None HP expanding boolits

[CaptRob]

That's definitely good to know!

[ChuckS1]

I guess I'm old school. If you want a .45 caliber-sized whole, start with a M1911A1! A .38 HP may not expand, but a .45 ACP will never shrink...

[beagle]

Interesting discussion here. I've been tinkering with a project this winter and although, it's using HP cast bullets, no reason it wouldn't work on a solid cast or for that matter on a RFN jacketed with the proper indexing bushing.

I've had a machinist make a TP that's threaded through the middle for a 10-32 screw. I turn the tip of this to match the HP cavity and this serves to index the bullet nose during the operation.

The face of the TP can be any diameter but I chose .425" as I wanted to use it on a variety of .44 and .45 designs. The face starts off flat and I had my machinist to mill out unused portions and leave six 1/16" teeth spaced equidistant around the TP face.

In use, I adjust the dept of the bullet in the sizing die and leave about 1/16" clearance between the TP and the bullet nose to allow me to bump it.

This operation produces a perfectly round cavity with six slots cut in the cavity wall much like the pictures in the first part of this thread.

I'be used this on a variety of .44 bullets and .45 ACP bullets with good results. Also a variety of .38/357 and 9mm bullets.

Some distortion of the outside of the nose results but this is ironed back into place during bullet seating at loading time and produce really nice looking .45 ACP rounds using a 452374HP.

9mm loads have been restricted so far to the Lyman 358480HP which I use in my convertible Ruger Blackhawk.

Weather has precluded any expansion testing but initial shooting results with the 9mm looks favorable.

This concept was thought up to enhance expansion on 9mm, .38 Special and .45 ACP cast HP bullets.

No reason it couldn't be used on solids by making a guide bushing to center the nose. These cuts or fractures in the nose shoud work well and allow enhanced expansion....especially on the weaker calibers. The .44s are usually launched at hig enough speeds to perform well without this assistance.

I'd like to see Erik or one of the machinist gurus make these for the hobby as long as they credit me with the concept which I call a "shark's tooth top punch". /beagle

[thehouseproduct]

Beagle, don't tease us like that without posting pictures.

[Ready on the Right]

Wow Beagle, thinking on the edge again. Great idea. I've done some tinkering with the radial cuts using a bit more crude technology though. Two strips of single edge razor blades with relief cuts allowing them to be assembled at right angles, inserted into the vane slots of an aluminum dart body with enough of the tail section protruding to center in the HP cavity. Light hammer tap, rotate 45 degrees and light tap again produces eight radial cuts. Limited testing indicates that it has definite possibilities. I'd buy TP's of your design. Please keep us informed on your progress on that.

[mroliver77]

CaptRob,
Have you seen the Mihec HP molds with the pentagon HP pin? Very awesome results!

If you go to the swagging forum here on Cast Boolits the are some great ideas with some similar to what you want. Enough reading to keep you occupied and out of trouble for some time.

Buckshot from this forum will HP most moulds for a reasonable fee.

30-1 lead-tin alloy with a flat nose boolit at 1400-1500fps looks like this going into a pigs ribcage lung area. This is not hitting anything very solid. Ranch Dog boolit sized .380" ended up .760"ish and lost very little weight!

[CaptRob]

Beagle, thanks for the info definitely need to see so pics to get the full concept though

Ready, i had that idea in mind after the impregnating the polymer (if possible), and us two razor at 45*. so when you force the boolit on them it leaves the nose intact. just two relief cuts down the sides and then turn and repeat for the number of reliefs youd need.

[CaptRob]

mroliver77, yeah ive seen those but i think any hp with a pin will work for what im up against

i think if you use a pin with a flat top, like you would if you were using a hp mold to make solid flat nose boolits. drill a small hole just in the end of the pin large enough to insert a thin piece of solder. place a small piece of solder in the hole so that it sticks out about 1/4". take a "plug" of polymer in the size of say 1/8" by 1/4"rod . push it on the the end of the solder leaving about an 1/8" gap of exposed solder. place in hp mold and fill. hopefully the lead will surround the "plug" and harden before the polymer starts to melt. like i said before even if the polymer does melt. the solidified lead around it will hold it in place and together until they both cool solid. when released you should have a boolit with a piece of solder sticking out the nose. cut it off with a razor. then youd have a solid boolit with just a dot on the nose and an encapsulated plug of polymer.

if you use a "plug" in the shape of a star, i believe you could produce something similar to the guard dog ammo. and if you had to use the the relief cutting technique, that would (i believe ) leave you with something almost identical without the jacket.

(excuse my grammar, not the best typist hope you can follow along)

[para45lda]

+1 on what runfiverun said. I think you could come close swaging to a flat point with a polymer bead encapsulated inside.

Welcome and let us know what you come up with

Wes