Hollow Point Benefits

[joecool911]

What are the benefits of a hard cast hollow point bullet? Are there negative aspects in these bullets for hunters? I am well aware of standard hard cast bullet usage, but the hollow point thing has me stumped.

[fredj338]

Well, a true hardcast LHP will not expand but the flat nose & HP will disrupt a bit more tissue IMO. SOme also think a HP flys better w/ a bit more wt to the rear. I typically only cast HP in a soft alloy though.

[303Guy]

joecool911

Would you be thinking 45ACP or rifle?


SOme also think a HP flys better w/ a bit more wt to the rear.I would suggest that it's not the weight to the rear that makes a hollow nose fly better but rather the weight to the OD of the nose (or perhaps better still, weight removal from the centre of the nose?)

Depending on just how 'hard' the boolit is, a healthy hollow nose might just increase the nose diameter to greater than boolit diameter at lower velocity (and retain a sharp edge like a over boolit diameter meplat). I've done tests with alloys harder than I like and found nose expansion to be small but significant.

[sniper]

Hmmm...does anyone make a hollow pointer tool for .357 Maggie/.38 Spl SWC or FP boolits? Does it work? That might be interesting to play around...EXPERIMENI! I meant experiment with! Really, I did!;-)

[dubber123]

Hmmm...does anyone make a hollow pointer tool for .357 Maggie/.38 Spl SWC or FP boolits? Does it work? That might be interesting to play around...EXPERIMENI! I meant experiment with! Really, I did!;-)

JIMinPHX here in the forum sells an inexpensive jig to drill HP's in your cast boolits. His stuff can be seen in the vendor sponsors section.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh83/dubber123/IMG_3149.jpg Yes, they work. This was an 850 fps. .38 load.

[Dale53]

For hollow points to work correctly, they NEED to be of the right alloy and the alloy must be paired with the right size hollow point pin and the right velocity (for the alloy and pin size).

Glen Fryxell has done more work on this than anyone else that I have seen in print. Here is just ONE of his articles. It would behoove anyone interested in these interesting bullets (certainly anyone who has gotten in on our MiHec or NOE H.P. Group buys or who have taken advantage of the H.P. tools or mould modifications from the craftsmen on this forum should do so).

http://www.lasc.us/FryxellExpansionOfCastHP.htm

Incidentally, I have found ALL of Glen's articles to be thoughtful, correct, and worth reading and re-reading.

Glen, how is the book coming?

Dale53

[Larry Gibson]

Hmmm...does anyone make a hollow pointer tool for .357 Maggie/.38 Spl SWC or FP boolits? Does it work? That might be interesting to play around...EXPERIMENI! I meant experiment with! Really, I did!;-)

Forster makes a 1/8" HP tool for use with the rimmer. The bullets are HP'd after the ammo is loaded. I've been using this toll very successfully since the early '70s on a myrid of bullets from .30 cal up through .45 cal. I also have several HP moulds but the Forster is good because you can easily control the depth of the HP and taylor the expansion with softer alloy at what ever velocity. I mostly use the Forster tool to HP cast bullets for rifle use but I also HP some hand gun bullets. I use the Forster to initiall HP the bullet and then finish reaming with a tapered drill used for installing sling swivel studs. That makes for a nice wide mouth taper HP that gives excellent expansion at handgun velocities.

Below are pictures of Lyman 313631 in the .30 Carbine and RCBS 35-200-FN in the .35 Rem. Both were HP'd with the Forster tool.

Larry Gibson