Making Hollow Points with a drill press?

[LET-CA]

Has anyone here had good experience with drilling the meplat of a cast bullet to make it into a hollow-point? I have a whole bunch of bullets that I'd like to experiement with. I figure I can make a small wooden fixture to line up the bullet and use a small drill press drill to a controlled depth into the meplat. Who knows, it might even be faster than casting them one at a time, and it certainly allows for some bullets that aren't otherwise available in the market. I'm thinking that the Lyman 429244 (255 grain) and the 429650 (300 grain) could make a great hollow-points.

I'd love to hear from those who know. Thanks in advance

Lenny

[45 2.1]

Veral Smith wrote an article in the "Fouling Shot" about that some years back. He took a corner off a steel plate to hold the cartridge in a circular cut and had the hole for the drill so it would center the meplat. All you did was hold the cartridge in the circular cutout and drill the hollow point. Slick!

[Johnch]

I use a Lee case trimer case holder mounted in the drill press , with the drill bit sticking up out of the vice , bolted to the drill press
Insert the loaded round in the shell holder
Slowly lower till I hit the stop
Repeat , repeat ..............................

I just used the stuff I had laying around

To center the drill bit
I insert it into the chuck backwards .
Lower it down to the vice
Ajust the vice to grab the bit without putting any stain on the bit .
loosen the chuck and insert the Lee case holder

Takes longer to explain than to set up



Johnch

[Junior1942]

Johnch, you're a genius.

[PatMarlin]

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=371968

[LET-CA]

You're my hero! I'll give this a try. Thanks for the link. I wonder if it can be made to work with an RCBS case trimmer?

Lenny

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=371968

[LET-CA]

A photo of your setup would be appreciated. Thanks.

I use a Lee case trimer case holder mounted in the drill press , with the drill bit sticking up out of the vice , bolted to the drill press
Insert the loaded round in the shell holder
Slowly lower till I hit the stop
Repeat , repeat ..............................

I just used the stuff I had laying around

To center the drill bit
I insert it into the chuck backwards .
Lower it down to the vice
Ajust the vice to grab the bit without putting any stain on the bit .
loosen the chuck and insert the Lee case holder

Takes longer to explain than to set up



Johnch

[BD]

I use a real high tech method. Clamp down a bit of 1/2 steel scrap on the drill press and drill a boolit diameter hole through it. Pull the bit and replace it with the hollow point size bit. Stick a loaded cartridge up through from the bottom and set the depth stop. Then I just stick them up from the bottom, (they stop against the case neck), and lower the bit into the boolits one by one. I use the same set up to drill a small hole in the base of boolits to make mold laps.
BD

[JDL]

Back in 1977, IIRC, a friend made a teflon fixture that slipped over the loaded round of my .300 Savage, which had a small hole for a drill. I made several HP of 311466 and killed a couple of deer with them. -JDL

[Nelsdou44]

I just got the Forster hollowpointer. The instructions say "Hand-drilled hollowpoints expand better than factory-molded hollow points." What's the basis for that?

So far the setup works ok but the drill stop only allows a hole depth of 1/8".

Nels

[TCLouis]

say for instance:

358429
429421 and others of like meplat
C429310 or the like

30 cals like the 150 and 173 grain

45-70 types

and how about depth of the HP hole

Will HP in round nose boolit replace he need for a meplat for effectiveness?

[PatMarlin]

You're my hero! I'll give this a try. Thanks for the link. I wonder if it can be made to work with an RCBS case trimmer?

Lenny

Anything for a comrade from my home town. Us native Sacratomatans gotta stay together...

[versifier]

I just got the Forster hollowpointer. The instructions say "Hand-drilled hollowpoints expand better than factory-molded hollow points." What's the basis for that?

The marketing department. Drilled, swaged, or cast, a hole's a hole. In general, given two boolits identical except for the HP, the Hp will fly better aerodynamically and be more accurate. Most match bullets are HP's. Boolit hardness makes the biggest difference. Not to say that hole diameter and depth don't make a difference, but not as much as changes in alloy. Lino boolits don't expand well at cast velocities, WW's are better, and pure lead expands the best of all - the HP's improve it across the board. Drilling lets you try it with any boolit to see the difference for yourself, but it is a relatively slow and tedious process.

[Dale53]

Years and years ago, I had a friend who expanded the size of the hollow points on Speer half jacketed SWC bullets. They had a rather small, shallow, hollow point and he was dissatisfied with the results. He rigged up a wooden jig for his drill press and drilled out the hollow points (used the existing holes to line up the drill when he set the fixture up). It went rather fast (production was good) and man, did the bullets expand. He used them on .357 and .44 bullets to excellent effect.

One year he shot over 20 ground hogs with the revolver. He did not have to shoot any of them twice.

Dale53

[Bass Ackward]

I just got the Forster hollowpointer. The instructions say "Hand-drilled hollowpoints expand better than factory-molded hollow points." What's the basis for that?

So far the setup works ok but the drill stop only allows a hole depth of 1/8".

Nels

Nels,

On the surface it sounds bogus. But with any mix that was water drop hardened, disturbing the metal after the process takes hold, results in bullets that will soften closer to air cooled levels in that area. So the heat and friction from drilling, as little as it is, would cause that area to soften and make it more ductile which is exactly where you want it. But unless you are already using a very soft mix like 50/50 WW /pure, that would be a stretch to ever see.

After my experience this year, a 1/8 hole , 1/8" deep was what I used and I don't think I would want to go any bigger. That still leaves enough meplat for initial shock, improves accuracy quite well on my stuff, and makes for fast drilling and easy loading without deformation.

If there was a down side, it would be in the increased damage it caused at only 1100 fps. Can't imagine using it in a rifle at say 1500 fps. Whew!

[carpetman]

I been thinking about hunting some mountain lions with my air rifle. Need more performance out of the pellets. Might take an elephant or two and maybe a couple of capes. Was wondering if I could instantly hollow point them by shooting them backwards?

[45 2.1]

I been thinking about hunting some mountain lions with my air rifle. Need more performance out of the pellets. Might take an elephant or two and maybe a couple of capes. Was wondering if I could instantly hollow point them by shooting them backwards?

Yes, you could, but you need penetration to actually kill those beasts. We will take up a collection should you want to try that for a burial wreath in your honor.

[Poygan]

Carpetman: Perhaps an honor guard with air rifles?

[ARKANSAS PACKRAT]

Has anyone tried this with a lathe centerdrill? A hole with a tapered cavity at the front? Bigger hollow on a boolit with a big mephat.

[PatMarlin]

I been thinking about hunting some mountain lions with my air rifle. Need more performance out of the pellets. Might take an elephant or two and maybe a couple of capes. Was wondering if I could instantly hollow point them by shooting them backwards?

I've been thinking about hunting your avatar..