Lee "hammer" boolit jug test

[newton]

Well I did some shooting this weekend. I have the gun dialed in to some serious accuracy potential. I think I can squeeze a tad more out of it and eventually get groups that touch at 100 yards seeing how I do have a scope attached.

But I wanted to see how the bullet would perform after going through some jugs filled with water. I have seen the tests done with sand, but those were only done at 20-30 yards I think. I wanted to see how the bullet would do at 100 yards.

Filled 5 big bleach jugs full with water. These are very heavy plastic jugs, not like a milk jug. I believe they hold 1.5 gallons. Lined them up and shot.

The Lee 460grain PP bullet, with a single plastic wad .60" thick, on top of 80 grains of pyrodex, went through three jugs but bounced off the 4th back into the 3rd. Demolished the first jug, tore up the second, and just made big holes in the 3rd.

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Sorry for the sideways picture. I cannot seem to figure out how to rotate them. I tried rotating them on my computer, but they still show it sideways here. Very irritating.

Anyways, it is almost 1" across the top. Retained all of its mass. Just a beautiful mushroom is all I can say. I know I will never recover one if the deer is standing sideways, but I may if I get a front on shot. We shall see. Later this week it should get put to the test.

[taco650]

What caliber did they start out?

[idahoron]

I got some bad news for you. You're not going to find them even on a front on shot. [smilie=p:
I hit a cow elk in the shoulder quartering to me and I found it under the skin in the hind quarter.
You are going to like them on game. BTW we named them Moose Maulers.

[Hellgate]

Uh, what bullet and what caliber are we talking about here? I'm interested but not learning much.

[idahoron]

The bullet is a Lee C-501-440-RF. It is a 500 S&W bullet that is paper patched and sized I am assuming to .501.

[newton]

The bullet is a Lee C-501-440-RF. It is a 500 S&W bullet that is paper patched and sized I am assuming to .501.

Yep, I run them through the sizer, then wrap, then back through the sizer. My sizer is homemade, so its a little rough around the edges, but it works. I'm going to eventually get a good sizer. I thought I had the right one, but when I looked at it turns out it was a .510". It was too late to get one in time.

Ron has done all the write up on this bullet you will ever need Hellgate. My hats off to him for perfecting this particular round for the 1:28 twist .50 cals. As far as I can see, if anyone has a rife with that twist then there is no need to look for any other bullet. I think the ONLY reason someone would not choose this bullet is if they did not cast. And even at that, it would be well worth getting started in the long run unless you only shoot a dozen or so times a year. I sat down and ran bullet after bullet through my gun this weekend and smiled the whole time. I think every time I pull the trigger its right around $.25 if I have calculated it right. I know some guys that shoot out dang near $2 every time the trigger is pulled. I would not be doing much shooting if that was the case.

I have never felt better about using my ML than I do right now. I leave for camp in the morning and will spend the next 4 days hunting. If a deer comes into range and gives me ANY good shot(I don't shoot at running deer or ones facing away from me) then I am sure it will be dead. I have no doubts at all.

[newton]

I got some bad news for you. You're not going to find them even on a front on shot. [smilie=p:
I hit a cow elk in the shoulder quartering to me and I found it under the skin in the hind quarter.
You are going to like them on game. BTW we named them Moose Maulers.

Nice. Well, maybe it will be standing right in front of a big tree. lol

[idahoron]

:bigsmyl2:

[taco650]

Am I correct in assuming they're cast of a soft alloy?

[newton]

Am I correct in assuming they're cast of a soft alloy?

Yes. Dead soft. I don't have a hardness tester yet, but it was either shower pan material or X-ray room liner. Either way, I cut it with tin snips and it was thick.

If you look at Rons posts about it you'll see that dead soft is best. I think he adds a tad bit of Lino to fill the mold out better. I didn't take that much precaution and shot some that were less than perfect. I plan on doing a LOT more testing with the book it and gun and will be paying more mind to the slugs and all.

Sorry for the long answer.

[taco650]

Newton,

Don't worry about the long answer. Some stuff needs "esplainin". I'm also assuming you didn't GC your slugs cuz they were PP'ed.

[newton]

Recovered a boolit I shot on a doe this week at camp. And no, she was not standing in front of a tree. Just got real lucky. More to follow tomorrow with pictures.

[newton]

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Pretty good expansion. She was facing me, about 40 yards, maybe 50 away. Bullet hit the front shoulder and tore it to pieces, shearing off that one little piece of lead leaving it right behind the front shoulder. The other piece I found almost about to enter the opposite rear leg. It stopped short of exiting the gut cavity.

I think the only reason it did not go through is the front shoulder took a lot of the force. There were some other pieces that went missing as the total weight is 420 grains, so 40 grains was somewhere in there.

Not sure what to think about the paper sticking too the bullet though. I can only assume that it does not help accuracy any. Not sure how much it takes away from it though. Bullets are not lubed or anything. Wonder if that's the difference between tracing paper and onion skin paper?

I am pleased though. I will do more playing with it for sure, but the bullet did its job just fine and had a speedy recovery of the animal. Just wish in hindsight I had waited a little bit longer for her to turn broadside so I could have saved that front shoulder.

[taco650]

Looks like it worked well. Congrats!