purpose of hollowbase

[500bfrman]

What is the purposE of a hollowbase mold? DO YOU turn it around and shoot hollowpoint, or what am I missing here? thanks

[DeanWinchester]

It is meant to loaded hollow base down. It is not a hollow point. The pressure from powder burn causes the base to expand and engage the rifling.

It's one of the greatest inventions ever made should you ask any lover of smokepoles [muzzle loaders]

[Maven]

Actually, there are two different types of hollow base CB designs, Minie balls and hollow base types as in certain wadcutters used in the .38Spl. .357Mag., etc. Each type serves a different function as well. To wit, the hollow base and thin[ner] skirt of the Minie ball expands and seals the bore from [blackpowder] gas blowby. Some Lyman versions of it have thicker skirts for heavier charges of BP. On the other hand, the hollow bases found on wadcutters and the Lee 405gr. CB (457-405HB), serve to control the weight of the projectile, not to expand to seal the bore as Minie balls do.

[fryboy]

another thing that certain hollow bases do ( such as in target wadcutters ) is give a lil more room for powder as in some loads ( flush 38 specials for example ) there is precious little room for the charge , a long time ago a volcanic cartridge was tried where a hollow base boolit held the entire charge of powder ( think of the words " original tround " ) but it was pretty weak and ineffective but the concept was great !

[500bfrman]

thanks for the replies I learned something new

[dakotashooter2]

bullets can also help make a gun with an oversized bore into a shooter. Back in the BP days the only way to be able to reload military weapons fast was to use undersized bullets that would easily slip down the bore. However accuray was terrible. Hollow basing the undersized bullet allowed the base to expand and grab the rifling thus improving accuracy and still allowing rapid reloading.

[JudgeBAC]

They are a royal PIA to cast but they can produce fantastic results. I found an old Lyman 41027 HB mould without the HB pin. The shop that had it sold it to me for $5. I sent it to Buckshot and he made a fantastic HB pin for it. Now I have a .41 217 gr. HB wadcutter boolit for .41 mags. With 5 grs. of Trailboss it is amazingly accurate, does not lead one bit and would probably make a fantastic close range personal defense boolit if you had a medium frame .41.

A Ruger GP 100 5 shot with a 3" bbl would be ideal for this. Something to add to the wish but will never be produced list.

[Pistol Champ]

another thing that certain hollow bases do ( such as in target wadcutters ) is give a lil more room for powder as in some loads ( flush 38 specials for example ) there is precious little room for the charge , a long time ago a volcanic cartridge was tried where a hollow base boolit held the entire charge of powder ( think of the words " original tround " ) but it was pretty weak and ineffective but the concept was great !


David Dardick invented this round (tround) to work in an open chamber 50 cal machine gun. It was the fastest firing single barrel gun at the time. I worked on the firing system for one of his guns. I saw a test firing of this gun 87 round burst into white play sand. The last few rounds made it through 8 feet of sand. I do not think this is a weak round unless you are talking about cannons.

[Good Cheer]

Hollow bases actually assist in sealing the bore, obtaining longer boolit to barrel contact length for a given weight, stabilizing the boolits in marginally adequate twist rates and self expression during casting.
That Lyman 41HB...great mini-minie.

[Southron Sanders]

Last but not least, a h

[Southron Sanders]

oops! (sEE MY ABOVE POST!)

What I meant to say is: "Last but not least, a Hollow Base moves the mass of a bullet forward."

[Tazman1602]

Man that's ringing bells -- wasn't Dardick also the guy who was working on the caseless "Tround" round at one time???? Gotta go google now..............



David Dardick invented this round (tround) to work in an open chamber 50 cal machine gun. It was the fastest firing single barrel gun at the time. I worked on the firing system for one of his guns. I saw a test firing of this gun 87 round burst into white play sand. The last few rounds made it through 8 feet of sand. I do not think this is a weak round unless you are talking about cannons.

[Wayne Smith]

David Dardick invented this round (tround) to work in an open chamber 50 cal machine gun. It was the fastest firing single barrel gun at the time. I worked on the firing system for one of his guns. I saw a test firing of this gun 87 round burst into white play sand. The last few rounds made it through 8 feet of sand. I do not think this is a weak round unless you are talking about cannons.

The original Volcanic round - used fulminate of mercury on the base of the bullet for propulsion - was a weak round. Fulminate of mercury is explosive and powerful - think percussion caps. Enough of it to have made an effective round would have blown up the gun.

[NoZombies]

The Volcanic rounds are more reminiscent of the old "gyro Jet" rockets of the 60's than they are of the "trounds"

The tround had a casing, it was just triangular. The gyro jet had a primer that ignited the internal rocket fuel that propelled the round out of the barrel.

[No Good]

All true observations I think!
One more thing a hollow base does is allow you to have the same length projectile with a lighter weight.
Such as a 405 gn hb 45-70 as opposed to a 500 gn. More likely to fit the oragional chamber as it was likely designed for ~ 500 gn solid. I'm thinking trapdoor here.

[No Good]

I forgot to say in reference to the oragional question...
Back in the early 1980's speer (I think it was) made a 146 gn hb wadcutter.
Maybe they still do. I am just back loading and shooting after many years.
I did load those upside down for a "super hollow point" for a little Charter arms .38 spl short barrel revolver I carried at the time.
Not accurate at any range but pretty awsome results close up.

[Good Cheer]

Those Speer HBWC's had a step on the nose and a little round spot in the center of the nose. If you shaved off the round spot with a sharp blade then the step made the perfect base to crimp on a gas check.

[NVScouter]

I have been known to shoot a .454 Minie backwards in my 45LC with explosive results.

[nanuk]

I was thinking a .500Minie backwards would work well for low powered white tail load.

[Good Cheer]

I was thinking a .500Minie backwards would work well for low powered white tail load.

The Lee trash can minies just look like they're made for that, don't they?

[NVScouter]

The Lee trash can minies just look like they're made for that, don't they?

That the same Minie but in .45 that I use. Trashcan :p I like that, sure does look like one.