Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

how difficult to make are case forming dies?

5mmgunguy
How difficult to make are case forming dies...can I take my chamber reamer and make several dies and then ream out the neck area two or three times with a little bigger hole each time....
0

Comments

7 comments

Date Votes
  • rufe-snow
    It should be done on a lathe. When the basic die is first placed in the jaws of the lathe the base area has to be trued up with a indicator to be sure that the neck of the cartridge is machined concentricly to the base. As commercial dies are ground and hardened after manufacturer it might not be a feasible thing to do?
    0
  • cussedemgun
    Mr. Guy,

    "How difficult - -" you ask.

    Depends on the quality of the out-come of the project.

    Whenever metal is bent or formed, the metal will spring back slightly, the amount depends on it's hardness. If you resize a case in a full length die, it does not just fall out. It will spring back slightly so as to be slightly larger than the die. This is why the same reamer will lot make a good die with out grinding undersize first. To machine the die stock, it will have to be soft enough to cut. To resist wear properly, it will require heat treating after machining.

    If you care to share exactly what it is you wish to do, maybe someone will be able to guide you to the correct way to come out with quality cases at the least expense. What is your parent case? What is the final formed case?

    Jim
    0
  • MIKE WISKEY
    to do it RIGHT you will need a different (sizing die)reamer.
    0
  • Mobuck
    I have a great book titled Handloaders Manual of Cartridge Conversions. It goes into what and how to use various methods to form cases with common dies and/or making your own specific die. You can make a forming die from plain old welding shop steel w/o any treatment. If the goal is obtaining a few oddball cases, this will be OK. If you intend to use the dies for an extended period, some type of hardening would be required or expect to replace the soft steel dies occasionally.
    0
  • shoff14
    What equipment do you have?

    They should be cut (turned on lathe), then ground. With the right equipment you may be able to get away with not grinding them. In order to have any lucky on a manual lathe, you need to have a lathe with coolant, the right boring bar for the job, with the correct insert. You then need to be able to get the angle set up with the compound or have an angle attachment on the lathe. With the right feeds and speeds and a .008" nose radius insert, a sufficient surface finish could be achieved.
    0
  • 5mmgunguy
    I have a lathe and two chamber reamers...a rougher (resizer)and a finisher. I was going to use the rougher and then bore out the neck area to make case forming dies. As for case I was going to make a small 20 caliber case off the 32 H&R Magnum...necking it down to 20 cal.
    0
  • Tailgunner1954
    Make a die that accepts "bushings", using a straight reamer. By changing the bushings, you should be able to bring the neck diameter down in stages. Note that you will be required to anneal the neck area as you go.
    That's just to make your forming die(s)
    For your sizing die, use your finish reamer and have the ID hard chromed to a thickness of .0010-.0015 (after having it heat treated)
    The above assumes your using a heat treatable material for the die, if your using a leaded steel, than a die reamer will be required.

    Contact Troy Newlon ( www.NewlonPrecision.com ) for your die blanks and/or your reamer maker for their recogmendations.
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity