Thread: Improving 45-70 ammo with a mandrel

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I would say the modification of 2nd one was just about perfect,because you have managed to transpher some of the energy...it has to go somewhere....it must have slowed down somewhat quicker than the other..... now to find a real test of them..wallabies are good LOL.....

@Micky Duck Yes but maybe a slightly smaller diameter hole. 4mm rather than 6mm might make a difference

The 6mm hole was nearly all of the flat area of the nose so might have been excessive
But it does prove the point that the hard cast is very hard and might need just a little encouragement to expand

Then entirely suitable for wallabies and fallow deer

but at one point it would have been MORE than 6mm...eg when mushroom was ongoing...... before the petals (if you like) broke off....

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

but at one point it would have been MORE than 6mm...eg when mushroom was ongoing...... before the petals (if you like) broke off....

Yes I guess so
There would be a huge expansion zone somewhere inside the animal and then the complete penetration of what ever remains of the shank

All the bullets shot to the exact same point of aim with the same powder load, so its horses for courses i guess
Solids for reds
Small hollow point for fallow
Big hollow point for wallabies

You could soften up your lead mix a bit a slow down your speed and it may be a lot better ,I did some experiments with my Gould butter today put up a picture.

I put a bb from my 20g in the end and with 10 gn of trail boss caught it in the 5th 3L milk bottle at 20 yards , tried it again at 30 yards and it went through 7 bottles and I did not catch it , would say it did not open , would be easy to work out powder charge V distance for it to open and not lose the top of the hollow point , give or take a bit .

Originally Posted by Gur1

You could soften up your lead mix a bit a slow down your speed and it may be a lot better ,I did some experiments with my Gould butter today put up a picture.

13 or 14 should be good for most uses yeah?

Got out and tested the clear coat pc bullets that I gave a minor to medium crimp to. Also used a .457" sizer, 2 minor coats of powder, gas check and .459" sizer to finish.
Very happy with the results. Btw the checks help put a .459" bullet in a .454" neck without bellmouthing it at all. No loss of coat either so that alone is worth the gas check imo.
I've just got a old chrony but it's results were average and workable to leave as is (for 200y plinking)
50m overcast
1.1749
2.1797
3.1742 results 1" high.
100m bright sunshine
4.Error (me)
5.1920
6.1976 results .925" low
200m also bright sunshine
7.error (target too high)
8.1843
9.1935 results 15" drop. The calcs gave 1824fts, 105y zero and a bc of .278 G1




The 438gn did great out to 100m and its average over 9 shots plus the verified fall of shot gave me 1720fts , a zero of 65y and a bc of roughly .2 G1

The vertical string was 5 white 350gn with firm crimps shot as fast as I could load them. I guess they started at the top and dropped fast as the barrel went hotter. The test over all was mainly to see that the coatings worked fine and pressure was ok. I'll do some 5 shot groups to confirm but I just wanted something to feed into the app for now

Originally Posted by T.FOYE

The vertical string was 5 white 350gn with firm crimps shot as fast as I could load them. I guess they started at the top and dropped fast as the barrel went hotter. The test over all was mainly to see that the coatings worked fine and pressure was ok. I'll do some 5 shot groups to confirm but I just wanted something to feed into the app for now

The vert string would suggest a bedding issue or slightly too much powder

Originally Posted by T.FOYE

The vertical string was 5 white 350gn with firm crimps shot as fast as I could load them. I guess they started at the top and dropped fast as the barrel went hotter. The test over all was mainly to see that the coatings worked fine and pressure was ok. I'll do some 5 shot groups to confirm but I just wanted something to feed into the app for now

The vert string would suggest a bedding issue or slightly too much powder