Why would you make your own hollowpoints?

[taymoor]

What is the point in this? Do hollowpoints serve any purpose other than as a defensive round? If so, isn't it very ill-advised to make your own defensive ammunition? And how would an unjacketed HP round hold up?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEsTD8CJzAg

 

[crash217]

As long as you don't drill to deep (it could blow out i guess) it probably wouldn't hurt accuracy in the distances it is meant to be used at.

As far was what will it do? It will mushroom even more and probably break apart if it hit a bone. Which could be good if your looking for an "untracable" round as well as maximum damage.

 

[The Antichrome]

I dont see the point in what he is doing.
However, all else being equal, a hollowpoint is more accurate...
Especially in 9mm / 38Super (according to Brian Enos)

One other consideration is the weight he is removing.
The lighter bullet will affect PF.

 

[jtischauser]

What a waste of time.

 

[dennishoddy]

I can't see where making a hollow point with a lead bullet would do anything at all positive, especially at pistol ranges. Every lead slug I recover at the range is fully expanded. so why?

For rifles, hollow points serve a purpose. I watched a video that Sierra made of bullets traveling through smoke with ultra high speed photography. Hollow point bullets are considered to be more accurate at long ranges, because the hollow point actually puts a small pocket of air in front of the bullet that helps stabilize it in flight. Almost every 1000 yd match at Camp Perry has been won by a shooter using hollow point bullets.

 

[Ksmirk]

I know in the LR game people trim the points so that the little air bubble will be consistant, some folks have started pointing the SMK's anything to get that last bit of BC out of the bullets. In pistol I would imagine more so in bulleye anything to help out that bullet would be fine but in USPSA pretty much I don't see accuracy being that big of an issue or at least compaired to going for tiny little groups at 600 yards but then again most LR stuff is not shot fast like USPSA just two different games with different requirements. Making your own HP bullets might just be cool to Joe Blow but in my eyes a total waste of time. Later,

Kirk

 

[technetium-99m]

My understanding of JHP's being more accurate was always the base of the bullet being very uniform due to the manufacturing method, not so much that it had a hollow cavity at the nose.

 

[Scott Hearn]

Mall ninja...

 

[dennishoddy]

My understanding of JHP's being more accurate was always the base of the bullet being very uniform due to the manufacturing method, not so much that it had a hollow cavity at the nose.

Granted the base of the bullet must be square to the bullet, but numerous studies by bullet manufacture's show the boat tail to be more accurate than a flat base, the ballistic coefficient being the proof. Hollow points combined with a boat tail design are what the long range shooters use. Sierra bullets has an ad out now that shows the total number of world championships won by their bullets, all hpbt, that outnumber the opposition by 3 to 1.
Total bullet design, not just adding a Hp is the key.

 

[Corey]

<p>IMO homemade hollow points have to be for grins and giggles I always like shooting a can of peaches with 357 magnum blows the can all to hell and the smell of fresh fruit is in the air. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>In long range lots of guys use <strong>Very-low-drag bullets (VLD)</strong> such as Berger bullets, in 308 Sierras equivalent is the 155 grain palma. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.extremeaccuracy.net/Scripts/openExtra.asp?extra=12">http://www.extremeaccuracy.net/Scripts/openExtra.asp?extra=12</a></p>
<div class="bodytext">&quot;VLD bullets feature our supreme long range design. With both an extra long nose and a boat tail, these bullets have the highest possible ballistic coefficient. They shoot flatter and are less affected by wind conditions than any other bullet of similar weight. You don't need super-high velocity for flat trajectories with VLD bullets. The design allows the bullet to shoot flatter at any velocity. For best results, the bullet should be touching the rifling when loaded. It is recommended for 300 yards or more and will not work in most magazines.&quot;</div>
<div class="bodytext"> </div>
<div class="bodytext">Bullets such as the Sierra match kings are great because they shoot well at different overall lengths. The VLD bullets have a higher ballistic coefficient but is a picky bullet if you do not load the bullet on the lands or near the lands accuracy may suffer. </div>
<div class="bodytext"> </div>
<div class="bodytext"> </div>

 

[technetium-99m]

Granted the base of the bullet must be square to the bullet, but numerous studies by bullet manufacture's show the boat tail to be more accurate than a flat base, the ballistic coefficient being the proof. Hollow points combined with a boat tail design are what the long range shooters use. Sierra bullets has an ad out now that shows the total number of world championships won by their bullets, all hpbt, that outnumber the opposition by 3 to 1.
Total bullet design, not just adding a Hp is the key.

Dennis,

I'm sorry man, I was talking about pistol bullets while you guys were talking about rifle bullets. When FMJ's or CMJ's are made the base is not square to the bullet, the JHP's by the method of manufacture are better in this respect, this is where people seem to think their accuracy comes from.

 

[Corey]

first comment was about pistol it makes no sense to me other than monkeying around not very safe practice if you load bullet first then remove lead how heavy is bullet verses powder charge explosion waiting to happen if you ask me.

I did not mean to go off topic i erased once then retyped not sure why it posted like that

 

[Copper01]

In pistol I would imagine more so in bulleye anything to help out that bullet would be fine but in USPSA pretty much I don't see accuracy being that big of an issue or at least compaired to going for tiny little groups at 600 yards but then again most LR stuff is not shot fast like USPSA just two different games with different requirements. Making your own HP bullets might just be cool to Joe Blow but in my eyes a total waste of time. Later,

Kirk

I know several Bullseye pistol shooters who swear by .45 JHP rounds for the 50 yard line. I've even heard rumors of 1" groups at 50yds with them, but I've never seen it so I'll won't say its anything more than a rumor. Though that has nothing to do with lead bullets.

Brad

 

[WillR]

Hes probably planning on filling his new hollow points up with C4/holy water/mercury or something down those lines. Or he likes to eat the lead filings from his case trimmer.

 

[Bubber]

I don't thinnk he thought this though. Where as the base of the bullets is more important than the "point" of the bullet, the hollow point not being exactly in the middle of the bullet make a lot of difference. Much like the tire of your vehicle being out of ballance you will notice it quite abit running down the road. With the enormous weight of your car will keep the tire some what controlable, there is nothing there to keep the bullet on a true path at a longer range such as 20 yards or so. My opinion only. But if you wanted to go to that much trouble, hollow base wad cuters loaded upside down, not very accurate but... later rdd

 

[Ksmirk]

I read an article several years ago about a guy who took a bunch of 308 rounds, loaded then took them to the range with a set of pliers, shot a group then started cutting bullet tips in all sorts of manner and still got respectable groups. Were not talking .4's and it was only 100 yards but I thought it pretty interesting.

Now this is with rifle bullets but I have found that I get better groups inside 300 yards with flat base bullets and step up to boat tail over 300 yards. I've never loaded for pistol as I don't shoot a pistol much at all so I've not played with them much. Later,

Kirk

 

[dennishoddy]

I

I read an article several years ago about a guy who took a bunch of 308 rounds, loaded then took them to the range with a set of pliers, shot a group then started cutting bullet tips in all sorts of manner and still got respectable groups. Were not talking .4's and it was only 100 yards but I thought it pretty interesting.

Now this is with rifle bullets but I have found that I get better groups inside 300 yards with flat base bullets and step up to boat tail over 300 yards. I've never loaded for pistol as I don't shoot a pistol much at all so I've not played with them much. Later,

Kirk

In a 1:12″ twist barrel the bullet will make one complete revolution for every 12″ (or 1 foot) it travels through the bore. This makes the RPM calculation very easy. With a velocity of 3000 feet per second (FPS), in a 1:12″ twist barrel, the bullet will spin 3000 revolutions per SECOND (because it is traveling exactly one foot, and thereby making one complete revolution, in 1/3000 of a second). To convert to RPM, simply multiply by 60 since there are 60 seconds in a minute. Thus, at 3000 FPS, a bullet will be spinning at 3000 x 60, or 180,000 RPM, when it leaves the barrel.

I know when a lead tipped CF bullet is stripped from a mag, or from a tube, the feed ramp will put a flat spot on it, as well as rounds in a mag will get flat points from recoil action.

Personally I've never done accuracy tests for rifle bullets, only done autopsy's on animals after shooting them. The HP wins hands down.

Latest bullet technology to improve ballistic cooefficients is to use a HP bullet and put a plastic tip on it (ballistic tip). In theory, the plastic tip will prevent flat points in a mag, and improve accuracy.
Again, I don't have a long range to test this, but the theory sounds good. HP with the BC of a pointed bullet.

I've recently been loading some Barnes TTSX bullets in my .06 that are incredibly long. The BC of these solid copper HP bullets with a ballistic tip is awesome.

Took them elk hunting in Jan, but was not sucessful, so didn't get to see the end result.

Sorry to have hijacked this thread from the OP.

 

[Rodshoot]

Aerodynamics 101: Boat tails only take effect when the bullet drops speed to sub-sonic. At supersonic speeds, the rear shock wave forms at the place where the ogive intersects the boat tail. Thus they aid long-range accuracy only.
They do make it easier to seat the bullet, regardless.

(For those that don't know me, yes, I am a rocket scientist ) ^-^