Gimme back my bullets

[thirty-eight]

My regular backstop was snowed in by mid-winter so I resorted to snowdrift backstops. These melted out of one in the last few days:

.45, .44, and .357. Apparently the bullets "skidded" upon entering the bore; grooves/lands almost straight on one edge and angled on the other. For some reason the alox lube is gone on nearly all, possibly from below-zero temps after shooting? Mid-range loads, no leading, and plenty accurate. Long winter, glad to have them back...

 

[Milt1]

Interesting, thanks for sharing!

 

[mdi]

What's your load, and alloy? Pics look like rifling impressions aren't even, front looks off angled from base. Mebbe soft bullets driven a bit too fast?

 

[barnfrog]

Now I have that song stuck in my head, which is not a bad thing.

 

[Random 8]

The lube did it's job. It liquified as the bullet traveled down your bore, leaving a thin film for the next bullet, and went "poof" in front of your muzzle.

I love shooting into the snowbanks. 1 part hard cast bullets to 4 parts relatively pure lead gives me about a perfect alloy for my shot maker, and they sure are easy to recover.

 

[Hartkopf]

The last few years Texas has seen way above average snow and ice. I’m going to remember this next winter and shoot big fat snow men so I can recover my lead.

 

[Random 8]

Even the Milsurp 147 grain steel core FMJs out of my Mosins come to a gentle rest when fired into snowbanks. They tend to melt down nose up, so need to be careful where I run the riding lawn mower!

 

[N555]

I never thought about using an ice/snow back stop. Looks like it worked great.

 

[Crosshair]

Yea, that's pretty normal to find at the one range I go to.

 

[thirty-eight]

What's your load, and alloy? Pics look like rifling impressions aren't even, front looks off angled from base. Mebbe soft bullets driven a bit too fast?

Mid-range loads, wheel weight alloy. Yes, the grooves in the bullets are wider at the front. It appears that by the time the bullet base reaches the bore's lands, the bullet is no longer skidding. The heaviest, at left, (272 grains) has the most pronounced smearing. They are more accurate than I am. Interesting that all penetrated much less than I would have thought, about three feet. Tough snow.

 

[Walkalong]

It appears that by the time the bullet base reaches the bore's lands, the bullet is no longer skidding

Yep.

 

[jmorris]

The last few years Texas has seen way above average snow and ice. I’m going to remember this next winter and shoot big fat snow men so I can recover my lead.

Back in the mid 80’s we might have had some ponds frozen thick enough to try this but we didn’t have YouTube back then for me to know about it.

 

[doubleh]

The last few years Texas has seen way above average snow and ice. I’m going to remember this next winter and shoot big fat snow men so I can recover my lead.

Just 18 miles west of Texas we had a total of four snowstorms this past winter. If you could have combined all four into one you could have build a snow man big enough to shoot if you worked quickly as it all melted in a hurry. Then your shooting time would have been short after it was finished. That's ideal snow for me. Here and gone in a hurry.

 

[Hartkopf]

Back in the mid 80’s we might have had some ponds frozen thick enough to try this but we didn’t have YouTube back then for me to know about it.

That's neat but I'm sure I would catch one right in the face if I tried that.

 

[Barbaroja]

I love when I can recover my lead!

 

[lightman]

Most bullet casters would be slobbering if they saw that much lead laying on the ground! I used to belong to a range where they shot a lot of Bullseye matches. The berm would look like that after every heavy rain.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

Its what I call spring clean up. Last year I picked up over a gallon of range bullets from one single spot after the snow melted. The funny thing is that people in my neck of the woods are more interested in the brass than the bullets.

 

[Random 8]

My backstop is still intact!

 

[Slamfire]

Used to snow where I live, but never accumulated enough to be a back stop. Always in a couple of days, it melts and turns the ground into wet muck.

I think it is very interesting that your bullets are in as good of shape as they are.

 

[thirty-eight]

6mm Remington from another melted drift. Sierra Pro Hunter #1540, .243 dia. 100 grain spitzer at about 2500 fps. These penetrated the same distance as the revolver pills in post #1 of this thread; only the top center example retained any of its core. Anybody have experience with this bullet on game?

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

My backstop is still intact!

That looks just like beach sand.

 

[sparkyv]

Indeed!

I never thought about using an ice/snow back stop. Looks like it worked great.

 

[Thomasss]

People don't understand internal ballistics. Most won't believe how hot a chamber and barrel gets to melt that alox when the powder ignites.
ANY GUESSES???? Temp and time involved?? Lets see some answers.

 

[GooseGestapo]

6mm Remington from another melted drift. Sierra Pro Hunter #1540, .243 dia. 100 grain spitzer at about 2500 fps. These penetrated the same distance as the revolver pills in post #1 of this thread; only the top center example retained any of its core. Anybody have experience with this bullet on game?
View attachment 1145743

It’s my favorite bullet for deer. The very few I’ve recovered look like the ones you said lost their core. However, most of mine retain the core. They’re usually found just under the hide on the far side of impact.

A cousin of my wife lives in Nova Scotia, CA. He covers an embankment with a plastic tarp. He recovers the bullets at end of winter when the snow melts. Runs them through the melting pot again!

 

[thirty-eight]

It’s my favorite bullet for deer. The very few I’ve recovered look like the ones you said lost their core. However, most of mine retain the core. They’re usually found just under the hide on the far side of impact.

Thanks very much for your reply, deer are in fact my intended game. Though the bullets I show in #20 didn't physically still have the core in them, certainly the core was with the jacket long enough to create the shapes shown. Simply "not bonded" would be a good description. I'll definitely use them...