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samwithacolt
01-20-2013, 10:59 PM
Hi, this is my 1st post so please be gentle!
I am putting to gether a Colt .38 lc new model army&navy. Waiting for parts right now.
Bore is .365, and I'm hoping to use a round nose bullet.
I don't cast my own, have played with casting RB's a few times, but I hardly have time to load never mind cast.(stupid work, etc)
Can I make a hollow base out of a .358 flat base round nose? I'm thinking a hollow pointing tool or a jig made out of a die with the decapper removed. Would it work in principle?
Failing that, would a .358 HBWC fill out a .365 bore?
Advice appreciated,
Sam
Also, the round nose I'm looking at has a Brinell hardness of 25.

beagle
01-21-2013, 12:01 AM
A .358" HB WC might expand enough to seal the bore. They expand pretty good. You'll just have to try.

I have a 35870 HP that I think is the right bullet for that monster and I've tinkered with it with p[retty good results in a .38 Special sized to .358"./beagle

JIMinPHX
01-21-2013, 12:24 AM
Welcome aboard Sam,

Hollow bases can be cut into boolits using a fixture. I've done it. You just need a good fixture & a good cutting tool. I used a ball nosed end mill with a stop screwed to the shank & ran it in a cordless drill. It wasn't elegant, but it did work. Results were slow, but quality was good.

Trying to bump up from .358 to .365 is a pretty big stretch. I am not going to say that it is impossible, but I would not expect good results to be obtained easily. I think that a flat base boolit of the proper diameter would probably work better for you than a hollow base that is that far undersized. If there is a particular reason why you want to use a hollow base, please let us know what it is. The hollow base does have some advantages in some situations.

I used to have a real old 4-cav Lyman wadcutter mold that dropped around .365, but I sold it several years ago. They do exist. You might want to look around a little for used molds.

The 9mm Makarov uses a .365" diameter boolit. Boolits in that caliber should work for you. One possibility would be to use this little 95-gr RN mold - http://leeprecision.com/mold-dc-365-95-1r.html

25 brinell is pretty darn hard. Most of my pistol boolits are closer to 10 BNH. A 25bnh hollow base may be more likely to split & crack at the skirt than to obdurate & seal the bore the way that you want it to.

Regards,
Jim

samwithacolt
01-21-2013, 12:41 AM
I was hoping to get a bullet that I can seat inside the case, whereas my bore is meant for a heeled bullet. I would like something that does'nt bulge the case too noticably, but will expand to fill the bore. I can try HBWC's in .358, but I'm thinking of asking my supplier to make me a batch without sizing them so they start at .360 ish. I'd still like a round nose just because it 'looks right" for a 111 yr old gun. I will not be running this hard, I just want it to stabilize and punch round holes.

JIMinPHX
01-21-2013, 10:42 PM
I was hoping to get a bullet that I can seat inside the case, whereas my bore is meant for a heeled bullet.

I didn't realize that round took a heeled boolit. That is a very good reason to try to cheat by using a hollow base boolit instead.

Molds for heeled boolits do exist, but they are few & far between.

If you want to do the hollow base trick in this case, I would recommend using an alloy with a high tin content & not too much antimony. That will give you better malleability.

Another option might be to start with standard .365" Makarov boolits & have someone make you a swaging die to crimp the heel down to the size that you want.

Another possibility would be to buy the soft swagged .38 cal. HB wadcutters from Hornady & get a die made that would swage the nose round & mash the front out a little bigger in diameter. The Paco Kelly accurizing tool for .22RF works that way.

These are just a couple of off-the-wall ideas for you to think about.

samwithacolt
01-22-2013, 01:26 AM
Not bad ideas, but is'nt the makarov bullet very short? I have read that the heeled bullets did'nt work great because they had a short bearing surface. Certainly worth looking into though.
I like the idea of a round nose wadcutter! Looks right, fills the bore, and no lube on the outside.

I'll Make Mine
01-22-2013, 08:26 AM
One (probably) workable suggestion for making a heeled boolit -- get a mold for a conventional .358(ish) round nose or whatever shape you like, with a long driving section. Lap just the forward driving bands and nose to drop at .365, while leaving the rear driving bands at original size, and use the middle lube groove to crimp. You won't be lubing into the grooves on a heeled boolit anyway; just dip lube the finished round (i.e. lube like a .22 LR).

Gar
01-22-2013, 08:53 AM
Sam, since you said you don't cast, why not just buy the proper heeled bullet?
Here are a couple of places that sell them.
http://www.hc-collection.com/PBSCProduct.asp?ItmID=2382357
http://www.buffaloarms.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=157143&TERM=heeled
http://gadcustomcartridges.com/#militaryblack

The last one seems to have the best prices.
I've dealt with all of these companies and have had no problems with them.

Gar

PS, If you order from HC-collections, call your credit card company to let them know you are ordering online from an overseas company, else they may decline the sale. Don't ask how I know. [smilie=b:

JIMinPHX
01-22-2013, 10:41 PM
I didn't know that heeled boolits were still available commercially. I guess that ends your problem right there.

Personally, after having thought about it some more, if it were me, I would go with an offshoot of what was suggested in post #7. I would get a single cavity mold for a .358" projectile (assuming that is the size heel that you want) & then I'd put it in a lathe & bore out the forward driving band area to .365".