Compare and contrast, please,

[megasupermagnum]

For whatever reason, that drill bit is *****. I don't care how hard the lead is, it should drill like butter. 5-10 seconds is about what it should take. I don't think there was anything special about the drill bit, maybe just pick one up from the hardware store.

[15meter]

Hmm, that's a good idea, so here goes. Chunk is certified bullet metal from Seafab Metals Co, 92/6/2. Dimple shown is one full MINUTE of drilling, pushing hard. Bad picture of one of ten HP 9mm rounds, after 5 minutes of grinding.

Gotta ask a silly question, did you try reversing the rotation direction?

Do you have just a hand drill and standard small (1/8"ish) to try on the block of lead?

I'd just try to drill a block of lead to get the feel of it if you've never done it before.

[armoredman]

Well, what I DID do is notice I am a complete and utter idiot - I somehow missed that there is a FLAT SPOT on the drill bit shank, where the adjustment screw is supposed to sit, so what was most likely happening is the bit was actually spinning and cutting very little. Yeah, if I had the common sense God gave a door knob I might have figured that out a while ago...So, with the bit properly set things got better. Now STILL not fantastic like everyone said, but it was less than a minute to drill a deep hollow point. Now to TEST them...

[armoredman]

And now that I figured out a few ore tiny tweaks, all of a sudden things are working well. These 20 MBC IDP #6 boolits were done in about 20 minutes. The holes are only .125 inch deep, 1/8", and BH 18, so I doubt there will be much expansion, if I can set up some water jugs, depends on which range I get to use. The cavities in the Lees are .186 deep, somewhat near 3/16", and might work better, but also cast hard alloy. If I can't set up jugs, I can at least do some rested shooting with the hollow pointed ones and examples from the donor batches to see if there are serious accuracy changes, especially with the fact that the cavities are NOT centered on most of them...


Attachment 245257

Yes, all that lovely excavated lead wire went right into the lead pot - recycling is awesome.

[gwpercle]

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.

Not only that but the OP had 1087 post 12 years ago and today still shows 1087 post !!!!! That's Freaky....
I should be hearing the Twilight Zone music...are we in a Time Warp or what !
Gary

[armoredman]

I thought The Time Warp was a bad song from the late 70s...

[megasupermagnum]

You do have the centering jig, correct? I never got perfect results, but not bad. Some of those hollow points look to be fairly far off for having used the jig. I still doubt they will have a meaningful impact on accuracy in close ranges. I have no idea what might happen 100 yards and beyond.

[megasupermagnum]

Just so we are on the same page, this is the jig I'm talking about... https://www.forsterproducts.com/prod...-pointer-kits/

You have the drill bit figured out, the jig has a coned end that self centers on the tip of the bullet. Hold the jig tight to bullet to keep it centered. The drill bit goes through the hole, and does a decent job of centering on the nose of the bullet.

If I didn't already mention it, it works just fine with a hand crank, but is a lot easier with an adapter and a hand drill.

[armoredman]

No joy, current loading, the Truncated Cone round was drilled shallow and zipped through 5 water jugs without slowing down. The 124 gr Lee homecase bullet showed that it WAS slowing by the time it left the fifth water jug, but it still zipped on to parts unknown.
I will try that bullet not powdercoated, and drilled slightly deeper. Shooting at paper targets showed no appreciable loss of accuracy, and the hollow pointed 124 Lees might actually be slightly MORE accurate.
All rounds fired through CZ P-10S at 10 yards, photo of jugs before setup, and prior to phone battery dying...oops. Yes, that's a full size P-10F magazine in it...long story....

Attachment 245310

So, experimentation continues, but the off centeredness off the cavities might be somewhat of a problem. Yes, the reason I continue with this thing is that I cannot afford a hollow point mold and this basically fell in my lap...plus...why not?

[armoredman]

Just so we are on the same page, this is the jig I'm talking about... https://www.forsterproducts.com/prod...-pointer-kits/

You have the drill bit figured out, the jig has a coned end that self centers on the tip of the bullet. Hold the jig tight to bullet to keep it centered. The drill bit goes through the hole, and does a decent job of centering on the nose of the bullet.

If I didn't already mention it, it works just fine with a hand crank, but is a lot easier with an adapter and a hand drill.

Yes I bought the whole kit from MidwayUSA, which apparently was sans instructions. I am using the centering jig, and it works OK, but fills up with lead shavings quickly, fouling the drill bit. So, I use the jig to center as best as I can, then remove and let the bit go to work in the existing cavity.

[megasupermagnum]

With as hard of alloy as you are using, I doubt you will be able to get expansion. Even at COWW levels, about 12 BHN, expansion usually means fragmenting. It could be a wicked combo if that's what you are after. Lead/tin alloy is the toughest, but I've seen a number on this site get good expansion with some antimony alloys. Usually its soft range scrap or COWW mixed 50/50 with lead.

[armoredman]

"COWW"? Common wheel weight lead? I have only one lead source, 92/6/2 local at Seafab. I DO have some oddball lead I was gifted, but no clue of the mix nor do I have a BH tester to check.
I will ask - what would you recommend adding to the melt to soften it up a bit? I still intend to PC the Lees, to cut down on leading, but there is an opportunity to, to practice PC everywhere BUT the boolit tip.

[megasupermagnum]

COWW is clip on wheel weight. The best thing to add to your hardball alloy is pure lead. Stick on wheel weights are very near to pure. You are going to want to mix that hardball alloy 3 to 1 with pure lead at least, 4 to 1 even better. You have to buy pure lead to get true pure lead, but it isn't needed. SOWW is the easiest source, and is very close to pure. Pipe lead is generally very soft. Roof flashing is almost pure lead. X ray dentist lead is soft.

[armoredman]

Ah, thank you for the clarification, much appreciated. So three parts pure lead with 1 part alloy.

[megasupermagnum]

Ah, thank you for the clarification, much appreciated. So three parts pure lead with 1 part alloy.

At least. 3:1 lead to hardball would put you approximately at a COWW alloy. It can expand, but usually not with desirable results. If driven fast enough with a deep hollow point, you can make frangible bullets, if you are into that. Look at Tar Heel's first picture.

I'm going to guess your bullet as a hollow point is going to run about 115 grains. Load data shows that middle of the road with that weight in that gun should be 1,100 fps. Best results are going to come with 30:1 or 20:1 alloy. To get your hardball alloy down to that hardness, you are looking at mixing 5:1 or 6:1 with lead. A better option would be to trade some alloy.

[David2011]

Only limited experience with drilling hollow points but I’ve used center drills. They’re short, stiff and intended for making a starting place for twist drills.