Newbie cast sizing question

[STEVEMORSE]

If I wanted to use 98 grain cast Hawkesbury river button nose wad cutters in my 308 as quiet 1300 FPS plinking trsilboss loads , they are 314 diameter, and if I wanted to size them myself and I have not swaged Bullets before , would I just make up a 308 die on my lathe about 50 mm long , slightly tapered at the bueginning , and fit it in my reloading press. And just push them thru ? I guess if I make it perfectly 308 they might spring back to 309 but that would be fine If lee made a 308 swagging die for 308 and it was avail able I would just buy it and save myself the trouble.

[Briangoldcoast]

Buy one and save yourself a lot of grief

[eskimo]

Wondering if your press will have the oomph to swag from .314 down to 308....gunna take a lot of pressure to resize hard cast ...it would be okay for resizing a few thou...but doubt not that much.
Then you have to fix the coating if it has it, else relube.

Now if you had a corbin press it would be probable.

Sell the 314 to a walther gsp issf shooter

[STEVEMORSE]

Thanks for the info. If it’s goin to be too demanding for my press and I , I’ll give it a miss. I have not already bought the projectiles. I found some cheap Speer light weights On the internet that will suffice

[barkersegg]

Steve,

Trick I was shown some time ago which I have used since to swage down various casts. Buy yourself some Grade 8 bolts same thread as your press then bore one out with a slight over size taper from start down to your final size - you don't need much of a lead in, say one length of your pill then run your pills through that with some sort of push rod on your raising arm. You can apply some dry lube if they stick but polish the inside and they shouldn't stick at all. You may find harder alloys take a bit more push effort but don't get greedy and try swage a 45cal down to a 22 in one hit as example...if a large difference is needed then make a few of them step down to final size...it's gentler on your press that way

You can also get away with using a bench vice or a hammer on a block of wood if you're unsure of the strength of your press arm though likely most presses will be able to handle it as there is not much force needed in my experience.

You mentioned you had a lathe....this way is far cheaper than buying a sizing die and you can make any number to try out.
Good shooting.......Lee