Hollow pointed 158 g 38 Special

[Shooter6br]

Drilled a cast Lee 158 g to 125g with Foster case trimmer. using .180 drill . Half lenght of bullet. Alloy 1-20. Load 5.4 g Unique (38 + presure ) at about 950fps from 4in Mod 10. Distance 7 yds. Three 1/2 gallon milk cartoon. Bullet burst no 1, pierced #2 and # 3 . Bullet was recovered from inside no 3. Weight was 117 g recovered ( see photos 93% ) Not much else to do on a Saturday night I have no life ( LOL)

[Shooter6br]

Here is comparison photo:groner:

[45-70 Ranger]

Ain't it fun trying stuff? That's what makes this fun!

Stay safe and give us a report if ya plug a critter with this? Been thinking about doing something along the same lines with a 340 Lee in my 45-70. I got lots of hogs to test on!!

Wade

[xsquidgator]

Did the bullet seem to expand any? I have been thinking of trying the same thing in an attempt to get close to the "FBI load". I have made plenty of 158 LSWCs with my Lee molds but would like to get close to a 158 LSWCHP somehow by drilling out the front of each boolit.

[Larry Gibson]

A GC'ed SWC like the 358156 or Lee's version cast of pure lead or 1-40 alloy works even better with the same load. I use the 1/8" Forster bit and drill to the front edge of the driving band. This does duplicate the Winchester 158 LSWCHP for velcotiy and expansion in soppy wet newsprint out of 4" S&W M15s. Accuracy with the GC'd 358156 is much better than the soft laed PB'd Winchester load. I've also cast 358477s this soft and HP'd them in this load and the accuracy was pretty much the same as the Win FBI load which really wasn't bad for the intended purpose.

I've pressure tested my load (5.5 gr Unique in R-P cases) and the MAP is 18,400 psi(M43) which is a tudge higher than the Win FBI load at 17,900 psi(M43). My load was also about 50 fps faster. Both are under the SAAMI MAP of 20,000 psi for the +P 38 SPL.

Larry Gibson