38ExtraSpecial
NES Member
I recently picked up a new MP 160 grain HP mould (170 solid) to mess around with some expansion tests.
I cast these from an alloy consisting lead, maybe 2% tin and maybe a little antimony snuck in there.
It was softer alloy than I thought I had originally.
I showed up at @1919FAN ’s house and he just so happened to have a Dillon 450 set up to load 38s with 3.0 grains to Hodgdon clays.
I figured it was a good starting point and loaded up a couple dozen to try.
Fast forward 2 weeks and I finally made it to the range.
I shot them into clear ballistics from about 10” away using
1 7/8” barreled S&W 442
4” barreled S&W 686
18” Barreled Uberti 1873
I did not have a chrono with me unfortunately. Maybe next time.
Considering the modest velocity I feel like this Bullet has a ton of potential. I have room to pick up the speed and make this load much more effective in the snubby.
Left to right is an unfired bullet. Then the 1 7/8”, 4” and 18” barrel results
Also noted that the all of the bullets fired performed almost exactly the same as the other fired from each different firearm. The same expansion. The same depth of penetration.
The least expanding bullet traveling about 14” and the most expanding bullet traveling about 12”
I cast these from an alloy consisting lead, maybe 2% tin and maybe a little antimony snuck in there.
It was softer alloy than I thought I had originally.
I showed up at @1919FAN ’s house and he just so happened to have a Dillon 450 set up to load 38s with 3.0 grains to Hodgdon clays.
I figured it was a good starting point and loaded up a couple dozen to try.
Fast forward 2 weeks and I finally made it to the range.
I shot them into clear ballistics from about 10” away using
1 7/8” barreled S&W 442
4” barreled S&W 686
18” Barreled Uberti 1873
I did not have a chrono with me unfortunately. Maybe next time.
Considering the modest velocity I feel like this Bullet has a ton of potential. I have room to pick up the speed and make this load much more effective in the snubby.
Left to right is an unfired bullet. Then the 1 7/8”, 4” and 18” barrel results
Also noted that the all of the bullets fired performed almost exactly the same as the other fired from each different firearm. The same expansion. The same depth of penetration.
The least expanding bullet traveling about 14” and the most expanding bullet traveling about 12”
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