WTB .577-.575 swaged "Burton" Minnie projectiles

[Historyhunter-2007]

Wanted .577-.575 swaged "Burton" type projectiles. I have been looking into the Corbin swaged projectiles and they don't appear to have deep enough lube grooves.

[gmkmd]

I looked rather extensively into swaging apparatus for various bullets that we use in skirmishing, and had some detailed conversations with Corbin. The main problem always comes down to the grease grooves. The currently available swaging systems all use solid dies, which can only swage smooth-sided bullets. Any grooves must be applied afterward, using a device that presses or knurls the grooves into the bullet (also slightly changing the diameter), which are not very deep. I considered trying straight-sided musket bullets, with filling the base cavity with lube, to compare the results with grease-grooved bullets, but I don't have those results yet.
The grease-grooved bullets that were swaged during the Civil War were done with split dies, so the grooves could be swaged into the bullets in one step.
Another option is to actually cut the grease grooves into the bullets after the final swaging, to make the grooves deep enough and not deform the bullet. This was done by Buffalo Arms on swaged Creedmoor and Postell bullets they used to make, and the results were excellent. But the device they used to cut the grooves was a custom-made affair. They no longer offer those bullets, because they were costly to make, and when the cutter wore out they decided not to replace it.