Cast HP's @1300fps....

[35 Whelen]

The article by Brian Pearce on the RCBS 45-270 is a good 'un, as are most of his.

Regarding alloys, they can get really confusing. I had just about decided to blend a bunch of alloy at 20-1 and set it aside to use for casting HP's, but then I learned that Pb/Sn alloys soften quickly :banghead:...so that's out.
Up until recently I've used straight clip-on WW's (COWW's). Typically bullets come out at around 11.5 Bhn. But the more I cast and shoot, the more I like a softer alloy. So late last year I began casting with a mix of 1/2 COWW and 1/2 lead or stick-on WW's (SOWW's), and I weigh the amounts out to try to keep things consistent. Typically, Bhn' s run 9.5 - 10 with this alloy which suits me just fine. I cast about 250 RCBS 45-255K's a couple of nights ago and they happened to register 9.0 Bhn. SO, to keep things SIMPLE I intend to use the COWW/SOWW mix for everything except maybe bullets cast for practice which will be cast of COWW.

Regarding penetration, one of the bucks I shot last year was with my Cimarron 1873 short rifle in .44 Special. He was about 110 - 120 yards out and quartering away. The bullet (RCBS 44-250KT @ 258 grs.)struck him in the left flank and I found it under the skin up in the juncture of the right neck and shoulder. MV from the rifle was about 1350 so impact velocity would've been somewhere in the neighborhood of 1050 fps. I'm about 99% certain the bullet was cast of ACWW as I had cast it early in season.





Bucks in this area of Texas are fairly large (for Texas at least) typically field dressing at around 150 lbs., so I thought it to be pretty remarkable penetration and one reason I'm a teeny bit hesitant to cast HP's soft enough for expansion. I have no doubt had the bullet been a hollowpoint and had expanded it wouldn't have penetrated nearly as far.

Enough rambling....

35W

 

[41 Mag]

Different blend different results...

Well I did a simple test this weekend using the MP 358640 with an alloy which was a bit harder but should have been as malleable. Unfortunately however with the same load as used with the first post these fractured after they expanded.

In essence the 2/2/96 was simply to brittle to allow for the same type expansion which resulted in most of the bases blowing through the expanded nose portion. I did however recover a couple out of a dozen which did appear to be very similar to the ones posted above. That said however, after closer inspection they seem to have small stress fractures located up under the base of the mushroom.

More or less what this proved to me was that i would not be able to run these up into the 1300fps range with this alloy and using the largest pins for the HP cavity. next up will be pouring some more with the smaller round pins and possibly some with the penta pins as well. Afterwards simply repeating the test using the exact same data and media should give me a somewhat better handle on just how fast and with what alloy might be the best for hunting with.

35,
I agree that you can easily get more penetration from a solid and even some good expansion if your using the right alloy. My main point in working with these is to develop an alloy that i can use up to magnum type velocities from my revolvers and still possibly maintain some good integrity. I am not discounting the effects of the WFN type bullets, but then again if I can use both that simply doubles the range of uses. Some of the deer in our area are fair sized as well in fact the last two I shot were in the 150-160 pound range. I also want these for hogs as well. If I can get the same or similar performance as to what I get when I use the Remington 200gr SJHP in 41 or their 240gr in 44, or the 180gr Gold Dot in my 10mm i will be a very happy camper.

USSR,
The 45-270 SAA is pictured up above in the blue background pic on the right. It was poured using a 1.5/1.5/97 alloy that for all practical purposes is a 20-1 blend. In that one, I think I used the big pin but it might have been the big one. Either way I have since found they will roll back almost exactly like that Accurate bullet pictured. So I am not using the HP in it right now, but will revisit it as well shortly.