Which is easier, more effective, cost/time efficient, (relatively, of course), and gives a better HP boolit. A converted mold by Buckshot, or a Forster Universal Hollow-Pointer?
Thank you for any replies.
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Which is easier, more effective, cost/time efficient, (relatively, of course), and gives a better HP boolit. A converted mold by Buckshot, or a Forster Universal Hollow-Pointer?
Thank you for any replies.
Yes, Bob, that would be correct. BA has talked about that, remember? The scratching of the boolit by the lands specifically aids in the destruction of the boolit via energy supplied by the rotational forces. The analysis would blur into the same thought for the roughed out hollow point. ... felix
Casting's much easier. You can sit down in a morning and run off 4-500. With the Forster HP jig, you'll mess up occasionally and then you're stuck with a "plinker". If you screw up a cast HP, it can go back into the pot.
The cast HPs as Felix pointed out seem to be more accurate.
I'd go and have gone with cast although I own two or three of the Forster jigs./beagle
Barring mold cavities that aren't symetrical (reads not all around the same axis at all parts of the boolit) - which same cannot be barred (oh, well). Then if you had a straight boolit, and a collet closer with the right size collet, in a lathe that has the tailstock correctly centered (use the right cutter and this won't matter), then drilled hollow points should be nearly perfect if a stiff, short drill is used. So the weak link is the mass manufactured mold cavity.
Not sure a Forster trimmer qualifies- its chief deficit however is the lack of a collet that holds the boolit. Collet holding a case has no guarantee that the boolit centerline is on the lathe centerline, so you drill holes off center.
And the goofy thing is I found a Forster Trimmer at the pawn shop for $5, so, I guess I can try the Hollow Pointer. Even if it doesn't work quite right, it will still be fun to experiment with while I save up for a good hollow point mold. Thank you all very much.
I own the Forester hollow pointer, and played with it a lot last year. I even used that data to have one of my molds converted by Erik Ohlen to a hollow point. Yes, you mess some bullets up, which is frustrating. I doubt that every hole is perfectly centered with the Forester tool, I'd bet none of them are. Still, imbalances in the nose make next to no difference unless they are extreme. This is a direct contrast, in that a small nick on the base will send a bullet way off target.
I only used it on handguns, and at 50 yards my best load shot 3" 6 shot group average with the Forester tool, and the same bullet shoots 3" cast as a hollow point. Both are phenomenal. A rifle could be a different story.
I really enjoyed being able to alter the depth of hollow point with the Forester tool. It is amazing how easy it is to control how much they expand.
How deep did you go on 9mm, if you don't mind me asking? I am using the Lee 124gr TL boolit.
Attachment 244018
Holey cow, I just realized you asked the original question 12 years ago!
I never tried 9mm. I spent most of my time on a 148 grain as a solid bullet for 327 federal. I quickly found a lead/tin alloy to be ideal, and stuck with 20-1. I found the best performance came with a .150" deep hollow point. That put the bullet at about 144 grains, and I was shooting them 1220 fps.
I have heard guys have good results with wheel weights if you dilute enough with lead, something like 50/50 COWW and lead. For hollow point depth, I would start right at .200" deep on that bullet.
Holy cow, it HAS been a while. Well, it took me this long to fall in to a Forster Trimmer for dirt cheap.
On the other hand - ow. The amount of energy it took me to hollow point just ten rounds to .166" deep was ridiculous. I think this will be relegated to emergency use only. NOW to save up for the hollow point mold instead, probably another 12 year wait...wonder if I'll still be alive?
What was giving you troubles? It can be a bit of a pain, and you do get some rejects, but for the most part the forester hollow point tool should be able to drill a bullet in about 5-10 seconds. Is there any chance it was a counter clockwise bit?
I have a lot of hp molds, single pin and cramer style. I also have 2 forster trimmers. Both have the factory hp setups along with me using custom made hp bits and 60* center drills to make hps.
The forster tool makes for an excellent test bed for bullets anyone considers hp'ing. Simply test away with the forster tool and then have the mold hp'd or look for a similar design that the mold is already setup to cast hp's.
Awhile back I wanted to test lead hb hp swc's in a snub nosed 44spl. The old ww fbi 38spl load used such a bullet.
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/KNwvR1D.jpg[/IMG]
I have a mold that casts hbswc's for the 44cal's (429422). I ued a forster hp tool with a 60* center drill to make hp's in that cast hbswc.
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/FTFbMo6.jpg[/IMG]
Interestingly enough both ends of that bullet expanded, recovered from wetpack.
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/Swqedh0.jpg[/IMG]
That recovered bullet pictured above was from a 1000fps+ load.
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/fo57jjU.jpg[/IMG]
Myself I like to use hp molds but the forster hp tool can be extremely useful.
I am not interested in the HP aspect, but I do have a Charter Bulldog with the 2.5 inch barrel. Generally, I shoot 240 gr LSWC with 14.5 grs 2400 for my best accuracy. How accurate are your 200gr boolits with the 16 hrs of 2400?
luvtn
I think by far a mold designed to cast HP will give more uniform results. Any drilling op still has a user error built into it.
The bit was correct, it's most likely the fact that the lead is 92/6/2 from Seafab, Lyman #2 style, IIRC, towel dropped. Also, they are powder coated, so I could see the initial bite being a wee bit tougher...but that bit just did not want to bite, and when it did, the excavated lead would jam up in the bit. I wish 5-10 seconds, was more like 5 minutes per, cranking hard. I have some other non PC bullets to try, specifically some MBC IDA #6 125 grainers, but they are BH18, might be more of the same. Not experienced enough as a caster to know exactly what to add to the metal to thin it enough for a good bite - ideas? I am also smart enough to think maybe I was doing something wrong. I followed all the directions I could find on line.
Never tried to drill hollow points, nor powder coated lead but every time I have drilled lead, the drill bit cut almost instantly, to the point of almost self feeding.
I'd look at trying a new/different drill bit. I've never used lube when drilling lead, but that might help if it's the powder coating that is sticky. Lead usually comes up following the drill bit grooves in long continuous chips.
May even just take that bit and try to drill an ingot and see how it works.
And I like archaeological dig threads:popcorn:
I have had good luck drilling them on a drill press but for ease i would have to say casting them is easier.
I sent to Forster;"I purchased the 1/8" Universal Hollow Pointer from MidwayUSA.com and find the drill bit is VERY hard to use, takes several minutes to drill into a cast 9mm bullet, metal is 92/6/2 from Seafab and powder coated. I was told that might be a bad drill bit and I was recommended to contact your company abut that. Can you assist or tell me what I might be doing wrong? The drill bit bites very poorly and has to be pushed with much strength to grind into the bullet. I hollow pointed just 10 rounds and am not looking forward to ever doing that again, unless there is a solution/something I am doing wrong that I can correct? "
Forster said, "Thanks for contacting us about this very unusual issue, what i believe would be best is is the bit was returned to us for our review, if possible with a couple samples of the bullets you are using. This can be sent to;" and the address.
I wanted to know if I was doing something wrong. It will cost almost as much to send it back than to just buy a new one. Might just send back the whole thing and say keep it, I'll save up for a mold from a different manufacturer. BTW, I had to push so hard to get the bit to bite that the crank and the knob were actually shaving aluminum off each other, had to over lube them.