope this helps.

Fred