Filling hollow point bullets

Posted - September 20 2003 : 08:35:29 AM
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J Adams-Am using Permatex silicone adhesive sealant, it was in a smaller more manageable tube. Did some more testing with xtp's, gold dots and golden sabers of various weights (185, 200 230 gn), handloaded slightly below plus p velocitys. Tested from 3 in 45 acp semi (3 rounds each).

Was particulary interested in the 230 gn loadings, where all but one individual (rem GS), failed to expand. The silicone altered rounds all expanded, although the Speer 230 gn expanded somewhat excessively, with one to a full .90 in and limited penetration. Was particulary interested in the 230 gn xtp's and golden sabers, which both expanded seemingly quite well, and maintained some penetration. The Golden sabers expanded back upon them selves, but maintained a good diameter and penetration. The 230 gn GS's closely resembled the results of the RA45Tp's in penetration and expansion.

When get time, will reduce the velocity's further down, as this was one of the original goals of doing this.
 
The Germans filled HP bullets with Mercury in WWI, it's my understanding it was quite effective. It's also a felony in the US, as well as Internationally condemner, so don't try it.

I will never understand restricting something already designed to kill someone. Putting mercury in a HP sounds mean, but I would say shooting it in the first place would be pretty messed up if you had too. What's the point, I figure if i'm shooting at someone they probably deserve to die anyway. Mercury would be a very slow way to kill someone, it would only work if they were wounded.
 
I will never understand restricting something already designed to kill someone. Putting mercury in a HP sounds mean, but I would say shooting it in the first place would be pretty messed up if you had too. What's the point, I figure if i'm shooting at someone they probably deserve to die anyway. Mercury would be a very slow way to kill someone, it would only work if they were wounded.

I read the other post about the chief in a ,"Jaws" movie loading mercury into his ammo for the Combat Masterpiece, if I recall the gun.

I thought at the time I saw the film that this was probably not enough to kill a 25 foot shark. Reading the post about mercury disolving brass and lead makes me even less interested in that technique.

No sharks here, but alligators and cougars and bears in some parts of the state. Offshore, we do have many shark species, of course, including bulls, tigers, and whites.

Mobsters in NYC were rumored to put garlic in bullet noses, figuring it'd cause an infection that would kill a victim if the bullet didn't do that otherwise. Don't know if it worked. If the bullet wasn't a HP, they cut crosses in the nose and pressed in the garlic.
 
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Years ago (I was about 20 or so...) when I was casting bullets, I would occasionally toss a Speer .45 200 gr. JHP 'Flying Ashtray' into the lead furnace, and of course, it's core would immediately melt out, and the jacket float to the surface.

The 'hole' at the front of the jacket was EXACTLY the right size to hold a 209 shotshell primer.
In order to return some lead to the jacket's interior, I would tightly pack it with #12 shot, and leave just enough room to epoxy a 209 primer in place in the front of the bullet.

Would load them in .45 ACP and .45 Colt cases. They were fun to play with and did wondrous things to blocks of wood, clay creekbanks, and water-filled milk jugs.

Sometimes, instead of filling the jacket with the #12 shot, I'd fill it with black powder ground to a flour-like consistency, and then top with the 209 primer. Those were fun, and made a really nice 'flash/pop' on impact with anything.

Yes, I was a strange child.
 
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Only issue I can see with filling HP ammo with anything is that it would have to be evenly dispersed inside otherwise it could cause a wobble and affect accuracy.
 
Its been several decades since I read "The Day of the Jackal", by Frederick Forsyth, but I remember the assassin drilled a hollow cavity deep in the nose of a bullet and put some Mercury in the hole. Then the tip was sealed, perhaps with lead. The idea was that the heavy, liquid Mercury would move forward in the cavity when the bullet hit and slowed down. This was supposed to cause the bullet to fragment in the targets head. He tested one of his bullets on a melon, as I recall, and was happy with the way it "exploded".

rick
 
Its been several decades since I read "The Day of the Jackal", by Frederick Forsyth, but I remember the assassin drilled a hollow cavity deep in the nose of a bullet and put some Mercury in the hole. Then the tip was sealed, perhaps with lead. The idea was that the heavy, liquid Mercury would move forward in the cavity when the bullet hit and slowed down. This was supposed to cause the bullet to fragment in the targets head. He tested one of his bullets on a melon, as I recall, and was happy with the way it "exploded".

rick


That was also an impressive scene in the movie! But we don't know what the cavity consisted of, maybe not lead.

And in fiction and in movies, what you see may not reflect real life facts.
 
A couple of gentle corrections, my friends: SidV, mercury will not dissolve lead or brass, but will amalgamate with them, making the lead into the approximate consistency of fresh window putty, and making the brass brittle.
jakenov3,the Amity sheriff in Jaws 2 put drops of cyanide, not mercury into the HPs for his Combat Masterpiece - equally ineffective.
 
If you filled it with little tiny wood stakes could you kill a vampire shot placement would be key
 
Personally I would like to think that I waste enough time on other avenues, to take perfectly good ammo and try to "improve it" is beyond my comprehension.

Perhaps they could also improve a chicken egg...

"That's all I have to say about that"

terry
 
Personally I would like to think that I waste enough time on other avenues, to take perfectly good ammo and try to "improve it" is beyond my comprehension.

Perhaps they could also improve a chicken egg...

"That's all I have to say about that"

terry


Agree 119% Terry. It is indeed pointless. Quality defensive ammo is currently at the pinnacle of performance and reliability.

My references were what a bored 20 y.o. gun-geek (me) would have done back in about 1977. And my 'mad-scientist' experiments had nothing to do with defense it was all about FUN!
 
Sometimes, instead of filling the jacket with the #12 shot, I'd fill it with black powder ground to a flour-like consistency, and then top with the 209 primer. Those were fun, and made a really nice 'flash/pop' on impact with anything.

On a similar track...
My dad would pull the bullets and dump the powder from 22 Shorts, and refill the cases with Bullseye. The refilled cases would be pressed into HP versions of Lyman's 429244 which he had drilled out, and were then loaded into 44 Magnums. The result, when fired into five-gallon buckets of sifted river sand, was not quite so much sand as there was to begin with, with the addition of many, many tiny slivers of lead.

I'm still not sure just what his intended purpose for these may have been, but he loaded them on occaision for many years.
 
That's great Triple!
Another experiment I did that was fun - I usually had a supply of .22 BB caps made by, IIRC, RWS. The .22" ball could be popped out of the powderless case with a thumbnail. I would pack as much Bullseye in the case as possible, cram the .22" ball back in place. Load into my old SS .22 rifle.
These would do a GREAT job on backyard squirrels! An early, miniature 'Stinger'!
 
Squires-Bingham marketed the "Exploder" round in the early 80's using this idea. I tried some in a .44 Special Charter Arms Bulldog which was all the rage for CCW at the time. Wasn't too effective on anything soft, but if you shot a cinder block it would pop. Not really all that impressive, but it would ignite.

P1010009.jpg
 

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