To swage or not to swage is the question. Some will argue that it does not matter, but it does. We were fortunate enough to have the guidance and mentoring from George Ulrich who needs no introduction to the bullet-making world. With a set of precision-made dies and the hand-swaged process, you can achieve tighter tolerances than machine-made bullets, now we are not saying that machine bullets are bad, think of it as bullets are like tools, and certain tools are used for certain jobs our hand-swaged bullets are preferred by the benchrest community for the tighter tolerances held on our bullets, also on that note we have had customers use our bullets for hunting also and has had great success.

The Swaging Process

Swaging is a process that creates a lot of pressure with very little to no heat or toxic fumes compared to casting. The Swaging process is quicker and requires four main components a press, precision dies, lead, and jackets. The swaging process is a simple process that begins with what projectile and weight you are trying to achieve. Once that is accomplished, for example, we will make a 6mm 68-grain flat base hollow point projectile. We begin with the lead which is a coiled spool diameter specified for the 6mm. It is straightened and cores are cut slightly heavier than the desired weight. Then the cores are swaged through an extruder die AKA the squirt die to create a uniform and the desired weight of 68 grain.

The next step is the core seat process which consist of the swaged lead core and the jacket. The jackets are very important, there are different variations such as jackets for hunting or target. There are various jacket makers, and some make their own. The jacket needs to be concentric to a T. The jacket and lead core are run through the core seat die which bonds the two together with extreme pressure to achieve a superior bond and the correct diameter of the projectile.

The final swaging process is the point form die. Once the core seated jackets are lubed, they are run through the point die which forms the projectile to its final form.

Shop Our Hand-Swaged Bullets and Projectiles

With good components and precision dies you can achieve projectiles with tighter tolerances which will give you an advantage on the range. But remember it takes a good projectile, but there are a lot of other factors that play a crucial role to achieve perfect accuracy. But a Great projectile helps and that is what we thrive to do is make the best possible projectile we can.

Ammerman Arms offers high quality, hand-swaged projectiles and bullets made right here in the USA at our location in Cynthiana, Kentucky.

Contact us to get in touch with a member of our team or visit our online store to make an order!