Proposal for HB conical bullet for 36 cal. revolver

[TheOutlawKid]

I have a design that is like a tapered REAL bullet..but for .36 cal and with a wider meplat. Its only 130 grains but its a hard hitter. One thing i would have changed is smaller lube grooves. My design has huge grooves...wide and deep. Such large lube grooves arent needed for such a short barrel. I saw no difference when using the same exact lube but in a bullet with a smaller lube groove. Now if used in a rifle with a long barrel then that is a different story, not so for a revolver with a barrel that's 8 inches or shorter. Some folks swear by big lube bullets and theyre great...but the large deep lube grooves in my testing werent necessary compared to a bullet with lube grooves such as the one mr.rodwha posted/designed...but again this is in revolvers...rifles is a whole different case and the more lube the better. Also the lube type makes a huge difference, some lube types require more and others less to achieve the results wanted. Heres my REAL type design next to a Kaido conical.
Again...if i could remake the mold id choose shallower lube grooves to add more weight to the bullet.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Or perhaps a bit shorter?

 

[Onty]

I considered suggestion about longer portion of the bullet inside cylinder for easier loading:



Please let me know your opinion, especially about main dia. FYI, weight will be 140 gains. Should I go bit more, like 150 or even 160 grains?

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Or perhaps a bit shorter?

I would go shorter but it will sacrifice weight...i want to stay around the 135-140 grain weight. The shortest bullet i have is .480 and weighs about 138 grains i think..its a designed based on the old molds sold with Remington guns....looks like the pointed colt cartridge works bullet only without a lube groove..i also gave it a wide flat meplat. The .480 height allows me to still be able to put 22-25 grains under the bullet....which with an energetic powder is all that is needed to make a stout yet accurate load. I think if i shortened the REAL type bullet i would bring it down to maybe .470-.480 and make the lube grooves a shallower and maybe even make the grooves a little thinner ..id still be able to hit the 135-140 grain weight goal.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

I considered suggestion about longer portion of the bullet inside cylinder for easier loading:

View attachment 985605

Please let me know your opinion, especially about main dia. FYI, weight will be 140 gains. Should I go bit more, like 150 or even 160 grains?

Mr.Onty, how much powder are you going to use? With such a long bullet you have to realize you will be sacrificing powder space...the way it is you may not be able to use more than 15-18 grains. Also accuracy may suffer if the barrel twist rate is too slow for a longer bullet. Although if it were me i would reduce the height of the bottom base band to make it shorter and/or not make it hallow base at all. But if you are insisting on keeping it hollow base...then i would perhaps fill in some of the pointy part of the hollow base that way you get more lead grain weight, maybe even reshape the entire hollow base to be more round and bowl shaped rather than a tall cone shape. This is all just my opinion.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I'm with you on the weight thing, in a Colt or Remington Navy, but I was thinking, as I have this '62 now, that going a bit shorter it might be a better fit with it's short cylinder. (more powder) Also I have found with my '62 is that it's kind of "tight" getting a slug in the chamber of the '62, I really have to "fidget" it in, get the cylinder in just the right position, so it's not canted, so shorter would be good it that regard. In that case, I'd trade a little weight for a shorter length and a bit more powder. It would be kind of specifically for the "Pocket" revolvers I guess, so maybe not worth the effort.

 

[arcticap]

A question related to the overall length and powder charge limit is how much powder would be needed to expand the hollow base?

 

[Onty]

Without any change on front end, to get 138 grains, I managed to reduce OAL to .495":



With bullet hollow base 140 grains, I might lose only few grains of powder, because bullet cavity is the one that compensates volume lost by increased bullet length.

When meplat was increased on ,300" dia, and ogive redesigned, bullet retained 138 grains with .480" OAL.

 

[TheOutlawKid]

A question related to the overall length and powder charge limit is how much powder would be needed to expand the hollow base?

That is a very good question Mr.Articap...i dont really know but im thinking...and this is just me guessing..that atleast 12-15 of high quality powder will do it especially since the tighter fitting conical will help build pressure. But this is just a guess

 

[woodnbow]

That is a very good question Mr.Articap...i dont really know but im thinking...and this is just me guessing..that atleast 12-15 of high quality powder will do it especially since the tighter fitting conical will help build pressure. But this is just a guess

That’s enough oomph to obdurate a solid base bullet like the one Onty just shared. Looks great @Onty !

 

[TheOutlawKid]

That looks almost exactly like a design i had made via accuratemolds.com . it works great and extremely accurate.

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=38-136Z

This one is the same design only with a taller bottom taper to have more space to attach the paper cartridge and a thinner lube groover

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=38-136Y

 

[TheOutlawKid]

Mr.onty...your design is great! Only thing i would change is the bottom of the bullet as you have it at .373..do you know for sure that it will load into your cylinder chamber? For instance ir wouldnt fit into a stock pietta chamber due to the usual size of .367-.368...i would make it smaller and maybe taper it. Perhaps start it at .362 and taper it up just at or a little above chamber diameter? I know your design will be successful! Looks great!

 

[Onty]

Thanks Kid for all inputs. Here are updated models with two different diameters:



After bumping main dia from .378" to .380", I was able to retain 140 grains, and reduce OAL on .580". So, in that respect, loss of powder space should be basically nil when compared with bottom flat bullet.

Regarding Pietta revolver, as you could see dimensions in brackets, everything is reduced for. 008" in dia. The reason for this is machining process that could use same cutter for either size. FYI, cavities are machined on CNC mill by peripheral milling.

 

[Onty]

Heres my REAL type design next to a Kaido conical. View attachment 978061

Sir, those Kaido bullets on left side, they do not look the same. Left one looks like it has rebated dia base. What are their weights? How do they you compare in accuracy with yours?