[davinci]

We just finished casting (err, freezing) 6 each of 200 grain round nose 45acp and 200 grain semi-wadcutter 45acp bullets from pykrete... a mixture of sawdust and water.

I'm about to reload them and I'm wondering if anyone has tried this before? I got the idea from the old 'ice bullet' and "hamburger bullet" concepts, which have been proven to turn into steam or break apart on their way out of the barrel.

Any ideas on charge weight?

[Kimber1911_06238]

lol, you are quite the mad scientist. I would start very low....maybe 2 grains of unique?

[Kimber1911_06238]

on second thought, maybe a slower burning powder would work better?

my knowledge in this area is limited :neener:

[davinci]

well, I was thinking a very fast burning powder would work best. I'm thinking titewad and titegroup at this point... somewhere around 4 grains.

I'm hoping to get the most pop, with the least heat...so a slow burning powder may not work as well.

We were discussing what, if any, lube to use on them last night. I'm thinking no lube since the stuff is really very non-malleable.

[Jim Watson]

I'd load them with a good stout load of a medium burning single base powder. Double base is hotter, fast burning might smash the bullet.

[rcmodel]

How do you get them loaded into cases, then the ammo into the gun, and then shot before they melt?

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/rcmodel/KTOG/1224.gif
rcmodel

[alucard0822]

Magnum pistol primer only, and they will stay intact, probably around 100-200fps, I loaded parrafin wax in the same way, and use it for quickdraw and point shooting practice in my basement, the big bonus is that if you manage to shoot your foot, you will still have one. Try loading with bullseye in 1 grain increments, and see at what charge they come apart.

[scrat]

OMG

what will they think of next

[Kimber1911_06238]

rcmodel....the substance pykrete or pikrete (however it is spelled) takes much longer to melt than ice alone. during wwII, there were plans to make aircraft carriers out of it. It's much tougher than ice, but i'm not sure how hot of a charge it will withstand before disintegrating

[rcmodel]

Yea, I know about the pykrete aircraft carriers.

But I also know a big huge block of it would stay frozen a heck of a lot longer then a little bitty bullet.

Just wondering.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j219/rcmodel/KTOG/1224.gif
rcmodel

[davinci]

rcmodel: uh...quickly? the bullets didn't stay out of the freezer long enough to load them. I actually went ahead and flared the case mouth about 4 times, primed them and now I'm contemplating the charge before I seat them.

I'm only doing 12 of them, but if this works out it will be a winter-time outdoor range only kind of thing. After contemplating the discussion here and doing a quick search, I've decided to load them up at *deleted for liability reasons* grains of titewad. The 10 I just loaded and fired showed up at around 450 fps for a 230 grain RN and truncated cone bullet and cycled the action on both pistols without any trouble.

We're taking pictures of the process. Any guess on what's going to happen to these things as we fire them out of a 1911 and a springfield XD?

[AirplaneDoc]

Any update????

[FieroCDSP]

yeah, really..... A cold weather bullet that is (literally) dirt cheap would be great.

[AirplaneDoc]

bump

[Nagant]

Interesting... I'd like to hear more about this.

[RyanM]

I'd use a very fast burning powder to keep the charge weight down, and use a couple cardboard wads, with maybe toilet paper in between, to keep the bullet from being melted by powder gasses.

[Roccobro]

We're taking pictures of the process. Any guess on what's going to happen to these things as we fire them out of a 1911 and a springfield XD?

Is it too late to find out what happened for winter season?

Justin