Hollow Base Design

[Good Cheer]

Anyone out there designed hollow based boolits and tried them out?
Besides running numbers through a calculator, how much did the hollow base increase stability? How much did the lube grooves increase stability?

Currently I'm working with a .69 rifled to 66" twist and the paper patch mold being used will not not adjust to any greater than 1.07" in length.
Been looking around at the various designs folks used to use.

http://www.armyoftennesseerelics.com/civil-war-bullets

http://www.armyoftennesseerelics.com/ewing-civil-war-bullet-collection

http://www.americancivilwarrelics.com/Civil%20War%20Bullets.htm

[johnson1942]

1.07 is a little long for a 1/66 twist. i would adjust it to .92, as by the math that would work very well. i use hollow based bullets in several diff. guns. the base is of my own design, they have a fairly thick lip the hollow part goes inward like a triangle. even though they are hollow based their is plenty of meat their and not fragile. as for lube i really like alox and if you dont like that try rooster bullet lube, it seems to be available again. ive never had trouble with lee/s alox with black powder as several shooter have said, but then again i always wiped between rounds when i used real black. alox gave me better accracy and never leaded. why not try paperpatching that bullet. a single wrap chase wrap as you put the bullet into the bore would make that gun a tackdriver at any range. all you have to do to chase patch it is size your bullet to 5 thousands under the top of the lands diam of your bore. then cut a retangle out of number 18 pound artist paper of this size: as you wrap the paper around the bullet the two seams just touch. then it needs to be long enough so the part that hangs over the base will fold into the base about 3/4 accross the base. you should cut felt wads to put under it but all this is worth it in accracy. also with a paperpatched bullet you can shoot a larger charge and hit further out. no leading and a accurate hard hitting gun is the result. good luck

[doc1876]

I had a Navy Arms 1863 Springfield in .58, and that thing would hit anything you pointed it at with a hollow Mini Ball, however, if you used a musket ball and a patch, it was not so good. Sold it about three years ago.
I think when they were designed, they were light years above anything else. They load easier in a fouled boar also.

[Good Cheer]

1.07 is a little long for a 1/66 twist. i would adjust it to .92, as by the math that would work very well. i use hollow based bullets in several diff. guns. the base is of my own design, they have a fairly thick lip the hollow part goes inward like a triangle. even though they are hollow based their is plenty of meat their and not fragile. as for lube i really like alox and if you dont like that try rooster bullet lube, it seems to be available again. ive never had trouble with lee/s alox with black powder as several shooter have said, but then again i always wiped between rounds when i used real black. alox gave me better accracy and never leaded. why not try paperpatching that bullet. a single wrap chase wrap as you put the bullet into the bore would make that gun a tackdriver at any range. all you have to do to chase patch it is size your bullet to 5 thousands under the top of the lands diam of your bore. then cut a retangle out of number 18 pound artist paper of this size: as you wrap the paper around the bullet the two seams just touch. then it needs to be long enough so the part that hangs over the base will fold into the base about 3/4 accross the base. you should cut felt wads to put under it but all this is worth it in accuracy. also with a paperpatched bullet you can shoot a larger charge and hit further out. no leading and a accurate hard hitting gun is the result. good luck

Full length stabilizes fine. It is near the theoretical maximum length but has a hollow base which provides an assist. Lube grooves in the rear would also provide a further assist. But, there aren't any Greenhill formulas for hollow bases and lube grooves. Hence, my query about them things.

[mooman76]

Allot of the weight is forward on HBs so the Greenhill formula does not really work on them.

[johnson1942]

never knew that, thanks for the info.

[MadHamster]

Anyone ever tried hollow base bullet in a revolver? I have a minié mould(230grainish .45) from TheMoose on the way and i was thinking about trying them in one of my Pietta 1858's .

[johnson1942]

thats what they shot in the old days alot. your gun was made for it.

[MadHamster]

I never though that Italians were such geniuses, and thought of making the gun minié friendly, because those buggers made the cylinder holes smaller than the groove diameter of the rifling in my remington 1858 repros. :-D

[Good Cheer]

1.07 is a little long for a 1/66 twist. i would adjust it to .92, as by the math that would work very well. i use hollow based bullets in several diff. guns. the base is of my own design, they have a fairly thick lip the hollow part goes inward like a triangle. even though they are hollow based their is plenty of meat their and not fragile. as for lube i really like alox and if you dont like that try rooster bullet lube, it seems to be available again. ive never had trouble with lee/s alox with black powder as several shooter have said, but then again i always wiped between rounds when i used real black. alox gave me better accracy and never leaded. why not try paperpatching that bullet. a single wrap chase wrap as you put the bullet into the bore would make that gun a tackdriver at any range. all you have to do to chase patch it is size your bullet to 5 thousands under the top of the lands diam of your bore. then cut a retangle out of number 18 pound artist paper of this size: as you wrap the paper around the bullet the two seams just touch. then it needs to be long enough so the part that hangs over the base will fold into the base about 3/4 accross the base. you should cut felt wads to put under it but all this is worth it in accracy. also with a paperpatched bullet you can shoot a larger charge and hit further out. no leading and a accurate hard hitting gun is the result. good luck


Thanks for reminding about the single wrap. Got some colored paper that makes a perfect single wrap instead of the double shrink wrap like these that I've been using. Gonna try the single wrap and see how she does.
http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/SNARGLEFLERK/BigChiefBuffaloNickel_zps5fdd3962.jpg (http://s791.photobucket.com/user/SNARGLEFLERK/media/BigChiefBuffaloNickel_zps5fdd3962.jpg.html)

[Col4570]

http://books.google.com/books?id=8HTNAAAAMAAJ&lpg=PA213&ots=jyNF_q79LA&dq=large-bore%20Whitworth&pg=PA211#v=onepage&q=large-bore%20Whitworth&f=false

This is an interesting one that I have Copied for my .568 Whitworth Rifle 1in 25 Twist.
Check out the MLAGB Forum in the Musket and Rifle Section.Large Calibre Whitworth rifle.I have been for some time working up a load for it.

[Col4570]

http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s452/livebattery/001-39.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/livebattery/media/001-39.jpg.html)
This is a Modified Hollow base bullet that has a Nose cavity and Wooden Plug.

[Col4570]

http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s452/livebattery/001-44.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/livebattery/media/001-44.jpg.html)
Another view against a standard .58 Bullet.At present I drill the Nose Cavity,I intend to modify a mould to pour at an angle on the side of the Mould as per the following picture.http://i1052.photobucket.com/albums/s452/livebattery/HollowBaseHollowNoseMould001.jpg (http://s1052.photobucket.com/user/livebattery/media/HollowBaseHollowNoseMould001.jpg.html)
At pres I drill the Nose Cavity.

[johnson1942]

thanks for the picture of your pp bullet. you wil find the single wrap is consistantly consistant if their is such a phrase in english. just put a wad under it as you put it down the barrel so it stays on the bullet. i find the chase single wrap easier to use and it comes off the bullet at the muzzle every time. the heavy gun guys who shoot from a bench make one hole a little ragged useing this system. they use a starter and i cant figure out why because the chase single wrap system loads just right with out it. the other thing it is usually easy to find a paper that single wraps just right for bullets you already have. my 1/23 twist custom sidelock .50 was cranky with double wrap, but no more, it is boreingly one hole accurate with a 686 grain .495 bullet. let us know more how it works for you.

[Good Cheer]

Does the chase patch work with hollow bases?

I've been using the Big Chief tablet for that .69 double wrap, walking the line between tough enough to stay on and un-tough enough to come off.
It's turning to confetti at the muzzle.
Got a paper that is an exact fit for single wrap. Want to try it today.

[johnson1942]

the hollow base probably works better as the paper that folds over onto the base can be folded up into the hollow some. probably helps the paper stick to the bullet better when going down the bore. all my bullets are hollow based, not to the extreme, but to diff. degrees. good luck.if the bullet is 5 thousands under the top of the lands bore size, the freeze wrap poly coated paper works very good for the chase system. it needs no lube as the poly coated side is slick already.