http://www.gmiestore.com/ ive been looking at the .25 kit and just would like to know if anyone has tried these and their thoughts of them, the kit looks great
https://youtu.be/fY7Ox_svri4
https://youtu.be/fY7Ox_svri4
Has anyone tried GMI SOC die sets?
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Anyone else try these dies out? I'm interested in the .25cal for my Impact MKII with the Superior liner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epST88Y3RkY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epST88Y3RkY
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I have .22 dies in 25 grain and 19 grain hollow point and dimple point they work well. I got them to tide me over till my Corbin kit gets here.
You need to get an arbor press they aren’t expensive harbor freight was where I got mine for $50.00.
They did take about a month to make my dies but we’re true to their ETA and once the order left India it got here faster than some stateside orders…….go figure
You need to get an arbor press they aren’t expensive harbor freight was where I got mine for $50.00.
They did take about a month to make my dies but we’re true to their ETA and once the order left India it got here faster than some stateside orders…….go figure
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Thanks for the info. A couple of questions:
Is there any other slug available that you would compare these ones to?
Why Corbin dies over these ones?
I'm tempted to order these in .25cal, but it's a lot of coin for an experiment if the ammo doesn't work well in the Superior liner.
Im with Corvid_hunter, im very curious. It appears the advantage of Corbin, besides his undisputed place in the market, is that the Corbin is a much faster operation. The GMI has a lot of steps to get to the finished product, but at a cheaper price. Has anyone attempted to machine something themselves? I have a lathe and definitely interested in making one for my .30 Uragan.
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I'm currently making 35gr .25cal slugs. After having used they die set for a bit I can make about 100 slugs in 45 minutes without trying to be in a race. That's with pre-cut cores.
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Do you have any photos to share? Im curious. I stumbled across your thoughts to make some hybrids in .25 and that's where Im at. That's what I'd like to see done or have some other options aside from FX. But Im a newb so maybe upon a thorough deep dive, I'd find some others on the market ?
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These are the 35gr (approx weight, I need a better scale) with the dimple nose and the hollow point nose compared to the FX Hybrid.
With the pellet base punch it brings the weight down to around 28gr. I didn't give them enough testing to see if they are good. I might get a similar base punch to the FX version to bring the centre of mass more to the rear. I have a hunch that works better with slugs, but I'm not sure.
Early on with my testing. 50 yards. The 35gr slugs and FX Hybids.
Picking up the velocity shrinks the group size. 30 yards I think with this group. Shot over the chronograph.
I ended up testing the 30gr (approx) flat base to see how they were in comparison and then winter set in. I will likely set up the rifle to shoot the 35gr flat base slugs around the 950fps mark with a 110-120 bar tune in the spring and not bother with the lighter slugs. Or maybe I'll continue testing to see if I can get a tune that works with both.
I started spraying the cores with silicone prior to swaging and they release better. The dimple point is the harder of the two to release and I think I'll just stick with the hollow point for testing. Once I get a tune established I'll likely make some of the dimple point ones and compare them.
With the pellet base punch it brings the weight down to around 28gr. I didn't give them enough testing to see if they are good. I might get a similar base punch to the FX version to bring the centre of mass more to the rear. I have a hunch that works better with slugs, but I'm not sure.
Early on with my testing. 50 yards. The 35gr slugs and FX Hybids.
Picking up the velocity shrinks the group size. 30 yards I think with this group. Shot over the chronograph.
I ended up testing the 30gr (approx) flat base to see how they were in comparison and then winter set in. I will likely set up the rifle to shoot the 35gr flat base slugs around the 950fps mark with a 110-120 bar tune in the spring and not bother with the lighter slugs. Or maybe I'll continue testing to see if I can get a tune that works with both.
I started spraying the cores with silicone prior to swaging and they release better. The dimple point is the harder of the two to release and I think I'll just stick with the hollow point for testing. Once I get a tune established I'll likely make some of the dimple point ones and compare them.
Wow.... so those look promising. Hard to tell from the pics, are the ones you shot dimple point or hollow point?
So you said the 35g when using the pellet base punch, drops the weight down to 28g..... then you said you're going to probably setup to shoot 35g. Did you mean actual weights or three 35s dropped down to 28 after the pellet base punch?
Personally, I've been wanting to make something like the hybrids (fly like slug, hit like pellet aka dump energy) but with a little more weight to it than the FX. Im shooting .25 and those FX are pretty light at 26g. I was wanting to be closer to 30 or low 30s to increase the FPE a little and the BC (help fight wind drift). Primarily using these to hunt and I love the hit they put on small game but I've also had issues with them. My NSA slugs are great but zip right through small game requiring better shot placement.
Shot placement is always my top priority when hunting, but anyone who's ever hunted can tell you it doesn't always go according to plan. So having a projectile dump it's energy in the first few inches of impact rather than punching through, is a big deal when hunting small game. With my old springers, I was more interested in penetration as they seemed to lack the power to drive the pellet home. So I switched to all copper and got better penetration. But with my PCPs..... power is not an issue. I have more than enough FPE to kill squirrels and such. Im now more concerned with accuracy and expansion.
Im curious to know how the progress goes as you progress with things.
Is there anything you regret about going down this road so far? (making your own) Im considering it myself, even if it doesn't work out, just something fun to do maybe.
So you said the 35g when using the pellet base punch, drops the weight down to 28g..... then you said you're going to probably setup to shoot 35g. Did you mean actual weights or three 35s dropped down to 28 after the pellet base punch?
Personally, I've been wanting to make something like the hybrids (fly like slug, hit like pellet aka dump energy) but with a little more weight to it than the FX. Im shooting .25 and those FX are pretty light at 26g. I was wanting to be closer to 30 or low 30s to increase the FPE a little and the BC (help fight wind drift). Primarily using these to hunt and I love the hit they put on small game but I've also had issues with them. My NSA slugs are great but zip right through small game requiring better shot placement.
Shot placement is always my top priority when hunting, but anyone who's ever hunted can tell you it doesn't always go according to plan. So having a projectile dump it's energy in the first few inches of impact rather than punching through, is a big deal when hunting small game. With my old springers, I was more interested in penetration as they seemed to lack the power to drive the pellet home. So I switched to all copper and got better penetration. But with my PCPs..... power is not an issue. I have more than enough FPE to kill squirrels and such. Im now more concerned with accuracy and expansion.
Im curious to know how the progress goes as you progress with things.
Is there anything you regret about going down this road so far? (making your own) Im considering it myself, even if it doesn't work out, just something fun to do maybe.
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So you said the 35g when using the pellet base punch, drops the weight down to 28g….. then you said you're going to probably setup to shoot 35g. Did you mean actual weights or three 35s dropped down to 28 after the pellet base punch?
Correct. The 35gr slug weight changes based on the type of base punch used. The pellet base punch is the most "aggressive" with regard to changing the weight of the projectile.
The pic with the two targets (GMI slug and FX Hybrid) was the dimple point version. Taking a closer look at the pic it looks like those ones have the pellet base so they would be 28gr. Sorry for the mistake/misinformation. I'll go through some of the targets I kept and see if I can find some good pics to post.
Correct. The 35gr slug weight changes based on the type of base punch used. The pellet base punch is the most "aggressive" with regard to changing the weight of the projectile.
The pic with the two targets (GMI slug and FX Hybrid) was the dimple point version. Taking a closer look at the pic it looks like those ones have the pellet base so they would be 28gr. Sorry for the mistake/misinformation. I'll go through some of the targets I kept and see if I can find some good pics to post.
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I found a few more targets shot with the 28gr GMI and the FX Hybrid. These were out of the Standard Superior Liner.
Looking back at these pictures the GMI seems to be grouping similar to the FX Hybrid. More tuning/testing is needed to be sure. Seeing as it's winter, that won't be happening for another 4-5 months. As far as expansion goes, the lead I used is 99.99% pure so it will be as good as is possible with the design.
Looking back at these pictures the GMI seems to be grouping similar to the FX Hybrid. More tuning/testing is needed to be sure. Seeing as it's winter, that won't be happening for another 4-5 months. As far as expansion goes, the lead I used is 99.99% pure so it will be as good as is possible with the design.
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Wow.... those do look promising. Certainly more testing is needed but interesting findings none the less. It certainly is making a case for me to go down this rabbit hole too. Oh Santa, I have something else for my Xmas list .... HA
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I have several die sets in .22 cal :19gr
,23gr,and 34gr. I shoot 34gr most of the time. At 1055fps out of my maverick sniper , they are wicked accurate.
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Gmi slug dies are very good.
I only shoot 22 cal
With different base and hollow to adjust grain lowest 19g 217 & 218
Not the fastest method of slug making but great if you got time to make them
If you can make your own lead cores you will be happy.
Take time in making them especially swaging and just use pure lead with abit of lube on the cores and check the hollow point cavity nose is formed correctly and base cut every time as it will greatly affect accuracy/ I use a very sharp plane blade to cut the excess lead off the base/ I stress the accuracy from these slugs = the care you put into making them 90% of a good job is the preparation
Find what your barrel likes?
that's when these slugs come into their own.
Precision made and very very accurate + ken is a great bloke to talk with.
100% recommended
I only shoot 22 cal
With different base and hollow to adjust grain lowest 19g 217 & 218
Not the fastest method of slug making but great if you got time to make them
If you can make your own lead cores you will be happy.
Take time in making them especially swaging and just use pure lead with abit of lube on the cores and check the hollow point cavity nose is formed correctly and base cut every time as it will greatly affect accuracy/ I use a very sharp plane blade to cut the excess lead off the base/ I stress the accuracy from these slugs = the care you put into making them 90% of a good job is the preparation
Find what your barrel likes?
that's when these slugs come into their own.Precision made and very very accurate + ken is a great bloke to talk with.
100% recommended
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Yes souhaib
Gmi was there one day gone the next
Covid was probably the reason for it.
A great shame if ken has gone as he was a great man to talk too and very knowledgeable.
His gmi website has been gone awhile now" where people were able to put their slug testing results up on a forum.
Lots of excellent results were put up
Anybody fortunate to have these dies should be very happy with them as they are unbelievably good if and only if the slug is made correctly.
The grain difference between slugs is identical on 2 separate sets of scales.
I'm lucky I bought 2 sets with 3 types of diameter.
Gmi was there one day gone the next
Covid was probably the reason for it.
A great shame if ken has gone as he was a great man to talk too and very knowledgeable.
His gmi website has been gone awhile now" where people were able to put their slug testing results up on a forum.
Lots of excellent results were put up
Anybody fortunate to have these dies should be very happy with them as they are unbelievably good if and only if the slug is made correctly.
The grain difference between slugs is identical on 2 separate sets of scales.
I'm lucky I bought 2 sets with 3 types of diameter.
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Not yet guys, Ken is here. Hello everyone. We lost a lot of resources during the relocation which was unsustainable. The business verticals are still available but for B2B clients, many of the commercially available slugs you see may have a part or 2 made by us (maybe the entire slug). So, yeah ups and downs are a part and parcel of life, bouncing back is what matters. Thanks everyone once again. As always, Happy to help.
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