HB-9 updated text (PDF) - Corbin Bullet Swaging

Gatling or 4-bore (.998) bullets can be made with 1-inch tubing. We do
not stock these larger sizes but by the time the dies are ready, we would
have a special order ready for you.
For big game hunting, the tubing jacket may have the edge since it is
easier to build thicker walled, tougher jackets with tubing (after all, the
deep drawing operation is done for you in tubing and all you have to do is
round over one end and adjust the diameter in a draw die). Jacket drawing
from strip can be done easily in a hand press only for the shorter jacket
lengths, because punching out a disk and turning it into a cup requires a
lot of power early in the stroke. Hand presses generate almost all their
power at the end of the stroke. Hydraulic presses are used for rifle jacket
lengths, in order to get full power at the start of the stroke.
Copper Tubing Jacket Maker Sets (CTJM-1-S, and -H)
You can make jackets from copper tubing (or almost any other metal,
but copper, aluminum, brass, and mild steel are the most practical things
to use, and of these, copper works best for most shooting needs). To do
this, you could use copper water tubing (yes, the same kind used to hook
up wash basins), boiler tubing, or refrigeration tubing. Corbin has precision
drawing grade tubing available also, if you want “good stuff” for
testing.
The cost of new tubing generally means that you won’t save money
over buying jackets if the jacket you want is already available on the
market. But most large caliber jackets for rifles, or heavy walled jackets of
any sort, are simply not available unless you make them, so the cost of
the jacket is secondary to whether or not you want a better bullet! If you
can get a reasonably good quality surplus tubing from contractors or plumbers,
and the wall thickness variation is not too great, construction sites
and contractors might be a low-cost source.
Regardless of the size or type, you would cut the tubing to length,
deburr one end, put the piece over a precision punch and round the end
over in the proper diameter end-rounding die (looks like a blunt point
forming die), anneal the tube, draw it to smaller diameter, and then flatten
the end with a special punch in your normal core seat die. All the tools
you need to form the cut tubing pieces are included in the CTJM-1 tubing
jacket maker, with the exception of the tubing saw to cut the tubing to
length, and the proper core seating die to flatten the end of the tubing (or
to form the boattail base). The core seating die (or boattail base former
die) is part of the bullet swage set, so it is normally assumed that you
have this die already.
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