Hollowpoints

[GH1]

I've been thinking of converting some of my .358 SWC rounds into hollowpoint, will this make a better deer round?  If so, what diameter & depth should the hole be?
GH1

[jhalcott]

  Why would the HP be better than a SWC?  I prefer a large meplat on MY hunting bullets. A HP will also lower the bullet weight ,POSSIBLY limiting penetration. Your CAST bullet will have to be made a little SOFTER to ensure expansion. Say air cooled wheel weight instead of Lyman#2 alloy. Mind you , this is ALL just MY opinion. The fact that it takes longer to make a batch of HP than a batch of SWC's only due to the fact that I've NEVER seen a six cavity HP mold! IF the gun is a .357 mag revolver, the trade offs may not be beneficial. Especially on DEER sized game.

[hornady]

Forster makes a Universal hollow pointer for cast rifle and pistol bullets, Mid-way sells them for about $15.00 a set, they use a 1/8 inch drill for pistol and 1/16 for rifle, the debate on Hollow points in cast bullets for Hunting has gone on for years, personally I use a Lyman mold 358156 this is a Gas checked mold, I use a softer alloy for hunting bullets with this mold , without hollow points, I get good penetration, bullet retention, with moderate expansion.

[GH1]

I don't cast my own so I'm at the mercy of my boolit vendor.  I really don't know if HP is better than solid, that's why I thought I'd throw the question out there.  It now seems to me it's kinda like asking if Coke is beter than Pepsi.
GH1

[stimpylu32]

I don't cast my own so I'm at the mercy of my boolit vendor.  I really don't know if HP is better than solid, that's why I thought I'd throw the question out there.  It now seems to me it's kinda like asking if Coke is beter than Pepsi.
GH1

Boy you got that one right  , myself I like a big - flat nosed bullet for hunting , never worried too much about expantion as long as I had a BIG hole going all the way thru both lungs .

stimpy

[Lloyd Smale]

Im a fan of good old swcs and lfns and have killed alot of game with them and have never lost an animal hit with one but ive also used cast hps on game and have a few opinions on them too. I think that on thin skinned game like deer they actually do kill quicker. Not deader mind you but quicker. Cast out of the right alloy they are just as good on animals like hogs and black bear too but on those the alloy has to be right. Ive shot a couple real big animals with hp cast and although i did end up eating them i dont think id again use a cast hp for an amimal larger then 500 lbs. Another bit aspect to this is what caliber your using. For the most part the smaller the caliber the more hps make sense and the bigger you go the poorer they perform. I think a man hunting with a 357 or 41 mag is well served by a cast hp but ive seen buffalo rams and pigs shot with 475 and 500 linebaughs using cast hps where the bullet failed miserably. We shot one buffalo 4 times with 500s using hps the most pentration we saw was about 8 inches. I think what happens is when your using a bullet that big to start with and then make it expand to about an inch in diameter it just becomes a big parachute and there just isnt enough velocity behind it in a handgun to make it punch in deap. the 44s and 45s fall in the middle here and again its all about the alloy and the size of the hp cavity vs velocity. Make it go 200 fps faster or slower and the size of the cavity and alloy needed change drasticaly and the only way to know is to test your bullets. To just take any old hp mold and cast them out of whats in the pot and expecting them to perform is a crap shoot. Thats why for the most part lfns and swcs are just more reliable and easier to work with for the average cast bullet shooter and like i said dead is dead

[GH1]

I'm thinking I'll just stick with cast SWC rounds.
GH1

[Dezynco]

I totally agree with Lloyd Smale.

I use a flat point, gas checked  bullet in my 375 Winchester for deer hunting.  The combination of velocity (1800-1900fps) and the wide flat point deliver plenty of shock and a quick kill.  As a matter of fact, the only deer I ever lost after a hit was with 180 grain jacketed hollow points from a 44 mag at about 25 yards.  I guess the bullet shattered upon impact.  I tracked it for over a mile!

I cast all of my bullets with wheel weights.