Swaging Oversize Gas Check Shanks Down
Posted: 22 Oct 2017 09:25
First the problem.
I have Beagled my Lee .323 mold to drop .325-326 bullets that match the groove diameter of my DOT 44 Mauser. Unfortunately my Hornady .32 GC's won't start easily on the now enlarged shanks of the oversize bullets. I can get them to seat in the Lee sizer that I have lapped out to .325 but they are only half on and cupped. Sometimes they are ringed on the bottom as the stem of the sizer is now several thousands undersized to the lapped out sizing die. The checks seem tight but I was not happy with the deformation or the chance of a separated check slamming into my chronograph. Now the Solution
Google to the rescue. It seems that the Lee factory crimp die (FCD) can be used to swage down the check shank of a bullet. The trick is getting the right size FCD and the technique was not well explained. The correct size turns out to be a 6.5x55 FCD and the technique simple. Place the die in the press per usual but backed out a bit. Put a sized empty 6.5 case in the shell holder and raise the ram up. Screw in the FCD till the fingers in the die just start to close. Lower the ram a bit and place the oversized bullet into the top of the die so that the shank sits inside of the fingers of the die. The first driving band holds the rest of the bullet out of the die as it nicely sits on top of the rim of the crimping fingers. Raise the ram and the case will cause the fingers to close around the check shank. Lower the ram and check the fit of the shank in the gas check. Make tiny adjustments to the amount of the swaging by screwing the die i further in small increments. The final result is a check that fully seats and crimps tight in the sizer without bottom deformation.
I have Beagled my Lee .323 mold to drop .325-326 bullets that match the groove diameter of my DOT 44 Mauser. Unfortunately my Hornady .32 GC's won't start easily on the now enlarged shanks of the oversize bullets. I can get them to seat in the Lee sizer that I have lapped out to .325 but they are only half on and cupped. Sometimes they are ringed on the bottom as the stem of the sizer is now several thousands undersized to the lapped out sizing die. The checks seem tight but I was not happy with the deformation or the chance of a separated check slamming into my chronograph. Now the Solution
Google to the rescue. It seems that the Lee factory crimp die (FCD) can be used to swage down the check shank of a bullet. The trick is getting the right size FCD and the technique was not well explained. The correct size turns out to be a 6.5x55 FCD and the technique simple. Place the die in the press per usual but backed out a bit. Put a sized empty 6.5 case in the shell holder and raise the ram up. Screw in the FCD till the fingers in the die just start to close. Lower the ram a bit and place the oversized bullet into the top of the die so that the shank sits inside of the fingers of the die. The first driving band holds the rest of the bullet out of the die as it nicely sits on top of the rim of the crimping fingers. Raise the ram and the case will cause the fingers to close around the check shank. Lower the ram and check the fit of the shank in the gas check. Make tiny adjustments to the amount of the swaging by screwing the die i further in small increments. The final result is a check that fully seats and crimps tight in the sizer without bottom deformation.