LSWC Bullet idea

[BillCA]

This just came to me the other night while reading about various calibers, loads and JHP performance.

One problem with LSWC bullets, historically, has been their propensity to lead up the bore. If you make them harder, they don't expand. Make them soft, such as the Remington .38 Special 158gr LSWC-HP +P and they can quickly lead up the bore.

Speer and others have half-jacketed LSWC bullets in the past, but typically the lead is fairly hard when compared to the "FBI load" or a swaged LSWC. And with the Speer half-jacket, I've seen the end result looking like a wadcutter because the HP nose expanded then sheered off where the jacketing started.

So the question is...

Could a LSWC be made in two parts?

• The base, made from hard-cast lead would have a hollow opening about 75% of its length. This hollow opening would be hex-shaped or have a spline shape (like a Torx bolt).
• The HP nose would be swaged from lead rod of an appropriate hardness (but still soft enough to expand). The shape, in profile, would be the nose & shoulder of a LSWC and below the shoulder would be a "tail" sized for the opening in the base.
• Assembly would involve pressing the softer lead into the base, perhaps with some kind of bonding agent. A final sizing operation would be necessary to ensure consistent results.

This would give you a LSWC capable of being driven faster than a swaged bullet, but the HP nose would expand like a swaged bullet. Obviously separation of the two pieces needs to be avoided.

Other than it'd be more expensive than a standard LSWC, the performance could be excellent for self-defense ammo.

Is this idea all wet? Too goofy? Pie in the sky? Anyone know if it's ever been tried?

 

[Jim Watson]

Been done several ways.

1. Lyman made bullet moulds for a hard base with a socket and a soft nose with a shank to be epoxied together.

2. LBT made a lead pot that would deliver a measured dolop of pure lead to form a soft nose, the mould then to be IMMEDIATELY filled with hard alloy to form a base.

3. Somebody made a mould for soft nose sections to be inserted into the standard mould and hard lead poured in after it.

Bond quality for the sections was spotty by any means.

4. The old time muzzleloading slug guns had projectiles made the other way. A soft base and a hard nose were swaged together so the base could set up and obturate under firing pressure without the nose being deformed by the ramrod or slumping under firing inertia.

I guess you could set up equipment to do it, but you would have to provide good bullets for less money than JHPs which really work quite well already.

 

[Tom2]

Have you ever thought of casting bullets made for a gas check base with a softer lead alloy? A good lube and the copper gas check might combine to reduce or stop leading while being able to drive the bullet to a reasonable velocity. A large hollow point cavity would be helpful with expansion in any case I suppose. Oh, I have some boxes of the discontinued Federal Nyclads for a 38. I suppose they are pretty soft lead inside that nylon coating. They are claimed to expand pretty good.

 

[Jim Watson]

Buffalo Bore sells ammunition with a gas checked soft hollowpoint. Don't know how well it works to prevent leading but how many gunfights do you get into anyhow? A cylinder full and a couple of speedloaders ought to see you through.

Practice with hardcast the same weight and velocity. There was one group going to a lot of trouble to not just match ballistics between business and practice ammo, but to duplicate the subjective feel of the shot.

 

[dakotashooter2]

Bullet casters with far more experience than I will recommend this:

Drop a measured amount of "soft" lead into the nose of the mold.
Now most likely the lead will harden before a harder lead can be poured on top so the trick is to continue to heat the mould to keep the soft lead molten then fill with the harder lead. This will allow the 1/2s to sucessfully "bond".