Due to the lead free regs here in CA, I'm working on a cast bullet design with the Rotometals lead free alloy for my .45 with a 1:48 twist. While roundball shoots fine, the alloy casts at only 109 grains in .440. I'm sure that would still punch through a deer. But it's so light that I doubt how effective it would be much past about 50 yards -- especially if I hit bone. So I've been working on getting a cast conical bullet option and have had some promising results with cloth patched .430s. The alloy is very hard and performs like hardcast lead, just at about 87% of the weight. There is no deformation -- all punch and no expansion. The last range session was focused on getting the Lee .429-200 to work just to prove the concept. That has been accomplished -- it's shootable. Now, it's about refinement & load development. I plan to order a custom mould and can use some help with design details.
While a wadcutter design would probably be best at short range, they lose speed quickly, like round ball. And with a conical, that means instability past about 50 yards. Because of the 1:48 twist, the bullet length needs to be no longer than 0.6" though something closer to 0.5" would be better. That limits the weight to something between 165-200 grains in lead. So a compromise has to be reached on the design that allows for a bit more aerodynamic profile but without sacrificing too much of the meplat or the weight. Ideally, I'd like the bullet to still be stable out at 100 yards, though I doubt I'd be taking a shot out that far on live animals. 75-80 yards will be my most likely max. The Lee 429-200 has a meplat measuring about 0.27". I've read in a few places that meplats over 0.3" are where things start to ramp up on the terminal end of things and small increases from there can really improve the damage they create. I've only used wadcutters to hunt with small caliber airguns and really like how much more damage they do compared with round noses. So I'm interested if anybody else has had experience hunting with wide meplat designs and whether they found that 0.3" figure is meaningful or just a loose guideline.
During my range sessions, I've also noticed that the Lee 429-200, with its 0.27" meplat, shows a smaller hole in the target compared with roundball. It's a subtle difference. But small changes in diameter have big effects on total area and, I'd suspect, on terminal performance. Once again, I'm curious to know if anybody can attest to any noticeable difference between hardcast roundball and hardcast conicals with sub-0.3" meplats.
And to add one more question to the mix, what other bullet designs might be a better compromise than a round nose flat point? I've heard some good and some bad about truncated cones & semi wadcutters. Are these just going to give me the same ballistics and terminal results as a round nose with a smaller meplat? If you had to choose a short hardcast bullet for your deer hunting needs, under 180 grains in weight, what would be your choice in nose design?
While a wadcutter design would probably be best at short range, they lose speed quickly, like round ball. And with a conical, that means instability past about 50 yards. Because of the 1:48 twist, the bullet length needs to be no longer than 0.6" though something closer to 0.5" would be better. That limits the weight to something between 165-200 grains in lead. So a compromise has to be reached on the design that allows for a bit more aerodynamic profile but without sacrificing too much of the meplat or the weight. Ideally, I'd like the bullet to still be stable out at 100 yards, though I doubt I'd be taking a shot out that far on live animals. 75-80 yards will be my most likely max. The Lee 429-200 has a meplat measuring about 0.27". I've read in a few places that meplats over 0.3" are where things start to ramp up on the terminal end of things and small increases from there can really improve the damage they create. I've only used wadcutters to hunt with small caliber airguns and really like how much more damage they do compared with round noses. So I'm interested if anybody else has had experience hunting with wide meplat designs and whether they found that 0.3" figure is meaningful or just a loose guideline.
During my range sessions, I've also noticed that the Lee 429-200, with its 0.27" meplat, shows a smaller hole in the target compared with roundball. It's a subtle difference. But small changes in diameter have big effects on total area and, I'd suspect, on terminal performance. Once again, I'm curious to know if anybody can attest to any noticeable difference between hardcast roundball and hardcast conicals with sub-0.3" meplats.
And to add one more question to the mix, what other bullet designs might be a better compromise than a round nose flat point? I've heard some good and some bad about truncated cones & semi wadcutters. Are these just going to give me the same ballistics and terminal results as a round nose with a smaller meplat? If you had to choose a short hardcast bullet for your deer hunting needs, under 180 grains in weight, what would be your choice in nose design?
