For those of you with a morbid curiosity as to what goes into making your own bullets, the following is a brief overview of the process I go through. The next time you wonder why people get higher prices for custom bullets versus off-the-shelf bullets, refer to the following list.

By the way, all steps for swaging, core seating and pointing are done on a single stage press. Many sellers use pneumatic presses, which allow greater production than single stage presses. There are NO MAGIC BULLETS! Every bullet needs load development to shoot its maximum potential.

Before beginning, take a tub of jackets, wash in lacquer thinner and dry thoroughly. Then ....
  1. Weigh jackets to get average weight
  2. Subtract jacket weight from desired weight to get core size
  3. Adjust cutter to give core size plus 2 grains approximately
  4. Mount small pulley from ceiling to feed lead spool through
  5. Mount lead spool in small frame so it spins easily as lead is pulled.
  6. Feed lead wire up over pulley and down to cutter, straightening wire as pulled.
  7. Adjust squirt die for finished weight.
  8. Adjust core seat die for correct core depth, adjusting for correct core punch weight.
  9. Tumble 500 jackets in mixture of 4 parts lanolin, 1 part castor oil, LIGHT FILM only
    10. a . Drawing jackets may be required for calibers not commercially available, e.g., 204 from 224
  10. Meanwhile, cut 500 or so cores from your overhead hanging lead wire.
  11. Add 1 drop of Cool Tool to core jar for every 50-75 cores and tumble 10 minutes (or use lanolin lube).
  12. Remove cores and process through swage die, one at a time.
  13. Wash your hands to remove Cool Tool as it gets on everything!.
  14. Run cores through ultrasonic cleaner to remove lube (Simple Green/water solution).
  15. Dry cores thoroughly in a cotton towel, then place in vinegar/water bath for 10 minutes, drain thoroughly. Alternately you can boil the cores in a water/vinegar solution.
  16. Place cores outside in pie pan to oxidize for 24 hours, time depends on temp and humidity.
  17. Run cores through ultrasonic cleaner to remove excess oxidation (Simple Green/water solution).
  18. Dry cores thoroughly using clean cotton towel.
  19. Distribute jackets on setup plate, fill, remove top plate and adjust those inverted.
  20. Wipe top plate clean, place Plexiglas on bottom plate followed by top plate.
  21. Distribute oxidized cores to fill all holes.
  22. Remove Plexiglas to drop cores into upright jackets.
  23. Remove top plate and visually inspect to insure all jackets filled and bottomed.
  24. Run jackets through core seat die, one at a time, let seated jackets rest overnight.
  25. Adjust point die for correct pressure ring, tip type desired.
  26. Run seated jackets through point die, one at a time.
  27. Run completed bullets through ultrasonic cleaner to remove lanolin/castor oil lube (Simple Green & water) or use lacquer thinner or paint thinner.
  28. Dry bullets thoroughly using cotton towel.
  29. Individually weigh each bullet for ideal weight, group by .1 grain weight , separate foulers.
  30. Polish bullets, place in container with lot # and weight.