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Information about “CORBIN HANDBOOK 2 OF 2 (ALSO 616)”
This disk is the first of a two disk set containing the Corbin Handbook
of Bullet Swaging, No. 7 written by Dr. Corbin. This one has the
table of contents and the first 11 chapters. It is saved in ASCII text
format.
The subject of bullet swaging is the manufacture of projectiles using
high pressure to flow ductile metals at room temperature into the
precise dimensions of a strong, highly-finished steel die. The process
is discussed both as a hobby for the firearms enthusiast and as a
highly profitable part-time business venture, supplying handloaders
with high quality, special purpose bullets. Utility programs on this
diskette facilitate the retrieval of the Corbin Handbook information.
System Requirements: 64K, one disk drive, a monochrome display and an
ASCII text editor or word processor.
How to Start: Consult the READ.ME and INTRO.TXT for directions. To
run, prepare two formatted disk with the DOS system command and add
files FIND.EXE and ANSI.SYS; copy 616 to one and 617 to another using
the COPY *.* command. Either can now be run by placing in A: and
hitting CRTL-ALT-DEL and following the access menus that then appear.
Suggested Registration: The handbook is available in a bound, printed
book format for $4.00 by ordering directly from Corbin Manufacturing &
Supply.
File Descriptions:
The First Disk Contains:
-------- --- - Corbin Handbook
SHOW DOC Documentation for SHOW.BAT
SHOW BAT Display text file utility
ST DOC Documentation for ST.COM
ST COM Display text file program
SDIR COM Show directory utility batch file
SCRNSAVE COM Screen save utility
READ ME Documentation about Corbin and Bullet Swaging
INTRO TXT Short introduction text of Corbin
HB7 BAK Backup of HB7.BAT
HB7 BAT Introduction Batch file
* TXT Documentation for the Corbin Handbook (11 files) (245k)
AUTOEXEC BAT Start up batch file
The Second Disk Contains:
AUTOEXEC BAT Startup Batch file
-------- --- - Corbin Handbook (Chptr 12-22)
HB7 BAT Setup Corbin chapters
HB7 BAK Backup batch file
* TXT Documentation for the Corbin Handbook (10 Files) (168k)
AUTOEXEC BAK Startup Batch file backup
READ ME Information from the author
SHOW DOC Documentation for SHOW.BAT
SHOW BAT Batch file for text display
SDIR COM Show directory utility
SCRNSAVE COM Screen save utility
ST DOC Documentation for ST.COM
ST COM Text display utility
FKEY BAT Function key batch file to set utility function
CHAPT-12.TXT
.he CHAPTER 12 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #
SWAGE DIES of the MITY MITE SYSTEM
There are so many different styles, calibers, and kinds of bullets
possible in the Mity Mite system, that it isn't practical to list
"kits" or tables of standard bullets you can make. If it falls in the
range of .14 to .458 caliber, with a weight not over 450 grains, and a
length not to exceed 1.3 inches base to tip, you can probably make it
in the Mity Mite.
In the realm of jacket making, the Mity Mite system can form
copper tubing into excellent jackets with limitations to wall
thickness: the standard thickness offered is 0.030-inch, in copper
tubing. Steel, brass, or thicker walls are not practical in this
system, but require the power of the Corbin Hydro-press system.
If I were to suggest a good starting package for the beginning
bullet maker, it would usually consist of the following items:
(1) One or more Mity Mite presses (CSP-1)
(2) A set of dies in the style desired (normally, FJFB-3-M)
(3) A bottle of Corbin Swage Lube (CSL-2 or CSL-16)
(4) A jacket supply...
which could be one of these:
(a) A CTJM-1-M tubing jacket maker (.030-wall)
(b) A quantity of Corbin bullet jackets (usually, 1000)
(c) A rimfire jacket-maker (RFJM-22M or RFJM-6MM)
(d) A sub-cal jacket drawing die set (JRD-1-M, one each
for .20, .17, and .14 draws)
(e) No jackets -- for lead bullets
(f) A JRD-1-M jacket reducer and supply of next-larger
jackets, where required
(5) A lead core supply...
which could be one of these:
(a) Lead wire (LW-25) and core cutter (PCS-1)
(b) Core mould (CM-4)
(c) Sub-cal extruder (LED-2) kit
These are all you really need to consider. There are optional
items that I might want, having been through it all before. They
simply make life a bit easier and produce better bullets. These
optional items include:
(1) Cannelure tool (HCT-1)
(2) Bullet polisher kit (BPK-1)
(3) Dip Lube (CDL-16) to preserve finish, or for lead bullets.
(4) Instrument grade lubricating oil (FSO-16) to preserve dies
(5) Cleaning solvent (CCS-16) for dies and bullets
(6) Core Bond (CCB-16) to make bonded core bullets
(7) Extra floating punch holders (FPH-1-M)
(8) Extra ejection pins (PUNCH-M, specify caliber, internal PF,
and/or actual diameter if known)
As to exactly WHICH size of jacket, mould, lead wire, or die set
model to get, you can just indicate the weight and style of bullet you
want to make, either with a sketch, a sample, or reference to one of
the drawings or photos in any Corbin book (give title and page number).
The die-maker will work out the correct combination to get where you
want to go, using the closest available materials.
That still leaves you a bit in the dark as to which of the many
sets of dies will make the bullets you want. Here is a check-list
describing many general kinds of bullets, and the dies that will make
them:
A. LEAD BULLETS WITH SMALL SHOULDER BEFORE START OF NOSE
(1) Use LSWC-1-M single die set
(2) Specify caliber
(3) Specify base shape:
a. Flat Base (standard)
b. Dish Base (shallow concave from side to side)
c. Cup Base (flat margin around deeper concave portion)
d. Hollow Base (more than 1/2 caliber deep cavity)
(4) Specify nose shape:
a. Keith Nose (standard for handgun)
b. Round Nose
c. Wadcutter Nose
d. Conical Nose
e. Hollow Point (a universal HP, used with any above)
f. 1-E (1-cal. long eliptical, standard for rifle)
(5) Specify weight range desired (max. 450 gr.)
B. LEAD BULLETS WITH NO SHOULDER BEFORE START OF NOSE
(1) Use CSW-1-M and PF-1-M (core swage and point form dies)
(2) Specify caliber
(3) Specify ogive radius or nose shape
a. Tangential ogives from 0.5 to 10-S (6-S standard)
b. Spire point (12-degree standard)
c. Round Nose (same as .5-S or .5-E shape)
d. Eliptical ogive from .5-E to 2-E (1-E standard)
e. TC (truncated conical - standard handgun)
f. Dual-diameter, other special form (send sketch)
(4) Specify base shape (same as in A.)
(5) Specify weight range desired (max. 450 gr.)
C. JACKETED SEMI-WADCUTTER OR WADCUTTER
(1) Use JSWC-1-M (core swage and core seater)
(2) Specify caliber
(3) Specify Nose shape (same as A.)
(4) Specify Base shape (same as A.)
(5) Specify weight range (max. 450 gr.)
(6) Specify jacket (Corbin size, or send sample)
D. FULL JACKET, OPEN TIP OR HANDGUN SOFT POINT, OR FMJ OPEN BASE
(1) Use FJFB-3-M (core swage, core seater, and point form)
(2) Specify caliber
(3) Specify ogive radius or nose shape (same as B.)
(4) Specify Base shape (same as A.)
(5) Specify weight range (max. 450 gr.)
(6) Specify jacket (Corbin size, or send sample)
E. FULL JACKET, LEAD TIP RIFLE OGIVES
(1) Use LTFB-4-M (as in D. but with lead tip die added)
(2) Specify all items as in D.
(3) Specify tip shape
a. flat
b. spitzer (sharp point to match PF-1-M die shape)
c. semi-spitzer (radius at tip)
d. round
F. REBATED BOATTAIL OPEN TIP RIFLE STYLE
(1) Use RBTO-4-M (core swage, RBT-2 set, point form)
(2) Specify all items as in D.
G. REBATED BOATTAIL AND FLAT BASE, OPEN TIP RIFLE STYLE
(1) Use FRBO-5-M (3-die set with RBT-2 set added)
(2) Specify all items as in D.
H. REBATED BOATTAIL WITH LEAD OR OPEN TIP
(1) Use FRBL-5-M (same as F. with LT-1-M added)
(2) Specify all items as in E.
I. REBATED BOATTAIL or FLAT BASE, LEAD or OPEN TIP (all style)
(1) Use FRBL-6-M (complete set of all dies)
(2) Specify all items as in E.
Note that each set of dies simply adds additional kinds of dies to
one of the more simple sets. You don't lose any capability as you go
up in versatility. The only decision that might be somewhat difficult
is between a LSWC-1-M lead semi-wadcutter die and a JSWC-2-M two-die
set for either jacketed or lead semi-wadcutters. The LSWC-1-M is a bit
faster if you are certain that you don't want to make jacketed bullets.
But the JSWC-2-M set handles both kinds well.
The FJFB-3-M and all higher sets still preserve the ability to
make lead bullets or semi-wadcutters, provided you order the desired
nose punch to fit into the core seating die. The exception is that the
RBTO-4-M and the RBTL-4-M do not have a standard core seating die for
flat base bullets. They cannot make a conventional handgun style
without a rebated boattail, since there is no die included to do it.
When you order a die set for rifle calibers, and we know it is for
a rifle caliber, we provide a punch to fit INSIDE the jacket you
specify (and if it isn't one of ours, we need samples or we cannot make
the dies). Rifle style implies that the jacket will curve around the
ogive like a rifle bullet jacket. It is very popular for open tip or
soft point handgun bullets, not just for rifle calibers.
A more limited handgun style is the semi-wadcutter. This is a
generic term to the die-maker, not a specific shape. It means that the
bullet has a nose made of lead, with the jacket stopping short of the
ogive, so there can be a shoulder where the end of the nose-forming
punch presses against the lead. In a rifle-style set with a point
forming die, there is NO nose-forming punch: the point forming die
itself controls the shape of the ogive and nose.
INDIVIDUAL DIE DESCRIPTIONS
CSW-1-M Core Swage Die, Mity Mite
This is the first die in most sets, except for the LSWC-1-M.
In the lead semi-wadcutter set, the single die performs the function of
the core swage and the core seater in one operation, since it operates
on lead and has no jacket. It is, in essence, a core swage made to
final diameter, and fitted with nose and base punches. The true core
swage die has flat-ended punches, and is used only to adjust the
diameter and length, roundness and weight of the raw lead core. The
core swage die has bleed holes through which surplus lead is extruded
to adjust the weight on each stroke.
Core swage dies are made to a diameter which accepts a standard
size of lead core, and increases it to a close fit to the proper jacket
size. Since jacket wall thickness can be selected from a wide range of
jackets, including tubing or thin rimfire case jackets, the core swage
must be matched to the jacket wall as well as caliber. Some sets use
more than one core swage, to allow changing to different jacket
thicknesses.
LSWC-1-M Lead Semi-wadcutter Die, Mity Mite
A special form of core swage, in which the bore diameter is
made final bullet size and the punches are made to form the base and
nose shape. This die operates on lead or half jacket bullets only. It
is faster than using a two-die set such as the JSWC-1-M, but is less
versatile since it does not handle a 3/4-jacket.
CS-1-M Core Seating Die, Mity Mite
The core seater can form a finished handgun bullet of the
semi-wadcutter style (or wadcutter style) either with or without the
use of a core swage to adjust the core weight. Combined with a core
swage, it makes up the JSWC-2-M jacketed semi-wadcutter set. It is
always used prior to forming the ogive on an open tip or soft point
bullet, in order to generate enough internal pressure to expand the
jacket and form a straight, round shank on the bullet.
RBT-2-M Rebated Boattail 2-Die Set, Mity Mite
The rebated boattail set consists of a pair of dies that
replace the regular CS-1-M core seater. The jacket (ordinary flat base
type) is put into the first die, which is called the preform or BT die.
The core is pushed into the jacket. A punch enters the mouth of the
jacket and presses on the core, expanding the jacket to fit snugly
against the die walls. The base of the die cavity has a boattail
shape, which transfers to the jacket base.
The second die of this set has very closely matched diameter and
taper to the first die. It also has a shoulder or edge machined into
the cavity. The smoothly tapered jacket from the first die is placed
in the finishing, or RBT die (second die). The same external punch is
used to push on the lead core, creating internal pressure that presses
the tapered base against the shoulder in the die. A rebate or step is
created in the jacket from this internal pressure.
The seated core and jacket are now ejected and put into the point
forming die to be completed. The regular core seating die (CS-1-M) is
not used when making a RBT bullet.
PF-1-M Point Forming Die, Mity Mite
The point forming die has the actual bullet shape machined
into its interior cavity. It does NOT use a nose forming punch, as in
the CS-1-M or LSWC-1-M dies, but has a small spring-steel ejection pin
in a tiny hole at the tip of the die. The seated core and jacket from
the core seating die (CS-1-M) or from the RBT-2 die set is put open-end
first into the PF-1-M die (to make open tip or soft points), and a
full-caliber-size punch that fits into the point forming die presses on
the bullet base to shape the ogive.
It is not advisable to make the complete bullet in this die only,
except for full-jacket, open-base styles. The reason is that this die
does not form a sealed system, as with the core seating die, since one
end is virtually open during forming. The pressure within the die
tapers from base to ogive in a complex pattern depending on ogive
shape, and is not normally capable of expanding the jacket shank
properly by itself. That is why the core seating die pre-forms the
shank prior to using this die.
Several different bullet shapes can be made with the same die set
by purchasing various point forming dies. The match of the point
forming die to the core seater is extremely critical. Samples of
seated cores are required to make another point forming die for a given
set. It is normally best to order additional styles of point forming
dies with the original set, but with sample seated cores or the return
of the set, a new point forming die can be matched to the core seater.
LT-1-M Lead Tip Forming Die, Mity Mite
The lead tip die shapes the exposed lead at the tip of the
bullet after the bullet has been formed in the point forming die. It
is normally used only for sharp rifle ogives, not for blunt handgun
shapes. When the tip of the bullet must be smaller than the diameter
of the ejection pin required for a given caliber, the lead tip die can
be used as a finisher to bring the tip slightly more closed, or to
shape the exposed lead into a proper point after the ejection pin in
the point forming die has deformed it during ejection.
A lead tip die can be added to any set, provided that the set has
a point forming die. Lead tip dies are not used with JSWC-1-M or LSWC-
1-M sets. A lead tip die cannot be used by itself to form a bullet.
It must act as a "clean-up" die for the tip of bullets formed in the
point forming die. The internal punch of the lead tip die can be
changed to various shapes, in order to make flat tip, blunt round tips,
semi-spitzer or sharp spitzer lead tips.
A benefit of the lead tip die is that one can use a sharp ogive
point forming die, and yet produce a good-looking flat tip. This can
be desirable with a .308-caliber set, where bullets for .30-06 and .300
Winchester can be made at the same time as bullets for the tubular
action .30-30, by finishing the .30-30 bullets with the LT-1-M die.
MATCHED SETS OF DIES
LSWC-1-M Lead Semi-wadcutter 1-die Set, Mity Mite
A "set" can be any number of dies, including one, as long as it
makes a completed bullet without the need of other dies or punches.
The LSWC-1-M is listed here because it forms a complete semi-wadcutter
style bullet (or a wadcutter, or a lead rifle bullet with a small
shoulder between the ogive and the shank). Normally the external punch
forms the nose and the internal punch forms the base, especially in
handgun bullets. Some rifle bullets are made using the internal punch
to form the nose.
Remember that the external punch fits into the floating punch
holder, a threaded cylinder which fits into the press head and does all
the adjusting for die volume and bullet weight (as a direct result).
The internal punch remains in the die, and is operated by the geometry
of the ram, sliding back to allow maximum bullet weight while sealing
off the threaded end of the die against swaging pressure, and sliding
forward to eject the bullet.
The LSWC-1-M is normally stocked in .25 ACP, .308", .312", .314",
.355", .357", .358", .400", .410", .429", .452", and .458" diameters.
It can be ordered in any diameter between .14 and .458 as a special
order. Normal punches are either flat, cup, or hollow base, and
wadcutter, Keith semi-wadcutter, round nose, conical, or hollow point
(a universal and very deep hollow cavity punch that can be used with
any of the other punches to produce interesting results). Rifle
calibers normally are made with a one-caliber-length, eliptical round
nose, and either a flat or cup base.
The LSWC-1-M is made for soft lead. It can handle hard alloys
without breaking if you are very careful, but it is folly to use them
in calibers over about .314" diameter. It is not the hardness of the
alloy that breaks a swage die: it is the fact that the operator pushes
too hard trying to make the hard alloy flow and fill out the die. You
are perfectly safe in using hard lead if you don't push any harder than
you would for soft lead. But that amount of force may not be enough
for the hard alloy to flow. Hard lead by itself does no harm to the
die.
If you use a .44 caliber die or larger, it is almost a certainty
that sooner or later you will break the die if hard lead is used. Dies
broken by excess pressure are the responsibility of the operator who
applied the pressure. Old Theodore Smith, a pioneer of swage die
manufacture and, prior to the growth of the Corbin firm, one of the
largest suppliers of swage dies in the world, used to say that he ought
to write his instructions to read "jump on the handle with all your
might, then remove the die you just ruined and send it and a check for
a new one to the die-maker".
Anyone who has ever broken a swage die says "...but I wasn't
applying THAT much pressure! It felt about like it always does, then
the die broke!" With a little more experience, it is easy to feel the
little bit of excess force that breaks a die. A swage die for the Mity
Mite press can handle 171,745 psi in .224 caliber, and 103,548 psi in
.458 caliber. That is the ultimate strength. A tiny bit more and
CRACK! When the press is adjusted to go "over center", using the
nearly infinite leverage of the short stroke system, it is easily
possible to generate pressures over 200,000 psi. Use only enough so
that soft lead -- pure, soft lead -- forms correctly. If a hard alloy
can be formed with that pressure, wonderful. But if it refuses to form
without "a little bit more", then check your replacement die funds
before proceeding to apply it!
This friendly warning applies to any of the dies, but it is
especially true with the LSWC-1 since many people order these in large
calibers and want to make alloy bullets. If you truely need hard
alloys, I strongly suggest that you consider the Hydro-press dies and
either the Hydro-press itself, or the Mega Mite press. The Mega Mite
doesn't always have enough leverage for hard alloys in the largest
calibers, but it makes a good .50 caliber soft lead bullet and it can
handle hard alloys in any caliber without breaking the die. The Hydro-
press never says never. It just idles along while swaging linotype
alloy, and yawns with boredom when you try to challenge it with jobs
that leave hand press dies in a pile of rubble.
JSWC-2-M Jacketed Semi-wadcutter 2-die Set, Mity Mite
The job of making jacketed or lead bullets in two steps, instead
of one like the LSWC-1-M, means you can use jackets that cover the
sides of the bullet. These would normally block the bleed holes on the
LSWC-1-M. If you plan to make both lead and jacketed semi-wadcutters,
this is the right choice. It consists of both a core swage and a core
seating die. The core swage is made to produce a lead core to fit into
the normal jacket used in the caliber. The core seater is made final
diameter for the bullet, and has nose and base punches.
Some people want a bevel base bullet, a boattail bullet, or a
round nose with no step between shank and ogive. These things can
only be approximated in the straight-walled core seater die. The nose
punch does not have an invisible, razor-sharp edge. It has about
0.020-inches of metal at the edge. This lets it last for your lifetime
and probably that of your grandchildren, instead of wearing away in a
few bullets. It also means there has to be a step or shoulder of about
0.020-inch depth between the nose (formed in the punch cavity) and the
shank (formed against the die wall).
I see little point in the bevel base in this kind of die, since
the shoulder made necessary by the punch really doesn't solve the
problem of getting the bullet easily into the case mouth. A very
slight bell to the case mouth solves it. If you want a true bevel, get
the next die set. It has a point forming die, which has NO internal
punch (in the normal sense of forming the bullet nose), but forms the
bullet against die wall all the way to the end. You can reverse the
bullet and tap in into the die lightly (with a precise adjustment of
the punch holder, this is more repeatable than I made it sound). This
gives you a perfectly formed bevel or taper on the base, very slight
but also very streamlined and adequate to align the bullet in the case.
FJFB-3-M Full Jacket, Flat Base 3-die Set, Mity Mite
This is the workhorse of the system. More of these sets are made
and sold than any other. That is because they do what most people
want, making lead bullets, semi-wadcutter bullets, or fully-jacketed
bullets of either open base or open point style.
When we say full jacketed bullet, it can mean two different
things. Most people mean a military full jacket with open base, which
is formed by putting the base of the bullet jacket into the point
forming die first, instead of the open end going in first. But handgun
people often use the term full jacket to mean that the jacket curves
around the ogive, covering part or all of the nose section. The
alternative is the three-quarter jacket, or the half-jacket design.
A three-quarter jacket bullet is the kind that is formed when you
use the JSWC-2-M set and a jacket that covers the shank completely, but
leaves the lead nose to be formed in the punch cavity. The JSWC-2-M
die set can't bring the jacket up around the nose at all, not even a
tiny bit. This is because the edge of the punch which forms the nose
in that set strikes the edge of the jacket, unless you have enough lead
to completely fill the punch cavity.
A half-jacket bullet has half its shank covered by jacket and half
the shank made of exposed lead (as well as the entire nose). Half-
jacket bullets are not really much better than lead ones as far as
velocity and fouling are concerned. But half-jackets still make great
short, light bullets in a 3/4-jacket style! Confused?
Look at it this way: there are names we give the jackets that are
based on the normal bullet weight made in that jacket, and then there
are the names we give bullets regardless of weight. If you make a
light bullet in a short jacket, it can have the whole shank covered by
jacket. And then, it is a 3/4-jacket bullet even if the jacket was
originally made for 1/2-jacket designs. Conversely, if you use a so-
called "full" length jacket for a handgun, and make a normal weight of
rifle bullet (such as using a 0.7-inch long .38 handgun jacket to make
a 250 grain .358 rifle bullet), you really wind up with what amounts to
a half-jacketed bullet.
So, if you want to play with unusual weights (and I say, go for
it! Why not explore it all since swaging gives you the power to do
so?) you may wind up having to order jackets by their catalog number
and forget about what the rest of the world considers that jacket good
for making. The terms half, three-quarter, and full jacket are a crude
approximation, anyway. We'd be better off without them. Length in
inches is much more precise.
The three-die set (FJFB-3-M) has a core swage and a core seater,
but the core seater usually is made just slightly (0.0005 to 0.0001
inch) smaller than if you were to order the same caliber in a JSWC-1-M.
Does this mean you can't add a point forming die to a JSWC-1-M and thus
produce a new set exactly like a FJFB-3?
No, but the die-maker should either get the set back or should be
given several lead slugs swaged in the core seating die. Then he can
use the slugs, or the die set itself, to make a point forming die that
is 0.0005 to 0.0001 inches larger than the core seater! One way or the
other, there needs to be a microscopic difference to allow proper
ejection of the final bullet. Remember that swaging is a process of
upward expansion to meet the die walls. Shoving a bullet that is
already at final diameter into the same diameter of die is a formula
for stuck bullets and difficult ejection.
While we are on the subject, let me comment that diameter
differences of even 0.001 inch make very little difference in where the
bullets will group, provided all the bullets fired are the same
diameter. In the real world, you can get away with shooting a .309
bullet in a .308 barrel and probably win the Nationals either because
of or in spite of it, and everyone else will rush out to buy the same
kind of oversize bullet once you do it. What counts is consistency,
not absolute size. On the other hand, you can get considerably worse
groups if the bullets are 0.001 inch smaller than bore size. So, I
usually recommend the nominal size, or larger.
The FJFB-3-M set makes soft points (provided the die is made with
a handgun kind of ogive or a flat tip, and is not brought to a spitzer
point cavity) as well as open tip, open base (full metal jacket) as
well as open point, and hollow points (which are made with a hollow
point punch during the core seating operation) as well as open points.
An open point has the jacket longer than the core. A hollow point
has a hole poked into the lead core. You can combine both. To do
this, the core seating punch has a projection on its face that makes
the cavity in the lead core, and it also fits inside the jacket. A
normal hollow point punch fits the die bore, so that only the probe
fits into the jacket. Most hollow points are also lead tips.
The usual kind of punches supplied with the FJFB-3-M set depend on
whether it is a rifle or handgun caliber. Most rifle dies are
purchased to make open tip bullets, so a core seating punch with a flat
face, fitting inside the selected jacket, is provided. The base
punches (internal core seating, and external point forming) are flat
faced. The handgun sets normally have a Keith or a hollow point
external punch with the core seater, and flat base punches in the core
seater and with the point former.
However, just because the simple way to name this set required
using the term "Flat Base", don't be confused with the optional bases
you can make. Any kind of base that can be formed by pressing the
bullet base against a punch is perfectly suitable for this set. A dish
base, a cup base, or a hollow base set of punches (meaning, one for the
inside of the core seater, and one for the outside of the point former
to match it) will convert the set from flat base to any of these other
base styles.
Flat base is used here to differentiate the set from the Rebated
Boattail sets. Those sets have a different kind of core seater die:
in fact, they have two dies to replace the one flat base core seater.
If you want to make bullets for longest range shooting, or if you want
to experiment with low velocity, high efficiency bullets even at close
range (where the speed during flight will approach or cross the
transonic region at Mach I) then I would suggest the rebated boattail
sets that follow. But first, a word for the lead tip bullet....
LTFB-4-M Lead Tip, Flat Base 4-die Set, Mity Mite
You can make lead tips with a three-die set, provided that the
ogive is blunt enough to allow extremely easy ejection. The ejection
pin pushes on the lead tip, and with sharper ogives (such as the normal
rifle styles other than round noses) the pin pushes into the lead
because it usually takes a bit more pressure than the lead can
withstand to eject a very pointed bullet.
The result is a deformed blob of lead at the tip of the bullet.
To reshape this into a neat lead tip, and possibly to shear off surplus
lead, the LT-1-M die is added to the set. If you wish, you can
purchase the LT-1-M separately and make any open tip set into a lead
tip set. Or, you can purchase the set together under the LTFB-4-M
catalog number. This set makes all the bullets that the 3-die set
makes, plus good lead tips. Good lead tip bullets take a little
experimenting, to get the right amount of exposed lead.
Too much exposed lead usually doesn't hurt anything. Too little,
and you won't have enough to fill the cavity in the internal punch of
the lead tip die. The tips don't completely form, as a result. A very
light pressure is required. If you apply too much, you'll put a
shoulder in the jacket just below the tip from pressing the punch edge
against the jacket. The right amount of lead for the length of jacket
used places some limits on the weight of bullet that will work properly
and form a good lead tip. Some combinations of jacket length and core
weight don't form a good lead tip in certain shapes of bullets, which
you will find out quickly by experimenting. But a few grains more lead
hurts nothing, and gives the results you want.
RBTO-4-M Rebated Boattail Open Tip 4-die Set, Mity Mite
Here is the set for the long-range target shooter. If you shoot
high power rifle with a capital HP, meaning serious matches with a .30
caliber, then you should consider the lower drag coefficient and
consequent shorter time of flight of the RBT design. The rebate gives
you an edge in accuracy at the muzzle, deflecting the muzzle blast
gasses to the side so that they do not flow along the streamline of the
bullet and break up in front of it.
If you plan to make survival bullets, or copper tubing bullets, I
usually feel that the slight gain in ballistic coefficient isn't worth
the extra cost and trouble of making these bullets. There is one more
step involved, and with tubing it is a little more difficult to produce
as good a bullet as with flat base styles. It can be done, and it is
practical, but most situations involving bullets at more than twice the
speed of sound just don't benefit enough from the base design to bother
with any extra trouble.
This set doesn't have a regular flat base core seating die
included. It makes rebated boattails, of the open tip style, only. It
doesn't usually make FMJ styles, but you can use the point forming die
alone and make a pretty good open base full jacket "military" style
bullet with a flat base. Making an open base rebated boattail is not
practical with this equipment, nor does it have any advantage since the
open tip is usually more accurate and easier to produce.
FRBO-5-M Flat or Rebated Boattail, Open Tip 5-die Set, Mity Mite
This set adds a regular core seating die to the previous one, so
you can make either flat base or rebated boattails with the same set.
It is better to purchase this set together rather than adding on, since
the die-maker can match the diameters better when he has all the dies
in one place at the same time.
This set makes it easier to get a wide range of weights. A flat
base design lets you get lower weights in the same ogive shape, and a
rebated boattail lets you get lower weights for the same jacket length.
A flat base gives you the ability to make heavier weights using the
same jacket length. If you have a "universal" caliber like the .308,
which can produce anything from an 80 grain .32 ACP bullet to a 220
grain .300 Magnum slug, then this is a pretty good choice in die sets.
RBTL-5-M Rebated Boattail Lead Tip 5-die Set, Mity Mite
This set just substitutes a lead tip forming die for the core
seating die, which means you can make either open tip target bullets or
lead tip hunting bullets, but only with the rebated boattail base. The
reason for a person buying this set is to use the same kind of bullet
that he normally uses in his target shooting, and with which he is
presumably quite familiar, in a soft point hunting bullet.
The odds are that the high power shooter who does take such a
bullet (and, of course, the familiar cartridge and powder combination
to fit it) afield after game with a properly-sighted hunting rifle,
probably has a much better chance of coming home with meat for the
freezer than someone who uses a completely different caliber than his
usual, more familiar target experience requires.
The boattail design probably doesn't add much to the hunting
success, but it doesn't hurt. It's contribution is familiarity: if
you fire thousands of the same kind of bullet, less the lead tip, at
200, 300, 600, and perhaps 1000 yard targets in all kinds of wind
conditions, then chances are better that you can connect with a similar
bullet and load even if the range is less certain and the target is
moving. The range is probably 60 yards to 200 yards, more than half
the time, and the bullet is going so fast it doesn't have time to
notice its tail in that range, but the shooter has a good feel for the
drop and knows better how to hold for wind.
FRBL-6-M All Style 6-die Set, Mity Mite
Whatever you need, you can probably make it with this package of
dies. Many people go for this one simply because "you never know" what
you might want to try. That's not a bad reason. If you have the dies,
you can try things that you might otherwise never get around to doing.
And dies are a good investment: they don't seem to get any less
expensive with the passing of time. If you think there is much chance
you'll want to make a variety of different purpose bullets in a given
caliber, this is the right choice.
On the other hand, most handgun bullets can be produced just fine
with a 3-die set. There isn't much point in having either the lead tip
die or the rebated boattail dies for a .357 Magnum or a .45 ACP, since
there are tricks that let you make as good a boattail as anyone could
possibly use on these bullets, with the ordinary 3-die package. And
lead tips on blunt handgun bullets don't usually require the LT-1-M die
because the short bullet length and blunt taper make ejection easy
enough that the broad lead tip doesn't deform.
If you have rifle calibers in mind, and want to go first class, by
all means give the 6-die set some consideration. Even if you don't use
all the dies often, they will be ready when you do need them.
SPECIAL DIES FOR THE MITY MITE
Draw dies have already been discussed. In the Mity Mite system,
you can get sets of dies to reduce the bullet or the jacket diameter.
The punch fits into the press ram, and the die replaces the floating
punch holder in the press head. This is just the opposite of the
normal swaging set (where the die screws into the press ram, and the
external punch is held in the floating punch holder, in the head of the
press). For details on these dies, turn to the chapter on Draw Dies.
A unique die set for the Mity Mite is the LED-2 Lead Extruder Die
Set. This set solves a problem for the maker of sub-caliber bullets:
how to produce lead cores for the tiny .14, .17 and .20 bullets. Lead
wire is available, but a normal 175,000 grain spool makes more bullets
than a person could shoot in a reasonable time. Core casting is
possible, but very tedious with such tiny core diameters.
The LED-2 outfit uses a standard .44/.45 caliber lead core, cast
in a .365-inch diameter core mould. You can also use a cast .38
bullet, if you wish. Cast these more reasonable sized slugs, and then
put them into the mouth of the extruder die. Run the press ram forward
with the extruder punch screwed into the press ram. Adjust the die so
that you can easily apply enough pressure to spurt lead wire out the
end of the die, like toothpaste from a tube.
The extruder die comes with die inserts for making .20, .17, and
.14 caliber wire. The insert can be changed easily. Lubrication on
the cast slug is essential for easy operation. This outfit is made to
extrude soft lead only. Hard alloys usually don't extrude well in a
hand press or, for that matter, a power press. I would not own a set
of sub-caliber dies without the LED-2 outfit to make my own sub-cal
wire. It is more economical, easy and satisfactory that any other
method except perhaps for buying a spool of wire to pass on to the
grandchildren (especially in .14 caliber).
Dual diameter bullets can be made in a special order die that
combines the functions of a core seater and a draw die. I don't even
have a catalog number for this one, but just call it a special. It
fits the press ram like a core seater, but has a dual inside diameter.
It acts like a draw die, in that you press your finished bullet into
the die and the forward portion is reduced by the depth of the rifling
(usually about 0.008 inches total reduction). A punch matching the
ogive pushes the bullet back out on the ejection stroke of the press.
This kind of die is somewhat expensive to produce, and is never in
stock (being made specifically for experimental applications and custom
bullets), but it does allow certain advantages over a conventional
bullet design. First, the reduced nose section rides atop the rifling
and reduces friction in the barrel. This means you get higher speeds
and less pressure at maximum loads. Second, the amount of reduced nose
section is adjustable so you can set your own freebore, even in a gun
without any barrel freebore. It is like having a non-rifled, bore-
sized guide section built on the bullet instead of in the gun barrel.
The advantage is that you can retain the accuracy you need, yet
still get higher powder charges and more velocity, and at the same time
you can use a heavier or longer bullet than the gun and cartridge would
normally feed and chamber. Feeding through the magazine is a different
problem: this doesn't help in that department. But feeding into the
barrel is no longer a problem in regard to the amount of freebore in
your gun. If the bolt would not close before because the rifling came
up against the longer bullet too soon, you can make it work now.
For want of a better name, I just call this a "dual-diameter" draw
die. We also make point forming dies that swage the bullet with a dual
diameter. There are some problems, however, that keep this from
working in all cases. One is that the seated core and jacket are one
diameter, correct for the shank of a normal bullet. Yet, the forward
part of the point forming die is undersized by so much that it is like
using the wrong caliber, and the bullet can stick or be very difficult
to eject. This happens when the reduced portion extends back very far
from the ogive.
There are many special instances where experimental processes work
very well in one instance and not at all or with great difficulty in a
similar but slightly different case. When possible, stick to the
proven and tested sets of dies: they have great versatility just as
they are. But if you do need something special and don't mind the
extra cost involved in working out the details to make it work for your
case, Corbin is one of the few places in the world where you can get
expert assistance at reasonable cost.
CTJM-1-M Copper Tubing Jacket-Maker Set, Mity Mite
A special set of dies that forms 0.030-wall hard drawn, straight
copper tubing into bullet jackets with flat bases. The bases are not
completely closed, but are nearly so. Partitions cannot be formed in
the jacket material itself, but can be made by using a smaller caliber
jacket telescoped inside the tubing. This technique works well and is
described in "Rediscover Swaging". Tubing jacket-makers are practical
for calibers from 7mm to .458 in the Mity Mite system.
LED-2 Lead Extruder Die, Mity Mite
A special sub-caliber extruder die set that makes wire for the
.14, .17, and .20 calibers, using either a .38 cast bullet or a cast
core from a .44/45 core mould (or cut wire of .365-inch diameter). All
three calibers of wire are made with the standard set, without ordering
any special parts.
JRD-1-M Jacket Reducing Die, Mity Mite
Can be ordered for either jackets or bullets, within practical
limitations. Popular use is for turning a .357 into a 9mm bullet, or
for reducing a .44 jacket to .41 caliber. Specify starting diameter,
send samples to help the die-maker adjust the die, and specify desired
final diameter. Without samples, it is impossible to guarentee the
final bullet diameter closer than about 0.002 inches. With samples,
diameter can be held to better than 0.0005 inches.
RFJM-22M Rimfire Jacket-maker, .224, Mity Mite
This is the functional equivalent of the same die in the reloading
press (RFJM-22R). It turns fired .22 cases (short, long, long rifle,
or Stinger) into excellent .224 caliber jackets by drawing out the head
and reducing the diameter. The only difference between this die set
and the one for the reloading press is the punch. The Mity Mite
version uses a punch that screws into the ram, and the die screws into
the 7/8-14 TPI press head just as it would in a reloading press.
RFJM-6MM Rimfire Jacket-maker, .243, Mity Mite
This is the functional equivalent of the same die in the reloading
press (RFJM-6MR). It turns fired .22 LR or Stinger cases into preforms
to make a 6mm jacket. The final forming takes place as the core is
being seated, expanding the drawn case to 6mm diameter from the .225-
inch diameter body typical of a fired .22 case. The head is drawn
until it becomes a smooth 0.219-inch section, but the rest of the case
is NOT pushed through the die. This is different from forming a .224
jacket (because the .224 requires that the whole case be pushed through
the die). A two-diameter ejector rod presses the partly-drawn jacket
back out of the die.
PUNCH-M Mity Mite Punch
To order a punch for any Mity Mite die, specify the caliber, the
function (CS, CSW, PF, etc.), and whether it is internal or external.
External punches fit the floating punch holder. Internal punches fit
inside the die and the ram of the press. They are the longer punch
with the small tail on one end.
CHAPT-13.TXT
.he CHAPTER 13 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #
SWAGE DIES OF THE HYDRO-PRESS SYSTEM
Hydro-press dies are huge. They are larger than the ram of the
Mity Mite press and their punches are like night sticks, so big they
could just about replace the Mity Mite ram. Naturally, there is no way
they would "interchange" with dies from a hand press or the Mity Mite.
The reason for making these large dies is to withstand super-high
pressures -- pressures that would blow a firearm to bits. For
instance, a .224 caliber die in the Hydro-press design can withstand
176,667 psi repeatedly. Even the huge .512 caliber die can take
pressures of 102,198 psi. These pressures would crack a smaller die
immediately.
Because these dies can withstand such monumental pressures, it is
possible to do things with them that were not possible before in home
swaging. In fact, things that are impractical for any of the major
bullet plants can also be done easily at home because of the design of
both the dies and the press.
The same dies that are made in the Mity Mite are also produced in
the Hydro-press system. Turn to the chapter on Mity Mite dies for a
list of all the styles and sets you can obtain, and what they do. Just
replace the -M at the end of the catalog number with a -H, and you have
a catalog number for the same thing in the Hydro-press system.
For details on the operation of each of the various kinds of dies,
I will refer you to the section on Mity Mite dies. The operation is
basically the same, except that much greater pressure can be used
safely in the Hydro-press die than is possible in the Mity Mite.
Hydro-press dies also fit into the Mega Mite press, but it isn't always
practical or even possible to develop enough pressure to form the
bullet. The Mega Mite is strong enough and so are the dies, but some
calibers, materials, and designs simply require a full-power hydraulic
system in order to operate properly. On the other hand, many bullets
can be made in the Mega Mite, including lead .50 calibers and jacketed
.458 calibers with up to 0.030-inch wall tubing.
There are special dies that the great control and power of the
Hydro-press can utilize. One is the LED-1 Lead Extruder Die set. This
extruder makes any size of lead wire, from the .224 to the .458 caliber
size. Four standard LED-D inserts are provided (.185, .250, .312, and
.365-inch diameters), and you can order any other standard diameter you
need, or have a special diameter made to order.
The LED-1 comes will instructions for use. Basically, the die
replaces the floating punch holder in the press head. It accepts a
0.795-inch diameter lead billet four inches long. Corbin makes
packages of four such billets under the catalog number of LB-4, from
pure chemical lead. The kit also comes with a set of two mould tubes
and a base, which lets you cast your own soft lead into proper-diameter
billets in rapid order. Extra mould tubes can be ordered by name.
A special, long punch assembly with floating head screws into the
press ram. This punch self-aligns with the die bore, and is a very
snug fit. I don't recommend pushing it in by hand, because it can be
difficult to remove. To extrude lead wire, simply lubricate the lead
billet with Corbin Swage Lube, and drop it into the top of the extruder
die. The punch and die should be adjusted so that the punch is just
inside the die mouth, and it will support the lead billet.
Then, place the desired diameter of die insert (LED-D) carefully
in the top of the die body, with the smooth, dished side toward the
lead. Slide it into place in the top of the die. Then screw the
bushing down into the top of the die body to hold the die in place.
Start the press moving up. Normally, I like to adjust the top position
sensor so that the ram is just short of the top of the die when the
press stops. This is best done by running the ram up before the die is
installed, then screwing the die down until it stops against the punch
face, and finally backing it off slightly for clearance. Then set the
location of the top sensor to shut off the press and reverse it at this
point in the ram travel.
Small diameter wire can take 1,800 psi or so to extrude. Larger
diameters can take as little as 1000 psi on the press gauge. The exact
pressures are suggested in the literature that comes with the LED-1.
When you start up the press, lead will come out the top of the die
quickly. It will be hot, so don't immediately grab it with a bare
hand. Trapped air or lube can cause bits of lead to be expelled with
great force from the top of the die, so never lean over the die or
place any part of your body over the top of it while you are extruding
lead. If you ever observe this rare occurrance, you will be careful to
follow that advise.
The quality of wire that you can produce this way far exceeds
nearly any commercial supply. It looks like chrome, and it is so even
and consistent that it is hard to believe the material is soft lead.
Many Corbin customers sell their lead wire at a premium price, and get
it, because it is indeed a premium product.
Copper tubing jacket-maker dies, CTJM-1-H, for the Hydro-press can
be ordered in .030, 0.049, or 0.065-inch wall thickness. Brass,
copper, or even steel jackets can be formed. In copper of 0.030 and
0.049 wall thickness, it is practical to form a partition or wall
across the middle of the jacket in several of the larger calibers.
This isn't possible or practical in all calibers or wall thicknesses,
but generally works well above .30 caliber in 0.030 wall copper tubing,
and with most of the larger calibers in 0.049 wall copper tubing.
The base closure that is possible with the Hydro-press die set is
total, in flat base designs. Recently, we have developed methods of
making nearly total closures in a rebated boattail, copper tubing
jacket. Solid noses can also be formed to a high degree of closure.
Bullet designs that far outshine any conventional factory design can be
produced at home. Hundreds of fired bullets, recovered from trophy
game by excited customers, line the shelves in my office. Their
performance all over the world, time and time again, proves that a
person can produce a better bullet in his own garage or loading room
than most of the very expensive factory bullets available today.
JRD-1-H Jacket Reducing Die, Hydro-press
Available for tubing reduction, bullet drawing, or jacket redraw
operations. Also used for reducing the diameter of pieces of cut,
solid tubing in copper or brass alloys, in order to produce solid metal
bullets for special applications. The JRD-1-H fits a 7/8-14 to 1.5-12
thread adapter in the press head, and the punch screws into the press
ram. For unusual applications, automatic stripper plates and guide
frames can be built to fit on the CHP-1 Mark IV Hydro-press, quickly
removing the drawn component from the punch on the down stroke and
allowing rapid, hand-fed operation that approaches automatic feed
production (at a fraction of the cost).
CTJM-1-H Copper Tubing Jacket-maker, Hydro-press
Normally used in calibers above .308, up to and including the .600
Nitro, special sets can be used in calibers such as .270 and 7mm.
Usually, smaller calibers can utilize commercially available jackets at
lower cost, or use commercial jackets reduced in diameter to thicken
the walls. Wall thickness of 0.030, 0.049, and 0.065 are standard in
the larger bores. Special sets can be made for other wall thickness
tubing. The flat-base sets round the end of the tubing, draw it down
to proper size, and flatten the end in the regular core seating die of
your swage set. The partition sets utilize two punches to fold and
pressure-weld a band between their ends, making a partition in the
middle of the bullet (exact position can be set by punch length
ratios). The base is rolled over after the core is inserted. Two
short cores are inserted, one from either end. Partition sets are the
same price as regular sets, although different kinds of parts are
included. Five punches are normally used to convert a conventional
flat base set into a partition set. Rebated boattail sets can be
produced as well, again at the same price. RBT and partition designs
are not usually combined.
CSW-1-H Core Swage Die, Hydro-press
The core swage makes precise lead cores from soft or hard lead.
Unlike the Hydro-press dies, there is no restriction on lead hardness.
Special diameter bleed holes are utilized to produce a soft or a hard
lead swage die. Specify which kind of lead you wish to use when
ordering, in order to get optimum performance.
CS-1-H Core Swage Die, Hydro-press
The core swage die can make a semi-wadcutter handgun bullet with
or without a jacket, or it can be used as a preliminary step in forming
a rifle bullet (where the final stage is the point forming die).
Pressure limits for each caliber of die are given in the book, "Power
Swaging". Punches can be ordered by function and shape under that
catalog number PUNCH-H (for this and all other Hydro-press dies).
PF-1-H Point Form Die, Hydro-press
The point forming die has the actual bullet shape lapped into its
cavity. It can form both jacket and lead into the ogive, unlike the
straight wall core seater which uses a punch to shape just the lead
nose. The internal punch is a tough spring-steel ejection wire.
Larger calibers normally use a wire that can be 0.180 to 0.200 inch
diameter. This assures easy ejection on lead tip bullet designs.
Smaller calibers normally utilize wires of 0.120 or less, down to as
little as 0.080 inches for very small caliber bullets. It is important
to know the ejection pin diameter and length so you can order
replacements easily. One of the first measurements you should record
is the diameter and length of the wire part of this punch, just in case
you ever need a replacement sent quickly.
LT-1-H Lead Tip Forming Die, Hydro-press
The lead tip die shapes the extended lead tip of the bullet, and
it can also be used to close down the open tip of a bullet below the
diameter of the ejection pin (as discussed under the PF-1-H heading).
The internal punch of this die has a cavity that determines the
tip shape. You can order extra internal punches to make flat nose,
spitzer tip, or semi-spitzer (rounded end) tips. This die uses the
same external punch as the point forming die, and cannot be used
without first having a point forming die of the same caliber. It does
not come with external punch for that reason.
RBT-2-H Rebated Boattail Add-On 2-die Set, Hydro-press
This set ounch of this die has a cavity that determines the
tip shape. You can order extra internal punches to make flat nose,
spitzer tip, or semi-spitzer (rounded end) tips. This die uses the
same external punch as the point forming die, and cannot be used
without first having a point forming die of the same caliber. It does
not come with external punch for that reason.
RBT-2-H Rebated Boattail Add-On 2-die Set, Hydro-press
This set o The combination of a core swage with bleed holes and the base and
nose forming punches of a semi-wadcutter or paper-patch rifle core
swage die makes this die. The weight is adjusted and the nose and base
formed all in one stroke. The die is used to make lead or half-
jacketed handgun and rifle bullets. Typical rifle ogive would be a
nose punch having a 1-caliber long, eliptical shape. Typical handgun
nose shape might be a Keith or wadcutter. Other shapes can be made to
order. Standard shapes include conical, Keith, round nose, wadcutter,
or hollow point, and flat base, cup base, dish base, and hollow base
shapes.
JSWC-2-H Jacketed Semi-wadcutter 2-die Set, Hydro-press
This set breaks up the operation of weight adjustment and final
sizing into two steps, making it possible to use 3/4-jacket lengths.
It can also make lead or half jackets. Since bullet noses and bases
are formed by pressing against punches, there can be no curve or radius
of the jacket away from full bore diameter. The nose must be formed
entirely of lead, with a small step between the end of the ogive and
the start of the shank, also formed in the lead extending beyond the
jacket.
FJFB-3-H Full Jacket, Flat Base 3-die Set, Hydro-press
The 3-die set described under the Mity Mite section is also the
basic set for the power press. Any caliber from .14 to .72 (or so)
diameter may be ordered. Standard calibers for every conventional
factory bore size are available, though demand is quite high and
delivery times depend entirely on the current backlog: call or write
to get a copy of the immediate delivery list.
LTFB-4-H Lead Tip, Flat Base 4-die Set, Hydro-press
Lead tip bullets or open tip styles can be made with this set.
Generally, the lead tip styles are for rifles, because a blunt handgun
ogive can usually be formed with a lead tip even without the special
lead tip die. Sharper ogives require the extra die to shape up the
lead tip after the actual ogive is formed.
RBT0-4-H Rebated Boattail, Open Tip 4-die Set, Hydro-press
The open tip, rebated boattail is a favorite amount competition
rifle shooters and is rapidly becoming popular among winning metallic
silhouette shooters who use long range handguns. The rebated boattail
can be made in copper tubing jackets in the Hydro-press. Hard alloys
are also feasible with these high pressure dies and the press that
"thinks" so it can avoid over-pressure conditions when properly
programmed.
RBTL-5-H Rebated Boattail, Lead Tip 5-die Set, Hydro-press
The five die rebated boattail, open or lead tip rifle set is
popular among shooters who take their firearms afield as well as to the
range. Choosing a lead tip offers greater expansion than the same
weight of open tip (and most people think it is the opposite!). The
open tip bullet brought to a small meplat (typically less than 0.1
inches in diameter at the bullet tip) brings a considerable thickening
to the jacket tip. Many factory bullets that were advertised as being
0.049-inch wall thickness showed over 0.060 inches at the tip as a
result of this unavoidable thickening when the jacket is drawn to a
point. Using the lead tip gives you a greater opening at the actual
jacket's end, since the lead extends beyond it to serve the purpose of
a smaller tip for better ballistics. It is the jacket thickness and
opening size that controls expansion, rather than the mere fact of
whether or not the tip is open.
FRB0-5-H Flat or Rebated Boattail, Open Tip 5-die Set, Hydro-press
A set for the person who likes open tip (which is NOT the same as
hollow point, no matter what some of the mass producers of bullets say
in their literature) bullets, but wants the widest possible range of
weights. Many people purchase an extra point forming die, as well,
getting a 6 or 7-S ogive for their longer range target work and for
more conventional weights, then getting the extra PF-1-H in a 1-E or a
round nose ogive (.5-E or .5-S -- it is the same thing) for both the
very light weights (short shank and short nose) or the very heavy
weights (long shank, short nose). The advantage of the blunt ogive is
that it gives you a greater range of useful bullet weights. The
advantage of the sharper ogive is less drop and higher delivered
velocity over a given range.
FRBL-6-H All Style System, 6-die Set, Hydro-press
Finally, the set that gives you everything. This set makes all
the styles of any of the other sets, except that you would need to
order extra punches (PUNCH-H, External, specify caliber and shape) to
make semi-wadcutter noses in the core seating die. Naturally, it
doesn't make every possible ogive shape, since the ogive is controlled
by the cavity lapped into the point forming die. Various ogive curves
would be made by ordering extra PF-1-H dies made in those shapes.
Usually one or two shapes will suffice for the widest range of hunting
and target shooting situations.
LED-1 Lead Extruder Die Set, Hydro-press
The lead extruder die set has a large heat-treated steel body that
fits into the press head, a long floating punch or piston assembly that
fits snugly into this die, a series of four die inserts which control
the diameter of the lead wire you can extrude, a bushing to hold the
die insert into the top of the die, a pack of lead billets, and a mould
base with two mould tubes to make your own billets from scrap lead, if
you wish. Standard sizes of .185", .250", .312", and .365" die inserts
are included. Others can be ordered in any desired size down to .125"
(which is the smallest size this extruder can safely produce --
pressure and system size increase with the reduction in wire diameter).
LED-D Lead Extruder Die Insert, for LED-1
The die insert for the LED-1 is a heat-treated button which is
about three-quarters of an inch long and equally broad, made to fit
precisely into the top of the LED-1 extruder. Corbin also makes
various kinds of wire drawing dies for major lead wire manufacturers
and others involved in defense or sporting ammunition manufacture. You
can order a standard size for a caliber, or you can specify a custom
diameter. Lead wire diameters depend both on the hole size in the die
and on the extrusion velocity and ambient temperature, the lubrication
used and the particular alloy being extruded. If the application is
critical, it may be necessary to purchase a set of dies in 0.001-inch
increments to adjust the size to your conditions and materials.
LB-4 Lead Billet, Pack of 4, for LED-1
Corbin has pure (99.95 percent) lead billets in 0.795-inch
diameter, four inches long, sealed in packets of four. A complete set
of specifications is included with each packet. A simple Brinnell
hardness test can be made using a steel ball, a vise, and these known
hardness cylinders of lead. Details can be found in the Corbin
textbooks.
RLA-1 Reloading Adapter Kit, Hydro-press
This is one accessory I would consider necessary with any Hydro-
press. You would be amazed at the number of times you'll find yourself
putting regular type 7/8-14 dies and shell holders of the RCBS type
into your Hydro-press. It is so fast and easy to set it up for power
case sizing and depriming, using the automatic cycle. Case forming,
military case conversion, depriming crimped primers, and other tough
jobs that put a strain on your progressive press are trivial jobs for
the Hydro-press. The bushing from the RLA-1 is required on JRD-1 type
dies, which makes it possible to use your Mity Mite or Reloading Press
draw dies, along with a different punch, in the Hydro-press. Come to
think of it, you can use a reloading press punch, too, with this
adapter kit. (The longer Hydro-press punches are sometimes more
convenient, however.)
RLA-50 .50 BMG Shell Holder, Hydro-press
The .50 caliber 1-1/2 inch threaded dies that CH and RCBS make
screw directly into the head of the Hydro-press. Using the reloading
adapter kit, you can screw this large shell holder directly into the
ram extension that is part of the kit. Primers are shunted to the side
and out an exhaust port in the side of the extender. If you load the
.50 Browning Machine Gun cartridge, this is a handy accessory.
RFJM-22H Rimfire Jacket Maker, 224 cal., for Hydro-press
Why not automate the making of free .22 jackets? With the CHP-1
Hydro-press set for an automatic stroke cycle, you can slip cases over
the punch and let the press shove them all the way through the die and
out the top in one stroke. It certainly is more fun than doing it by
hand!
RFJM-6MH Rimfire Jacket Maker, 6MM cal., for Hydro-press
The 6mm or .243 caliber (also .244) jacket maker utilizes long
rifle or Stinger cases to make 65 to 70 grain bullets. A special JRD-
1-H die and punch set can be made to draw .22 Magnum cases to 6mm or
.257 (undersized, but they expand nicely in the core seating
operation).
SPJM-25H Shotgun Primer Jacket Maker, 25 ACP cal., for Hydro-press
For 50 grains and less, a spent shotgun primer cup can be made
into a good jacket for the .25 ACP or the .25-20, .256 Winchester, or
other light-weight quarter-inch bore. The .25 ACP uses a .251-2"
bullet and the .25 rifles all use a .257" bullet, but the same jacket
diameter works for making either.
CHAPT-14.TXT
.he CHAPTER 14 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #
CORBIN SWAGE PRESSES
There are three presses currently made by Corbin for bullet
swaging. These are the Mity Mite press, the Mega Mite press, and the
Corbin Hydro-press. They are discussed in detail in previous chapters.
The operation of the Corbin Hydro-press is discussed in the book,
"Power Swaging", D. Corbin.
On special order, Corbin has built air presses and other custom
machinery for military and special ammunition manufacturing operations.
Whenever possible, I would suggest that you consider the Hydro-press.
This machine will handle nearly any kind of job you have now or in the
future. The cost of building special, one-of-a-kind versions of some
other design, even if it appears to be quite a bit more simple, usually
involves enough set-up and development time that a person would have
been better off financially to purchase the more versatile standard
product.
A great many ideas which have merit also have development and set-
up costs associated with them, which make them less economical than a
person would imagine in comparison to a well-developed standard
product. I mention this because I am constantly asked to build or at
least to quote on modifications to reloading presses, adding power to
the Mity Mite press, building dies that would fit into some punch press
or home-made press, etc.
The design of the press used for swaging has to be closely matched
to the punches and dies, not only the ones made today but the ones you
might need in the future. Years of consideration have gone into the
design of the present systems, in order to make them true systems which
work together, have replaceable components, and have as much
interchange as it is practical to obtain between various operations and
tools.
While another press might be perfectly suitable to the one job at
hand, when one looks down the road a little way, it becomes evident
that most special designs and modifications to other presses have
built-in problems with replacement parts, expansion to new products,
and versatility. Basically, why re-invent the wheel every time you
need something different, when so much time and thought has already
been put into developing swaging systems that can grow with your needs?
It stands to reason that if a company makes thousands of identical
punches and dies, it will cost far less for much higher quality than if
they had to stop, figure out what you need this time, and build it all
from scratch. In the Corbin systems, we have combined a degree of
custom adaptation to your needs with a base of standard components and
dimensions. Thousands of blanks, semi-finished parts, are run in
production. Hundreds of them are turned into standard sets in the
popular calibers. Then, custom orders are filled using the standard
dimensions and materials with which the die-makers have become so
familiar.
Rather than starting from scratch each time, your custom order is
based on generations of accumulated experience and semi-finished,
standard blanks that can be more quickly finished to the exact shape
and size you need without distrubing the versatility of the system.
The popular magazines often state that Corbin's major contribution
to the shooting industry has been the development of a wide range of
swaging products and hundreds of articles on swaging techniques. I feel
that the most important single thing we have done for shooting has been
the development of the semi-custom production method, where most of the
benefits of mass production are retained, and most of the benefits of
totally hand-made, custom products are still realized.
Small wonder that Corbin has been swamped with orders for over a
decade, with no end in sight. Prices are kept in the mass-production
range, but the results are custom made with skilled die-makers working
one-to-one with you on your order. When I hear someone offer an
improvement, I listen... but looking at the whole picture, I think the
general welfare of most shooters is served well by the present course.
CSP-1 Corbin Swage Press, Mity Mite Model
The Mity Mite is a 2-inch stroke, balanced torque swaging press
with horizontal ram, having the die in the ram and the external punch
in a floating punch holder in the press head. This arrangement,
together with the geometry of the ram and punches, permits self
ejection on the back stroke.
The CSP-1 press takes a die with 5/8-24 TPI thread, which screws
finger-tight into the ram. The external punch is held in the floating
punch holder (in the press head) by means of a hexagon-flanged threaded
bushing, which slips over the punch and presses against its head. The
floating punch holder and details of press operation are covered in the
prior chapter on the Mity Mite system.
CSP-2 Corbin Swage Press, Mega Mite Model
The Mega Mite is a long-stroke, balanced torque swaging and
reloading press, built to accept reloading dies and shell holders, Mity
Mite dies and punches, and Hydro-press dies and punches. Various
adapters and inserts change the press to suit the kind of dies being
used.
The Mega Mite is quite possibly the strongest and most certainly
the most precisely built hand press available for the handloader today.
It is machined from steel, with the ram moving on bearings against
hardened and ground guide rods. While it cannot substitute for the
power and stroke control of the electronically controlled Hydro-press,
the CSP-2 fills a need for those who wish to manufacture bullets just
larger than the sizes which the CSP-1 can handle, or in harder alloys
than are recommended for the CSP-1 dies.
Because many other reloading manufacturers have concentrated on
progressive type presses, most of which do not have the strength or
simple rigid design features required of a heavy-duty reloading press,
the CSP-2 finds use as the ultimate hand press for the advanced
handloader as well as a premium choice for the person who wishes to
invest in only one universal handloading press.
CHP-1 Mark IV Corbin Hydro-press
The Hydro-press (trade-marked name of the CHP-1 series) has gone
through four generations of development. The current model (Mark IV)
incorporates all the features of the earlier models, plus electronic
proximity sensing transducers and pressure transducers, solid state
dwell time control, and accuracy far beyond the ability of an ordinary
hydraulic or manual press.
The great power of this system is secondary to its precision
control. The ability to precisely set stroke length, maximum pressure,
the time the pressure will be held, the speed with which the ram will
move, and the point of ejection of the bullet (as well as the stopping
position for loading in another component), is coupled with programmed
stroke cycles that offer manual, one-stroke, or automatic stroke modes.
Even the various modes offer programmable methods of determining
how the component will be formed. Operations which depend upon precise
volume generation use electronic position sensing and stop when a
precise volume has been achieved in the die. Operations which depend
more on accurate pressure levels use the built-in pressure transducers
to apply a pre-set level of pressure and then hold it for a pre-
determined length of time before backing off the ram and ejecting the
part.
The ram can be set to move like the hour-hand of a clock, for
set up of a new operation. Then, the throttle control can be adjusted
for ram velocity of up to 120 inches per minute -- faster than any
conventional electric hydraulic system of 20-ton capacity, capable of
operating from ordinary household current. The secret is the multiplex
or time-shared technology that makes the system appear to be developing
impossible efficiency from the 1.5 HP motor, gaining both speed and
pressure out of proportion to the power used.
Since swaging only requires maximum power at the end of the
stroke, most operations utilize the high speed only to move the ram
into position and apply the first 500 psi of drive pressure. If the
system calls for more than 500 psi drive, then the second pump takes
the load and moves up to 2000 psi more pressure into the lines. Since
the movement has already been handled by the high-speed pump, the
automatic pressure switching circuits make the press appear to be
running at both high speed and high pressure at the same time.
Actually, the system switches from one mode to the other instantly, and
is only using the exact amount of power required to handle either one
or the other.
The drive line pressure is multiplied 8.3 times by the system
before being applied to the swage punches. A drive line pressure of
only 1000 psi produces 8300 pounds of ram force. The ram force is
further multiplied by being channeled through the punch face area,
which can result in pressures well over 170,000 psi inside of the swage
die. A chart of pressures in the dies for a given gauge pressure on
the CHP-1 can be found in the book "Power Swaging".
EX-10 Lead Wire Extruder
This machine is not a swage press, but a special purpose lead wire
manufacturing machine for commercial operators. It is one of the most
economical and versatile extruders available today, costing a fraction
of what most lead plants have had to invest in their machines. For
making spools of 1, 5, or 10 pounds of lead wire, hollow core fishing
wire, or special extruded shapes for stained glass work, the EX-10 can
serve as the basis for a profitable home business. Utilizing a 2-inch
diameter billet, the EX-10 operates from 220 volt single phase 60 Hz
power (using the same kind of electricity as a standard electric dryer
or range in the USA -- special versions can be built for 50 Hz or 3-
phase operation).
The ram automatically advances into the huge extrusion die, and is
controlled by pressure transducers. When the pressure reaches a preset
safe level at the end of the stroke, the ram reverses and retracts from
the die. If anything should cause the system to meet undue resistance,
the ram will reverse and back out of the die. At the full extent of
the back-stroke, the ram stops and the system goes into idle state
again, waiting for another billet to be inserted.
Lead extruded from the EX-10 can be coiled or cut as it comes out,
in order to make convenient packages. Extrusion rate is fast enough to
be practical, yet slow enough so that it is easy to handle the output
without expensive high speed coilers and feeds. Even a simple hand-
wound bobbin is adequate. The billet size and machine design are
suitable for one-man handling and operation. Unlike larger machines
which use billets too large for safe handling by one person, the EX-10
makes a compact package for the garage operation.
CHAPT-15.TXT
.he CHAPTER 15 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #
ACCESSORIES FOR THE HYDRO-PRESS
The Hydro-press comes with a standard floating punch holder, a
tank of hydraulic fluid (you may need to add a little), and the USA
models comes with a standard 115 volt power cord. Export models come
with a power cable but without a plug, or with a plug matching a
standard US 3-prong 220 volt outlet (which may have to be replaced with
a plug meeting conventional standards for the country to which it is
exported).
The machine is designed to operate with Corbin swage dies of the
Hydro-press type without any optional accessory items. The external
punches fit into the punch holder and the dies with their internal
punches screw into the press ram. There are a number of items which a
commercial operator would be wise to have on hand, either as spare
parts or as accessory supplies to increase the versatility of the
machine.
FPH-1-H Floating Punch Holder, Hydro-press
One comes with the press. Having extras with the punch installed
and a locking nut secured makes it possible to pre-set commonly used
punch depths for quick installation. One can also order this unit with
a hole and retainer bushing size for 12 gauge shotgun and other larger
calibers (70 caliber and up). Specify the "shotgun" version. The
regular punch holder does not work with huge 12 gauge and larger
punches.
A-220V 220 Volt Power Option, Hydro-press
For use on 50-60 Hz single phase 220 volt current, which is
standard line voltage in many countries besides the United States, one
should order the Hydro-press with this option factory installed.
Conversion in the field is NOT recommended, although a qualified
electrician can do it with the correct components. The conversion
includes an internal transformer so that the standard 115 volt
indicator lamps and electronic circuits can still be used (one does not
need to purchase special 220 volt bulbs, etc., for the machine after
the conversion).
RY-1 Logic Relay, Hydro-press
There are a number of logic relays in the Hydro-press to control
various functions. They are highly reliable and interchangable, so
that it is easy to troubleshoot a potential defective relay by changing
it with one of the others to see if the problem goes away or shifts to
another function. It is a good idea in isolated areas, or for critical
schedules, to have at least one spare logic relay on hand "just in
case". Logic relays plug into sockets in the Hydro-press. They only
go in one way, so it isn't possible to put them in "backward".
PUNCH-H Punch, Hydro-press
As with the other swaging systems, the Hydro-press system can be
expanded to other operations by adding optional external or internal
punches to an existing die set. To order any punch, as a replacement
or spare, or as a new option, use this catalog number, followed by the
caliber, whether INTERNAL or EXTERNAL, the kind of die it works with
(such as CS-1, PF-1, etc.), and any special face shape or diameters
that are needed to make it work for your application (as, Keith nose,
or diameter to fit inside sample jacket provided with order).
TDL-1 Timer Module, Hydro-press
An electronic timer module, also known as a time delay relay,
controls the dwell time at the top of the Hydro-press stroke. You can
adjust it for any desired dwell, from milliseconds (0.001 seconds) to
several seconds. A top-panel knob gives you immediate control of the
dwell time on mid-1986 and later models. The solid-state electronic
module is very reliable, but it is easily changed by plugging in a new
unit if trouble should ever develop. In critical or isolated
situations, a spare module is a good idea.
PDX-1 Position Transducer, Hydro-press
The electronic position transducers are sophistocated proximity
detectors, which sense the position of the ram by the near-field effect
of a magnetic detector circuit inside the unit. These small threaded
cylinders hold a considerable amount of electronic circuitry, and are
highly reliable. A red LED indicator shows you if the unit is working
by lighting when steel objects come close to the sensor face.
There are THREE of these transducers on the mid-1986 and later
model Hydro-presses, replacing the earlier Micro-Switch roller-arm
limit switches. They offer remarkable accuracy and ease of adjustment
-- simply slide them up or down their steel standard to set the top,
bottom, and loading positions for the press stroke. However, if you
should happen to physically set the transducers too close to the ram,
you can run the ram into one and smash it. Replacement is moderately
easy: remove the back cabinet cover, and trace the shielded cable from
the broken transducer to the terminal strip on the logic board. Loosen
the screws and remove the wires from the unit to this terminal strip,
and replace the new transducer with the same connections.
If you are careful not to adjust the transducers forward so they
obviously are in the path of the moving ram guide plate, this damage
will never happen. It is not really necessary to adjust the position
horizontally at any time. Vertical adjustment is made by sliding the
transducer up and down on the standard, in its slot. Finger pressure
is all you need to hold the transducer locked in position with its
locking nut. This is a spare part that probably won't need
replacement, but in very remote areas and critical applications, where
being out of operation for a week or ten days would cost more than the
transducer, it is a good idea.
SV-1 Solenoid Valve, Hydro-press
The main hydraulic control in the press is the 4-way electric
valve that switches oil flow direction in and out of the drive
cylinder. This valve usually has a very long life, but can be damaged
by contamination in the hydraulic fluid, incorrect kind of fluid, chips
or dirt in the fluid, or normal wear. Since it takes about 30 minutes
to remove the old valve and install a new one, the first time, it isn't
a troubleshooting technique to do this routinely and spares are usually
a good idea only if the application is very critical. The main symptom
of a bad valve is erratic movement or variation in speed from stroke to
stroke, loud noises from hydraulic fluid vibrating as it tries to move
past a partly stuck valve opening, failure to stop at the top or bottom
position of the stroke, and other failures related to ram movement or
speed that are erratic in nature or produce accompanying loud noises.
A defective solenoid valve does not cause harm to the press, and
can be operated if you can put up with the symptoms. But one failure
mode (where the valve sticks in position instead of switching every
time) can cause the press to continue upward when it should be stopped,
and this can cause a problem (such as extruding all the lead out of the
core swage die instead of making the right weight of core!).
Fortunately, such problems are extremely rare. The solution is to
remove the valve and replace it.
Solenoid valves do not require removal of any plumbing for
replacment. They are mounted on a sub-plate which carries all the
steel tubing and ports. The valve control wires (4) unplug from the
rest of the system using a very obvious connector that you will see
when you open the cabinet and trace the wires out of the solenoid
valve. A cover plate on top of the unit removes (with corner screws)
to expose the box that holds the wire connections and also gives you
vertical access to the corner scews that hold the valve on the sub-
plate.
Removal of these corner screws allows you to lift the valve
straight up, off the sub-plate. A small amount of oil will trickle
out, but as long as the pump is turned off there will be no need to
worry about a flood of hydraulic fluid. There are four o-rings on four
recessed port openings beneath the valve, which you must make sure are
not lost. Other than that, replacement is as simple as unplugging and
unscrewing the old valve, and putting the new one in its place.
Since this component is moderately expensive, and is kept in
stock, it is not something that most people need to stock as a spare.
The ends of the coil housings contain a movable manual plunger that
shifts the valve so you can test the operation. If a symptom appears
that you suspect is related to a sticking valve, press on the center of
one and then the other end cap (solenoid valve covers) with a small
dowel to push the valve spool and help it shift into correct position
while the press is trying to run. If this cures the problem then the
valve is probably at fault. The right end to push depends on which
direction the press is running. One must be careful not to reach into
the top panel electric wiring while fooling around inside the cabinet
-- we recommend bringing in a qualified electrician for any internal
service work.
CHF-128 Corbin Hydraulic Fluid, Gallon Can
Spare fluid is handy if you should ever need to replace a fitting
or if you spill fluid while moving the press. If the press isn't
tipped too far, but is kept vertical while moving, it should not spill
any fluid. Fluid lasts for years in a typical operation without undue
contamination. Condensed moisture, bits of metal powder from natural
wear of the pump vanes and valves, heat by-products in the fluid from
long, hard use, and dust from outside the system are potential reasons
why you might want to change the fluid after a few years of operation.
A combination of temperature and oil level gauge is located right
on the oil reservoir, inside the cabinet. You can easily see if the
fluid is low or the temperature rises above the recommended maximum of
140 degrees F. Extended use at high temperature will cause the oil to
break down, and can lower the pressure you are able to generate.
Eventual failure of the cylinder and valve seals, as well as those on
the pump, result from prolonged high-temperature operation above the
recommended levels. Low fluid level leads to high temperature
operation since the oil does not have sufficient thermal mass to
transfer and adsorb the heat over the back surface of the tank (which
is designed to act as a heat exchanger with the air compression of the
dual cooling fans and air expansion during exit through the closely-
spaced exhaust grill.
IL-1 Logic Indicator Bulb, Hydro-press
Telephone-quality 115 volt indicator bulbs are used in order to
provide bright display of the status of the logic circuits. LED
indicators were not chosen here, since a clearly-visible display in
bright light was deemed necessary for operator safety. Spare bulbs are
a good idea. They are not expensive and last a very long time (typical
bulb life is over 10,000 hours). The bulbs are changed by unscrewing
the colored caps from the indicators, and pulling straight out on the
glass bulb. There are THREE IL-1 bulbs in each Hydro-press.
IL-2 Work Lamp Bulb, Hydro-press
The inspection lamp has a pre-focused ellipsoid spotlight bulb of
the R-14 type, with screw base. This bulb provides excellent
inspection lighting with low power and heat. It is a 115 volt bulb
with a long life in normal use. A spare is handy. Only one such bulb
is used in each Hydro-press.
FSO-16 Corbin Gun Oil, Pint Can
This instrument grade ISO-15 oil is highly recommended for
lubrication of the ground rods and bearings in the Hydro-press head, as
well as for preservation of the dies and punches while they are in
storage. It is a very economical product that works quite well as both
an instrument and lathe oil. Originally marketed as Five Star Gun Oil,
the pint can contains as much oil as EIGHT conventional 2-ounce cans
for about half the price.
CHAPT-16.TXT
.he CHAPTER 16 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #
BULLET JACKETS
Bullet jackets are available from Corbin in popular calibers and
lengths. The current list is always available from Corbin on request.
The typical packaging is in boxes of 250 jackets for larger calibers
and lengths, and in boxes of 500 units for half-jackets, smaller
calibers, and shorter lengths.
Gilding metal jackets with very consistent wall thickness and with
an expansion controlling taper from edge to base are usually about half
the cost of a quality bullet made from the same material. In some
cases, you can save considerably more. In a few cases, you can find
surplus or low-cost factory bullets that are available for about the
same price as a good quality jacket.
In the .224 caliber, this is often the case, since many firms
contract with the government to manufacture .223 bullets and can use
much of this investment in machinery to turn out low cost .224
projectiles for reloaders. However, in the .224 market, you can also
make FREE jackets using fired .22 cases, so you have the last laugh
anyway!
Sizes and lengths that are not popular enough (yet) to be stocked
can often be made from existing calibers and lengths. Any larger
caliber can be drawn down to a smaller size in a simple draw die, such
as the Corbin JRD-1. The reduction usually is practical from .284 to
.270, from .270 to .257, and from .243 to anything down to a long heavy
.224 jacket.
Sub-calibers can be drawn from .224 jackets, and pinch trimmed to
length in the same operation. Jackets can be pinched off as they pass
through a constriction to the next smaller caliber size, by having the
punch that pushes them through the draw die made with a shoulder. The
smaller diameter of the punch, from the shoulder to the end of the
punch, is made to fit inside the reduced diameter of the jacket. The
larger diameter from the shoulder back to the base of the punch just
fits through the draw die by itself, leaving no room for any jacket
material.
A minimum reduction of at least the thickness of the jacket wall
is required to do this pinch-trim operation. But it works well and
gives you one more tool to control your jacket supply. In many cases
there is no need to reduce a jacket length as well as its diameter. A
.41 and a .40 caliber jacket can both be drawn from a standard .44
jacket, for instance. Taking the jacket down in two steps is usually
better than trying to reduce it all at once.
Copper tubing provides for a superior jacket in calibers from 7mm
up. Conventional water tubing such as type L hard drawn copper works
very well and makes bullets so accurate you would swear they came from
a custom bullet works (and, come to think of it, they DID: -- YOURS!).
Tubing normally costs more than conventional jackets unless you find a
good deal on a large lot, or have an uncle in the plumbing or
commercial refrigeration business. Typical prices at this writing are
about five cents average price for a good commercial jacket, and about
eighteen cents average price for a pre-cut and de-burred piece of
tubing.
If you cut and de-burr your own lengths of tubing, then of course
the cost can be lower. It is still hard to beat the price of
commercial jackets. Trouble is, they are not always available in the
calibers you want, and they are usually much thinner than you need for
big game. Premium quality game bullets selling for as much as $2.50
each can be reproduced for about eighteen to twenty cents, and they can
include partitions, bonded cores, selective jacket thickness, brass or
steel as well as pure copper jacket material, plus the weight and
styles you want instead of those someone else wants to make for you.
Those are some of the reasons people often choose to make tubing
jackets even when commercial ones are available at lower cost. Price
is often a secondary consideration when people get serious about big
game, defense, or competition shooting. Performance is the issue.
After all, taken to its extremes, a fellow only worried about cost
should get a slingshot: it throws a cheap projectile! When you start
saying, "...but what about accuracy, expansion, delivered energy, etc.,
", then it becomes important to start weighing these factors against
the cost of equipment to achieve them. Tubing jackets, made correctly,
can be such huge steps above ordinary jackets that cost really is
out-distanced by performance.
Corbin supplies cut pieces of copper, brass, or steel tubing in
the 0.030, 0.049, and 0.065-inch wall sizes. Cut pieces are made to
order (so they are non-returnable) for the weight and style of your
caliber. A minimum run is 100 pieces of stock material, 200 pounds of
custom material. If you do want a custom wall thickness or alloy, we
can probably get it made or make it for you, in the 200 pound minimums.
Prices typically have been running about $6 per pound with cutting and
material included, but write for an accurate quote.
CHAPT-17.TXT
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LEAD
Corbin supplies lead in several forms, including lead wire and
lead billets made to fit our extruder dies and machines. We are not a
primary supplier of large quantities of lead, however, and recommend
that you locate a lead firm near your bussiness area for large lots of
lead. If you wish to enter the extruded lead wire market, we can help
you with machinery and billet moulds, but we do not manufacture lead
pots and would recommend that you contact the cast bullet suppliers for
these.
Corbin lead wire comes in sizes that are suitable for all calibers
of rifle and handgun bullets. The size of the wire usually is much
smaller than the caliber of the bullet, since the wire is made to fit
into a jacket. Jackets are usually smaller than the caliber by a few
thousands of an inch, themselves. Everything expands upward under
swaging pressure to make a uniform, tightly fitted bullet.
Custom diameters and alloys are available on special order for a
different price than the stock pure lead in standard diameters. When
you order lead wire by caliber, we supply the size that fits into the
standard jacket for that caliber unless you specify some other size.
If you order at the standard price and catalog number, but specify a
special size, then we supply the nearest stock size that appears likely
to fit into your jacket.
Lead wire can be very economical, depending on the caliber. In
.224 caliber, for instance, a single 25-lb. spool of lead wire makes
well over 4,300 conventional 50 grain bullets (the jacket weighs over
10 grains). Even with coast-to-coast shipping, your lead cost per
bullet is about one cent. Who needs to bother with casting cores, when
you can snip off lead wire for that low a price? On the other hand, if
you already have plenty of lead, you may as well use it with a core
mould, which makes around 1000 cores an hour.
LW-25 Lead Wire, 25-lb. Spool
To order lead wire, specify caliber or diameter you need to fit
into your jacket or core swage die. Standard diameters are: .125
(1/8") for .17 caliber, .156 (5/32") for .20 caliber, .185 (3/16") for
.224, .243, .25 caliber, and thick-wall .270 caliber, .218 (7/32") for
thin-wall .270, .284, and thick-wall .308 caliber, .250 (1/4") for
.308, 8mm, and other calibers up to .338 plus some tubing jacket big-
bores, .312 (5/16") for .38/9mm, .358, .366, .375 and some big bores
with tubing jackets, .340 (11/32") for the .40 and .41 calibers, and
.356 (3/8") for most big bores except those with thick jackets.
The decimal size is the right one -- the fractional size is the
nearest size you will normally find elsewhere. Corbin makes wire to
the exact size that fits rather than to match the common fractional
diameter. However, you can use the next smaller wire in any jacket so
long as there is enough bulk to it that your desired weight doesn't
come out too long to fit into the die.
Custom sizes and alloys are available but they are not stocked and
there is an additional cost involved in making special drawing dies and
in getting a special alloy drawn. A minimum of 100 pounds applies on
any special diameter or alloy.
Stock lead wire is made in 99.95% chemically pure lead with trace
silver, packaged on spools of 25 lbs., and is not sold in smaller lots
since this would be a costly way to stock and sell wire. Many Corbin
clients do manufacture lead wire in smaller lots for other bullet
makers. The book "World Directory of Custom Bullet Makers" is full of
information by and about other bullet makers who can help you with
these purchases. If you wish to make lead wire or bullets for sale,
please request a form to allow us to list your business in the next
edition of this directory.
LB-4 Lead Billets, Pack of Four
This is a package of four chemically pure Bh 5 hardness 0.795-inch
diameter cylinders, four inches long. The package weighs 5,687.5
grains and the density of the lead is 0.4092 pounds per cubic inch.
You can use this as a test standard for other lead, or as raw material
to extrude excellent wire in the Hydro-press LED-1 extruder kit.
LB-5 Lead Billet, 1.5-inch Diameter
These billets are for melting down, primarily, although you can
use them to make 5 pound lengths of wire in an extruder. If you need a
source for good quality pure lead, and cannot find anyone near to you,
we stock a moderate quantity of these billets to help solve the
problem.
BMT-1 Billet Mould Tube, for LED-1
The LED-1 Lead Extruder Die kit comes with two mould tubes to make
your own 0.795-inch billets. If you need more, these tubes are honed,
blued, and ready to slip over the steel mould base that you fasten to
your workbench. Fill them full, pull them off the base, and give them
a shake to slide the billet out!
PCS-1 Precision Core Cutter
The Corbin precision core cutter uses a pair of hardened steel
dies which slide over each other to slice off pieces of lead wire to
proper length. You can adjust the length with a threaded stop screw
that is supported by a steel bar below the dies. The cutter comes with
a complete set of dies in standard wire sizes. The dies are held in
the two cutter bars by set screws and are easily changed.
Mount one bar of the cutter to your bench. The other has a nice
padded handle that you pull to cut the wire. Push the wire down
through the stationary top bar and die, with the handle in a straight
line so the dies are above each other. Adjust the stop screw so that
the lead wire will shear off at the length you wish (weigh a few pieces
to adjust the length for the right weight). The stop screw can be set
off to just catch the edge of the lead, so it doesn't drag across the
top of the screw. This gives you more accurate weights. The Corbin
Precision Core Cutter is made for soft lead to .365-inch diameter, and
will handle lead of Bhn 10 hardness up to .312-inch diameter. For
larger diameters, or for alloys up to Bhn 22 in any size, I recommend
the PCS-2 "Magnum" model, instead.
PCS-2 Corbin "Magnum" Core Cutter
This huge version of the PSC-1 is built with over-sized pivot,
extra large frame and handle, and accepts much larger diameter dies
than the PCS-1. We make this on special order -- it is not a stock
item -- and will make the dies at the same time, to fit any size of
wire you wish up to half an inch in diameter! Few people need this
tool, but for those who do, it is available from the die-works that
makes whatever you need to produce bullets.
PCS-D Core Cutter Die, Pair
Sometimes people lose a die or need a different size for some
reason. If you need a standard size, they are very inexpensive and are
in stock for each of the standard wire diameters (we use the .365-inch
wire die for the .340, since it works just fine). If you want a
special diameter, this can be made at standard shop rate rather than
the stock die price. Normally there is no need for any size other than
the standards. These dies are for the PCS-1 standard core cutter and
are kept in stock in standard sizes. I recommend that you use standard
sizes in the PCS-1, and order your custom diameters along with a PCS-2,
since the cost will be about the same either way for custom work.
CM-4 Corbin Four-Cavity Adjustable Weight Core Mould
Turning your own scrap lead into useful lead cores is easier than
casting bullets, and much faster. These moulds do not require handles.
One arm mounts to the bench. The mould projects from the bench, and
hangs over the edge. The other arm is a sprue cutter, but a long one
that doesn't need to be beaten to open it.
There are four pistons and cylinders in the mould, just like a
four-cylinder in-line car engine. The engine head would be like the
sprue cutter. Adjustable weights screw up and down on the bottoms of
four connecting rods that project from the cylinders. You can set all
four cavities to have exactly the same displacement by means of these
adjustment weights.
The over-all weight range is from zero to some large maximum for
each standard caliber. This is achieved by resting the four pistons on
a sliding captive bar, which we call a rest plate. The rest plate has
two over-sized holes that let it slide easily up and down on a pair of
threaded rods. The rods have a locking pairs of nuts on them, under
the holes in the rest plate.
You adjust the weight by setting the nuts on the rods, thus
changing the displacement or volume in all four cylinder at one time.
To eject the cores, you open the sprue cutter by pivoting it to one
side, and then press up on the rest plate. It easily moves up, pushing
all four pistons at once in front of it, and pushing the cores out the
top of the die!
Core moulds are made in all standard sizes from .224 to .458, in
the same step ranges as the lead wire. For sub-calibers, Corbin does
not make a core mould. It is not worth the trouble to cast these
cores, when you can easily extrude a life-time supply using a LED-2 kit
in your Mity Mite press! The LED-2 uses a regular .44/45 caliber
(.365") core mould for its billet supply.
CM-I Core Mould Insert (Piston & Cylinder Unit)
Each Corbin Core Mould has four piston and cylinder units, or
inserts, installed in a steel frame with set screws. You can change
these if you wish, to use one core mould for several calibers. I would
advise a person with a fairly active shooting schedule not to change
inserts, but to purchase a mould for each caliber.
First, you will find that it is faster and much more convenient to
have a complete, ready-to-use mould when you want to make cores. Time
is short enough for enjoying the shooting part and most of us don't
need to waste any of it if there is a faster way to get the bullets
made. Second, you will find that after changing the mould inserts a
few dozen times, they are hard to get in and out. This is because
every time you tighten the set screws, you raise a little burr which
eventually builds up the diameter of the insert so it won't fit the
frame.
The interchangability is fine for someone who only changes mould
inserts a few times a year. You can easily stone off the burrs that
result on the mould inserts. Eventually, if you change them often
enough, they get sloppy in the mould frame and have to be replaced.
The best plan is to use a separate mould for each caliber as originally
intended for this design, and to use replacement inserts only when
damage or dirty, gritty lead spoils the honed inside of the die insert
and makes the lead stick.
CM-2 Corbin "Magnum" Core Mould, Two-cavity Adjustable Weight
This adjustable weight two cavity mould is a huge version of the
CM-4, which has more cavities but is limited to diameters of .365-inch
and less. When you want a special, larger diameter, order one of these
moulds custom made to your requirements. Custom inserts are no less
costly for the CM-4, and you may as well have the larger equipment
since it will stand up longer when used with large diameters.
For diameters of half-inch and less, the CM-2 offers a rugged
steel frame with interchangable mould cylinders and pistons, made to
your order. These are not stocked, and there will probably be a
waiting list. Examples of possible need for this mould would be the
case of a person who wants to manufacture a lead .50 caliber Sharps
bullet and wants a mould to turn out .490-.495 inch cores.
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TOOLS FOR BULLET MAKERS
The basic tools of swaging are the press and dies. We have
already discussed the core mould, core cutter, and the supplies of
jackets and lead. Beyond this, most tools are to help you prepare
commercially-acceptable bullets for sale or to help you make bullets
more quickly, easily, or with a wider range of performance.
Some of these special tools involve controlled heating of the
components. For instance, you can make bonded core bullets using
Corbin Core Bond and either a Flameless Heat Gun (FHG-1) or one of the
electronic Heat Treatment Ovens (HT0-1 or HTO-2). Heating the jacket
materials to precisely controlled temperatures gives you the ability to
control the ductility and expansion in a way that most people,
including many otherwise experienced shooters (and writers) never dream
is possible.
A cannelure is not something that your bullets must have in order
to function properly, but it can add value to your commercial offerings
and perform useful functions in your own handloads. The cannelure
tends to stop expansion of the jacket within a limited range of
deceleration rates, and helps hold the core within the jacket on
impact. It gives you an area into which the case mouth can be crimped
if you wish to do this. And it identifies the bullet and points out
the correct seating depth if you wish to make it do so.
Bullets that have been polished to a high gloss have greater sales
appeal than mottled, dull bullets, even if there is no difference in
their actual performance. The BPK-1 Bullet Polisher Kit is a safe and
easy way to polish bullets, since it operates on the opposite principle
of a case tumbler. Case tumblers roll the components around against
the media and each other. They work fairly quickly, but they are also
rough on the exposed lead tips of your bullets. Vibratory polishers
work by rapidly shaking the polishing medium against the slowly moving
component. In other words, the medium does the moving instead of the
component (although the bullets do slowly move round in the boiling
mass of polishing material). This keeps the bullets themselves from
striking each other with such force that the tips are damaged.
HCT-1 Corbin Hand Cannelure Tool
No, it isn't for canneluring your hand: the HCT-1 uses a hand-
turned crankshaft to put professional cannelure grooves on your
bullets. A cannelure (that's CAN-A-LOOR) is a ring or groove around
the circumference of the bullet. Little serrations on the groove help
the cannelure wheel get a grip on the shiny bullet surface, and let you
put as deep a groove as you wish into it.
The HCT-1 tool received high marks from the American Rifleman
staff in a report in the "Dope Bag" of December, 1985. Since then,
we have found ways to make it even better, with knurled adjustment
knobs to set the bullet position and cannelure depth on any caliber
from .224 to .50 MG. The comfortable padded handle is wide enough for
your entire hand to press down, while powerful leverage puts tons of
force on the contact point of the bullet and roller. A roller V-block
supports the bullet as it turns.
Unlike vertical designs, the Corbin tool doesn't have to fight
gravity to hold the bullet in position. Also, it's a lot easier and
more comfortable to apply pressure by leaning slightly down on the
handle than it would be to try and press sideways. The leverage of the
Corbin tool is roughly three times more than the nearest competitive
model available today. But best of all, the HCT-1 works as it is
supposed to do, and then some. You'll find it handy for hard lead and
jacketed bullets, as well as straight pistol cases like the .45 ACP.
PCM-1 Corbin Power Cannelure Machine
This machine is a model of rugged simplicity. Housed in its own
steel case, with a powerful 115 volt drive motor and torque-multiplying
gear train, the PCM-1 takes bullets as fast as you can feed them to it,
and applies precisely located cannelures automatically. The bullets
ride on a rotating disk, through a machined steel guide plate, and out
the other side.
The cannelure wheel itself is unique to each caliber: you order
the tool complete with one wheel, and order additional wheels for each
caliber of bullet. This arrangement assures precise alignment and
exact control that cannot get out of adjustment during production runs
of millions of bullets. The position of the cannelure is set by steel
spacer disks that locate the wheel on a keyed shaft. Again, nothing
can get out of adjustment because the adjustment is a solid steel disk.
The machines are individualized for your order: they are standard
products, but the cannelure wheel is set for the caliber, and the
spacer disk is made for the proper cannelure height. Extra spacers are
provided so you can set make minor adjustments in position. While the
PCM-1 is obviously slower to set up for a job than the HCT-1, and
requires different cannelure wheels for various calibers, it does take
all the work out of big runs of cannelured bullets, and is very fast.
Order this tool by caliber and by the location, from the base, of
the bottom edge of the cannelure groove. Specify also the width of the
groove if you do not want the stock width (.050-inches wide, serrated,
very much like the conventional factory standard -- which it should be,
since many factory bullets are cannelured on a Corbin machine!). If
you want multiple grooves, be sure and send a drawing and sample
bullets if you have them already. Cannelure wheels are non-returnable
since they are made to your order -- a drawing will assure that you get
what you thought you ordered!
BPK-1 Bullet Polisher Kit
The Corbin Bullet Polisher Kit has been popular with handloaders
for well over a decade: long before any of the commercial vibratory
polishers were dreamed of, Corbin customers were happily making their
own for a fraction of the price!
This kit contains a thermally-protected vibrator motor, a steel
mounting bracket to hold it onto the bottom of any convenient
container (a 3-pound coffee can is most often used), a 1-pound bag of
walnut shell polishing medium, the self-locking nuts and bolts to
assemble the polisher, and instructions. The motor comes wired with
its own power cord and in-line switch, and runs on 115 volts AC.
(Sorry, no 220 volt models for export -- but Corbin DOES have a 220 to
115 volt converter unit available).
Simply punch four holes in the bottom of your container to accept
the four 1/4-inch mounting bolts, fasten the steel mounting bracket to
the container bottom (on the outside), slip the motor into the bracket,
and secure the clamping bolt that pulls the bracket tight around the
motor housing. Suspend the container by means of a coat hanger made
into a bail (punch two holes near the top, on opposite sides, and bend
the ends of the coat hanger wire through them). A door spring helps to
make the unit vibrate more efficiently and more quietly. The other end
of the door spring should be hooked over a shelf bracket or suspended
from a rafter by a cord.
This is the simple and quick way to do it. Many people have sent
us pictures of attractive stands with walnut bases and a single curved
steel rod made into the shape of a question mark, with the container
suspended under it. We don't make a base unit, since most handloaders
seem quite willing and able to make their own, and I'm not sure we'd do
as well as some of you have!
If you have a tumbler now, you may still want a vibratory polisher
for your finished bullets. The large tumblers are hard on bullets --
they bang the tips and scratch up the ogives. The vibratory action of
the BPK-1 is much more gentle. The particles of polishing medium are
set into rapid motion, instead of rolling the whole contents of the
container to get relative movement. The more massive bullets are not
banged into each other as they are with a tumbler.
WS-1 Walnut Shell Polishing Medium
Corbin packages walnut shells in the correct granulation for
bullet polishing, in one pound bags. Two of these bags is just about
all you want to put into a 3-pound coffee can. One is adequate. Extra
bags are economical and will work in your tumbler as well as the BPK-1
bullet polisher kit.
FHG-1 Flameless Heat Gun
A propane torch can be used to melt lead in a bullet jacket for
bonding the core (with Corbin Core Bond), or to anneal tubing or a
bullet jacket for improved performance or for reforming to different
calibers. But propane torches apply a very high temperature if you are
not careful. The flameless heat gun applies a lower, very even
temperature.
It takes longer to do the job with the heat gun, but you can do
many at one time by making a small enclosure out of boiler bricks and
aiming the heat gun air stream into the opening. A metal shelf made
from a cookie tray will hold the bullets. General purpose heating jobs
such as drying washed jackets and cores, applying a stress-relief heat
to gun springs and parts that you have made, and simlar 600-750 degree
F. jobs can be done without open flame, using the super-heated air from
the 115 volt FHG-1. The control switch has three positions: heat,
cool, and off. Operate the gun in the cool mode for a few minutes
before turning it off.
PE-1 Power Ejector Unit
We met this tool in the section on reloading press dies. It fits
over the top of any Corbin reloading press swage die, and most of the
jacket-drawing dies. Three set-screws fit into a groove machined
around the circumference of the die, just below the knurled top. The
PE-1 applies the multiple leverage of a minature compound lever press
to the top of your reloading press die, to eject the bullet with a
quick pull of a handle.
This operation replaces the mallet and ejector rod normally used.
A short piece of 1/4-inch diameter steel rod fits into the top of the
die instead of the normal knurled-head ejector rod. An adjustable
position ram with fine screw thread can be set to take up all the slack
in the system, so that you get full benefit of the compound leverage
(no wasted motion). The PE-1 uses a forked handle made with a
remarkable alloy, by the way: it is a high-tech version of the
aluminum-iron bronze which was once tried in the Winchester Model 1886
firing pin! The paramagnetic alloy took nearly 100 years of
development to reach a point where you could have a machined handle on
a modestly priced hand tool formed from it, but there it is: stronger
than iron, corrosion and rust proof, with over 110,000 psi tensile
strength and the combined characteristics of stainless steel and
bronze bearing material.
I mention this because if you have a reloading press and purchase
the PE-1, you might want to take a good look at the handle of the tool.
The entire frame and handle of the Mity Mite presses made in 1985-6
were machined from castings of this alloy, making the Mity Mite the
only swaging press in the world to have ever been constructed of
bronze, and also making it the most indestructable hand swaging press
ever made (until the advent of the Mega Mite).
HTO-1 Corbin Heat Treatment Oven, Model 1
Experimental labs and prototype shops all over the world use the
Corbin HTO-1 for precision heating of alloy steels, manufacturing
springs and gun parts, and of course for routine core bonding, jacket
annealing, and heat treatment of copper or brass tubing prior to
forming into jackets.
The HTO-1 is one of the most economical ovens in its size range.
Nearly any other furnace you will see advertised with the features, or
somewhat fewer, will be priced at two to three times as much! Corbin
purchases lab grade Thermolyne furnaces, strips out the cook-stove type
thermo-mechanical heat control, and completely rebuilds the furnace
with an electronic "brain" that applies a precise heating pulse, senses
heat rise, turns off the power, and senses heat loss. Then, it
compensates for the amount of heat loss by adjusting the next power
pulse width.
In this manner the HTO-1 is able to maintain heat control much
more precisely than any standard furnace. It is so accurate that you
can set it and forget it -- the temperature will go to the level you
set regardless of the oven load, and it will not go over it no matter
how long you leave the furnace on. A stainless steel 2000-degree
sensor probe replaces the original open junction thermocouple, and RF-
shielded input cable keeps the electronics from picking up motor noises
and other extraneous data.
The HTO-1 has a direct-reading knob setting. It is not calibrated
in relative units which have no relation to the actual temperature,
like the furnaces sold by others which look like the Corbin unit. The
furnace you would normally be able to purchase for about half the price
of the Corbin furnace has the original cook-stove type control. With
this very simple thermostat, there is no feedback from the furnace.
The control does not know what the temperature is in the furnace: it
only knows how long it has been feeding power to the furnace in
relation to how hot an internal bi-metal strip is getting, heated by
its own internal heating wire.
You could mount the thermostat in another room, and it would
operate just the same way. If you connected a lamp to the control, and
didn't even have a furnace wired to it, it would perform exactly the
same service of turning the lamp on and off at regular intervals. The
reading on the dial has no relationship to actual oven temperature. It
is merely the relative amount of time that power is applied to whatever
is connected to the control.
This means that you have to be right there, watching the pyrometer
reading, to know what is going to happen to the temperature. You
twiddle with the knob, setting it higher to try and get the temperature
to rise, and then watching to make sure it doesn't rise too high. If
you change the mass of material you put into the furnace, it will come
to a different temperature. As the oven is used and the radiation of
heat from it changes with time, the settings will mean different
temperatures even with the same load. In other words, it is a type of
control that gets you by, but only if you have plenty of time to watch
the meter and play with the knob.
The Corbin system is absolute. You set the temperature. The
electronics takes over and brings the oven to that temperature. The
pyrometer is still there, so you can read the temperature if you like.
But you don't need to be there if you have something better to do.
The cavity size of the HTO-1 is approximately 4 inches by 4 inches
square, with a five inch depth. The furnace runs on standard household
115 volt current, no special wiring required. (Export versions are
available at no extra cost, using 220 volts).
HTO-2 Corbin Heat Treatment Oven, Model 2
This is the commercial, heavy duty version designed for more
accurate setting and control, longer life, and slightly larger cavity
size. It has a built-in forced-air cooling system for the electronics,
a standard 1/4-DIN slip-out, interchangable controller box (and we
stock spares so if you should ever need a new controller, it is a fast
and easy job to slip in a new unit).
The HTO-2 also comes with a 50-degree plus or minus deviation
meter readout, in addition to the full scale 2000-degree F. pyrometer,
and an LED indicator tells when the controller is applying a heating
pulse to the furnace coils. The main power switch is also a 5-amp
circuit breaker, controlling power to the electronics and power
switching relay. The furnace can be ordered with Nitrogen atmosphere,
so that you can apply a small charge of inert Nitrogen gas to the
cavity and keep scale and oxidation at a minimum.
The cavity size is approximately 4.5 inches by 4.5 inches square
with a 6 inch depth. The larger oven cabinet allows for additional
ceramic fiber insulation (a space age material similar to the that used
on the Space Shuttle), and for generally heavier construction desirable
in a production unit. If you plan to manufacture bonded core bullets
in batches, this is the correct choice in a heat treatment furnace you
can depend on. (We use this same model every day, and have for a
decade, to make your dies!)
HTC-1 Heat Treatment Compound, 1-lb.
If you heat treat steel, this compound is going to make life a lot
easier for you! As you know, iron and steel parts oxidize and the
carbon "burns out" of the surface, leaving a softer alloy at the
surface, and often leaving pits or scale that destroys a finely
finished part.
A nitrogen atmosphere furnace is useful in reducing this oxidation
or decarburization, but at higher temperatures and with more sensitive
alloy steels, If you heat treat steel, this compound is going to make life a lot
easier for you! As you know, iron and steel parts oxidize and the
carbon "burns out" of the surface, leaving a softer alloy at the
surface, and often leaving pits or scale that destroys a finely
finished part.
A nitrogen atmosphere furnace is useful in reducing this oxidation
or decarburization, but at higher temperatures and with more sensitive
alloy steels,
temperatures, for as long as you could reasonable want to heat the
part. Then, when you quench the part or air-cool it, the compound
protects the surface from pitting and checking.
The glass is almost impossible to remove by grinding, wire
brushing, or handling. Only one thing works quickly, easily: boil the
part in hot water! The black protective coating dissolves, leaving
your part clean and heat-treated without any damage to the highly-
finished surface. This remarkable compound has been used to protect
Corbin swage dies, finished to 50 millionths of an inch with diamond
lapped interiors, for the past 15 years. We're willing to share this
important discovery with our friends in the gunsmith trade.
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CHEMICALS AND SUPPLIES
BOX-25 Bullet Packaging, 25 Boxes
Available in packages of 25, the Corbin commercial bullet
packaging system is one of the most cost-effective ways to sell and
ship your custom-made bullets. Each bullet is individually nested in
its own "chamber" surrounded by charcoal-color soft foam. There is a 5
by 5 matrix of chambers or cells in the 2-inch-thick foam block, which
results in either 25 large bullets or 50 small ones being safely held
in the foam.
There are years of research behind the packaging. Let me share
with you some of the reasons for this particular arrangement before
going into the other details of the box itself.
First, why 25 instead of 100 or 50 holes, or some other number?
Experience shows that handloaders will pay more per bullet without
complaint when the quantity purchased and priced is smaller than the
standard factory package of 50 or 100 bullets. Since there are half as
many or less in the package, your price for the package will seem lower
than it really is to the buyer who is comparing numbers in his head.
Second, good marketing practice in this field does not match the
number of bullets with the typical number of empty cases to be reloaded
at one sitting. Most rifle cartridges are packaged in lots of 20.
When a handloader reloads, he usually will reload all twenty cases.
With your custom bullets packaged in lots of 25, this gives him five
extra bullets.
The reason for the five is so that he will be more likely to take
one of them along with him to the range, to show his friends the
bullet he is test-firing. Also, he will have five bullets left over,
and few people want to throw away five bullets. They will probably
wind up on display somewhere, or be given to a friend, or, even more
likely, will remind him to purchase another package from you!
If you feel that there is space going to waste in the box with
smaller bullets, you can put two bullets in each chamber. There is a
foam cylinder in each hole, which will compress as much as needed in
order to hold any reasonable length of bullet on either side. Load one
side first, pressing the foam down with the bullet, then slip the box
over the foam block. Turn the box over, so the other side of the block
shows, and press 25 more bullets down against the foam cylinder (now a
disk compressed between the two bullets).
The package itself is square, and has triple fold end walls, to
make it highly crush-resistant. While plastic boxes look good on the
dealer shelves and on your reloading bench, they often are damaged in
handling and shipping when you try to send them without another package
around them for protection. And if you do that, your cost is more than
double what it would be with the single Corbin box.
The Corbin box is made for direct mail or UPS shipment without any
other protection. It is finished with eggshell white, and stores flat
until you need it. The interior dimensions are just right for the foam
block and foam pad which accompanies it (for tip protection). One of
the best features is that the box takes any size of bullets from .14 to
.600 Nitro! The special plastic foam material stretches without
tearing to hold the larger calibers snugly, and is soft enough so that
your small calibers will not be scratched up. Styrofoam (white semi-
rigid foam such as most ammo-makers use in the cartridge boxes) quickly
crumbles and becomes dirty from handling. The charcoal color sponge
foam looks good and stands up for your customer to use. The double-
wall corrugated box is actually tougher than either pasteboard or
plastic when it comes to handling.
If you wish to have a custom label made, your local printing firm
can make a self-adhesive label that is perfect for both shipping label,
box sealer, and advertising. Write for a free pattern and suggested
designs to assist your printer.
Remember, when you begin selling your product, the package is
extremely important. It can make or break your sales until your
reputation for a quality product is secure. If your package arrives
in good condition, has good eye appeal, and obvious thought has gone
into the way it is assembled and holds the bullets, then your customer
will be impressed with your concern for the product. You can spend a
lot more for plastic or reinforced pastboard without getting as much
benefit for the dollar, and wind up having to repackage all your boxes
in another shipping carton, adding to your expenses. The Corbin
packaging system does it all, and gets it there, at miminum cost and
with maximum protection.
CSL-2 Corbin Swage Lube, 2-0unce Bottle
CSL-16 Corbin Swage Lube, 16-Ounce (Pint) Bottle
All steps of swaging a bullet require a thin film of high-pressure
lubricant on the surface of the lead or jacket. Even if the
instructions don't mention it, proper lubrication is assumed any time
you put a piece of metal into a die. Core swaging, jacket drawing,
bullet reducing, and swaging all require Corbin Swage Lube for long die
life and proper operation.
The natural components of Corbin Swage Lube are clean, acid-free,
and good for the skin. Lanolin-based, but not lanolin alone, Corbin
Swage Lube has been used for over 20 years by the masters in the
swaging field. Synthetic lubes have come and gone, but this proven
formula remains the best choice.
Corbin Swage Lube is normally applied by putting a drop on your
fingertip and giving the component a twist between your finger and
thumb as you raise it to the die. This quick, natural movement saves
you time and does a good job. A thin film on the surface is all that
you need. A two-ounce bottle will normally service about 2,500
bullets. The pint size is a lifetime supply for most shooters.
Many handloaders have found that Corbin Swage Lube is far superior
to most of the case-sizing lubes on the market, and they use it
exclusively for resizing cases. The converse it not true: do not try
to use a standard case lube for swaging, as you will have stuck bullets
or worse. Case lubes simply are not designed to stand up to the high
pressures involved in swaging. They either break down or diesel
(ignite from high pressure within the die), neither of which does much
good and can result in a badly stuck bullet.
CDL-2 Corbin Dip Lube, 2-ounce Sampler
CDL-16 Corbin Dip Lube, 16-ounce (pint) Can
CDL-128 Corbin Dip Lube, 128-ounce (gallon) Can
Dip Lube, also called "Liquid Jacket", is a special wax lubricant
in a solvent carrier. If you manufacture lead bullets, you can dip the
lead cores into Dip Lube prior to swaging, then swage them while damp.
The lube works well enough for lead in the swage die, and then drys
quickly to form a tight skin or jacket of wax on the bullet surface.
No grooves or cannelures are needed to hold this film, which is hard
and non-sticky, yet flexible enough for rough handling.
The lube works by the process of molecular attraction, using
polarized wax molecules to attract to the metallic surface of the lead
bullet. The special wax is designed both for this feature and for
resistance to high temperatures. You can also use it for cast bullets,
if (heaven forbid!) you should still want to cast bullets once you have
read this manual! It takes the work out of the process. Instead of
having to size and lubricate each bullet, you can put them in a
strainer or wire basket and dip them all at once in a can of Dip Lube.
No particular time is required for the wax to attract to the
bullet. Once it touches the lead, a film of wax molecules has already
bonded to the surface. If you want to let the wax cure and then dip
again, you can repeat the process. But successive layers are held by a
different mechanism than the first one. Repeated dipping may help with
guns and loads that tend to foul the bore with lead bullets, as will
rolling the damp, freshly dipped bullets in graphite or a product
called "Motor Mica". Most users, including some large commercial
bullet makers who buy it by the gallon, find that Dip Lube works quite
well just as it comes.
Other uses for this quality wax compound include a stock wax that
is tougher than most, a boot water-proofing that gets in all the seams,
a protective film for gun metal exposed to the rain, and a great way to
keep screws and nuts from rusting when used outdoors. Wood screws
dipped in Dip Lube go in easier and are not attacked by the acids and
moisture in the wood. I have even soaked cardboard rolls in Dip Lube
and used it as a very safe-to-carry fire starter for my campfire
(the supposedly dry undersides of standing deadwood even get soaked in
our Oregon rains!).
CCB-2 Corbin Core Bond, 2-ounce Sampler
CCB-16 Corbin Core Bond, 16-ounce (Pint) Bottle
CCB-128 Corbin Core Bond, 128-ounce (Gallon) Bottle
Most people only need this product to make good hunting bullets.
If your interest is target shooting, there isn't much point in using
it. Core Bond makes it possible to form an alloy junction by diffusion
of metal, between the lead core and the jacket. Core Bond forms a
junction stronger than solder, and more easily.
The reason you might want to try it is that bullets made this way
will outperform the same bullet made with a partition by 50% or more,
judging by retained weight and expansion. Partition designs typically
lose most of the front core when they expand. We like them because
they manage to protect the rear half of the core. But a bonded core
bullet typically holds 90 to 100 percent of the original weight with
just as great, or greater, expansion!
In test after test, including more than 150 Cape Buffalo to date,
and both domestic cattle and a wide variety of game, the bonded core
bullet will outperform nearly any other kind of construction. And best
of all, you can use the bonded core IN ADDITION to other designs.
Several Corbin clients have established high quality businesses making
partitioned, bonded-core bullets for people who feel they want both
features, or for people who want the partition and think it does the
job while actually the bonded core is what is making these bullets so
good.
To use Core Bond, swage your cores as usual. Then, swab the
inside of a group of jackets with Core Bond. Use a liberal amount.
Some people use a cotton swab large enough to squeeze into the jacket
and thus wipe the entire inside in one pass. Put the cores into the
jackets. They should fit closely but not so tightly that they have to
be pressed in. Use an eyedropper to put one more drop of Core Bond
down the gap between the core and jacket wall.
If you have a small quantity to make, you can use a propane torch
to heat the jackets, thus melting the lead inside and letting it form
an alloy with the jacket wall. If you have many to make, the Corbin
HTO-2 furnace (or the smaller HTO-1 for less frequent production) is
the best way to apply controlled heat. Raise the temperature enough to
melt the lead. Then let the jacket cool. Do NOT quench in water!
Cautions: First, do NOT lean over or look into the jackets while
you heat them. If the core fits too tightly, the gas pressure in the
base will pop the core out of the jacket and splatter you with molten
lead! If your core does fit somewhat snugly in the jacket bottom, and
you experience a problem with the cores popping out, then you may need
to get a smaller core swage, or at least rig up a screen to put over
the top of your jackets to keep the core inside during heating.
Second, be careful with Core Bond. It contains a strong acid,
among other things, which can cause blindness or painful burns to the
skin. Wash up spills immediately, and neutralize with baking soda. Do
not use Core Bond in aluminum or steel containers, as it attacks them
quickly.
Batch processing of bonded cores usually involves making a
rack out of stainless steel mesh. Water systems often use a wide-
spaced woven stainless wire grid to keep foreign matter out of the
intake. If you can find some of this material, it is ideal for folding
into a rack to hold jackets upright, simply by placing them in the grid
holes. Other methods involve making a rack (like a test tube rack)
with aluminum blocks drilled with holes to support the jackets. Make
the rack so it fits into the cavity of the HT0-2 oven without touching
the sides. About half an inch of space should be left between oven
walls and the first jacket.
You can stack two such racks in the oven at one time, with most
jackets. About 100 jackets can be bonded at one time this way. But
even if you do them one at a time, using a propane torch, the bonding
process is fairly quick and well worth the effort. When you have
finished and the jackets are cool, lubricate them well and seat the
core in the normal manner. If there is a surplus of black oxide at the
top of the core, you may wish to tumble the bonded cores and jackets or
vibrator polish them before going on. Make certain that you do NOT use
any abrasive in your walnut shells, if you plan to seat the cores
after polishing. Abrasive particles will embed in the jackets, and
will quickly lap the dies at random, just as they are lapped on purpose
with brass and diamond.
CCB-2 Corbin Bore Cleaner, 2-ounce Sampler
CCB-16 Corbin Bore Cleaner, 16-ounce (Pint) Can
CCB-128 Corbin Bore Cleaner, 128-ounce (Gallon) Can
Some of the top shooters in the world have stated that they
"couldn't have won without it". That's very kind of them, but I think
they'd win no matter what they used. Still, this cleaner is very
effective and much different from the others that have so loudly
appeared and enjoyed a brief spotlight of publicity, then vanished.
For the past twenty years, Corbin Bore Cleaner has been quietly at
work in the commercial gunshops, in the gun rooms of top competitors,
and in military and law enforcement armories, removing rust, leading,
powder fouling, plastic from shotgun bores, and copper traces from
jacket fouling. We haven't raised a big fuss about it: it is just one
more of those products waiting for the curious handloader to discover
on his own. When you do, you'll wonder why anyone is impressed by all
the advertising that floods the magazines and impresses the writers
concerning cleaners that promise to get "all the fouling out".
Just try this some day: clean your gun with anything else. When
you think it is clean, dip a cloth patch in Corbin Bore Cleaner and run
it down the bore. Look at the patch. You'll see why Corbin Bore
Cleaner is one of the quiet secrets of many master shooters around the
world. Now, if you like, you can really clean your barrel with a
couple more patches. And then follow it up with one of the other fine
products that doesn't shout at you from every magazine article and
page, then fade into the night: Hoppe's Number Nine! No, I had
nothing to do with developing this and I don't sell it. But it works
very well as a follow-up to protect your bore and to remove the last
traces of Corbin Bore Cleaner, which holds the last traces of fouling
in its grip.
Between Corbin Bore Cleaner, Hoppe's Number Nine, Corbin Cleaning
Solvent, and Corbin Gun Oil, you need nothing else to take expert care
of your firearms. These four products will remove gunk and accumulated
grease, clean out the bores and protect them, and apply a thin film of
protective oil to lubricate and preserve the metal.
CBL-2 Corbin Bore Lap, 2-ounce Bottle
If you have a badly rusted or pitted bore, severe fouling, or a
newly-cut barrel to be lapped, this abrasive compound is formulated to
remove as little steel as possible while taking off burrs and high
points, and anything that projects above the steel surface, such as
fouling. The 40-micron particle size is fine enough not to scratch or
damage your bore, yet the disc-shaped particles align under pressure so
that they tend to act in one direction, along the axis of the bore,
rather than cutting in all directions like conventional grinding
compounds.
This is a product for people who know how to lap bores, not for
casual use on a new barrel. But if you have an old barrel and want to
try to save it, clean it up, and get it shooting reasonably well again,
a good polishing with Corbin Bore Lap is worth a try. (Try to remove
fouling with Corbin Bore Cleaner first. If that doesn't do it, try
anything else you care to spend money on to assure yourself that Corbin
Bore Cleaner really is the most powerful safe cleaner available. Then,
when you are convinced that only lapping the bore can save it, use CBL-
2. If that doesn't do it, have it rebored!)
FSO-16 Corbin Gun Oil, 16-ounce (Pint) Can
There must be a good dozen gun oils on the market. The reason we
offer another one is because it is probably the same thing you are
already purchasing in small lore to spend money on to assure yourself that Corbin
Bore Cleaner really is the most powerful safe cleaner available. Then,
when you are convinced that only lapping the bore can save it, use CBL-
2. If that doesn't do it, have it rebored!)
FSO-16 Corbin Gun Oil, 16-ounce (Pint) Can
There must be a good dozen gun oils on the market. The reason we
offer another one is because it is probably the same thing you are
already purchasing in small lo from Corbin, in pint cans that give you more
gun oil (which is really high grade ISO-15 instrument and lathe spindle
oil) for the money. You can wind up paying three times as much per
ounce in the little cans. So, save your last little can and refill it
yourself with Corbin Gun Oil in the bulk (pint) container!
We recommend using this oil on moving parts of Corbin presses, to
protect Corbin dies that are not going to be used for a while, and for
your fine firearms. We use it for our lathes and mills, and general
purpose lubrication, as well as packaging the dies with a few drops of
the preservative oil inserted into the poly packs.
CCS-16 Corbin Cleaning Solvent, 16-ounce (Pint) Can
This is a good general purpose clean-up solvent for removing
fingerprints, grease, and oils from metal. It is flammable, but not as
volatile as gasoline or alcohol. It can be used to remove Corbin Bore
Cleaner from the bore after it has done its job of removing the
fouling, if you would rather use it than Hoppe's. This solvent
actually pulls oils from the surface of whatever it contacts, so it
will draw the natural oils from your skin as quickly as it removes oil
from metal. I recommend using dishwasher gloves when degreasing any
significant number of gun parts, and avoiding any unnecessary contact
with the skin.
CCS-16 is also good for cleaning jackets and cores prior to
swaging, to remove any traces of lubrication inside the jacket or on
the core. (First you lubricate the core, then swage it, then remove
the lube completely so there will be nothing between the core and
jacket to prevent a close, non-slipping bond.)
CHF-128 Corbin Hydraulic Fluid, 128-ounce (Gallon) Can
Specially formulated for the Corbin Hydro-press, this hydraulic
fluid stands up to hard use and is safe with the seal materials used in
the valves and cylinder of the CHP-1 series presses. If you should
lose oil from moving the press or doing any work on its hydraulic
circuits, a gallon of CHF-128 is the right quantity for most minor
service replacements. The red gallon container makes a nice spare
gasoline can, too!
SL-4 Silver Lube, 4-ounce Can
Silver Lube is a high temperature, high pressure lubricant that
can stand up to 2000 degrees F. It is used for extreme drawing jobs
such as heavy copper, brass, or steel tubing jacket manufacture, for
certain kinds of swaging where regular swage lube is not suitable, and
has applications where heat and pressure are extreme. It prevents
rusting and corrosion when used on lead moulds, such as on the pivot
points and sprue plates, adjustments and mounting screws. It is also
rather messy and turns everything silver, including your hands! When
you need it, nothing else does the job. Most of the time, if you can
use CSL-2 Corbin Swage Lube, it's a lot neater and easier to clean up.
Special note for makers of bonded core bullets: If you form a
bullet jacket using Silver Lube, as recommended with most of the heavy
copper tubing jacket-makers, you must clean off every trace of the lube
before trying to bond the core. Silver Lube protects the surface
against the action of Core Bond and prevents alloy formation with the
lead core. Strong solvents such as MEK or Tri-Chlor are needed to
remove the lube film. Remember, it takes heat to 2000 degrees F., so
there is no way to melt it off.
WS-1 Walnut Shell Polishing Medium
Corbin packages walnut shells in the correct granulation for
bullet polishing, in one pound bags. Two of these bags is just about
all you want to put into a 3-pound coffee can. One is adequate. Extra
bags are economical and will work in your tumbler as well as the BPK-1
bullet polisher kit.
CHAPT-20.TXT
.he CHAPTER 20 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #
TAKING CARE OF YOUR DIES
A good quality bullet swage die should last a lifetime in normal
operation. With the right lubricant and normal pressures, wear is
virtually non-existent. Here are some tips for avoiding damage:
(1) Use only CLEAN components. Never use dusty, corroded, or
dirty lead or jackets in the dies. Keep a clean work area. Wipe the
inside of the dies with a clean cotton swab prior to use. Never put a
die away with a component inside it, especially one that has been used
with Core Bond. If you tumble or vibrator polish your components prior
to swaging, make absolutely sure that no abrasive compounds have been
added to the polishing medium. Abrasive additives will embed in the
jacket and core material, and will act just like laps to wear the
surface of the die when you swage the bullet.
(2) If you should stick a bullet in a die, never try to drill,
dig, scrape, or pry out the bullet. Certainly never heat the die to
melt out the stuck bullet, as this will ruin the precise temper of the
metal. Instead, use the methods outlined in the book, "Rediscover
Swaging". No tools are required, and the methods work 100% of the
time. A detailed description is also given in the "World Directory of
Custom Bullet Makers", on removal of stubborn stuck bullets.
(3) Do not attempt to "improve" the dies or punches unless you
are willing to accept responsibility for the warranty yourself. If a
punch or die does not seem to be the right size, send it back with a
note and samples of your components. If you decide to go after it with
a file, you've probably spoiled it for anyone else to use, so sending
it back then doesn't help anyone. By now, any basic design problems
have been solved a thousand times over, and any problems would either
be misuse, a defective part or the wrong part sent by error, or
mismatch of components to the dies. These can all be solved by a phone
call or, at most, an exchange or replacement.
(4) Use the right lubricant. Most problems with stuck bullets or
hard operation can be traced to lubricant (or lack of it).
(5) Never force any component into a swage die, if the component
is larger than the bore of the die. This is a major bad thing to do.
You can destroy the die, the punches, or both. If a part won't go into
a swage die by hand, then do not force it under pressure. Swaging
always increases the diameter, never reduces it. To "swage down" is a
contradiction. You can "draw down" with an open-end ring die.
(6) Use jackets and core lengths recommended for a given set of
dies. If you want to experiment, bear in mind that you will quite
likely reach some limits for any given shape and size of die. Each set
has a wide range of latitude in bullet weight, but you cannot always
make both the weight and the style you want in the jacket you select.
Sometimes, you have to trade off one parameter against another to make
the system work with the available supplies. Part of the practical
side of bullet making is recognizing that some of the arbitrary
specifictions can be moved one way or the other without really
affecting the bullet performance. If you are practical about your
bullet design, you will have no trouble coming up with designs that are
easy to make in existing equipment.
(7) Swaging pressures are high because of the small area of the
typical punch, through which all the force of the ram is channelled.
It is NOT necessary to use all your might to operate the press. If any
operation seems to be taking more than a comfortable, one-hand
pressure, then it is likely something is wrong and you should find out
what it is. I have seen .243 caliber punches shoved into a .224 die,
drawing down the solid tool steel of the punch and wrecking it. But
the operator kept on making bullets with his newly-formed .224 punch,
only returning it when he finally realized that the operation took more
force than it should. I have gotten back point forming dies with a
piece of solid brass or copper pushed into them, which started out
being 7/16-inch diameter (.4375"). The die bore was .429-inch
diameter. You can't do that. Use a draw die first, to bring the
material down to less the bore size.
(8) There may be some initial confusion over the punches and
dies. It looks like confusion could reign supreme whenever you
accidently mix up a set of dies with another one. But actually, the
components will serve as quick gauges to sort everything fast. All you
have to do is slip a punch into the die to see if it fits. To discover
which caliber of die you have, just slip a jacket into it. If it fits
easily but closely into the core seater, then you have the right die.
Core swages have punches that fit closely into the die on both
ends. Core seaters have an internal punch that fits the die bore and
an external punch that fits either the die bore (semi-wadcutter styles)
or the jacket inside diameter. A micrometer is handy for checking out
the dies. If you have a set of 9mm and a set of .38 dies, for
instance, there is only about 0.003-inches difference, at most, between
their bores. You cannot see that small a difference. So, make a lead
core using whatever external punch fits easily into the die. Measure
the lead core. That's your caliber.
(9) If you should ever find yourself getting frustrated over a
seemingly difficult problem in swaging, don't keep fighting the
problem: give me a call. With thousands of people around the world
now making their own bullets, and with a history of better than two
decades of operation of the equipment, it is unlikely that you have
equipment that won't work or that the process is too difficult for you.
The odds are that (1) I didn't write the instructions clearly
enough and a little discussion on the phone or in a letter would make
some point clear to you that solves everything, or... (2) Someone in
the shipping department picked up the wrong die or punch when they were
testing and packaging, and you got it, or... (3) You are trying to do
something that seems reasonable to you, but which a little more
experience with the principles of swaging would quickly show to be
impractical or impossible.
In any case, remember that help is a phone call away. Most
problems resolve themselves with great ease when the die-maker gets in
on the case. Sometimes a die or samples may have to be exchanged, and
in difficult cases where you are trying to make something with
components other than those we used to design the set, it may take two
or three exchanges to solve the problem. But rest assured, you are not
alone to solve everything yourself. I have had a taste of that in the
computer industry, where you can spend tens of thousands of dollars and
get a shrug when nothing seems to work right, the warranties all expire
before you even figure out that the system isn't working right, and you
wind up with no choice but paying more for something you should have
gotten in the first place. Corbin is noted for outstanding support,
and that is the way it should be.
CHAPT-21.TXT
.he CHAPTER 21 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #
DELIVERY AND PAYMENT INFORMATION
Corbin dies are hand-made, often to custom order. We are the only
die-works in the world willing to offer so many calibers and styles of
equipment. In fact, the development of the entire field of bullet
swaging in the past twenty years has primarily been due to the heavy
investment of time and effort we have made in bringing bullet swaging
back from the brink of oblivion to a commonly-used process for
handloaders. Part of that effort has been to bring the cost of the
dies within reach, while maintaining the custom features and quality.
And part of the cost of the dies has often been the fact that we
are absolutely buried in orders, making it necessary to have a waiting
list for delivery on many items. I often state "If you can't wait,
don't order!", because it is easier not to know that I lost an order
from someone impatient than to try and explain over and over how much
work I have backed up and how long it takes to get to any given job.
Since 1985, most of the orders have been shipped within two days
of receipt. The new plant, which is the world's largest bullet-swage
die works, is stocked with most of the common calibers most of the
time. We do get behind even on common calibers, but not the two and
three years we used to quote. Today, you have a good chance of
delivery on standard items within two days, a slight chance that we may
be out and will be making more within 30 to 45 days, and a very slim
chance that what you ordered is odd enough that it will take us several
months to schedule in the making of reamers, laps, and tooling to
produce your dies.
Still, I would rather that you are prepared to wait than that you
expect immediate delivery and are disappointed. So, I cannot guarentee
delivery on any specified date, or within any specified period of time.
Making as many custom dies as we do, and with the limited number of
skilled die-makers to do it, I cannot guess how long the next five,
fifty or five hundred orders will actually take from start to testing
and completion. Each one presents its own problems, its own special
differences in tooling and technique to be developed and tested.
The end result, though, is that each set of dies will produce the
bullet it is designed to make. We can develop a whole new product for
you to sell or use, one that did not exist before, and you do not have
to bear the expense of the lost time developing it. Once we have
worked it out, solving problems you will never have to know existed,
you get a set of tooling that is subtly modified to perform your
particular job correctly. If you took your bullet idea to just about
any other die-works in the world and had them make tools to produce it,
you would most likely be paying time and material charges for every
hour spent chasing down the problems and trying different ideas.
We are working as fast as we can, and there is nothing more we can
do. Offers to "buy a lot more later" or threats to "go somewhere else"
are both beside the point and have no effect. As I say, if you decide
you want the equipment and support that goes with it, both of which
have a hard-earned reputation that reaches back a couple of decades,
then you should make up your mind before ordering it whether or not you
have the patience to wait for delivery.
I have simply cancelled orders and handed back deposits to people
who become unpleasant to deal with. Life is too short and I enjoy my
other customers far too much to waste time with blustering fools who
don't appreciate the effort that would go into their dies, and don't
realize how closely a die-maker needs to work with his clients both
before and after the dies are done. One is not motivated quite by the
same things in this business as, for example, in selling a conventional
kind of mass produced tool. I don't mind spending hours with a
beginner explaining how something works, if necessary, but I have no
time for demanding individuals who think that money substitutes for
manners.
We do publish a periodic list of items that are available for
immediate delivery, called our "Immediate Delivery List". Ask for a
copy when you write or call. The items on this list are on the shelf
and can be sent to you straight away. Quite often, we have new things
that are not yet on the list, and if you have some particular caliber
in mind you might mention it when you write or call. We can let you
know, then, whether or not the item is available for delivery. It is
harder to let you know when it will be available...many factors affect
the delivery of dies, including the possibility that a nearly completed
run may have to be thrown away because of tiny flaws that show up in
final testing. If this should happen, our original estimate may be off
by months.
It is always best to place an order as soon as you are sure you
want it and are willing to wait for it. The sooner your order is
placed, the sooner we will have enough backlog on a particular item to
schedule it. We run non-stock or special items based on when the order
came in, you see. If your order for a .416 Rigby bullet swage came in
four months ago, and someone else wanted a .577 Snyder set six months
before, we'd schedule the earliest positive order first. I say
positive order because the mention on the phone that you might be
interested in something is not an order. If we have a deposit on it,
and your written order in hand, then it is an order and we will place
it in the computer scheduling system. It will be done as soon as it
can be done. Otherwise, it probably will be lost in the constant flood
of phone calls that continues morning to night.
A good way to assure prompt delivery on a phone order is to give
alternatives where such alternatives are acceptable to you. In other
words, if you don't really care whether your .366 rifle bullet has a 4-
S or a 6-S ogive, then let us know either is acceptable. The first one
finished goes to you. It might be that we finished a fine set of 4-S
ogive dies a day after your order came in, but since you specified a 6-
S ogive, we never even considered sending that set. And it may well be
months before we can get time to make the 6-S reamers and laps.
Likewise, if the diameter can be 0.429 or .430, either way, and
still be acceptable to you for your battery of .44 Magnums (practically
speaking, it doesn't usually make much difference and there is probably
that much or more variation in the bores anyway), then let us know. We
may have a dozen sets of .429 dies just like you want, but if your
order specifies .430, then we will wait until we can make the .430 size
to fill it. If a cup base or a flat base is equally acceptable, let us
know that. We will give you exactly what you specify unless you give
us a range of acceptable differences that might speed up delivery.
It doesn't necessarily slow up delivery to specify exactly what
you want with no alternatives. It is just that many times we have
something close on hand. If it really does not matter to you, then we
could ship the available package and you'd be making bullets within a
few days. On the other hand, if you really do want a specific style or
size, we are glad to provide it. Just be patient until the die-makers
work their way through the mountain of orders and can get your work
done.
I hope that this makes sense to you, and doesn't offend anyone
except people neither you nor I would like to deal with in the first
place! The alternative to being swamped with orders is to raise prices
so few people could afford to buy. Then, those who could would let us
work a lot less for the same income. That was the situation before we
came into the swaging field, many years ago, and that is how most die
makers operate today. But motives other than simply making money
brought us to this field and inspired us to develop it. I'm no more
altruistic than the next fellow, but I do feel somewhat responsible for
the survival of the bullet swaging art. You are the carriers of that
torch: all I can do is make sure the equipment continues to be
available at a reasonable price, and that new ideas continue to be
explored and written about.
TERMS OF PAYMENT
Corbin accepts VISA and MASTER-CHARGE orders by letter or
telephone. If an article will not be availble for some time, we
normally submit a bank card payment request only for those items we can
ship quickly. The rest of the articles will not usually be "put on
your card" until they are ready to ship, unless you specify otherwise.
Corbin accepts postal money orders, bank money orders drawn on
U.S. banks in U.S. dollar amounts, certified checks, International
Money Orders, and other instruments of immediate negotiability drawn on
U.S. banks for U.S. dollar amounts. Checks from other countries, drawn
on correspondent U.S. banks, must be sent for collection. This process
usually involves a delay, and the local banks charge a healthy fee for
this service. Sometimes this doesn't leave enough actual payment to pay
for the equipment.
Thus, we ask our friends in other countries to use one of these
methods of payment:
(1) International Money Order
(2) Postal Money Order for U.S. Dollars
(3) VISA or Master-Charge
(4) Direct funds transfer to our current account number. Please
write for the address and number. At the time of this writing, it is
Jefferson State Bank, Medford, Oregon 97501, USA, but problems can
develop if you send funds to an account we have closed or to a bank
from which we have switched our account. If you plan to transfer
funds, please write first and get instructions. When you do make a
transfer, insist that your bank send notification to us and have our
bank notify us as well when they receive the funds. This is simply
good business and makes sure funds are not misplaced or stolen.
Domestic orders paid with personal or business checks do require
at least two weeks for check clearance. We will hold any items on the
Immediate Delivery List, upon first receipt of your funds, so that
check clearance will not cause the last item to be sold while you are
still waiting.
Remember that UPS delivery usually takes about 10 days, and that
the UPS will not even begin a trace on a package until at least 15
working days have passed. Foreign shipment usually involves both
fairly long transit time by surface (or fairly high air mail cost) and
a delay in getting through foreign customs offices. We send a notice
when packages are shipped, to let you know they are in transit, in
these cases.
We do accept COD orders, but if you are not there when the package
comes, it may come back to us. If a package sent COD comes back, we
send you a card to let you know, wait about 15 days for some response,
and if we hear nothing, cancel the order and any pending orders that
are COD, and sell the equipment. If a COD package is refused, we do
the same thing. When packages are refused, or otherwise undeliverable,
it costs us to ship and receive the same package back. For this
reason, we do not accept additional COD orders when we have had any
significant number of problems with sending them before.
COD orders may be paid to the UPS delivery man by certified check,
money order, or in cash. If someone signs for a COD order and pays for
it, then UPS has a record of where and to whom they delivered it, and
if for any reason you did not receive it, let us know. We can have UPS
trace the delivery, and find out who got it.
When a COD shipment is sent, a postcard is also mailed telling you
the amount and date of shipment. I can't guarentee that the postcard
will get there before the package does, because that is up to the US
Mail. But it usually does. In some rare cases, a person might have
sent funds for something, and then received it COD. If you want it
quickly, the best solution is to go ahead and accept the COD, notify us
immediately of the error, and let us credit your account or send a
refund check. Otherwise, it may be weeks before the package finally is
routed back to us and we are able to get it re-shipped again.
Usually, this latter kind of error only happens when a person
orders by telephone, follows up by letter, and repeats the order, or
uses both COD and prepayment at different times on parts of the same
order. The most trouble-free method is to send payment with the order,
or to use a bank card. Bank cards give you a good tax record and
simplify the entire payment operation, and are only a little more
paperwork for us, so don't feel reluctant to use them on our account!
CHAPT-22.TXT
.he CHAPTER 22 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #
WARRANTY INFORMATION
If any Corbin product proves defective in materials or
worksmanship, call 503-826-5211 and request authorization to return the
product. If, upon inspection by Corbin, the product does prove
defective, it will be repaired or replaced without charge other than
transportation.
The warranty in this section is in lieu of all other warranties,
including any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a
particular purpose.
Firearms safety requires that individual handloaders and shooters
ascertain at their own discretion and risk the proper loads, bullets,
and cartridges to use in their firearms. Corbin has no control over
the circumstances of loading, and can assume no liability for the
results obtained. We can guarantee only that our products are capable
of producing bullets which meet our own high standards of quality.
The accuracy of firearms is dependent upon a number of factors,
most of which are beyond the control of the manufacturer of the bullet
or the tooling which produces the bullet. Individual firearms require
careful load development to achieve satisfactory accuracy. A bullet
which performs well in one firearm may not perform as well in another,
very similar firearm, for a variety of reasons, some of which are not
well understood.
The responsibility for accuracy rests with the handloader and
shooter. Corbin has no control over the circumstances of either
loading or shooting, and can therefore assume no responsibility for the
results obtained by any particular shooter, handloader, or firearm.
Delivery of Corbin products cannot be guaranteed at any
particular time nor within any specified period. Purchasers of
equipment must bear full responsibility for the results of their
advertising and promotion, contracts or agreements between themselves
and other parties, which could be affected by the delivery of Corbin
equipment. Corbin advises that NO committments be entered which depend
upon timely delivery of equipment from Corbin for their successful
completion. Potential commercial operations based on swaging bullets
made on Corbin equipment should wait until delivery has been received
before offering products for sale, entering contracts for delivery of
bullets, or making other agreements involving the use of such
equipment.
FILES617.TXT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disk No 617 Corbin Handbook (Disk 2 of 2) v1 DS2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This disk has the table of contents and chapters 12 through 22 of the Corbin
Handbook of Bullet Swaging, No. 7 written by Dr. Corbin. It is saved in
text format. The subject of bullet swaging is the manufacture of
projectiles using high pressure to flow ductile metals at room temperature
into the precise dimensions of a strong, highly-finished steel die. The
process is discussed both as a hobby for the firearms enthusiast and as a
highly profitable part-time business venture, supplying handloaders with
high quality, special purpose bullets. This is first of a two diskette
series. Utility programs on this diskette facilitate the retrieval of the
Corbin Handbook information.
------------- Corbin Handbook (Chptr 12-22)
ANSI SYS System information
AUTOEXEC BAT Startup Batch file
AUTOEXEC BAK Startup Batch file backup
CHAPT-?? TXT Handbook chapter ?? (10 Files) (168k)
CONFIG SYS System information
CONTENT TXT Table of Contents
FIND EXE Text search utility
FKEY BAT Batch file
HB7 BAK Backup batch file
HB7 BAT Setup Corbin chapters
READ ME Short information
SCRNSAVE COM Screen save utility
SDIR COM Show directory utility
SHOW BAT Batch file for text display
SHOW DOC Documentation for SHOW.BAT
ST COM Text display utility
ST DOC Documentation for ST.COM
PC-SIG (Software Interest Group)
1030 East Duane Ave. Suite D
Sunnyvale Ca. 94086
Ph# (408) 730-9291
SHOW.DOC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOW.DOC --- how to find words or phrases in the HB7 files:
To display all lines that contain a word or phrase in the
Corbin Handbook, simply type this command:
SHOW word
...where "word" is any word or phrase you want to find.
The entire line in which the word or phrase appears in
every file will be displayed, as well as the chapter.
---------------------------------------------------------------END------------
ST.DOC
ST -- the SuperTyper program -- an improved version of the DOS type command.
This program provides three significant enhancements to the type command:
1) the display is paged, not scrolled, and thus is much easier to read.
2) Previously displayed pages are saved and can be accessed by use of the
PgUp and PgDn keys. (CURSOR PAD 9 and 3, numlock OFF)
3) Wordstar's 'funny' characters are converted to normal display characters.
(as all WordStar users know, 'type'ing a WordStar file creates a strange
display)
Directions:
Type ST for directions and to be prompted for a filename to be listed.
Type ST <filename> to list a file.
PgUp and PgDn move through the display pages in the file.
The '+' toggles the display of page number in each page. This display
is convenient for keeping your place in big files -- especially files
that are bigger than memory and only part of the file can be kept in memory.
This display is normally off, it is toggled on when "buffer wrap-around"
occurs. If it bugs you, hit the '+' key and turn it off.
Directory of PC-SIG Library Disk #0617
Volume in drive A has no label
Directory of A:\
AUTOEXEC BAK 640 1-01-85 4:01a
AUTOEXEC BAT 640 1-01-85 4:14a
CHAPT-12 TXT 47715 4-05-86 2:40p
CHAPT-13 TXT 23503 4-05-86 2:51p
CHAPT-14 TXT 12443 4-05-86 2:56p
CHAPT-15 TXT 13569 4-05-86 3:01p
CHAPT-16 TXT 5794 4-05-86 3:06p
CHAPT-17 TXT 13266 4-05-86 3:09p
CHAPT-18 TXT 20805 4-05-86 3:38p
CHAPT-19 TXT 24248 4-05-86 3:51p
CHAPT-20 TXT 8225 4-05-86 4:21p
CHAPT-21 TXT 14598 4-05-86 4:23p
CHAPT-22 TXT 2800 4-05-86 4:24p
CONTENT TXT 1920 1-01-85 5:44a
FKEY BAT 896 1-01-85 4:13a
HB7 BAK 2432 1-01-85 3:46a
HB7 BAT 2560 1-01-85 4:15a
READ ME 5504 1-01-85 1:54a
SCRNSAVE COM 688 1-01-85 2:03a
SDIR COM 1555 1-01-85 2:04a
SHOW BAT 128 1-01-85 2:04a
SHOW DOC 640 1-01-85 2:04a
ST COM 14336 2-03-84 2:43a
ST DOC 1152 1-01-85 2:04a
FILES617 TXT 1705 10-15-86 1:23p
GO BAT 590 9-15-86 9:28p
26 file(s) 222352 bytes
88064 bytes free