Something i found while moving out....

[hardhit777]

Hey guys i recently moved out of my parents home due to them getting devorced. While i was getting my guns out of our gun room my dad comes in and asked me if i wanted these .357 rounds that he had in his closet. Well he doesn't have a .357. However i do, so i said i would take them. He went to get them and when he got back i was suprised to see what kind of bullets he had in his hand.




I don't know when he got these but there are 9 of them out of 12 left. Judging by the way the foam has adhered to the cases i would say many moons ago. I don't know what to do with them Think Don at the boxOtruth would want them to test out on some ballistic jello????

Andrew

 

[Winger Ed.]

Nahh,,, the jello would catch them and not give enough resistance to make them explode like a .50BMG 'spotter round' or somewhat similar effect.

You'll need to shoot 'em against something hard to get them to detonate.

.

 

[Roccobro]

Sell 'em to the ammo collectors. That would make a few peoples day!

Justin

 

[hardhit777]

what would be a reasonable price for these bullets? When did the stop making them? and where can i find out some more information about them? I would like to know more about them.

Andrew

 

[Chindo18Z]

"Exploder" was the marketing name used by Bingham Ltd (Atlanta, GA) for their explosive tipped bullets around late 70's.

I visited their office/warehouse in 1978 (with a family member of the owner) and was shown a lot of their toys. They dealt in volume Class III. At that time they had bought almost every bit of stock from Mitch Werbell's closed operation and had SIONIC suppressors and MAC (Ingram) SMGs stacked to the ceiling of a large warehouse.

Ammo was a sideline.

Exploder was simply factory "new" loads put together from (generally) quality reload components (bullets, brass, primers).

The common feature was use of a bullet with as large of a hollowpoint as would fit a magnum pistol/rifle primer. This was inserted into the hollowpoint and covered with a dollup of (literally) fingernail polish.

There was a .22LR version (using smaller primers) which was used by John Hinkley in his attempted assassination of President Reagan. IIRC, they were marketed as Devastators.

The entire line was a moneymaker (low production cost) with a huge markup and profit for Bingham Ltd.. They were somewhat gimmicky, detonation was problematic, and lethality was questionable when they did (shallow penetration).

On the other hand, watch the Reagan shooting video clip sometime. The results (.22 LR in that case) were actually pretty decisive.

Bingham was shortly thereafter forced out of business after numerous audits and investigations by the BATF...go figure.

The rounds you have are of interest to cartridge collectors of the sort who covet Super-Vel, old Glasers, Nyclads, AP, etc.

See: http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=87273988#PIC

 

[Magnum.35744]

That's interesting. I thought explosive bullets are illegal? Or am I hearing the wrong story?

 

[NORTEXED]

I found a few rounds of those in a box of "assorted" .45 acp rounds I've had forever. I think I bought them in 77-78 also, and was not impressed. Mine are loaded in actual Super-Vel cartridges, probably the fastest factory HP at the time.

 

[bannockburn]

Actually Lee Jurras, who was Super Vel's president, began making light weight, high velocity ammunition in the mid '60's. He was probably the only high performance ammo maker in the U.S., though it often was on a very limited scale when compared to the likes of Remington, Winchester, and Federal. He was very much ahead of his time with his research and development of high performance ammo, utilizing advanced designs in jacketed hollow point bullets to maximize their expansion capabilities. Unfortunately, ever rising costs for nearly all of the outsourced components that went into his ammo, forced Jurras to close Super Vel operations at the end of 1975. I still have some 9mm. and .45 Super Vel ammo, and while it's performance has been surpassed by any number of manufacturers these days, it was still some pretty hot stuff in its day.

 

[NORTEXED]

bannockburn, how true, just think what he could do today with bullets and powders available. I always thought the majors kinda scoffed at him, but he was the grandfather of the self defense loads we carry today.

 

[massglockman]

well thats a pleasent suprise thats how it always happens