My bullets have flashing....

[Ian]

New-to-me concept, not sure who to credit because I read about this in a post elsewhere when discussing hunting bullets in 300 Blackout, someone knew of someone who tried lots of things to make the pointy cast bullets expand at 1,000 fps and ended up with this. Sounded good so I thought I'd give it a try tonight. These are aluminum foil split-nose, but not all the way to the tip so it doesn't break apart under rotational forces or split when hitting the feed ramps of an AR-15. Still is supposed to squish like crazy if the alloy is right. We'll see.

Alloy is three parts stick-on WW and two parts clip-on ww with no added tin, probably should have added some because they cast like turds. Hoping for 12.5 bhn after powder coating and air cooling because that's the magic number for my 1-in-7 twist rifle using Reloder 7.

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[Will]

I can't wait to see the results. I can see this expanding a lot due to having a solid nose to drive the foil wedge apart.

 

[Ian]

I gotta get my powder coating gear back from L1A1Rocker, bake these up, let them harden for a week or two, and find something suitable to shoot. I'm thinking a cardboard box full of crumb rubber mulch?

I read that the clever fellow (whoever he is) who optimized the foil strip trick for this particular bullet/rifle/velocity combination was getting actual mushrooming, not just fragmentation or splitting, so I'm hopeful that my tests will yield similar results. I had the crazy idea of filing vee-grooves across the block faces about 1/4" back from the point so that a small, square rod could be inserted like a hollow point pin (except sideways through the blocks instead of up through the bottom) and thus a diamond-shaped hole could be cast through the noses of the bullets to initiate a crush zone. The foil strip is unbelievably fiddly because it has to be cut short to fit between the alignment pins, but much less work than modifying the mould. Normally, one just drapes a strip of foil all the way across the blocks, but this requires placement and adjustment with tweezers, giving the mould time to cool off too much between casts. So three or four quick cull casts to heat it back up is required, then place a strip and pour a pair of bullets, rinse and repeat. Took an hour to get the ones in the photo from start to finish plus about 50 shootable "waste" casts to double-check the load. The good news is I had zero un-shootable split points and am getting the hang of placing the foil.

 

[Brad]

I know Khornet did this in the past. I have never tried it but heck, why not?

I've often wondered about an HP just large enough and deep enough for a small pistol primer......

 

[Ian]

I got curious and did an internet search, first hit was from a few guys over at CB who have been down this road already, that must have been the source I heard about. It seems the latest research is pending an MP bullet mould to go into production, so I'm not holding my breath to see how it turns out for them.

 

[freebullet]

Neat test.

a cardboard box full of crumb rubber mulch?

My bucket of that stops bullets without expansion. I'd think wetpak or wfmj would be better for testing expansion.

wondered about an HP just large enough and deep enough for a small pistol primer...

Was thinking of using preheated used primers in a flat nose just the other day when the bruceb thread was started. I have some aluminum concrete nails that I thought might work if preheated & dropped in the mold of flat points too. That oughta make a THWACK on target.

 

[fiver]

thwack is correct.
I got ahold of some titanium roofing nails from a bud after i cut off most of the pointy part i cast them in a 44 mag mold.
they'll drive through a telephone pole and keep going.

 

[Brad]

I was thinking new primers. Think of the potential expansion. Glue them in place after sizing and lubing. Probably after loading ammo too.

 

[KHornet]

During the Civil War, there were instances of inserting a primer backwards in a
HP Miniball. There are examples of these in the Museum in Gettysburg, that were
fired. Deadly looking things on impact.

 

[Chris]

New-to-me concept, not sure who to credit because I read about this in a post elsewhere when discussing hunting bullets in 300 Blackout, someone knew of someone who tried lots of things to make the pointy cast bullets expand at 1,000 fps and ended up with this. Sounded good so I thought I'd give it a try tonight. These are aluminum foil split-nose, but not all the way to the tip so it doesn't break apart under rotational forces or split when hitting the feed ramps of an AR-15. Still is supposed to squish like crazy if the alloy is right. We'll see.

Alloy is three parts stick-on WW and two parts clip-on ww with no added tin, probably should have added some because they cast like turds. Hoping for 12.5 bhn after powder coating and air cooling because that's the magic number for my 1-in-7 twist rifle using Reloder 7.

.View attachment 2370

I think cigarette paper works as well as foil, don't know if it is easier to work with.

 

[yodogsandman]

During the Civil War, there were instances of inserting a primer backwards in a
HP Miniball. There are examples of these in the Museum in Gettysburg, that were
fired. Deadly looking things on impact.

Like a #11 cap or a regular primer?

 

[RBHarter]

I spent some time with an older fellow some yr ago . He talked about having drilled a 44 mag to except a sm pistol/rifle primer and putting , I think he said 2 gr of bullseye under it . In any case cutting down 4" saplings wasn't a problem any more . I can imagine what a little BP in an HP would do with acceleration compression and airspace .......

 

[Intheshop]

We used to put mercury in .44 HP's...Kids,do not do this,playing with mercury has caused cancer in lab rats.

 

[Chris]

I plan next summer to pick up my project on subsonic cast rifle loads going 6-700 fps. Wonder if this split nose technique would be useful in slow loads, do more damage to varmints. Maybe try it in a near pure lead bullet?

 

[Ian]

What I need is some roadkill. Plenty of it here right now but picking it up is verboten in Texas, and double-verboten during hunting season.

 

[Intheshop]

Ian,it looks like a bloomin war zone here WRT... Warhol 'sh splattered deer,impressionist road "art".Oh my....they can't make the season long enough.

 

[Ian]

Yep. Christmas colors, green and red all over the roads. Body shops love this time of year, especially on years like this one when the whitetail have two ruts.

 

[Chris]

They will never learn about cars. Or thin ice, they drown all the time.

 

[Ian]

I've actually hit the same deer twice in a row with my truck. In a short 25 years I've hit nearly 30 of them. All of my vehicles have full coverage insurance regardless of age or condition.

 

[Chris]

darn things are a pest. If you grow vegetables they are nothing but a rat with a white tail. If they weren't so much fun to hunt we would eradicate them. Ok, partly in jest. I do love to hunt bucks and I enjoy seeing deer.