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View Full Version : Any advantage to HP'ing the 113 .30 "soupcan"?



kir_kenix
08-09-2012, 01:57 PM
I have been shooting the Lee 113 "Soupcan" in my .30 Herrett with a variety of loads. This particular barrel has a fairly short throat (Though too short to engrave with this little boolit) which I am grateful for. It is a fantastic combination and a great shooter out to 125-130 yards. I am shooting them sized .311 with a hard homemade lube.

I have killed 2 deer broadside with this boolit inside of 75 yards at 2250 fps muzzle velocity in the past (300-221 and 30-30). I will use this combo on short range deer this fall if a shot presents itself.

My question is: is there any killing power advantage to HP'ing this boolit? I will be pushing this boolit to somewhere north of 2,000 fps from my handgun. It has a fairly wide meplat already and penetrates well (1 exited and another found oppisite side under the skin) for such a light pill.

I'm afraid that Hp'ing this boolit may reduce it's penetration to the point that it becomes inefective on deer size game. I would like to make this boolit more effective on deer since it shoots so great from this pistol.

I know several people will of course mention using a heavier boolit. I have another 30 herrett that shoots the 311041 great, but it's a 14" and is less handy in the woods. I'm really happy with how this boolit shoots, and I just want to make it more effective on medium sized game.

newton
08-09-2012, 04:29 PM
I have no idea on the hollow point thing, but I had to comment about the boolit itself. Its a wonderful little boolit and its interesting to hear that someone has used it for deer. I am sure there are more, but its a little on the light side for most peoples taste. I have thought about it in my 30-06 because it shoots real nice. In fact, I am going to do some squirrel hunting with it.

But anyways, as far as hollow pointing it, I have shot some pretty "light" j bullets in my 30-30. Sierra 125 hollow points. I have not weighed my soup cans, but I bet they will weigh close to 120 grains with a gas check.

I shot a hog and a deer with my "medium" load last year. The deer was at 125 and the hog I am not sure(because I am not sure what shot hit her, the 100 yard or the 50 yard - lol). But the deer I hit right in the shoulder. It mushroomed up real nice and the buck dropped within 50 yards. But it did not leave a drop of blood on the ground and lodged in the off shoulder.

The hog looked like someone had stuck her with a knife over and over, but still no exit hole. I recovered both bullets, which were mushroomed real nice. So its a toss up.

If you could HP them easy then I would think it would help somewhat. But its undoubtedly going to slow it down. So its really a wash in the end. Either you opt for more expansion, or you hope for a clean pass through and two holes for blood to come out, maybe, or maybe not.

I know I am not a help here, just thinking out loud. lol

35remington
08-09-2012, 08:11 PM
Here I'm quoting you.

"I would like to make this boolit more effective on deer since it shoots so great from this pistol." (Bold emphasis my modification).

Did the as cast bullets without the hollowpoint not kill quickly? Did they run 400 yards after you shot them? If the current ones are less effective than you think they could be, just what was it about the kills that you made that left you less than satisfied?

If they are working well, and the deer die quickly, don't change anything. I doubt that anything will help if they are not working well now, as the bullet cast of straight wheelweights will expand down to an impact velocity of 1350 fps or so. If they are of straight wheelweights, that is.

If they are not working all that well now, I think your main problem is not enough bullet, not "not enough expansion."

My guess is that hollowpointing such a light bullet would be going backwards. There isn't much bullet there now, and there would be even less bullet to penetrate if the front half was lost to greater expansion (and possibly more fracturing with the wrong alloy). If hollowpointed, the bullet ought to be of more malleable stuff, like a lead tin alloy.

At any distance other than the shorter woods ranges you're essentially shooting deer with a 32-20 or 30 carbine. While that may work, power to great excess you do not have. Nor margin for error.

TCLouis
08-09-2012, 09:50 PM
There used to be a hunter here (from WV) that used that boolit in the 10" 30 Herrett and said it always worked. The meplat is about as big as it can get for 30 Caliber unless one went to wad cutter design.

If it has worked for you with complete penetration, then that may be hard to improve on. Heavier boolit of course would give penetration from most any angle

kir_kenix
08-09-2012, 10:43 PM
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Did the as cast bullets without the hollowpoint not kill quickly? Did they run 400 yards after you shot them? If the current ones are less effective than you think they could be, just what was it about the kills that you made that left you less than satisfied?


Yeah they worked fine in the 300-221 and 30-30. Both deer died within 50 yards. I'm sure there really won't be much of a difference in the 30 Herrett even though I'm looking at losing maybe 150 fps.

The recoved boolit did show pretty good expansion and weight retention when cast from straight ww. The more I think about it the more I probably need to just keep it simple and use what works. Maybe I was just looking for a good excuse to work up some loads and play with the HP boolit :bigsmyl2:

Went out with my little brother this morning (he's 11) and we were busting milk jugs at 150 yards with these little pills. Great fun for me and the youngster! I really love this boolit, and it kills so out of proportion to its downrange energy. I need to get this mold in a 6 banger one of these days.


At any distance other than the shorter woods ranges you're essentially shooting deer with a 32-20 or 30 carbine. While that may work, power to great excess you do not have. Nor margin for error.

Yes this is very true. I'm not the greatest long distance shooter with a pistol, nor the best range estimator out there. For these reasons I try and limit my pistol shots (especially if they are with a light for caliber boolit and/or light load) to short distances and broadside only. I think if one is willing to pass up all questionable shots, there is nothing wrong with any of the mild .30's for deer.