Ever seen a bullet do this?

[boatbum101]

4.6 grs of Bullseye with a swaged 200gr bullet is on the warm side . For Bulleye I use the Zero swaged 200SWC with either 3.6grs VVN-310 or 3.8grs Bullseye . If you need the speed a cast or jacketed will hold up a whole lot better . 4.5grs of Bullseye with a Nosler 185 JHP or Zero 185 JHP are very accurate target loads that avg 780fps from a 5" Govt 1911 .

 

[4barrel]

I think post #2 hit it. What about if it fired and the cylinder went out of time shooting double action? That would make the bullet leave the case and start into the forcing cone making the nose like that. I saw a model 27 do that but it didn't hit the primer. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxI have changed my mine on the bullet coming out of the case after blowing the photo up.

 

[k22fan]

I think post #2 hit it. What about if it fired and the cylinder went out of time shooting double action? That would make the bullet leave the case and start into the forcing cone making the nose like that. I saw a model 27 do that but it didn't hit the primer.

Quoting the original post:

[...] I opened the cylinder and found the bullet still in the case, [...]

The bullet did not move forward so it was not deformed by hitting anything.

 

[fredj338]

I'm on the side of the split case theory - at least for now. To melt that much lead the powder must have ignited and discharged the gasses forward. If the powder ignited in a closed chamber the bullet would have left the case. This looks like burning powder without enough pressure to cause the bullet to exit. We all know that it takes very little pressure, say a primer charge with no powder, to push a bullet out of the case just to get stuck in the forcing cone or barrel. Defective bullet? I suppose that is possible, but seems rather unlikely. The most obvious answer is often the best. What does the brass look like?

Edit: Someone will probably refute this theory any minute, which will cause me to swear off giving my opinion on the forum after my first shot of Kentucky's finest - until next time

Edit #2 - I went back and read the OP. Funny smelling Bullseye? Hmmm?

I just dont see this as possible. The lead needs 600deg or so to melt & not for the micro secon of a powder burn, which might not even reach 600deg.

 

[Speedo2]

I agree with the split case scenario as being a likely contributor to this oddity. The OP said that it sounded a bit odd, but the deformed bullet remained; very weird. I can only see that happening from gasses escaping from a cylinder that was oversized for a split case. Could we see some photos of the case? -s2

 

[pacecars]

Well part of the bullet went somewhere. It is 59 grains lighter so the rest of the bullet is either in the barrel or it went down range

 

[k22fan]

Split cases.

Many moons ago the big city police range sold us 50 .38 special 148 grain wadcutter reloads in a brown paper lunch bag for $3 on the condition that we returned the empties. They used electric loading presses that allowed the operator to put his feet up and watch a ball game while they cranked out reloads. Initially I did not shoot the ones that had longitudinal case splits. They swapped them for good looking cartridges. After a while for my $3 they handed me a bag containing 50 cartridges with split cases and told me if I came back claiming they did not shoot as well they would give another bag of good ones for free. They shot just fine. Accuracy was not affected. Most or all of us who reload have discarded cases that split during the final time we used them. I'm not buying the theory that a split case was responsible for what ever happened.

 

[Engineer1911]

Lead lice or powder worms degrading the bullet. One of Reloading's mysteries.

 

[DancesWithMoonclips]

Just getting back to this. No split in the case. At least part of that bullet went down range because i saw sand fly on the backstop all six shots. I had a spotter too. There was no barrel obstruction but there is fairly heavy leading at the breech end of the barrel.

 

[4barrel]

Quoting the original post:



The bullet did not move forward so it was not deformed by hitting anything.

Looking at the photo the fired bullet appears to be a lot smaller in diameter. The bullet should measure .452 but if it measures even .449 it can't stay in a fired case. Now we need to know the diameter of the fired bullet. If the bullet was really soft and the pressure just right it could maybe distort a bullet. I did that to a Remington wad cutter. That is the base of the bullet in the brass. The bullet nose actually hit the 25 yard target. I have some 200 grain loaded with 4.7 of bullseye and I used to shoot 5 grains in bullseye with a Clark Heavy slide. 4.5 is my best target load with a 200. Heavy leading is a bullet lube problem or <probably not> the wrong size. The gun is telling you it don't like those bullets at that speed. I shoot a lot of 4 grains at 25 with a soft bullet in 45 acp. The bullet could have had an air pocket?

 

[k22fan]

Looking at the photo the fired bullet appears to be a lot smaller in diameter. The bullet should measure .452 but if it measures even .449 it can't stay in a fired case. Now we need to know the diameter of the fired bullet. If the bullet was really soft and the pressure just right it could maybe distort a bullet. I did that to a Remington wad cutter. That is the base of the bullet in the brass. The bullet nose actually hit the 25 yard target. I have some 200 grain loaded with 4.7 of bullseye and I used to shoot 5 grains in bullseye with a Clark Heavy slide. Heavy leading is a bullet lube problem or <probably not> the wrong size.

In my reply #23 above I quoted the original poster's statement that his bullet did not move out of the case. I'm taking him at his word. You are arguing that what he wrote occurred is not possible.

In my reply #13 above I wrote about my own experience blowing the noses off soft swaged hollow base wadcutters so I'm aware that can happen.

In his latest reply the original poster added that a piece of his bullet hit the back stop. With a solid base bullet I think that would only be possible if the bullet was swaged out of two pieces of lead. One piece left first venting the gas before the heavier piece moved. Could the piece that left first have been attached to the heavier piece at the nose firmly enough to stretch the nose into a point before separating without dragging the heavier piece out of the case?

 

[4barrel]

I am on his side. There was a lot of flame like a torch or over charge of powder? And if the soft bullet had not split damaged the gun? I watch a lot of Murder She Wrote -We will figure this out. I will tune in tomorrow. Magnum or rifle primer?

 

[PPCSHOOTER]

Possibly a tiny split in the brass that opened?

YEP , MY BET ALSO

 

[jimmyj]

Possible this case was not crimped thus allowing the gases to by pass the bullet ?

 

[oysterer]

The fastest powder with the softest bullet....

 

[max503]

My guess is there was a lamination in the bullet, making, in effect, a two-part projectile. The front went flying and the rear piece stayed put.
During the swaging process, two pieces of lead got into the swaging cavity instead of just one piece of lead. This would have left an unglued boundary between the two pieces. One flew off. The other stayed in the case.
That long point puzzles me. Maybe the two pieces of lead were partially connected and when one flew off it stretched the piece that stayed put.

Just my imagination.

 

[stansdds]

Never seen anything like that before. It looks like the bullet is collapsed on one side. Then there is that long spire. Just bizarre.

 

[torizus]

Did you by any chance happen to dip your fingers in some sulfuric acid or maybe were enjoying some super hot salsa & chips while loading and didn't see the eventual melt down....

or..you got one really sick seating stem in that die.

 

[mtgianni]

If the brass split, was the chamber so loose that it allowed it to move? I can see split cases effecting bullet pull but not without some forward motion of the bullet.

 

[rwsmith]

Or....

I am on his side. There was a lot of flame like a torch or over charge of powder? And if the soft bullet had not split damaged the gun? I watch a lot of Murder She Wrote -We will figure this out. I will tune in tomorrow. Magnum or rifle primer?

...Forensic Files. I can hear the theme music.

Let's remember that the powder is suspect. I believe that Bullseye has a lot of nitroglycerin, If that had come out of the substrate and become unstable....? It may have been more of an explosion than a powder burn.