Some of you who are regulars on some of the bullet making boards will recall that Ive had some questions and concerns about a flat tipped (slightly concave actually) version of my .35 calibre bullet design. Since my bullets have metallic tips, Ive been concerned that the recoil impact in tubular magazines would set off the primers. Here are pictures of my basic design and the flat tipped version. I apologize for the condition of some of these pictures, but it was my first try with a new camera, and the flash made some of them very bright.
The tips, in the configuration I want to make them, have a meplat of .210 inches. This is the exact size of a bullet primer, so I feared that any slightly off-centre impact might set-off the primer ahead of it in the tube.
Last fall I acquired a Winchester 94 AE in .356 Winchester which, I believe, is the most powerful .35 calibre cartridge chambered in a rifle with a tubular magazine.
The test I contrived was to load live primers in .356 brass with my bullets to a weight sufficient to simulate a loaded cartridge, and then load them in the magazine and fire live rounds in the rifle, examining the dummy rounds to see if there was any damage to the primers or primer detonation. I was of the opinion that with the primer being the only combustible, that even if detonation occurred, the effect would be minimal presenting no danger to myself as shooter or the gun. I also surmised that the heavier the cartridge over-all weight, the greater the recoil impact and greater the possibility of detonation.
Since the maximum bullet weight shown for the .356 is shown as 250 grains, and a maximum powder charge is around 50 grains, I decided to swage 300 grain flat tip bullets for this experiment. I also decided to roll a cannelure on them in order to make the case/bullet co0mbination as solid as possible thus increasing the possibility of detonation. In the first picture, youll notice that the cannelure appears to be way too far forward on the bullet, but I did this to accommodate the over-all length of the cartridge as per the specs. I also ran some of the bullets farther into my point former making the meplats even smaller than the .210 I normally would be shooting. The second picture shows some of the loaded cartridges. The third picture shows the tips of the bullets I used in my testing. I had two standard, two medium and two small tips.
After each shot I unloaded the gun and examined the primers of all the bullets, replacing them before the next shot.
My early shots showed no detonations and no marks whatsoever on the primers. I switched the order of the cartridges in the magazine in order to, be sure I was getting accurate results.
I then altered the number of cartridges in the magazine, trying several shots with 4 and then two bullets in the tube.
I found absolutely no sign of any impact marks or detonations in the bullets I tested. The only marks were wear marks where the tips rubbed against the primers of the bullets ahead because of the repeated loadings and un-loadings, and some slight indentations where the firing pin of the rifle touched the primers, again in loading and unloading. The picture I took of these didnt turn out well at all, but in the cartridge on the left, you may be able to detect some of this.
All in all, Im now very confident in hunting with these bullets in my 94, and I wouldnt hesitate to allow someone else to do so as well.
