.224 65gr SP Pointed Tip Mould Group Buy!

[AlaskanGuy]

Maybe is would be cool to put a small flat nose on the bullet, and offer with a gas check and grove option for those that just want the bullet without the new "hi tec" option....

[Bigdaddyq]

I have the HM2 62gr mold that is a flat nose. I made up around 1500 of them this past week and they are in the process of being sized and lubed. I will get back to you on the accuracy of those and whether or not they will load in an AR platform. I was interested in this bullet because it is a pointed nose design and feeding would be more reliable in an AR, but having read up on others statements it does seem pointed nosed bullets don't fair well in the accuracy department. Now for taking an AR basic rifle or CQB course where there are no real far shots this would be fine, but I would like the option of 400m shots too. As for the powder coating methods I have read here mainly the piglet method, I would like to try some but am a little concerned about the possible abrassiveness of powder. I would think the lyman epoxy coating would be better and easier. Only way to find out is to try it out. Does anyone already own this kit?http://www.servimg.com/image_preview...=26&u=16152613

[MUSTANG]

Stuken3.

I have been perusing the Powder/Epoxy Coat threads with interest, but have not entered into the realm personally. My experience in Powder Coating is limited to appreciation for the Tough Finish it provides on reloading presses, other reloading equipment, and other items I have purchased that are powder coated.

Send me a PM with your mailing address if you want to experiment with the powder coating of a Swaged Lead projectile that will be similar to the design that DrewTenny posted. I'll make up a few hundred and send to you for development and see if they have potential. I would want a few to try after you have developed some PC coated rounds. I would envision both of us posting results we achieve.

Mustang.

Not having had any takers, I finally got around to swaging some 62 Grain .224 boolits in my Corbin .224 swage dies. These all weigh 62.4 Grains after swaging both the cores and the final bullet. They have an 6S ogive. The (5) yellow are swaged with an aluminum gas check, and the (5) red are swaged with no gas check. Powder Coat was Harbor Freight red and yellow, applied using the dry, rolled application methodology, with a single coat, then baked 20 minutes at 400 in the Toaster Oven I bought yesterday for $12.00 at the Kalispell Thrift Store.


Please keep in mind this is the first Powder Coat of any shape or form I have ever performed.




The yellow bullets have aluminum gas checks. Note the limited shiny areas. These are places where the Aluminum gas check shows through.

The red bullets are plain lead based. Note the shiny areas. These areas are where the aluminum foil stuck to the bullets, and tore away as they were removed from the aluminum foil, with aluminum foil stuck to the bullets. All bullets were placed in the oven base down.

What I found interesting is that those bullets with aluminum jackets did not stick to the aluminum foil below them. I'll have to see if this condition continues through future tests. If so, it might be worth while to place Aluminum Gas Checks on bases just to keep them from sticking to aluminum foil in the oven. As I mentioned earlier, the shiny on the Yellow bullets is the gas check itself.

Next I will size these 10 bullets to .224, load and shoot two (5) round groups for initial testing. I plan to "Go for Broke" and load to a 2800 to 3000 fps load. Hopefully in the next week or so, weather permitting.


Purpose is too validate a "Spitzer" type bullet similar to the design in post #1 at high velocity using Powder Coat. If accuracy on 1st test round warrants, I can cast some more heavy cores and adjust weight up to 65 grains as called out in the Drawing, or down for other testing considerations. I plan on using a Savage Axis for testing as our AR-15 is prone to shooting more open groups.

It would be wonderful if we should see results dispelling the conventional wisdom that cast boolits with a spitzer nose "Won't Shoot". These tests will help me decide if I join in on this proposed group buy. I have no complaints with any of the molds I have bought from SwedeNelson; but before I purchase another .224 mold I want to make sure it meets my goals.

[MUSTANG]

Powder Coated some more this morning using Red Harbor Freight Powder Coat for "No-Gas Check", and Yellow Harbor Freight Powder Coat for Gas Checked 62 Grain Swaged Boolits. Then went to the Range for some testing Temp was about 28 degrees.

Shot 5 round Groups each for plane base and gas checked. Used IMR4895 in 23, 23.5, 24, 24.5, and 25 grain increments. According to reference materials velocities should have ranged from ~ 2700 fps to ~ 3050 fps. Groups were poor, spreading as velocity increased.

Following are targets from the 23 Grain loads of IMR-4895.




Groups from both the plane base and the gas checked were disappointing. Red arrows point out shot holes since they are hard to see in the Photos. Each had one shot that was absent, they could not even be found on the outside cardboard. Given that performance seemed to degrade with velocity increases from 2700fps to 3050 fps, next try will be back into the 1800 to 2400 fps ranges.

[MUSTANG]

I loaded some more .224 Swaged Lead with Gas Checks coated with Harbor Freight Red. Five round groups loaded over IMR-4895, shot in a Savage Axis .223 Rifle from 100 Yards:

15 Gr. - 6.886 MOA
16 Gr. - 5.716 MOA
17 Gr. - 5.469 MOA
18 Gr. - 4.588 MOA
19 Gr. - 4.233 MOA
20 Gr. - 3.782 MOA


Pictures of groups appear below. Based on the previous groupings, I would have anticipated that the lower velocities would produce better groups, but these seem to improve with velocity as charges increased from 15 Grains to 20 Grains of IMR-4895. I guess I'll have to Load some more and shoot the 21 and 22 Grain loads. I may also shoot the 23 to 25 Grain loads again.

This effort to date was two fold for me. First to see how Harbor Freight Powder Coat would work out for me from Casting to Completion of Cooking the Coating. Second, was to see how the proposed mold might perform based on a swaged boolit of similar weight and profile (no lube groves, ~ 6 Ogive nose).

[MUSTANG]

Went to the range today and shot Swaged Red Harbor Freight Powder Coated 224 boolits in 20, 21, 22,23, 24, and 25 grain charges of IMR4895. The 23, 23, and 25 Grain groups were so large that only 2 or 3 shots out of five shots for each load hit the Targets.

The 20, 21, and 23 Grain powder charges provided the following results:


20 Gr. - 4.663 MOA
21 Gr. - 8.560 MOA
22 Gr. - 6.634 MOA







It appears that accuracy goes South very fast in the 20 to 22 Grain range for IMR-4895.


I may do some additional testing with other Powder before I call it quits on this one.