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How to Swage Bullets Using The

FJFB-3-S or -M Die Set

Type -S dies are 1-inch in diameter, with a 5/8-24 shank, and fit into the ram of the Corbin

CSP-1 All-Steel press. The type -M dies are 3/4-inch in diameter, with a 5/8-24 shank, and fit

into the ram of the CSP-1 or the CSP-3 Silver Press (horizontal). The 3-die set consists of a

CORE SWAGE (CSW-1), a CORE SEAT(CS-1), and a POINT FORM (PF-1) die, each with one

internal and one external punch.

The external punch is held in the floating punch holder, a long, black, 7/8-14 threaded cylin-

der, which comes with the press. A threaded bushing is removed from the bottom of the punch

holder, and a round bushing inside the punch holder drops out, and is placed over the external

punch, and then screwed back into the bottom of the punch holder to secure the punch. The

punch holder screws into the press head, so the punch faces the ram. (Large diameter punches

have their own captive threaded bushing: do not remove this from the punch.)

The die screws into the press ram, with its internal punch inside the ram. A stop pin in the

front of the CSP-1 press or the top of the CSP-3 press contacts the tail of the internal punch

during the back stroke, stopping the punch movement as the die continues back, and thus

ejecting the part from the die.

Never try to swage a component that will not go into the die by hand. The swaging operation

depends on each component being slightly smaller than the die bore, and increases the bullet

diameter a little with every step. The core seating die and point forming die are matched to

each other for a given jacket and core material to within 0.0005 to .0008 inches with the core

seater being smaller. Use a small amount of CORBIN SWAGE LUBE (CSL-2) on the cores and

the jackets before each operation: moistening the fingertips with lube and handling the mate-

rials is generally sufficient.

The first die is the CORE SWAGE. It has three small bleed holes in the circumference. It is

used to adjust the lead core weight precisely, and to size the cut or cast lead cores so they fit

into the bullet jacket. The lead should fit easily by hand into the die before swaging. Adjust the

punch holder closer to the die to make the core lighter, and adjust it away from the die to

make a heavier core. Try to always swage at the very end of the stroke, so that you get

maximum leverage with minimum effort. The force required should never be so great as to

bend the punches or crack the die. Type -M dies are for use with pure soft lead only. Type -S

dies can be used with lead up to Bhn10 in hardness, not not greater. Lead resistance to flow,

and thus internal die pressure, goes up with the square of the Bhn hardness: doubling the

number from 5 to 10 makes the pressure go up four times!

Cut or cast your lead cores so they are within about 5-6 grains of the desired weight, but on

the heavy side. To find out the correct weight, weight the jacket and cut lead cores to go with

it so the combination gives you your final bullet weight plus about 5-6 grains. Then swage

away the extra weight in the core swage die, for perfect cores. Clean the cores free of any lube

BEFORE putting them into the jackets (hot water and detergent in a pan will clean them:

spread them out to dry on a towel afterward).

The second die is the CORE SEATER. Seating the core means to press it into the jacket and

expand the jacket to nearly finished diameter. Jackets are undersized as produced, and de-

pend on core seating to achieve their proper diameter. The external punch for the core seater

must fit the jacket, rather than the die, if you intend to make open tip bullets. If you intend to

make lead tip bullets, the punch may fit inside but close to the end of the jacket at the point

where the lead will be seated. Or for a large lead tip it may have to fit the die bore rather than

inside the jacket. Core seating punches are designed for a given jacket wall thickness, taper,

and length of core (weight) so you may need more than one to cover a variety of jackets and

weights or styles. If lead spurts around the punch, or if the punch digs into the jacket wall,

your bullets will probably be undersized because the pressure will not build sufficiently to

expand the jacket. The solution is to change jackets, core length, or get a punch to fit the

The CORE

SWAGE

(CSW-1)

screws directly

into the press

ram, and

adjusts the

lead core

weight.

External punch

fits into the

FLOATING

PUNCH HOLDER

in the press

head.

Internal punch

Too small OK Too large

The CORE

SEATER (CS-1)

can be used with

a variety of

internal and

external punch

shapes for

various base and

nose configura-

tions.

Summary of content (2 pages)

PAGE 1
How to Swage Bullets Using The FJFB-3-S or -M Die Set External punch fits into the FLOATING PUNCH HOLDER in the press head. The external punch is held in the floating punch holder, a long, black, 7/8-14 threaded cylinder, which comes with the press. A threaded bushing is removed from the bottom of the punch holder, and a round bushing inside the punch holder drops out, and is placed over the external punch, and then screwed back into the bottom of the punch holder to secure the punch.
PAGE 2
Instructions for the FJFB-3-S or -M die set, Page 2 The core seating die (CS-1-H) is NOT used when making rebated boattail bullets: instead, a pair of RBT dies is used in sequence to seat the core. The external punch can also have a projecting cone on the end to make hollow points. The internal punch can be flat, domed or have a conical projection to form the mirror image of that shape in the bullet base.