May I suggest you look into Richard Corbin's RCE Walnut Hill presses. I believe they are stronger than the Dave Corbin "S" press, and a bit lower cost, the last time I checked. Richard's web site is http://rceco.com/. With either press, you will have a much better setup than using a standard reloading press. Some advantages to using one of these purpose-build bullet swaging presses are:
1. They have at least twice the mechanical advantage of the biggest reloading press.
2. They are built tougher out of high tensile strength steel instead of Cast Iron or Aluminum.
3. The swaging presses are built to much closer tolerances, which will produce more uinform bullets.
4. The swaging die is attached to the RAM instead of the frame. This alows the bullet ejector pin to automatically eject the bullets as the RAM is lowered, instead of you having to take an additional step of using a separate tool to eject the bullet like you would have to do with a reloading press.
5. Expecially with the RCE press, the Dies are larger in diameter, especially in the threaded portion, which greatly increases their strength over the smaller diameter dies that are necessary to fit a standard reloading press. Bullet swaging can create tremendous pressures, which has been known to split thinner dies.
You can make 30 caliber (and other size) bullets out of copper tubing using the Corbin or RCE press using special copper tubing jacket maker dies, or you can buy already made jackets J4 Jackets from Berger bullets, or you can purchase the legendary Sierra jackets (or at least they used to sell them). If you want to draw your own jackets from flat stock, I think you are going to need a hydraulic swaging press. Both Corbin and RCE make hydraulic presses.
As far as being worth your time and money, that depends upon who you ask. If you want the satisfaction of knowing you can make your own jacketed bullets from commonly found raw materials such as spent 22 cases, copper tubing from the hardware store, and scrap lead, then yes it is worth it. If you just want cheap bullets and do not want to make the effort and spend the time to "roll your own", then it is definitely not worth it.
When you swage your own bullets, you have an infinite range of weights and styles to select from. For example, you can make a bunch of 171.2 grain 30 caliber hollow point bullets, or you can work up a load incrementing the bullet weights in half-grain increments just like you would do with powder. Who knows, in a bench rest competition you might find that perfect weight bullet, that is just not sold commercially, which gives you the slight edge you need to win the match.
1. They have at least twice the mechanical advantage of the biggest reloading press.
2. They are built tougher out of high tensile strength steel instead of Cast Iron or Aluminum.
3. The swaging presses are built to much closer tolerances, which will produce more uinform bullets.
4. The swaging die is attached to the RAM instead of the frame. This alows the bullet ejector pin to automatically eject the bullets as the RAM is lowered, instead of you having to take an additional step of using a separate tool to eject the bullet like you would have to do with a reloading press.
5. Expecially with the RCE press, the Dies are larger in diameter, especially in the threaded portion, which greatly increases their strength over the smaller diameter dies that are necessary to fit a standard reloading press. Bullet swaging can create tremendous pressures, which has been known to split thinner dies.
You can make 30 caliber (and other size) bullets out of copper tubing using the Corbin or RCE press using special copper tubing jacket maker dies, or you can buy already made jackets J4 Jackets from Berger bullets, or you can purchase the legendary Sierra jackets (or at least they used to sell them). If you want to draw your own jackets from flat stock, I think you are going to need a hydraulic swaging press. Both Corbin and RCE make hydraulic presses.
As far as being worth your time and money, that depends upon who you ask. If you want the satisfaction of knowing you can make your own jacketed bullets from commonly found raw materials such as spent 22 cases, copper tubing from the hardware store, and scrap lead, then yes it is worth it. If you just want cheap bullets and do not want to make the effort and spend the time to "roll your own", then it is definitely not worth it.
When you swage your own bullets, you have an infinite range of weights and styles to select from. For example, you can make a bunch of 171.2 grain 30 caliber hollow point bullets, or you can work up a load incrementing the bullet weights in half-grain increments just like you would do with powder. Who knows, in a bench rest competition you might find that perfect weight bullet, that is just not sold commercially, which gives you the slight edge you need to win the match.
