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Thread: Show me your most beautiful expanded cast boolits

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
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    Show me your most beautiful expanded cast boolits

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ID:	236122 these are my potential hunting loads for next year. From left to right. First is from yesterday, most perfect mushroom ive gotten so far. Its a 220gr 30cal PP'd 1.5/1.5/97% slowed to approx 1700 to simulate hunting distance, measures .765 nearly 2.5x caliber. Second is a 300gr wfn 44, was basically going for a wider sledge hammer and i achieved it. Last is lee 240gr 44 pure lead paper patch tucked over the front drive band from a levergun cheap simple and effective.

    Testing hunting bullets i reduce speed a bit and fire into a stack comprising, 8-12 inches wet phone books followed by a water jug or 3 and a box full of fabric in back. Im sure alot of you do something simmilar, Show me what you got!

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    I don't have any....I've never recovered one and I don't test for expansion.
    "In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'

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    NRA Benefactor 2008

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    Considering that expansion with a cast bullet will always and forever be a factor of the alloy used and the velocity at impact, expansion in hunting with a cast bullet will always be an iffy thing!

    While you may use an alloy that gives text book expansion in test media, the variables of range/distance and the point of impact and if bone or heavy muscle is struck or the hit is only through very soft tissue as in a lung hit where no bone is struck, the same bullet that gives that text book expansion in test media may over expand or not expand at all or minimally in the soft lung tissue.

    Far better is the reliability of the large meplat such as found on bullet designs with the Wide Flat or Long Flat nose.

    I'm almost in the same boat as Sharps4590 as I have only one bullet found in a critter. That being a big cow elk taken with a quartering shot that took out the big/heavy upper front leg bone, a rib, went through the lungs and big heavy paunch, the guts and stopped under the hide just ahead of the off side ham.

    Velocity 1650fps, bullet a 465gr WFN cast of water quenched 50/50 - clip on Wheel Weights/lead - range about 100yds.

    Found weight, 327.9gr. the nose likely lost at impact with that heavy front leg bone after which the bullet continued on for about another 30".

    My other 2 - 45/70 elk were complete pass through as has every deer taken with that rifle. Every deer with only one exception dripped where it stood.

    Then during the 2017 deer season I took two deer with a RUGER 77/44 rifle and a 275/280gr Wide Flat Nose bullet cast of just plain clip on WW - water quenched, velocity 1750fps, both complete pass through and both dead where they stood.

    Text book expansion is ever so nice to look at, but in the real hunting world something which may or may not work out as expected, while a large meplat is always a large meplat even without expansion.

    Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    Well...here comes the arguments about expansion & then comes the FBI's standards and their test media...bla, bla, bla...but, I can tell you this, I learned a lot about blending casting metal and projectile speed while playing with expansion...let them rant on & on & on....expansion has it's place.



    Snubbies are hard to work with in a non +P round.



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  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    80/20 ACCOWW and pure mixed with 12% Pewter water test.


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    It was loaded with a max load of 23.8 grains of h110 out of a Ruger 77/44.

    I shot three deer with them this past season. All pass throughs loaded with 21.1 grains of lil gun at 1750 FPS and not one expanded being I had a .430 perfect round boolit diameter exit on all three animals even after shattering ribs on the inside and making fist sized holes through them apon inspection after skinning. Going with a softer alloy of 7.5 Bh this year vs the above alloy at 15.4. It acted like a hard cast solid with very little blood to follow and two of the three went 100 and 140 yards before dropping with broadside lung shots.

    I have pics of the same boolits with 50/50 alloy of 10.5 Bh and even softer 7.5 Bh but they don’t make as nice of a mushroom as the hard 80/20 in water. It’s probably a great alloy for hogs, moose, grizzlies, and dinosaurs.

    I learned that water testing isn’t the same as shooting thin skinned game this past season. A perfect mushroom with water testing is IMO is way too hard for deer and don’t expand as I found out. It still did tons of damage but didn’t make a large exit hole for a descent blood trail. I’m guessing my soft alloy that over expanded in water will do great in a thin skinned deer. ....Stay tuned!

    50/50 at the same max load of 23.8gr of h110

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    And 16 to 1 mix of pewter and pure lead with a Bh of 7.5 with 21 grains of h110(or it was 19 grains...I don’t remember now) which will be the one I’ll use on deer this year. I’m sure it will have a lot better weight retention with a good mushroom vs what it did In water along with a lot more kinetic energy transfer from expanding.

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    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 02-17-2019 at 09:00 PM.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    @crusty ol coot, well in large bore im certainly a fan of WFN as its pretty failsafe expansion not needed. but in 'normal' hunting rifles like 30-06 I want to make an effort for good expansion, so I test at simulated 75yd velocity in something water based and squishy.

    90% of my fun in casting comes from ballistics testing, that's most of my interest in guns overall, id be doing this weather I hunt or not so im a happy camper.

    Anyway that's not why were here I wanna see pretty pictures

  7. #7
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    A 7mm hollow pointed bullet of mine after it went through about two and a half feet of a white tail doe. Worked out well. Starting weight was 166 grains, finished up at 77.
    Attachment 236167

  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy cas's Avatar
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    700gr 50-90


    500gr .512", nearly pure lead.



    Former cylindersmith.

  9. #9
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    Tripplebeards...

    Try plugging those HP's with silicone, that'll stop the hair-n-hide from plugging that hole and affecting expansion.

    With this .38S. I tried to get them to open like a turbo prop. Imagine the internal damage they could cause.



    Elvis Ammo tested them in gel for me and they worked great...even out of the snubbie at very low velocity.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjhO_vsspkw
    Last edited by OS OK; 02-16-2019 at 08:48 PM.
    a m e r i c a n p r a v d a

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  10. #10
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    Os ok, that works slick. I wonder how it would work if I didn’t scrape up the inside of my boolit and just put in wax or caulk at my velocities of a 1000 FPS faster than yours? My guess is it would be very helpful if I did this to my hard alloy with the internal cuts like you did but my soft alloy is going to come apart no matter what at the speeds I’m pushing them.

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master OS OK's Avatar
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    You know, I haven't worked with the rifle HP's but if I did, I think I'd go tin rich in hope that the tin would help them to hang onto their weight because of the greater malleability the tin adds.

    I've noticed that with the tin rich lead only, it tends to flow...if you get my meaning. Like these large pieces that flowed off these rounds...



    These pieces aren't frags as if there was too much Sb in the mix making them brittle. HP's in a rifle sounds like a job of work to get them to retain all their weight.

    Low velocity is a much easier game.
    a m e r i c a n p r a v d a

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  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy
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    Here is a lee 309-150fn PCed and sized to .312 out of a Ruger ranch rifle in 7.62x39 over 21.5 grn of IMR-4198 seated LONG taken out of a doe shot at about 230-250 yards it penatrated about 22”Click image for larger version. 

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  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy
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    Here is the damage
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  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by OS OK View Post
    Tripplebeards...

    Try plugging those HP's with silicone, that'll stop the hair-n-hide from plugging that hole and affecting expansion.

    With this .38S. I tried to get them to open like a turbo prop. Imagine the internal damage they could cause.



    Elvis Ammo tested them in gel for me and they worked great...even out of the snubbie at very low velocity.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjhO_vsspkw
    Very nice!
    Cheers

    no34570

    "I'll tell you what rule we applied sir,We applied rule 3-0-3, We caught them and we shot them, under rule 3-0-3." :Lt Harry " Breaker" Morant at his court martial in January 1902.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    To those that have posted pictures. Could you put some #'s (% of alloy) to your post. A picture tells a story and facts compleats the story.

  16. #16
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    Here’s the link to when I tested mine with alloy Bh’s

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...my-ruger-77-44

    And more ...

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...man-devastator

    And results of shooting deer...

    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...my-devastators!!!

    That’s about as complete as it gets.
    Last edited by Tripplebeards; 02-17-2019 at 03:19 PM.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    NOE 41 237 grain lfn hollow pointed on 13.6 2400 and shot into rotten red oak at 25 yards. Gun was a 6 inch Clements gp100 in 41 special. I wasn't expansion testing, but they were there. Alloy was roughly 1.5sn:1.5sb:97pb made from reclaim shot, pewter and plain lead. Water dropped, just cause. Worked just fine on a 5 point this season at c25 yards. I like the way they open but still leave plenty of solid base to continue the penetration. My experience has been that blowing off the bulk of the bullet gets lots of damage but little in the way of an exit hole for a trail,just in case. Can't give velocity, crony has been AWOL a while, maybe I will remember where I put it for safe keeping, or who I loaned it to, hopefully. Guessing 1100ish, but plenty enough for TN deers
    “You don’t practice until you get it right. You practice until you can’t get it wrong.” Jason Elam, All-Pro kicker, Denver Broncos

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    Seems like allot of hollow point fans, can someone give me a sales pitch on why id want to chose a hollow point mold over just expanding a flatpoint assuming i have enough velocity to do either. In my thinking atleast it seems an expanded flatpoint would have a better chance at high retained weight since its not flipping a cup inside out and stretching it without center material bonding. Also a nonworking flatpoint should be more effective than a clogged hollowpoint since the clog makes it more round in profile.

    I can see in lower speeds like non magnum handguns, but otherwise im not sure, plus casting time is slower right?

  19. #19
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Show me your most beautiful expanded cast boolits

    I won’t get into why or why not to use a hollow point. But they aren’t slower to cast w/ depending on the style. A Cramer style mold is just as fast a non hollow point mold. NOE’s RG style molds run pretty much the same speed. I’m not a fan of them but once you get a rhythm they work well. Other styles can be slower. But it’s also about the person running the mold and not just the style of the mold.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master
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    Can’t give a sales pitch for hollow points, personally got mixed feelings. I want a lot of bullet left to penetrate even if the entire nose blows off. I also use balanced alloy to prevent brittleness. That said , most all my deer haven fallen to flat points in 30cal and up, and round balls from side locks. The NOE molds cast great and by getting an rug mold I can have options. I can cast the hp, a cup point, or solid flat point. All from the same mold just by changing the pins. I can also shorten a pin if I feel it makes too deep a hollow point for weight retention. Honestly, I think a hollow point like I have in the 41 picture above is just as good as a flat point. With my mold I can use either one, depending on my mood. I will be taking that load with a solid one on a hog hunt in March. Same load and alloy in the same gun.
    Last edited by rking22; 02-17-2019 at 11:04 PM.
    “You don’t practice until you get it right. You practice until you can’t get it wrong.” Jason Elam, All-Pro kicker, Denver Broncos

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check