Have any of you "opened Up" a swage die?

[JBMauser]

I have a Swag-0-Matic and a herters 9 ton press.  I have some .44 cal dies coming my way.  my plan is to put the die in my 7/10 lathe and use a dremmel to open up the die a bit.  I want to swage a soft lead pill to paper patch up for a old danish RB that takes a .462 pill.  I just don't know if these dies as have been heat treated beyond my ability to cut or grind them open.  Have any of you customized your own swag dies?  The die will not need a mirror finish when I am done I think as long as it can eject the pill a little character will give the paper something to bite into I think.  Tell me if you think I am to far afield here.  Thanks in advance.  JB

[Reed1911]

I'm not fimilar with your press set-up, but generally speaking a swage die has to have a very smooth finish to release the bullet so it can come out. I use solid style dies with a pin ejector, and if the SOM is set up the same way you'll make one bullet and have to drill or melt it out.

Why not use your lathe to cut your existing die with a cutter and then polish it? Or order in the proper sized swage die. Heck, .458" dies could be opened up pretty easy to .4610 and lapped to full size you need. CH Tool makes swage dies for next to nothing and are likely right up your alley for what you need. Plus you can order one with a taper and hollow base for paper patching. Just my thoughts.

[JBMauser]

Thank you Reed1911, good advice, I need to chew on it and do some research on metal hardness.  The press I was going to use is the Herter's 9 ton press which is similar to the Corbin mighty mite except it takes dies like a CH swag-o-matic.  The die sits in the ram and the punch is in the head of the die.

As far as I know you can cut a die then harden it but cutting it once hardened is not so good or so I think.  I need to know so I will do some more research.  I will ring up CH and see what they can spin up for me.  thanks again.

[.22-5-40]

Hello, JBMauser.  While i am certain a dremil tool would open your die up..the result might not be what you like.  I spoke with Dave Corbin several years ago about die making.  When a die is brought up to final size, the die is hard, final polishing is done with various grades of diamond abrasive..the trick is to reach finished dia. with the finest abrasive..too soon, with too coarse & you get stuck bullets & poor finish..too early..you can spend days days trying to get dia. to come in with that fine compound. all of this is done by hand with brass laps..a world of difference from any power tool.

[danrickard]

I have a Swag-0-Matic and a herters 9 ton press.  I have some .44 cal dies coming my way.  my plan is to put the die in my 7/10 lathe and use a dremmel to open up the die a bit.  I want to swage a soft lead pill to paper patch up for a old danish RB that takes a .462 pill.  I just don't know if these dies as have been heat treated beyond my ability to cut or grind them open.  Have any of you customized your own swag dies?  The die will not need a mirror finish when I am done I think as long as it can eject the pill a little character will give the paper something to bite into I think.  Tell me if you think I am to far afield here.  Thanks in advance.  JB

hello, my name is dan, i have opened up several dies in my days..  i also use a 6inch atlas lathe.
  before you attempt something like this, its best to work on something close to the hardness of the dies to test out your methods.  or risk destroying your only die.

with that being said, there are also other ways of making bullet swage dies.
 the best way that i have found for pistol / larger caliber bullets is to find a reloading die that is close to what you want, then modify it.. the steel is much softer than most swage dies, but works just as good.

 for a .462, you could use a 284 winchester sizing die.  the sholder on a 284 is .475,  so you would only have to resize it down to 462.   with a lathe you should be able to make a top swage punch to eject the lead very easily for this die.  just replace the de-capping/neck sizing assembly with an ejector.

there are several reloading dies that come close to .462..   with modifying any reloading die into a bullet swage die.. the key is to find a reloading die that has a neck width that is as close to the bullet size you want to swage.

the .243 winchester has a neck size of .454, and a 20 degree neck angle,  perfect for lead pill bullets..  you could lap this down with a dowell and sandpaper on the lathe to .462 as well.

 
 Dan
drickard at gmail.com