Ammunition & Hand Loading > Cartridge and Shotshell reloading

Swaging - nothing yet, just doing some math.

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unfy:
I won't swage 9mm.... but for doing some pricing it seems like a reasonable idea because it includes the extra cost of the brass tubing that is most prevalent for use in swaging jacketed 9mm rounds.

A 147gr bullet appears to be 2/3's of an inch long (0.67xxxx).

Gets you 17.64 bullets per foot, or 52.9 per 3 feet.

36 inch brass tubing can be had for $6 per 3 feet.... although this is on the cheaper end.  I dunno if it's a reasonable expectation.

Jacket material places you at 11 cents per bullet.... and we've not even started discussing the cost of lead... which is probably between 2 and 4 cents per bullet.

From Berry's, 1000 piece cost for entire bullets is a bit over 10 cents a bullet for 147gr, or closer to 8-9 cents for lighter.

So.... swaging 9mm with a jacket is about producing quality ammo, not necessarily cheaper.


You can swage 9mm brass into .40 jackets...

1000 9mm fired brass tends to go for $35-$40, putting you between 3 and 5 cents per jacket.

This should be able to get you a decent quality bullet and remain cheaper than berry's.


For rifle rounds, there are dies out there to take 22 brass and turn into jackets for those who like to shoot them evil black rifles.

For the 30 cal rifle rounds... 9/32 tubing gives you a size of 0.28125.  The 11/32 is 0.34375. 

.308 - 0.28125 = 0.02675 = 91.3% sized
.355 - 0.34375 = 0.01125 = 96.8% sized

Soooo... I don't really think you'll be able to use tubing to get to .308.

bkoenig:
I've looked into swaging, but when you factor in the cost of the equipment, plus materials, plus my time it just makes more sense to buy ready made projectiles.  Those .223 swaging setups sure are neat, though.

unfy:
Just an update...

Allegedly 380 brass can be used for 9mm jackets.  Someone also claims to have used .32 auto brass, although I don't see how that doesn't tear or similar.

unfy:

--- Quote from: bkoenig on December 14, 2012, 12:39:08 AM ---I've looked into swaging, but when you factor in the cost of the equipment, plus materials, plus my time it just makes more sense to buy ready made projectiles.  Those .223 swaging setups sure are neat, though.

--- End quote ---

Swaging 223 shouldn't be that expensive.

Jackets are free .... and you can quite possibly be evil on the dies :).

To de-rimm a 22 case for forming into a jacket, a Lee 223 sizing die might actually work just fine :).

Also, gunbroker currently has a de-rimming die for $50 right now.

Swaging the lead into it ... I.... haven't checked to see if anyone offers an inexpensive swage die or not.

As far as the super expensive presses... I don't think they would be necessary on something as small as 223 in particular.  Just have a decent rock chucker or other oversized iron press and you should be good to go.

Also, if you pre-size your lead cores, you shouldn't need to exert the stupid amount of force needed to bleed lead through a bleeder hole for getting certain sizes etc.

unfy:
I can get 40s&w jacket material down to under 3 cents (2.5 cents before shipping) per bullet.

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