A fellow on the Remington 1858 forum has been testing custom hollow points. What he found was that using the standard ram will deform the cavity a bit even with slow easy pressure (not too badly but still does). What he then did was use an epoxy on an additional ram to create a pin.
Unfortunately not much seems to go on there these days. I’ve messaged him but have yet to receive a response. This isn’t exactly common knowledge but I figured I’d ask anyway. Since there’s not a lot of clearance in the loading window can the pin be maybe half the depth and still hold the cavity in pristine shape? I don’t have the tools to cut it back nice and tidy.
As an aside I’ve also been contemplating this hollow point cavity. I’ll go back over all he’s found and said but it seemed he found the perfect “wall” thickness to open up without breaking apart at the speed it will travel, but I’m wondering about the depth one might want. As is the design would start with a very wide meplat FN as this gives exceptional penetration with a nice over caliber permanent wound cavity, but there may well be times in which 2 feet or more of penetration isn’t needed or wanted, and times when a larger cavity might be ideal. We see modern premium hollow points tend to open up to 1.5 times the diameter and gives ~12” of penetration at similar speeds. Seems I might want more than that and so I might prefer a cavity that produces maybe 1.25 times the caliber. Curious how one might go about figuring out depth vs expansion/penetration. Any pointers or ideas or thoughts? Figured I’d go back to Accurate Molds and modify my design a bit in a 4 or 5 cavity mold and then send it to Hollow Point something-or-other and get 2 cavities modified.
And maybe I’d like a shallow and a deeper version... Sometimes 12” of penetration with a big nasty wound is ideal too.
Mostly this has been rolling around in my roomy head for my .44/.45 handguns, but I’ve also been thinking about the Colt Police with a 4.5” barrel and how it might be about as ideal as possible (I’d love it if I could have a 4 or 5 shot .50 cal instead as bigger is always better, right?) for a backpacking pistola where weight and size become an issue. But “knowing” what I “know” about the .380 ACP, which this nearly replicates with the right powder and short for caliber projectile, a common hollow point doesn’t seem to give the penetration one might want and a FMJ doesn’t provide the wound one might want. A WFN bullet or a shallow HP design?
Unfortunately not much seems to go on there these days. I’ve messaged him but have yet to receive a response. This isn’t exactly common knowledge but I figured I’d ask anyway. Since there’s not a lot of clearance in the loading window can the pin be maybe half the depth and still hold the cavity in pristine shape? I don’t have the tools to cut it back nice and tidy.
As an aside I’ve also been contemplating this hollow point cavity. I’ll go back over all he’s found and said but it seemed he found the perfect “wall” thickness to open up without breaking apart at the speed it will travel, but I’m wondering about the depth one might want. As is the design would start with a very wide meplat FN as this gives exceptional penetration with a nice over caliber permanent wound cavity, but there may well be times in which 2 feet or more of penetration isn’t needed or wanted, and times when a larger cavity might be ideal. We see modern premium hollow points tend to open up to 1.5 times the diameter and gives ~12” of penetration at similar speeds. Seems I might want more than that and so I might prefer a cavity that produces maybe 1.25 times the caliber. Curious how one might go about figuring out depth vs expansion/penetration. Any pointers or ideas or thoughts? Figured I’d go back to Accurate Molds and modify my design a bit in a 4 or 5 cavity mold and then send it to Hollow Point something-or-other and get 2 cavities modified.
And maybe I’d like a shallow and a deeper version... Sometimes 12” of penetration with a big nasty wound is ideal too.
Mostly this has been rolling around in my roomy head for my .44/.45 handguns, but I’ve also been thinking about the Colt Police with a 4.5” barrel and how it might be about as ideal as possible (I’d love it if I could have a 4 or 5 shot .50 cal instead as bigger is always better, right?) for a backpacking pistola where weight and size become an issue. But “knowing” what I “know” about the .380 ACP, which this nearly replicates with the right powder and short for caliber projectile, a common hollow point doesn’t seem to give the penetration one might want and a FMJ doesn’t provide the wound one might want. A WFN bullet or a shallow HP design?
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