Meplat and bullet design

[GLynn41]

the biggest part of my shooting and hunting is with some kind of cast bullet in a .41 of some kind -- Here is my question.... will the meplat of a wfngc of say .31 make about the same hole in game as would a Keith type with a .31 meplat -- seems to me they would but I am dense- plus the shoulder while it does not do much of any thing in tissue or flesh -- it will cut in material that can not splash out - cartlidge etc- so am I right or just dumb and off track -- what say ye

[Lloyd Smale]

this has been aruged for years. The swc with the same meplat will definately do just as much damage but its going to be tough to find a swc with a metplat as big as as a wfn. Also swcs with big fat metplats tend to be more finiky bullets to get to shoot just like a wfn. I allways tend to compromise a tad on metplat size to get accuracy in a bullet design. Ive yet to see an animal killed by a wfn that the same weight bullet in an lfn didnt kill just as well.

[Bass Ackward]

Gl,

Trust your logic. Although I don't necessarily agree with where you are heading, your thought process will give you the correct answer for you at this point in time.

I would say that if you think that you might want to shoot that bullet at lower velocity once in awhile too, I would go semi and drop the mepper a tad. Wide open only, the olgival. This is simply because the semi will probably be easier to stabilize with more weight toward the back of the bullet. Wide open, the extra metal to protect that front band from deformation upon impact with everything pays dividends. But all this can be untrue, just a pattern over the years for me.

Remember, a meplat of .310 cuts a .310 hole. That isn't significantly larger than a .250 hole really. Anything bigger than that in game and the work was done by velocity or even expansion if you know how to make that happen.

[GLynn41]

yes i do know how make them expand-- two pots or a hot plate-- pure as possible lead - and a homemade dipper and I am good to go-- I have a hollow pointer on my Fosters case trimmer-- so I can add that-- I have take a few animals this way and yes they expanded --for example one bullet was recovered and it expaned down to the harder lead--the other did not stop but there was no doubt it expanded- thanks for the answers--what leads me toward the Keith is I started shooting them about 30 years ago and still like them -- I have an old 60s? saeco mold 2 cav 226 Keith- might be early 70's Redding was nice enough to try find out for me but could not and 2 Lyman 410459 so I am not Keith poor--my wfngc shoots well out to 100 long steps have not tried it no further-- it is a MM with a .331 meplat weighing 250 to 255 depending on the alloy and the GC I use --sorry to go on so long-thanks again for the wisdom