How to Use a Corbin S Press - A Thread Geared Toward Beginners

@Ta-Ta Toothie and @ndwind That’s really good to know. I’ve never asked and was unaware that they do this. With that said, perhaps this would be something more valuable for folks considering getting custom dies. For example, the Huben airguns have odd caliber sizing like .251, .252, or .253 (according to some posts I’ve read) instead of a regular .25 caliber. If one were interested in this sort of die set and another member was already using one, this would be an ideal situation to reach and ask another AGN member and owner of a Corbin die and press setup for some samples. This dynamic can make purchasing dies easier.
Buying a slightly oversized swaging die set and resizing down to the barrel's ideal diameter with a $25.00 Lee bullet sizing die kit is the way to go also. That way a .253 dies set, for example, can.be used for multiple manufacturer's gun barrels. Otherwise, a specific sized swage die for each barrel becomes rather costly.
 
Last edited:
@Esab To my knowledge there is a range of hollow-point depth that can be set by adjusting the floating punch holder. The hollow point depth can be controlled to varying degrees by how you set your punch in the floating punch holder. If you set it too far down
(or too deep), you can damage the punches and possibly the die. After a certain depth you no longer have a "hollow point." The further down it is set, the more resistance you will feel when engaging the ram handle. You should be able to use leverage without trying to use an excessive amount of force to turn the cam over. In this instance I would say that is an example of an excessive amount of force would be to attempt to use your body weight to pull the handle down in order to turn the cam of the press over at the bottom of the stroke. DO NOT SET THE PUNCH IN THE EXTERNAL FLOATING PUNCH HOLDER PAST THE LIMIT LINE. Be sure that the limit line is always visible. This is very important. Let's see what he has to add to this or explains differently.

@Esab Please keep in mind that if you've read this thread then you saw what I did using the two-step process. The steps I took were not all of the steps prescribed by the manufacturer. However, I didn't damage my equipment.
 
@Esab Please keep in mind that if you've read this thread then you saw what I did using the two-step process. The steps I took were not all of the steps prescribed by the manufacturer. However, I didn't damage my equipment.
thank you buddy, at the moment I'm not super interested in Hybrids style slugs but have you noticed better Long range performance with this type or just better terminal performance?
In the mean time I will ask you a couple more things: Do you have an alternative product to Corbin swaging Lube? ( living in Europe is going to be very expensive to replace it if I'm running out) Do you wash the product out after swaging and lube the produced slugs with something different? What lead wire size do you use for .22 and .25 cal?
 
thank you buddy, at the moment I'm not super interested in Hybrids style slugs but have you noticed better Long range performance with this type or just better terminal performance?
In the mean time I will ask you a couple more things: Do you have an alternative product to Corbin swaging Lube? ( living in Europe is going to be very expensive to replace it if I'm running out) Do you wash the product out after swaging and lube the produced slugs with something different? What lead wire size do you use for .22 and .25 cal?
@Esab I'm not a long-range shooter. You can make lube, others have posted alternatives that they have used. I'm not too knowledgeable about the lubricants. for .25 a .247 sized wire is what's readily available to me. I don't wash anything. I leave the lube on my swaged slugs. I'm not sure if you're supposed to clean them off or not.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Esab
@Esab I’m thinking that the small number represents the lands diameter as the lands in a barrel stick up and will dig into the lead. Another member who has some good long-range slug postings is Scotchmo. Definitely look up some of his threads.
Having those numbers ( 0.2480 and 0.2534, checked twice they are correct) what size you would order? Any imput?
thanks
 
Having those numbers ( 0.2480 and 0.2534, checked twice they are correct) what size you would order? Any imput?
thanks
@Esab I would think to order according to the groove diameter. Then I would email Corbin Manufacturing to convey my measurements and be sure that ordering to that specification will produce the desired projectiles for the barrel producing that measurement.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Esab
Sooooo I made some small .25 slugs with .247 NSA wire and this was a different ballgame. For one, this wire feel like a it's made from an obviously different lead composition than from Corbin lead wire. Also, it's tough to manipulate such small cores in and around the dies. One issue is cutting the cores. Cutting cores with my Corbin Core Cutter I adjusted my set screw all the way in and the cores were still around 40 grains. I was aiming for about 28 grains. So I decided to cut cores with a pair of wire cutters. This widened the ends of the cores making them difficult to fit into the die. As a result, some parts of the ends of the cores got clipped off lightening the core weights beyond my target weight.

Below is a photo of some cores cut with the wire cutters. Above the scale are some formed hollow-ogive cores.
IMG_7280.jpeg



In this photo you can see how the wire cutters widened the diameter of the cut cores on the ends making it difficult to fit them into the die without forcing the lead in and cutting pieces off of the ends in the process. I must be mindful of how my floating bottom punch goes into my die when a core can not be properly situated to fall within the barrel of the die. If not careful the bottom punch can shift over and clip the edges of the mouth of the die damaging the surface that forms the base of the die. Perhaps the smaller diameter of the .25 caliber bottom punch provides the punch more room to move within the retainer nut securing it in the punch holder. I could've overlooked something. Just is just a note.
IMG_7281.jpeg


I attempted to make a slug similar to FX Hybrid weight slugs and ran into an issue. The main issue is that I pressed holes into the bottoms of the majority of the cores or slugs making them unusable. I did not push the bottom punch beyond the limit line, yet this occurred. In the formation of the hollow-ogive core I often got a dimple or what appeared to be a small black smudge within the hollow or the dish-base. The smudge most often was a hole and the dimple would pop like a burst disc while forming the hollow point turning the dimple into a hole.

The photo below doesn’t have the greatest clarity, but shows the shape of the dish-shaped slug, the hole in the bottom of the slug, and a hole in the bottom of a formed core. All were discarded to be cast at a later time.
IMG_7282.jpeg




30 grains and above produced slugs that appear usable. I haven't shot any yet. I'm hoping to figure out how to make a hollow-ogive cores without going too deep, yet keeping the cavity as deep as possible. Any suggestions? How are you all making good cuts on light-weight small-bore cores?

Edited 12/27/24, 1:04pm to add photos.
 
Last edited:
Sooooo I made some small .25 slugs with .247 NSA wire and this was a different ballgame. For one, this wire feel like a it's made from an obviously different lead composition than from Corbin lead wire. Also, it's tough to manipulate such small cores in and around the dies. One issue is cutting the cores. Cutting cores with my Corbin Core Cutter I adjusted my set screw all the way in and the cores were still around 40 grains. I was aiming for about 28 grains. So I decided to cut cores with a pair of wire cutters. This widened the ends of the cores making them difficult to fit into the die. As a result, some parts of the ends of the cores got clipped off lightening the core weights beyond my target weight.

I attempted to make a slug similar to FX Hybrid weight slugs and ran into an issue. The main issue is that I pressed holes into the bottoms of the majority of the cores or slugs making them unusable. I did not push the bottom punch beyond the limit line, yet this occurred. 30 grains and above produced slugs that appear usable. I haven't shot any yet. I'm hoping to figure out how to make a hollow-ogive cores without going too deep, yet keeping the cavity as deep as possible. Any suggestions? How are you all making good cuts on light-weight small-bore cores?
I would switch to .210 wire from Corbin. You should be able to get those down to 30-31ish grains with that wire. Works great with .22 and .25.
 
I would switch to .210 wire from Corbin. You should be able to get those down to 30-31ish grains with that wire. Works great with .22 and .25.
@Swish I’ll give the Corbin wire a shot at some point. Last night was my first time with this caliber. I have some 30-32 grain .25 caliber slugs. Can you share what you use to cut your cores?

@Vana2 I hope that you find some of the information useful.
 
Last edited:
I swage 25 cal .250 I use corbin core cutter and Corbin .247 lead wire and it works great. I think you are trying to go way too light for hollow ogive slugs in 25 cal. I would contact Corbin monday and ask how light they recomend for that caliber hollow ogive. Im sure theve tried it all.
As far as NSA wire i havent tried thiers but I believe thier ammo is harder than most. I know in what ive tried they are hard.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ezana4CE
I swage 25 cal .250 I use corbin core cutter and Corbin .247 lead wire and it works great. I think you are trying to go way too light for hollow ogive slugs in 25 cal. I would contact Corbin monday and ask how light they recomend for that caliber hollow ogive. Im sure theve tried it all.
As far as NSA wire i havent tried thiers but I believe thier ammo is harder than most. I know in what ive tried they are hard.
@ndwind I don’t have a .25 cutter die. So I’m curious, using the core cutter what’s the lightest .25 cores that you can cut?