I saw an ad for these the other day and it just dawned on me that these could be used for custom headstamping!

https://www.impressart.com/cus...z9uO1JRoC9yEQAvD_BwE

There are lower cost options out there but these go up to 12mm dia. so would be appropriate for just about any case.

Some brass manufacturers offer unstamped brass too.

Working out a tool holder on the press ram and a way to eject the case from the FLS die - pretty much as a swage press does - wouldn't be too difficult.

If you were to design your punch with a protrusion to fit in an empty primer pocket, it would make it easier to line up.

Roger

I agree that this seems worth following up.

Not like it’s a huge capital investment, right?

Example....
I have a 400H&H, though I have a bunch of Brass squirreled away for trips far away much of my everyday brass is made from 375H&H
How keen it would be for all of us in this predicament in this process if one could have the old head stamp filled then re-stamped

Dave E, formerly from 470mbogo.com described his bunter (that's the tool name) and that he had to have a punch to hold the case and a hydraulic press to make the cases - said it worked much better on unformed cases

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
Dave E, formerly from 470mbogo.com described his bunter (that's the tool name) and that he had to have a punch to hold the case and a hydraulic press to make the cases - said it worked much better on unformed cases

Makes sense.
I suppose a interior mandrel of sorts would be good as to not shear the rim or press a rimless case up into the FLS die.
Perhaps using the neck sizing die with a full length expander that goes all the way to the bottom of the case interior would be adequate.
Obviously better with a straight walled case.
I don't know how much oomph it takes to stamp brass.

That could be unclear. I meant a press to stamp the headstamp. Forming the brass is just a reloading press and imperial sizing wax

quote:

If you were to design your punch with a protrusion to fit in an empty primer pocket, it would make it easier to line up.

It certainly would make it easier to line up. But I would also think it would be necessary to keep the primer pocket from closing up in size from the strike.

The displaced brass will want to go somewhere and most likely will go to the center where the primer pocket is.

When tightening up loose primer pockets on some rare brass I like to keep going for a while (low pressure stuff), a simple circular punch is used that stamps a ring around the primer pocket. It has a stub that sits into the pocket and is the dia of the needed pocket size.

Without the guide stub, the primer pocket gets closed up too far and would often needs reaming to open it back up again.
That from 2 or 3 hammer strikes on the punch to imprint the head with that ring.
The case is simply set on a rounded end mandrel stud secured in a bench vise for support.
Could be a better set up but it works for this.

If I was imprinting case heads with lettering/numbers, a much more secure support for the case would need to be designed. More area being displaced, more effort needed to imprint the die into the surface. Can't have things bouncing around.
You'd want the imprint to be done in one single strike to avoid double imprints and ghost images from bounce back and vibration. Must be made squarely with the base of the cartridge case as well.

The brass cases are tough to imprint. It's not like they are buttery soft brass down there.

Sharp peak imprint edges to the lettering or characters on the die will help tremendously when imprinting.
The ones in the link look very dull and rounded on the imprint edges. That makes for many times the effort to leave an image in the surface you are marking

Just my thoughts.

quote:

Originally posted by yumastepside:
If you were to design your punch with a protrusion to fit in an empty primer pocket, it would make it easier to line up.

Roger

And also set to bottom out in the primer pocket to keep the stamp depth consistent

I have engraved a few case heads on a CNC mill with the case set up in a collet holder and use a 60 degree engraving cutter

J Wisner