11-30-2012, 01:53 PM
Apologies in advance for two major thoughts in a single post:
First, I know from my own experience with lead bullets in pistols that getting expansion at 1000 ft/sec and below is a challenge. 44 cal bullets cast from wheel weights did not when I shot a lot of jackrabbits as a young gentleman.
A good thing to try is a soft cast bullet at the lower velocity. The caliber doesn't absolutely have to be .264 and the firearm could even be a pistol. The important thing is to determine whether you can get the bullet to expand.
I am reasonably sure that commercial cast bullets will not expand since they use alloys that have yield strengths on the order of 15,000 psi. You, a buddy, or one of our forum participants might need to cast a few with either pure lead or the minimum practicable alloy to get the strength down.
I would start with water as the medium and use gel to verify your findings.
******
If the cast bullet expands at your velocities, I would then suspect the jacket is be too thick in the nose region. Getting thinner jackets might be problematic.
The easiest solution is to ask Hawk to start with shorter jackets with the thinnest available walls so you get more lead exposed at the nose. Too much exposed lead, of course, might lead to dinged noses.
I wonder if Hawk would be able to work with you and arrange for scoring or slitting the jacket over the first 25% of the jacket length.
I can visualize a die to do that with probably one added step in the swaging process.
Another alternative would be to ask them to apply a chamfer to the inside of the jacket so the wall is about 20% of the original thickness where the exposed lead starts and gets to full thickness just behind where the ogive starts. This is more labor intensive and possibly not a better solution.
******
Other, more complicated, solutions like deep hollowpoints or large diameter plastic tips can be tried but...
First, I know from my own experience with lead bullets in pistols that getting expansion at 1000 ft/sec and below is a challenge. 44 cal bullets cast from wheel weights did not when I shot a lot of jackrabbits as a young gentleman.
A good thing to try is a soft cast bullet at the lower velocity. The caliber doesn't absolutely have to be .264 and the firearm could even be a pistol. The important thing is to determine whether you can get the bullet to expand.
I am reasonably sure that commercial cast bullets will not expand since they use alloys that have yield strengths on the order of 15,000 psi. You, a buddy, or one of our forum participants might need to cast a few with either pure lead or the minimum practicable alloy to get the strength down.
I would start with water as the medium and use gel to verify your findings.
******
If the cast bullet expands at your velocities, I would then suspect the jacket is be too thick in the nose region. Getting thinner jackets might be problematic.
The easiest solution is to ask Hawk to start with shorter jackets with the thinnest available walls so you get more lead exposed at the nose. Too much exposed lead, of course, might lead to dinged noses.
I wonder if Hawk would be able to work with you and arrange for scoring or slitting the jacket over the first 25% of the jacket length.
I can visualize a die to do that with probably one added step in the swaging process.
Another alternative would be to ask them to apply a chamfer to the inside of the jacket so the wall is about 20% of the original thickness where the exposed lead starts and gets to full thickness just behind where the ogive starts. This is more labor intensive and possibly not a better solution.
******
Other, more complicated, solutions like deep hollowpoints or large diameter plastic tips can be tried but...