BABore
08-29-2005, 03:14 PM
Shot some of the 311041 soft nose's yesterday. I started with a 20" long box full of soaked newspaper & phonebooks. Shot a full oven HT'ed round at approx. 2,000 fps. At 50 yards the bullet sailed right thru. A soft nose, at the same velocity did the same. The first 8-10" showed a 3/4 to 1" permanent WC for the HT and 1 1/4 to 1 1/2" for the HTSN.
I added another 16" box of media behind the first and tried it again.
The HT bullets penetrated 24-26" with the same 3/4 to 1" channel for the first 8" or so, then a smaller channel after. The bullet nose expanded to small petals and sheared off. The nose peeled back to just shy of the cannelure and left the end kind of pointed, almost like a Lee C309-160-R. The original bullet weighed 183 grains. I would estimate the shank weighs 130 to 140 grains or about 70%. Haven't actually weighed them yet.
The soft nose bullets penetrated 20 to 21" and had a similar nose profile. The main wound channel was 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches for the first 8" or so. The recovered petals showed the nose mushroomed to 0.6 to 0.7" in diameter before they broke off. I recovered one large petal at about 16" of penetration. The recovered shanks were running around 65 to 70% weight
retention. A total of six rounds were fired, with four bullets recovered, two of each type.
The heat treated bullets were heated in the oven at 425 degrees for 60 minutes, then quenched. After 10 days they were 23 Bhn. The soft noses were pulled from the above lot. They were placed in a shallow plate, base down and cold water was added to just above the cannelure. A drop of water was placed on the metaplat and each side of the nose was heated with a propane torch until the water cooked off. They were then allowed to air cool. After 5 days they were checked for hardness. the nose was at 9 Bhn and the midpoint of the base was at 23 Bhn. All bullets were cast from WW's + 1% tin and alox lubed.
I added another 16" box of media behind the first and tried it again.
The HT bullets penetrated 24-26" with the same 3/4 to 1" channel for the first 8" or so, then a smaller channel after. The bullet nose expanded to small petals and sheared off. The nose peeled back to just shy of the cannelure and left the end kind of pointed, almost like a Lee C309-160-R. The original bullet weighed 183 grains. I would estimate the shank weighs 130 to 140 grains or about 70%. Haven't actually weighed them yet.
The soft nose bullets penetrated 20 to 21" and had a similar nose profile. The main wound channel was 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches for the first 8" or so. The recovered petals showed the nose mushroomed to 0.6 to 0.7" in diameter before they broke off. I recovered one large petal at about 16" of penetration. The recovered shanks were running around 65 to 70% weight
retention. A total of six rounds were fired, with four bullets recovered, two of each type.
The heat treated bullets were heated in the oven at 425 degrees for 60 minutes, then quenched. After 10 days they were 23 Bhn. The soft noses were pulled from the above lot. They were placed in a shallow plate, base down and cold water was added to just above the cannelure. A drop of water was placed on the metaplat and each side of the nose was heated with a propane torch until the water cooked off. They were then allowed to air cool. After 5 days they were checked for hardness. the nose was at 9 Bhn and the midpoint of the base was at 23 Bhn. All bullets were cast from WW's + 1% tin and alox lubed.