lead bullet ballistics

[Rick W.]

We own our own home, but live in a mobile home park, so with the kids running around in the neighborhood, it prevents me from casting my own bullets(both because of the hot lead and because of possible contamination). So, I have to order my lead bullets from a vendor. I'm using 93 grain, LRN, 9mm Makarov bullets cast at BHN of 18 and at a diameter of .366 with my bore being at .365. I use Lee Liquid Alox to lubricate my lead bullets prior to shooting and I don't get any leading in my barrel at all. I'm also shooting these at about 950 fps. I'm also getting ready to shoot 115 grain LRN, .358 diameter bullets, BHN of 18 out of a .380 Makarov pistol with a bore diameter of .357 as soon as my ordered dies arrive. I'm also planning to shoot these at around 950 fps.

I just got done reading another article(read a different one about 6 months ago)on the internet about how lead bullets don't really expand or deform with pistols, but with rifles, the bullet is travelling fast enough for there to be plenty of expansion. I was wondering if this was true and if maybe someone might have some ballistic information regarding this? One reason why I switched over to lead bullets is because I was worried about collateral damage if I had to shoot a bad guy in my home. I didn't want the bullet to continue travelling through to the next door neighbors house. Another reason why I wanted to shoot lead is because of the unusual bore diameters that I have and not being able to find a large selection of bullet diameters to fit my bore.

I was also reading an article a while back about how around the year 1900 people were using cast lead bullets and drilling holes into them to turn them into hollow points to make them expand better. I can't remember the name of the man who was suppossed to be famous for doing this and I can't seem to find that article or any other information about this. Does anyone have any info on this? How deep do I need to drill? What diameter drill bit do I use? Can I use 2 or 3 different size drill bits to make it a somewhat inverted cone shape? What about using a counter sink instead of a drill bit? Maybe someone has some ballistic information and at the brinnel hardnes number being at 18, then this would be enough for the somewhat deep penetration, expansion and the stopping power that I'm looking for without having to drill?

Thanx;
Rick

[petroid]

LRN bullets at the speeds you're shooting and with BHN 18, I don't think will expand much, if at all, on a soft target. Softer lead and/or a flat or hollow point would be better. Hollow pointing can be done with the Forster hollow point tool or other homespun methods.

[Rick W.]

petroid-thanks for the info. I'll look around for that tool. With the information that you have here, which I believe to be correct, I think I might have to also do some research on that old 1900's method of how to make hollow points out of lead bullets by drilling. This is a never ending learning experiance!

[Yodogsandman]

Drilling sucks! I just shoot my lead boolits for practice and use jacketed for home defense. Hornady XTP's get the nod for the 9x18 Makarov. If you feel like you need to drill, try just using the drill tip to make a cup point to enhance expansion. When you try to drill too deep the drill bit fills with lead and gets stuck.

[LAGS]

i once lived in a Mobil home park, and cast my bullets on my patio.
I told the parents to put a Leash on their Yard Apes, and stay away from my trailer.

[jcren]

Most commercial "hard cast" are much too hard. Try finding a vendor selling cast in the 12bnl or less range.

[Rick W.]

*LAGS* I'd really like to do that, but our house is the last one on the end where it is completely open on all 4 sides. The manager would have ISSUES with me casting lead here(land contamination too!) and I have no place to do it except for either inside(bad spot!) my house or out in the open outside for everyone to see.

As an experiment last night, I put a loaded 9mm round in my RCBS case trimmer, then took the pilot pin out of the cutter blade on the other side and locked down a .140 dia drill bit into it. I slowly drilled down approx. halfway through the lead bullet(.195 deep when the bullet is .415 long), but I'm not sure if this will be deep enough? I also know that if I go too deep, then I will turn it into a frangible, which also might not be too bad of a deal for home defense. I'm half tempted to fill some sand bags with loose dirt(or sand) and stack them up to test this out to find out how well these expand.

*Yodogsand* XTP's or factory hollow points might end up being an option for me, but I'm not sure this pistol has the speed to make them expand. The maximum speed for these Maks are between 900 to 1000 fps. I'll have to do some research on these bullets. Thanks

[Rick W.]

*jcren* I just got done checking their website and they have some .38 Special, 115 grain, .358 dia, TCFP, 12 BHN, that would be good to load in my .380 Makarov(.357 bore), but I'd have to do a special order for the 9mm Makarov(.365 bore).