Meplat size for tubular magazines

[pmer]

Hi, I have a 94 Winchester in 32 Win Spl and I'm wondering about loading some flat nose boolits in the tube magazine. The noses measure about .175'' across. They are small enough to fit in the primer pocket, I guess like a round nosed 32 WS J bullet would.

I been shooting them two at a time with one in the tube. It's a 32-150 from Accurate Molds. In rifle form it wieghs close to 165 grains and it is a bit longer than his 32-170. It's a GC spitzer in shape with a flat nose. I think it was originally drew up for a 32 cal. pistol cartidge in a single shot. It is not currently in his catalog.

Anyways, my 94 shoots this boolit like a house of fire and I'm not sure about bouncing those noses on primers in the magazine. I'd like to have more than 2 on board for walking around. I've taken it up to 31.0 of VV N540 and the primers are just starting to get pushed back in on fired cases.

I put a ruff cut piece of 1 x 6 oak agianst a milk jug and it made about 1/2 square hole in the board going out and took the top half a milk jug off. So it must have some good hunting potential.

I suppose round nosed boolits and flat nosed boolits with bigger meplats won't cause danger to the primers like the edge of a smaller flat nose? Maybe I answered my own question. Is anyone else shooting flat noses that are smaller the a primer pocket? His 32-170 flat nose is about the size of the primer pocket.

[jh45gun]

If your gonna hunt with it make sure it has a wide enough flat on the bullet. I made the mistake of shooting a buck in the neck with a round nose cast bullet and it did not even deform My friend found the bullet on the far side of the neck next to the skin. That deer was hurt bad he would go ten yards and lay down and get up again and lay down. I shot him again to keep him down. So I took those rounds I had loaded and flattened the round nose with a file to the same flat a Lyman 311407 since I have that bullet mold and a bullet to compare to. The next deer I shot a doe in the lower part of the neck and the bullet went in small and came out a couple of inches wide on the other side and that deer did not go 30 yards and bled out all over the place. I suppose some one is gonna ask why did I not use the 311407 bullets in the first place. Well it was an early season and I had these already cast up for shooting in my 308 Encore handgun barrel and I knew it was an accurate load. It was the first deer I had ever shot with that bullet and did not realize it was not as good as a flat nose. I did not loose that first deer but I learned that a flat cast bullet is a much better bullet than a round nose one for shooting animals. It was a good learning experience.

[Kestrel4k]

+1 on FP :) vs RN :( regarding hunting and terminal performance on game w/ nonexpanding boolits.

[w30wcf]

pmer,
Not an issue at all. Lay 2 cartridges lined up on a table. That's the way they line up in the magazine. The bullet nose is not directly on the primer.

w30wcf

[fishnbob]

If the meplat rested on the primer, I ain't so sure it would set it off. I loosened the spring on my Marlin 1894 and it would dent the primer but wouldn't set it off. I had to keep rotating the cartridge until it would finally give up and fire, after I had dented it in several places. The dents were deep too, not just a slight indentation. I had to tighten up the hammer spring until it struck deeply in the primer. Those things aren't as sensitive as I once thought them to be. Just my 2 cents worth, YMMV.

[MasS&W]

Prime some dummy rounds and load them up in the tube. Shoot half a dozen heavy loads and check for indentations. I figure the same ones won't be in the magazine all that long, so if the primers don't go off, you're golden.

[45-70.gov]

an expensive mold will be much less than a new gun

let alone a possible medical bill

besides you might need a reason for a new mold

[pmer]

Thanks everyone, for all the great tips.