Been experimenting with swaging my .45 caliber boolits with big hollow bases. How big should a guy try for. Revolver velocity is around 850 maximum. By the way, using them in .455 brit S&W barrels with conveted .45 Colt cylinders. You know about the bullet bump up process in these older guns.
Cast bullets are usually .454 diameter.
Swagerman
Back about 45 (hah!) years ago, my brother had a .455 1917 Smith that had been converted to .45acp. Somewhere around I have the mold that he used. IIRC, it dropped a .457 hollow-base bullet. Seems like the wall thickness at the base was around .050" or a little less. I saw the mold the other day. He and my dad had somebody make a second base plug for the mold that produced a heavier - but still hollow base - bullet.
fourarm
Is that the Lyman mould we were discussing on the forum here and I said I have one and that when I bought it Lyman originally cataloged it as a hollow base conical for the 1858 Remington blackpowder revolver?
Joe
Oh man, the stuff you guys want to know......
Bullet Cav Cav
Diam. Diam. Depth
0.358 0.225 0.225
0.458 0.345 0.185
0.454 0.315 0.125
0.431 0.250 0.195
0.533 0.380 0.350
0.500 0.352 0.320
0.450 0.326 0.280
I've had to make a few HB pins from time to time and have colleted these figures and saved them for just such a purpose.
Round HB pin profiles work best instead of sharp in case. Swaged would probablt be about the same./beagle
Thank you, beagle.
According to your data I'm not too far off swaging these babies to your figures..
Though my swages are more conical than rounded, but have a small flat bottom meplat point of about 3/16 th of an inch.
Swagerman
Joe, I'll have to look at the number on the mold this weekend. This is a heavy bullet, as I recall. Maybe too heavy for the cap & ball revolver application. Seems like the original (i.e. Remington) conicals were pretty light.
...........Beagle, how about that! I just went out and miked one of the HB's Ly 35863's I made for the 38 S&W. The slug is .363" diameter and the cavity is 0.220" wide, 0.225" deep. At the bottom it has tapered to 0.130" diameter. I guess it just looks right, as that's the way I cut the HB plunger......... by eye till it looked right. My HB pin is flat topped though, not rounded.
..............Buckshot
Last edited by Buckshot; 04-29-2005 at 02:18 AM.
Father Grand Caster watches over you my brother. Go now and pour yourself a hot one. May the Sacred Silver Stream be with you always
Proud former Shooters.Com Cast Bullet alumnus and plank owner.
"The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."
Shrink the State End the Fed Balance the budget Make a profit Leave an inheritance
The figures Beagle and Buckshot mention sound about right, but those forearmed found are a bit thin in the walls for comfor. I think there could be a risk of the skirt breaking off at a groove, and i don't know where it would go, but probably the worst place you can think of.
Posting Permissions
| 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 |
Reply With Quote