Bevel Base Boolits?

[Muddy Creek Sam]

Howdy all,

I understand Gas Checks, But what is the reasoning behind Bevel Base Boolits?

With my Ignorance hanging out again, :confused::veryconfu

Sam :D

[Shiloh]

I think it is for ease of loading.

The case mouth however, is belled on powder charging with progressive presses, so I see no need. Don't most folks bell the brass anyway when seating cast boolits?? I have no problem at all seating flat based boolits.

SHiloh

[mooman76]

It is to seat the bullet easier without shaving lead.

[anachronism]

This is especially desirable to production reloaders. PLUS... I'm beginning to believe that you might possibly get less damage to the bullet base from rattling around in bulk boxes. The bullet base is the steering end, and also the most easily damaged. The bevel base might just help protect it. Also, I have a few bevel base moulds, and I have noticed that it's easier to get perfect bullet bases, especially with moulds that aren't quite up to temp. Perhaps there's some sort of venturi effect at play there.

[gray wolf]

No,NO you got it all wrong.
The one reason for a bevel base on a bullet is to drive people with a 450 sizer crazy.
and to give them something to do---cleaning the lube off the little place that the sizer thinks is a lube groove. Why else would it be there?

[runfiverun]

y'all covered it pretty well. they do drop from the mold easier.
and they stand straighter in the slightly flaired case mouth ,which should gain another load or two on the brass by working it less.
what they do or don't do when fired is another arguement.

[anachronism]

what they do or don't do when fired is another arguement.

LOL... Mine work fine for what I use them for. Not everybody can make that claim. I must admit that most of the BB bullets put out by some of the commercial casters don't appear to be good for much. There are some really exaggerated bevel bases out there. I'm glad I make my own.

[lwknight]

I suspected that the beveled base might help with coefficient or keeping the muzzle blast from de-stabilizing the boolit as it exits the barrel.

[243winxb]

Out of the 4, the BB is the most accurate for me. Plus they do load easy compared to a flat base. Recovered bullets of flat base design have showned deformity at times, the base is no longer flat. Depends on the alloy used is my guess. There seems to be a lot of problems with Lee TL BB bullets tumbling in 9mm and a few 357's. Here i am guessing that when you have to size the bullet down to much, in the barrel or die, the BB gets deformed to much. My Lyman BB drops at a near perfect .452", maybe this is why its so accurate compared to my other 3 that need lots of sizing, about .002" or more at times. Very true about the lube being left on the bevel, it has to be wiped off when using a Lyman 450, its a pain, but worth it for top accuracy. http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/th_CastBullets_20090207_005.jpg (http://i338.photobucket.com/albums/n420/joe1944usa/CastBullets_20090207_005.jpg)

[44man]

I have a Lee BB mold that I cut the bevel out of. These were shot at 50 yards with a friends .357, open sights.
On the left are the BB and the low shot on the right target with the FB was called.
I tied everything to get the BB to shoot with no luck.
The mold makes a nice .3595" boolit so it is easy to fit to any gun.
I feel the BB is a crutch for production casters and loaders ----OR it is so your boolits shoot flat to 2000 yards! :holysheep

[deltaenterprizes]

My uneducated guess is they also drop out of automated production moulds easier. Actually a production caster in Tucson told me that when I asked him about his hard cast bullets.
My preference is a plain flat base.

Not true, actually the bevel on the mold chip and make imperfect bases with little tits where the mold halves meet. The bevel also gives more surface for the bullet to stick or get dinged and cause a burr.
The bevel has a two fold benefit because a smaller flair on the case mouth does not work the brass as much making the cases last longer.The bevel based bullets also feed better in the base down automated bullet feeders for commercial loading machines.
I was a commercial caster for 12 years and had the bevel removed to repair numerous sets of molds because of the chips.

[303Guy]

I suspected that the beveled base might help with coefficient or keeping the muzzle blast from de-stabilizing the boolit as it exits the barrel. You're onto it!

Recovered bullets of flat base design have showned deformity at times, the base is no longer flat.Exactly!

I have started BB'ing my molds to prevent deformation of the base due to excessive swaging in the bore - my boolits are just a tad larger than groove to suite the oversize throat of a Lee Enfield. That bevel prevents the base from 'feathering' as it gets squeezed by the rifling. I discovered this when trying to shoot PP and GC boolits in my two-groove No4.

I hasten to add, when 44man has a different take on it, I ask myself why? I could be wrong or perhaps the bevel base thing doesn't work in revolvers or only works in some guns? Or could it be that the bevel needs to be in the right proportions to be effective?

[Bass Ackward]

Because it's all about the launch, if your nose pattern establishes air flow before your base leaves enough of the muzzle without stripping, they shoot. If you are driving them and breaking the barrier then air flow will take longer to establish. Here a wider full band is going to be stronger longer to give you more chance to launch well. OR .... you can harden the slug.

I think that the only way to actually tell is to shoot them for yourself. Just like shooting without a GC. So a lot depends on how they are shot just like a lot of other things.

[44man]

I hasten to add, when 44man has a different take on it, I ask myself why? I could be wrong or perhaps the bevel base thing doesn't work in revolvers or only works in some guns? Or could it be that the bevel needs to be in the right proportions to be effective?
Yes, different then a rifle. I feel the bevel at the gap leaves too large an opening for gas to escape and gas might cut it as it escapes around it. What does a gas cut bevel do when it leaves the muzzle.
I have none to shoot and recover so I don't know for sure.

[303Guy]

I went and test tube tested a bevel base boolit, tried to post it and my post disappeared! Anyway, here it is.
(No comments on the casting flaws - that's why I used it for testing! :mrgreen: )

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo327/303Guy/th_MVC-596F.jpg

The astounding thing here (to me, that is) is the sharpness of the rifling impressions. This is my Pig Gun with a bore that started out looking like the inside of an old water pipe! (It was a paper patched boolit and slow enough to preserve the base section when fired into sand).