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Post by tinkerpearce on Jul 4, 2019 19:26:20 GMT -5
We had an editing error here and the original post was basically lost.
So- I bought a bunch of 125gr. LRN 125gr bullets for 9mm/.38. Tried them in .38 S&W, because sometimes cast bullets will bump up to the .361 bore of these guns. No luck. OK, I'll use them in .38 Special. Still getting bullets tumbling, even as close as five yards. Bullets Mic at .356, so this shouldn't be an issue. Can't see anything wrong with the bullets, but what can you do?
The good news is the ones I swaged into .361" semi-wadcutters work a treat through my .38 S&W guns. I'll swage the remaining stock and use them for that, so it won't be a total waste, but it's baffling.
OK, that's the essentials reconstituted.
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Post by bigbrowndog on Jul 4, 2019 19:42:31 GMT -5
I had some 9mm cast that were the same way, I tried them in 4-6 different guns, no luck. To this day they make good slingshot ammo.
Trapr
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Post by bradshaw on Jul 4, 2019 22:53:56 GMT -5
I got a bargain on some cast 125gr. RNL. They Mic to .356, so good for 9mm or .38 Special, right? Yeah, you might think so... Bullets this diameter will often 'bump up' to .361 when fired in a .38 S&W, so I tried these. No dice- half the bullets keyholed at seven yards. OK, too hard to expand to engage the rifling. It was an off-chance anyway. I'll just load them in .38 Special. I'm sure it will be fine. Loaded 100 over a slightly peppy load of Unique and fired them through my Astra Police, which is normally a very accurate revolver. Nope nope nope. At 25 yards half of them missed the target, and an examination showed they were tumbling and going all over the place- some were as much as ten inches from point-of-aim. WTF? I've examined them and damned if I can see anything wrong with them. the just don't work. Strange. The good news is the ones I swaged into .361" semi-wadcutters work a treat through my .38 S&W guns. I'll swage the remaining stock and use them for that, so it won't be a total waste, but it's baffling. ***** The bullet could be out of balance and you can’t see it. If the bullet is out of balance AND undersize, it has no chance to fly straight. David Bradshaw |
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nicholst55
.375 Atomic
Retired, twice.
Posts: 1,044
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Post by nicholst55 on Jul 5, 2019 3:26:24 GMT -5
I always slug the bore of any handgun that I am loading for. Sometimes you learn some interesting things. Many 9mm barrels mike .358" groove diameter, rather than the .355-356" you would expect. Many commercial cast bullets are too hard to obturate to seal the grooves in any realistic handgun loads. I may be the only one that didn't already know this, but I thought I'd share anyway.
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Post by sixshot on Jul 5, 2019 11:32:04 GMT -5
You might try heat treating them to draw the hardness down. Many commercial cast bullets are too hard.
Dick
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Post by tinkerpearce on Jul 5, 2019 12:37:45 GMT -5
You might try heat treating them to draw the hardness down. Many commercial cast bullets are too hard. Dick Good suggestion, but I'm just going to swage them all into the SWCs that already work in my .38 S&W. |
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Post by alannadeau on Jul 19, 2019 16:32:22 GMT -5
You might try heat treating them to draw the hardness down. Many commercial cast bullets are too hard. Dick I've never heard of that, how do you do it? |
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Post by sixshot on Jul 19, 2019 23:50:37 GMT -5
Put them in the oven at just below the slump point, I would say something like 375 degrees for 30 minutes for starters. It would help if you had a hardness tester to check them before & after. You can also put one or two in the oven a bit hotter & see what the slump point is & go just below that for starters.
Dick
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Post by sathington on Jul 20, 2019 8:19:07 GMT -5
What's the "slump point", Dick? I'm assuming that's when the bullet starts to deform, but I'm just guessing. Good stuff to know.
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Post by sixshot on Jul 20, 2019 12:24:58 GMT -5
Yes, every kitchen oven, or toaster oven is different so don't trust the dial! Put a bullet or two, or three in there & set the dial for 375 or 400 degrees & give it 30 minutes or so & see if the bullets start to slump (melt) this gives you an idea of your alloy's "slump" point & how high you can go. You want to be below this point. Some guys go to this point & then water quench for maximum hardness. After several days their bullets are up in the 25-30 BHN range. And if the alloy is correct those bullets might not be brittle, depends on how much antimony you have on board!
Dick
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Post by sixshot on Jul 20, 2019 16:30:38 GMT -5
The bullets do need to be standing up to do the slump test.
Dick
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Post by whiterabbit on Jul 21, 2019 0:31:45 GMT -5
Sometimes a bullet is just crap... Yeah, usually the one I am trying to make work. (I'm not really helping here, other than to empathize) |
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