What purpose does the button nose on a wadcutter serve?
What purpose does the button nose on a wadcutter serve?
Deflects bow wave of subsonic projectile to reduce aerodynamic drag.
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http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Chap..._Wadcutter.htm
That cute little vestigial nose left on these Type II wadcutters is intended to provide additional aerodynamic stability by breaking up the air-flow and starting the slipstream. Since these are virtually always subsonic bullets (not only sub-sonic, but below 0.85 Mach, or roughly 900 fps), the airstream is roughly conformal to the bullet's profile, with turbulent flow in the boundary layer at these velocities. There is no super-sonic "bow-wave". A flat face with a sharp shoulder (e.g. Ideal 358348) can induce substantial turbulence just aft of the shoulder. This is because the slipstream is unable to flow smoothly around a sharp 90 degree corner, so there are turbulent "eddies" formed just aft of this shoulder, which can destabilize the spinning wadcutter and lead to tumbling. By putting a small nose just forward of the flat face, the airflow is more gradually redirected as a result of the eddies formed along the sides of the nose, resulting in somewhat greater stability in flight, and therefore longer accurate range before the wadcutter starts to tumble.This "aerodynamic re-direction concept" was most pronounced in the Himmelwright wadcutters, and tapered off with subsequent designs. Since virtually all bullseye shooting is done inside of 50 yards, that's all the accurate range that's needed from a wadcutter target load, so the extended proboscis of the Himmelwright wadcutter really isn't necessary. Because of the complexity this proboscis adds to the seating/crimping step, it was simplified (or dropped altogether) in subsequent wadcutter designs.
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In his classic treatis, Cast Bullets, Col. Harrison found that they are more accurate than flat nose wc's for the reason Outpost stated. He also found that lubing only one groove of a multi grooved bullet was more accurate.
[The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze
Thank you Outpost75 & M-Tecs for the information!
Any idea why one lube groove would be beneficial?
Less likely to throw off the balance when the soft lube is thrown off in flight?
Just a guess.
Robert
OK! I'd been wondering all this time about the "button plus" or "SWC minus" design of the 323445 for the 32 S&W L and H&R. I guess if a little button is kinda good, a little more button is "kinda gooder".
Froggie
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BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |