Swaging a 22 bullet pictorial | Homestead Security | Forums

Reposting this with priceless's permission

Ok I have heard a little chatter on this forum about homemade bullets and it seems that there is very little to no other information on the forum about it. We are going to change that. This is a pictorial of how to swage a 22 caliber bullet that can be shot in any 22 caliber rifle from bolts to autos with no ill effects so long as you follow a few simple guidelines.

Before we begin I want you to understand that this is not “THE WAY’ but “A WAY” of doing it. Other folks use different process but the results are the same.

Let’s begin.

You will need a “DERIMMING DIE” if you are going to use spent 22 rimfire hulls. You can get them on line just make sure it is for your press.

A “PRESS”, reloading presses are fine here so long as they are in good shape. You want it tight, not sloppy you are trying to hold minimal tolerances here. Try to stay away from cast aluminum if at possible, some hold up just fine others fail. I use a Corbin’s CSP-1 in the pictures because like you guys I thought that he was the only guy in town. I have since learned differently.

“LEAD”, or something else to make the cores with. You can use casted wheel weight or lead wire of proper diameter. Casted wheel weights will require a casting setup and a mold.

“BULLET FORMING DIES” A good set of dies are a must because they will determine the final outcome of your finished bullet, as well as the press.

Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to spend thousands on a setup. You can get going for a few hundred dollars if you catch things on sale. Otherwise, for a 22 caliber you are looking at $500 on the top end to get started. But this includes the press and all tooling. If you just want to do a pistol bullet like a 45 ACP, you can get started for under $200.

“LUBE” This is not a suggestion! A good quality high pressure lube that does not diesel is not an option. There are commercial brands you can buy or you can make your own from as little as 2 items. Don’t underestimate the homemade stuff. I found the recipe on line a few years back and it is all I use now. I even use it as a reloading lube and never have to worry about oil dents. Outstanding stuff!

“JACKETS” only if you intent to do high power rifle loads, not really needed for pistols. They can be made or purchased, your choice.

In this case we are going to use rimfire hulls. The process doesn’t change if you use factory jackets from the big boys just and extra few steps added in. So this is where we are going to start.

Acquire as many hulls as possible. Expect a 1-5% rejection, failure rate; 10% if you are sloppy and try to cut corners. I separate mine by name brand and only use one brand at a time. Consistency equals accuracy.

The first thing that you are going to do here is clean them. You need to get the powder residue out of the inside and clean the external as well to keep from scratching your derimming die. You can boil them in hot water with dish detergent and vinegar for about 20 minutes, thoroughly rinse in cold water. You can use an Ultra Sonic Cleaner if you want. Wash them good. You want them to be clean. If you don’t get the priming compound out it may detonate on you in the press, even after cleaning it may still happen. Just be careful.

Once they are clean to your satisfaction we go to step 2.

Set the press up. Again when I started Corbin was all I knew and that is what I bought. Here is the derimming set up for his press. Dr. Blackmon, Corbins and several others also make a set up for regular reloading presses.

Now that the press is set up with the die set in place we are ready.

After the hulls are clean and dry we begin. First take the lube that you are using and put a little dab of lube on the casing. I mean “LITTLE” if you are using a swage lube and place the hull on the post.