45 Caliber 525 Grain Lead Hollow Point

This bullet was cast of pure lead, and provided by 52Bore. He wrote the following in another thread.

Lyman 451114 mold number, it was made for the Parker Hale Volunteer rifles - 1:20 twist with Alex Henry or few with John Rigby rifling.,.......
Years ago, JD asked if I'd make him a hunting bullet with HP for his custom Encore. I told him to find this mold and I'd make it into a HP, we were at Friendship and he came back a few hours later that day with the mold. Never dreamed it would be the shooting projectile it is.. It has shot well in his custom 1:18 Krieger barreled Encore (he sizes them to 0.450"), Knight 1:20's and 1:18's (which are about 0.451"-shot as cast), numerous GM 1:18 barreled guns. All shooting about the same BP load.

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The standard test is a powder load of 80g Blackhorn, shot at carpet, plywood, and water jugs. Range was 26 yard.



























The photo shows the test about 1/4 second after impact. The amount of water the bullet tossed into the air is awe inspiring. The bullet blew the top third of the first two jugs out and away, as it toasted them. The bullet was caught by the fourth jug. It weighs 516.5 grain. The mushroom is a strong 15/16" diameter at the widest.











Following, is a photo of the bullet removed from a buck killed a few years ago, out 429 yard. It was found just under the hide on the off side, after penetrating both shoulder. It is my understanding the powder charge was 90g Swiss 2F.

NICE as expected. I find myself wondering how much of a difference that hollowpoint makes in the performance of that bullet.

That water pic is amazing!!! :yeah: The big (softer) lead sure is consistent!

How long is that bullet?

That bullet is some longer than 1 3/8".

flounder said:

NICE as expected. I find myself wondering how much of a difference that hollowpoint makes in the performance of that bullet.

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If you look close at the bullet from the buck it still has lube in the grooves at the base. Awesome job on your experiments

Impressive!

If my very rough calculations are correct, that bullet drop at 429 yds is somewhere between 13-16 feet and still had over a 1000ft/lbs of energy left.

That is one fantastic bullet! Did you see any evidence of blow by or bulging of the primer?

One can see a small amount of soot on the end of the one primer, which indicates a small amount of blow by. Very little if any leakage through the primers is visible. Both primers came out using finger nails. The flame channel has been enlarged to 5/32", which probably helped.

Here's a comment from Doc's web site on Hollow Point bullets.

Why doesn’t White make a Hollow Point in the Power Punch line of bullets. Wouldn’t they be quite effective?

I’ve always thought that the best of both lead bullet and hollow point worlds would be a long heavy lead hollow point. This type of bullet was very popular during the late 1800’s when Gould was promoting their use in his magazine ‘Fur Fish and Game’. (became Sports Afield later) The Winchester 330 gr hollow point bullet for 45/70 was named after him and was said to be very effective. I tried it in a 45-120 on bear once and the bear went down as if pole-axed. I mean suddenly dead with a chest shot. I have tried similar bullets on other game including moose, (500 gr HP in that instance) and all are sudden killers. They work well because the hollow point expands explosively, blowing a big hole in the animal with lots of hydrostatic shock, while the heavy rear end plows on through, exiting the other side. The issue is the hollow point. Those old time bullets were cast, with a near half inch deep hollow point, something modern industrial swedging techniques can’t do. So its either cast them or swedge them and either swedge them again or drill them, both requiring a second operation and increased cost. I’ve been promoting this type of bullet for years with the White Company, but without success as they are afraid of the costs blunting sales. Frankly I think they would be a resounding success (look at how well Hydra-Con is doing) but I don’t have control of the issue, I can only recommend. DOC

I have to say - it looks bad with some of the grease missing in the grooves..
Glad to see your test vs an actual recovered bullet - maybe the shoulder bones are slightly harder than your plywood as the recovered bullet seems to be compressed bit more. Remember it already traveled over 400yds..

I think the performance of your test shows SOFT lead bullets, whether they be HP or Flat nose, seem to perform about the same (mushroom & weight retention). The only thing I can see is the heavier - the more it penetrates.
Taking the 525HP (5 jugs) and ED's 465FN (4 jugs), and the 380HP (3 jugs) - you've actually witnessed these test and can comment on your thoughts.

Here is the 525HP, Lyman 451114 - Volunteer mold flat nose and Ed's 465.
525HP- 1.400"
Vol - 1.125" (Lyman list this mold as 450gr - that is with a 20:1 alloy)
Ed's - 1.110"

It's amazing how grease/lube and oils off the hands can tarnish a lead bullet.
The 525 was cast 7 years ago and kept in a Styrofoam tray inside a box out.