Buffalo Bore are hard cast bullets at about 19BHN why not 15 or so.

[tackstrp]

Buffalo Bore are hard cast bullets at about 19BHN why not 15 or so. I could be wrong on the offical Buffalo Bore hardness. Myself i would think in a 380 or 32 acp the harder bullet would be wasted. I cast my own and have tried a few on the Cabelas hard cover catalog . The 32 ACP was a disappointment, in pentration , don't recall expansion. The 380 cast on the soft side was great in expansion and reasonable preratation for a hard dry catalog. Think a pine board would be softer.


Any way think i am saying in these two caliber i prefer the softer bullets. .

[btroj]

Why? Because people buy them.

They also may want to stick with one alloy for everything.

As for personal preference, isn't that part of why most of us cast?

Brad

[HammerMTB]

I see what you're getting at, but I will add this. In manufacturing, the less messing with the product, the better. I strongly suspect Buffalo Bore has chosen a hardness that suits most, if not all, of their applications. The wonderful thing about casting your own is you are the boss, and if you want to customize ANYTHING, you can. Want 'em softer? By all means ,do so! I keep pure for just that purpose. I don't use a lot, but a little, and it works cause I make it so. That would be much more troublesome for Buffalo Bore.

Now on to the 32 ACP. I got one of these given to me a couple months ago. It's an old 1903 Colt Auto. My FIL thought it would be a good carry gun for my wife. There were flaws in the theory, but I took it out to see how it worked, to make sure all was well with the gun.
What a disappointment! That little bitty slug would not penetrate a plastic 5 gallon bucket if it hit off-center.
My pappy told me about the little belly guns a long time ago- he said
"You always want to file the front sight off those"
To which I asked "why- do they shoot low?"
No, says he, it's so when you shoot someone with one and really piss them off, and they shove that little gun where the sun don't shine, it won't hurt so bad to extract....
Now he was prone to enlarge the story some to make his point, but he was a medic in Korea, and had more than a little experience in treating gunshot wounds.
Can you tell I don't carry itty-bitty belly guns?

[tackstrp]

agree 32 acp is a back up for the brick :) So many cheap guns under $300 in about any caliber, truly amazing what I see at the gun show, S&W sure not quality any longer. My favoriate gun range will not take a new model S&W on a trade in. Olders one yes. They sell them, because people will buy.

[dunkel]

Yeah, worrying about the ballistics of a .32 or even a .380 is kinda pointless. You might get 10% more lethality doing this or changing that...but it's still 10% of "not much".

Having said that, I wouldn't want to get shot with one. And I do carry a P232 in .380 on occasion if I need real deep CC or as a BUG. But my first choice and EDC is a P220.

[tackstrp]

well i have a double whammy for concealment. Wife does not like guns. Concealment for is important , but also have to have enough practice to hit my target moving or not.

My collection consists of Glock 17L, Glock 29 SF with 40 S&W and 10 MM conversion barrels, Ruger SP101, SiG P238 (lastest addition) Kel Tec P3AT. The one gun i enjoy most shooting is a Taurus 608 with 8 3/8 barrel with a Aimpoint Micro Red dot. This gun seems to be the exception. Locks up like a Colt Diamondback and great trigger. Sure I can't sell the Taurus or the Kel Tec for half of what i paid. So many cheap guns on the market, high end guns like a Sig, Kimber etc are for pushed aside by the dealers. Sell what the public will pay..

[HammerMTB]

well i have a double whammy for concealment. Wife does not like guns. Concealment for is important , but also have to have enough practice to hit my target moving or not.

My collection consists of Glock 17L, Glock 29 SF with 40 S&W and 10 MM conversion barrels, Ruger SP101, SiG P238 (latest addition) Kel Tec P3AT. The one gun i enjoy most shooting is a Taurus 608 with 8 3/8 barrel with a Aimpoint Micro Red dot. This gun seems to be the exception. Locks up like a Colt Diamondback and great trigger. Sure I can't sell the Taurus or the Kel Tec for half of what i paid. So many cheap guns on the market, high end guns like a Sig, Kimber etc are for pushed aside by the dealers. Sell what the public will pay..

You got a premium carry gun in there. I have a G29, too, but not the SF. It is a regular CC gun for me. I carry open more often, so something bigger is OK, but that 29 is pretty compact, and still packs some ballistic authority. BTW, I shoot both 10MM and 40S&W brass thru mine in a 10MM chamber
As far as the wife not caring for guns, I tell mine the first person I carry to protect is her. After a couple close calls when I was not present, she has a whole new 'tude. Gotta get her out to practice now.... :Fire:

[garym1a2]

I go for air drop Wheel weights in my handguns. Good expansion and well behaved.

[dromia]

One of the reasons some commercial bullet casters use a hard alloy is to keep the boolits from getting dented and banged up as they get moved and shipped around, pretty sells.

[tackstrp]

[QUOTE=dromia;1159988]One of the reasons some commercial bullet casters use a hard alloy is to keep the boolits from getting dented and banged up as they get moved and shipped around, pretty sells.[/QUOTe

Never thought of that, have never purchase any Buffalo Ammo, but see people talking at cabelas as if the ammo was made to kill charging varmints, whales and giant bears. Yet all seem to know is only hard cast lead.

amusing your comment got a good chuckle

[Lloyd Smale]

most commercial casters water drop there bullets for this reason and also because they can buy an alloy like ww cheaper then a high tin/antimony alloy and water drop it for the same hardness.
One of the reasons some commercial bullet casters use a hard alloy is to keep the boolits from getting dented and banged up as they get moved and shipped around, pretty sells.

[tackstrp]

most commercial casters water drop there bullets for this reason and also because they can buy an alloy like ww cheaper then a high tin/antimony alloy and water drop it for the same hardness.

did not know that, thanks

[btroj]

The masses also buy into the "hard cast" thing pretty well too! They only want you to buy a product, whether it is exactly what you need or want is not their concern.
They must be doing something right, they are still in business!

[GabbyM]

In an auto pistol a hard bullet is more reliable when you don't know what gun it may be shot in. They ride the ramps just like a FMJ.

If your hard bullet had less penetration than a soft bullet there was some other factor involved. Like bullet design or worst case I suppose you could have enough blow by gas to lower velocity in an oversized bore. Big bores are common in European 380’s. I put lots of .357” diameter 380 and 9mm bullets. A bullet like Ranch Dogs truncated cone flat point mould is the best penetrating and also wound channel bullet we’ve found in a 380. I’ve a 100 grain Lyman TCFP but the mould is discontinued. Winchester makes a 95 grain TCFP-FMJ bullet that is IMHO the best J bullet you can run in a 380 acp. 95 and 100 grain TCFP at standard pressure and velocity will give about fifteen inches of penetration in ballistic gel. I’m only 5”11” and I’m 13 ½” front to back through the chest. You’d have to have a straight through angle then slip the bullet between my ribs in and out to get an exit wound. Why does anyone thinks they need a hollow point in a SD 380 acp? Personally I want to be able to break a bone or two.

[tackstrp]

http://www.goldenloki.com/ammo/gel/380acp/gel380acp.htm

These gel tests show mixed results for expansion. But back to the point of BHN hardness. I think i must agree with the higher BHN giving FMJ feeding reliablity in an auto. Ok I am convinced, will go with the harder bullet. have WW . linotype and some 50/50 tin to throw in . Now i need the hardness tester . The most expensive one seems to be the way to go. Cabine i think .

[bhn22]

Solid bullets kill by virtue of bullet design, and do not rely on expansion. Note the bullet designs. Mouse gun calibers often lack penetration, and the Buffalo Bore offerings appear to combine effective bullet design, sufficient alloy hardness, and good velocity to address the shortcomings of whimpy calibers. Why not a harder bullet? with hardness comes brittleness, who wants a self defense bullet that could be brittle? Most guys here heat-treat lower antimonial alloys so their bullets won't break apart on impact. Another offering from them is a hard cast 38 wadcutter at 850 fps. Penetration suffers when bullet deformation takes place, energy that could be used for penetration is wasted deforming a bullet that doesn't need it. Sure, a guy could carry 700 FPS swaged wadcutter target loads, but the harder, faster bullet would be more desirable in my book. I think Tim Sundles has done his homework, and knows exactly what he's doing.