Swage bullets

[buickmarti]

Have a black powder gun manual from the 60s. They talk about swaging blanks into bullets. Is this still done or is it a thing of the past?

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

A lot/most all of commercially supplied bullets/balls are swagged, eliminates overheated/under-heated molds as well as voids in the finished product.

 

[Are. M.]

You mentioned commercially cast balls being inconsistent. Would casting balls yourself be more or less consistent than the commercially available swaged balls? I only have experience with the latter, but it seems like with first person QC you could really nail that uniformity down.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

You mentioned commercially cast balls being inconsistent.

In my experience, there is a considerable reject rate in home cast that just does not show up in swagged projectiles, not all voids are visible and will go unnoticed unless you weigh them individually and segregate accordingly. I have seen the action of cutting the sprue on a home cast ball smear lead over the cavity effectively making it non existent to the visual inspection. I've no idea what the reject rate of commercial cast projectiles is, but an acquaintance that shot competitive modern pistol invested in swag equipment versus cast for among other things a near non existent reject rate in finished product.

That said the process of home casting can be relaxing and quite enjoyable.

 

[fleener]

Swaging bullets is still done commercially and also by individual shooters.

For the individual, it is certainly not common, and it would be mostly limited to bullets for target shooting and not round balls.

Fleener

 

[buickmarti]

 

[SDSmlf]

Here are photographs of the weigh-in of two different balls from a single box of purchased swaged roundballs. Found nearly 10 grains of weigh variation, less than .0005” in diameter variation. Have seen worse, but don’t have photographic evidence. Personally have found that when everything is perfect and using weighed balls will have groups in the one inch range at 100 yards. Mix in the known goofballs from the same box and in the 3-4” range or more. Have seen significant weight variations in both red and yellow boxes of purchased swaged roundballs.

 

[ApprenticeBuilder]

Here are photographs of the weigh-in of two different balls from a single box of purchased swaged roundballs. Found nearly 10 grains of weigh variation, less than .0005” in diameter variation. Have seen worse, but don’t have photographic evidence. Personally have found that when everything is perfect and using weighed balls will have groups in the one inch range at 100 yards. Mix in the known goofballs from the same box and in the 3-4” range or more. Have seen significant weight variations in both red and yellow boxes of purchased swaged roundballs.

It's still an imperfect process and being in the same box does not guarantee that the alloy is the same.

 

[fleener]

It has been a few years but I have visited Hornady's facility for a tour twice. If my memory serves me correctly they had a really big lead pot that they cast their own ingots in. Those ingots were the right size for them to swage lead rope out of. The lead rope of what ever dia. they were making came squirting out of the press and a guy was standing there guiding it onto a spool.

Those spools were then used at the various machines to swage out bullets or round balls. The round balls were placed in plastic cement mixer with a couple of towels thrown in and they were tumbled for a while. When I asked how long they tumbled them, the answer was "for a while"

If you find yourself in Grand Island NE or passing through, it is worth a stop for the tour.

Fleener

 

[Enfield58]

http://www.corbins.com/

 

[Sun City]

Inconsistency in weights and diameters IS NOT what I have found at all using swaged Hornady balls and just for the sake of checking I have measured and weighed batches more than once!

.54 Hawken Flintlock by Sharps Man, on Flickr

Three shots at 75 yards.....and this more than once from a quality rifle!!

 

[George]

It's a surprising historical fact that balls have been swaged in this country for 200 years.

William N. Blane, _An Excursion through the United States and Canada, during the Years 1822-3 by an English Gentleman_
pg 382 "Another very ingenious machine forms musket-bullets by mere compression. There are two wheels of steel, the circumferences of which are pierced with small cups, each of sufficient size to contain half a musket-bullet. These cups are close to one another, and have at the bottom a very small hole to allow the escape of air, which would otherwise prevent the lead from completely filling the cavity. A small strip of lead, somewhat thicker than the diameter of a musket-bullet, is introduced between the circumferences of the wheels, which nearly touch one another, and which by revolving force it into the cups, from whence it afterwards falls out on the opposite side in the shape of complete spheres."

Spence

 

[Enfield58]

 

[hanshi]

Weight consistency of round ball may be critical in formal matches or for those desiring one-hole groups at 100 yds and over; but I cast my own and only do a visible inspection and accuracy is just fine. I simply cannot shoot well enough with primitive open sights to tell any difference even at 50 yds. On occasion I've weighed my cast ball just for record. The weight variation was always small to rather modest. I've even fired good groups using the culls. For those individuals who are really great shots these small variations in weight make a difference on the target that is quite noticeable to them. Myself? forget it!