RIMFIRE Jacket Maker kits

Other than my space issues (I really could use a shop or a larger garage) I agree with Mo.

The price of admission is what is really holding me back. I can get spent .22 LR hulls fairly easy, as I shoot a lot of .22 LR myself, and have several friends that shoot same and are willing to let me take the empties.

Every now and then, haunting Gunbroker, some enterprising souls have started selling large piles of spent .22 LR hulls for a decent price; I am betting shooting for those folks “rolling their own.”

Being on a fixed income at present and going to school full time, makes such a large outlay is not only difficult to sell to the Financial Officer, but a serious chunk of what little discretionary money we have.

Like Mo said, if Lee or some other manufacturer could get the price down a tad (hopefully while still making them here rather than China, Taiwan, or some other 3rd-world shite hole), I would be right behind Mo in the line to get a set, and start cranking out my own .224 and .243 (hopefully) bullets.

Guys I agree with the others about the cost of the equipment, Im one of those guys that likes to make stuff and if I can figure out how to make stuff Ill usualy do it.

My swage dies are from Richard Corbin, I think his regular flat based dies are $490 or so for the squirt, core seat and point form die.
The point form die is the ball breaker when it comes to cost, it basicly has to have a perfect finish and shape/size for the finished bullet. Cut slightly undersized, heat treated and final lapped to size.

I may try to do my own someday but for now Im happy to get what I can.

As for breaking even or saving money, honestly it wasnt about that at all for me. There is a good bit of pride and satisfaction that goes into the process, If youre into that then it is certainly worth it.

The good part is I can probably use my swage stuff for years and if I get tired of it I can probably sell it for more than I gave for it.
Good tools are like that, a good investment

Please don't get me wrong I would love to have a full set of Corbin dies to make .224 and .243 bullets from .22 LR & .22 WMR, but I just cannot afford them at present.

I have no doubt they are quality tools and well made. I just cannot afford such a huge expenditure right now - no matter how much I would love too.

ANeat wrote:Honestly I use a 7/32 drill bushing and a piece of 5mm drill rod. Works great and probably less than $20.00 in parts.

You do have to sacrifice an old reloading die and fab up some type of holder for the 5mm drill rod but thats not too tough.

Also RCE (Richard Corbin) his de-rimming die is $105.00

Here are some details

http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/showpost.php?p=952650&postcount=1

Here is mine

I think this is a great idea/setup. Nice job. Looks professional.

Question: Where did the threaded end cap, with the hole in it come from ? I think I understand the rest of it and think I can make a punch for it.

Is the punch long enough to push the .22 case all the way through or is it like all the others, derimming a few before they come out of the top ? Does it make a difference as to how thick the 7x32 1/2" OD SF drill bushing is ( 1/2", 5/8", etc ) ?

How many cases have you derimmed with this setup ? Any problems ? Would you have done anything different ?

Would appreciate any help/tips for a noob.

I did look at the link you provided in your post.

I made all the stuff in the pics, turned and threaded on my lathe. Others have taken something as simple as a decaping die, or some die that they can get a drill bushing to fit into, drill it on the side and just use a setscrew to hold it into place.

Ive used mine for many hundreds (probably not quite 1K) with no issues and the bullets shoot great.


I would say the shorter bushings would probably be a little better, and yes it just pushes the case thru the bushing and you have to do a few before they start coming out of the die

ANeat wrote:I made all the stuff in the pics, turned and threaded on my lathe. Others have taken something as simple as a decaping die, or some die that they can get a drill bushing to fit into, drill it on the side and just use a setscrew to hold it into place.

Ive used mine for many hundreds (probably not quite 1K) with no issues and the bullets shoot great.


I would say the shorter bushings would probably be a little better, and yes it just pushes the case thru the bushing and you have to do a few before they start coming out of the die

Thanks for the info.

Question: (I ask lots of them, sometimes dumb, but that has not stopprd me yet) So, I saw that the drill bushing on the link you posted, is held in by a set screw. I am guessing that yours is held in by the end cap you made ?

What keeps it in place ? Does it slide up and down in the expander/powder die ?

I know everyone was saying that not having a full .22 to .224 setup (because of cost) keeps them from swaging these bullets.

My thinking is that if I can make all, or most of the dies myself, and then buying a point forming die (because they are a pain to make), I will be able to have a full set of these dies for a couple hundred dollars.

Thanks for the info and answering my dumb questions. I am a little slow, but I usually catch on.

There is a shoulder on the drill bushing

ANeat wrote:There is a shoulder on the drill bushing

I understand now. Thanks

Its a slick way to get a de-rimming die and is also a good way to swage down various sizes using different drill bushings.

Still the other dies (core squirt, core seat, and point) will need either made or purchased

ANeat wrote:Its a slick way to get a de-rimming die and is also a good way to swage down various sizes using different drill bushings.

Still the other dies (core squirt, core seat, and point) will need either made or purchased

I am giong to order the parts to make this derimming die this week. I will post my results once I have it working.

Yeah, got a pretty good idea on how to make the other dies, just the point die will be a big challenge right now.

Figure I will make/buy each die in the process, as needed. Eventually....I will have a full set of .22 to .224 swage dies.

Thanks for all your help again.

Can't wait to get started !

I think I got it now. Thanks to Aneat and all, for the help. Now to figure a how to make the core swage die, cheap and easy.

Great Job Congrats.

Wow that looks pretty good.

I notice the brass looks a little pink. Did you soak these in a Lemishine ultrasonic cleaner bath before derimming?

My idea is to get a derimming die set from DW or someone else and make the hulls to pass on to someone else, maybe in exchange for a few finished bullets.

Saturday here was beautiful and some friends and I went to outdoor range for an Easter Egg Shoot. I did alright, but nothing to brag about.

After shooting was done, we swept the range of brass and picked up all the non-biodegradable target bits.

We must have swept up at least two 5 gal buckets of .22 LR, .17 HMR, .22 WMR, as well as few rogue .17 Aguila, and .17 HM2.

I could have taken the spent hulls but have no reason to at present so they went into the recycling bin.

scorge30 wrote:Wow that looks pretty good.

I notice the brass looks a little pink. Did you soak these in a Lemishine ultrasonic cleaner bath before derimming?

My idea is to get a derimming die set from DW or someone else and make the hulls to pass on to someone else, maybe in exchange for a few finished bullets.

Saturday here was beautiful and some friends and I went to outdoor range for an Easter Egg Shoot. I did alright, but nothing to brag about.

After shooting was done, we swept the range of brass and picked up all the non-biodegradable target bits.

We must have swept up at least two 5 gal buckets of .22 LR, .17 HMR, .22 WMR, as well as few rogue .17 Aguila, and .17 HM2.

I could have taken the spent hulls but have no reason to at present so they went into the recycling bin.

Yes sir, I lemmishined them after I annealed them.

WOW, a 5 gallon bucket is a lot of .22's. Once I get the rest of the set made/bought, I am sure we can work something out, bullets for brass. It might take me a while to get this all together though...so I hope you are a patient person.

Sounds like a great way to spend Easter. I am sure that fun was had by all.

Our local Jacees, my DU chapter and several of the Rotary and some of the veteran outfits like my VFW post host shooting events.

The Easter Egg shoot is a great way to spend Easter afternoon after mass (or church) with friends.

The 100 yard egg and aspirin shoots are limited to either .22 LR, or similar rimfire cases. You can shoot in the factory stock, modified or unlimited class. I shot my little P22 in the factory class and my 10-22 in the unlimited class.

Most use whatever cheap dime-store .22 LR ammo they can get their hands on but I always use match grade ammo. I was using RWS 320 match and despite the wind and rain hit a decent 86 of 100.

The 300 yard egg shoots are open to any centerfire rifle/scope combo you desire to use.

We had a good turnout this year, although we wish more kids would come. I have been trying to get the local Boyscouts to come but the head weiner is a gun hating nut job and we have had unpleasant words before.

With just around 100 people shooting some version of .22 LR ammo there were a lot of hulls around.

I enjoy the work at the press derimming hulls and you will have to let me know if you want them annealed or not.

It is very zen for me to sit there at my bench and work on the brass. One reason I like calibers like .357 Herrett and .30 Bower-Alaskan is I enjoy the work on the brass.

I am a process person and my physical therapist (sp?) says working with my hands is good for my recovery and mental state.

I am patient and there is no worry or hurry. Most of this summer is going to be spent refurbing the Great White Turd (AKA RV) trying to get it back on the road.

I can get several buckets of .22 LR hulls as I have a hook up at the local indoor range. The county recycler does not pay the range for the .22 LR hulls so they do not mind giving them to anyone who asks.

I frequently volunteer with my DU chapter with the DNR guys to clean up the public shooting ranges. We always come out with at least a bucket of brass most of it steel crap, but a lot of .22 LR.

scorge30 wrote:Our local Jacees, my DU chapter and several of the Rotary and some of the veteran outfits like my VFW post host shooting events.

The Easter Egg shoot is a great way to spend Easter afternoon after mass (or church) with friends.

The 100 yard egg and aspirin shoots are limited to either .22 LR, or similar rimfire cases. You can shoot in the factory stock, modified or unlimited class. I shot my little P22 in the factory class and my 10-22 in the unlimited class.

Most use whatever cheap dime-store .22 LR ammo they can get their hands on but I always use match grade ammo. I was using RWS 320 match and despite the wind and rain hit a decent 86 of 100.

The 300 yard egg shoots are open to any centerfire rifle/scope combo you desire to use.

We had a good turnout this year, although we wish more kids would come. I have been trying to get the local Boyscouts to come but the head weiner is a gun hating nut job and we have had unpleasant words before.

With just around 100 people shooting some version of .22 LR ammo there were a lot of hulls around.

I enjoy the work at the press derimming hulls and you will have to let me know if you want them annealed or not.

It is very zen for me to sit there at my bench and work on the brass. One reason I like calibers like .357 Herrett and .30 Bower-Alaskan is I enjoy the work on the brass.

I am a process person and my physical therapist (sp?) says working with my hands is good for my recovery and mental state.

I am patient and there is no worry or hurry. Most of this summer is going to be spent refurbing the Great White Turd (AKA RV) trying to get it back on the road.

I can get several buckets of .22 LR hulls as I have a hook up at the local indoor range. The county recycler does not pay the range for the .22 LR hulls so they do not mind giving them to anyone who asks.

I frequently volunteer with my DU chapter with the DNR guys to clean up the public shooting ranges. We always come out with at least a bucket of brass most of it steel crap, but a lot of .22 LR.

Yeah, I find that as I get older, casting, reloading and now swaging is very rewarding for me. I use to do it just to save a few bucks.....but now, it is enjoyable.

Very cool on the brass hookup. I had a local indoor range that use to let me take all I could carry (usually 2- 5 gallon buckets) everytime I went, when I lived in Phoenix. I guess I got spoiled. I use to throw away all the rimfire stuff. I did manage to keep most of it, when I moved, just not alot of .22lr.

I will keep you up to date on my progress to getting a full .223 swaging setup. I am hoping sometime this summer to have everything I need.

I look forward to getting this going.

Perhaps we should take the rest of the discussion to the PM realm as we will be off topic.

If you hunt around a bit there are a lot of places where you can get free .22 LR hulls. The local gravel pits around here are favorite shooting sights and there are always lots of .22 LR hulls lying around.

I am sure there is going to be some loss due to corrosion and other factors but I always attempt to clean some of the mess up, as it gives shooters and gun owners a bad name when we leave a mess on public property.

I suppose I should order a set of derimming dies from RCE or Corbin one of these days so we can get this arrangement off to a start.

I am interested in seeing the .22 WMR and .17 HMR hulls turned into either heavy .224 bullets or 6mm bullets for my .240 Weatherby.

I've been looking around for an expander that will open the .17 HMR hulls so I could derim them to either make a long .224 jacket or a 6mm jacket.

I've been looking at my case trimmer. IF I use it to cut off the neck portion of the 17 HMR hull so that it becomes a straight hull, then I might be able to use all the .17 HMR brass that is lying around or going into the recycling bin.

At our local gun shows I have seen enterprising folks selling both the fired .22 LR hulls and the derimmed brass. I thought the prices were a little high but maybe they were trying to recoup what they spent on dies and gas to get to the show.

I am looking forward to this project as I enjoy working with my hands and do not mind derimming brass. I just do not have the room or finances to afford a whole swaging set up.

Scorge30 PM sent