Author Topic: lead swaging question (Read 1524 times)

MG-42 · « **on:** February 05, 2003, 12:38:36 PM »

If a core has been swaged for 308 caliber can it be swaged a second time for 311. Or does it have to be melted down and start from scratch??

talon · « **Reply #1 on:** February 05, 2003, 02:15:03 PM »

A core used for a .308 bullet can be used for making .311 bullets without any further sizing. As a matter of fact you'll be using the exact same size 'raw' jacket, but different Core Seating and point forming dies.

MG-42 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 05, 2003, 05:17:10 PM »

Thanks for the replay. If a core has been pressed into a 308 jacket and the only step left is to form the point is it to late to then reform it in a 311 die. I ask this question as I have quite a few 308 jackets with core that I want to convert to 311 bullets. Thanks

talon · « **Reply #3 on:** February 06, 2003, 04:04:12 AM »

It would be best to take those pre-formed .308 jacketed cores and swage them again in a .311 core seating die. If you skip this step and then proceed to form the point the shank of the bullet will, most probably, be very slightly cone shaped, going from .311 at the heal to about .3085 at the place where the ogive starts. I know. I've gone that route thinking I could 'get by' by only buying a PF die a few thousandths above a set I already had. While the bullet 'looks good' and shoots relitively well, the shank is not parellel. I do not know what effect, over time, this would have on the barrel's throat, but I do know the bullet isn't as it should be.

MG-42 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 06, 2003, 12:54:03 PM »

Thanks again. I contacted rce today about a 311 die. Is it possable to use the same 308 cores and jackets for 323 bullets? Or is it to great an increase?

talon · « **Reply #5 on:** February 06, 2003, 03:31:50 PM »

Yes, you can use the same cores and Jackets. The difference in weight will be zero, of course, but the difference in the core filling the jacket will be very small. In other words, if the lead just barely meets the point of the jacket when you swage a .308 bullet in the PF die, it may only come up to about .009" less to the point in a .311 bullet. I bet a shotgun pellet of size #6 added to the core material would bring the .311 bullet's point into the same configuration as with the .308, but then the weight would be about .7 grains more. When you start trying to get nit-picky, you spend a lot of time with scales, a micrometer, bullets and your PF dies.