paper patching bullets and the sticky bullet theroy

[Billy Marr]

After reading Ross Seyfelds article in Handloader magazine and my own limited experinces with paper patching I will be trying some thing new.
I have played with patching toward the end of the last match season. The main reason was for a better bullet to barrel fit. But after reading this article I have thought of some thing. My 30BR is a one in ten twist and loves long bullets. Well hear is my idea I will be patching .284 168gr cast bullets to fit a 308 bore and taking .244 100gr bullets(for my 256)to .257.
The reason you ask is because a lead bullet is shorter for its wieght compared to a Jacketed bullet. Now a 284 168 is longer than a 308 168 that we know. Take it and patchet and you have a bullet that is all most as long as a 200gr minus 15-20% of the wieght. The patch does not add much more wieght but it adds bearing surface. If this were a copper jacket it woulod add tremondous pressure being paper it is pliable but yet still boned to the bullet core. I can now push a bullet faster than before. I do not have to worry as much about a sabot disrupting it in flight becuase most of it will stay on the bullet.
Now if accuracy stays or improves I have a high speed low preassure load that will be great foor windy days or hard set rams.
Here is where the sticky bullet theroy comes in. This past year I was ringing animlas with my .256 win mag becuase of hard cast bullets shatering upon impact with every thing from pigs to rams. We are talking about a 65gr bullet at 2600fps no joke. I had no leading greeat accuracy but no dewll time on the target. This allso happened with my 120gr cast bullets dont ask what speed. I will say it was above 2000fps. Any ways in theroy the paper patch will brotect the bullet from gas cutting and the barrel from leading. If this holds true with out a decrease in accuracy. I can now use a softer bullet that will collapse on it self increasing dwell time on the target. Thus no ringers.
Next week I will testing these with a full rport on accuracy.

[Castaway]

Billy, I'm interested in what your results will be when patching a 7mm bullet up to 308.  Never tried that much before.  If you have the time, you might try two wraps of 25 lb paper (unsized afterwards) vs. three wraps of a thinner paper. One thing that has me concerned about your experiment is the comment that the patch will stay on the bullet (if I understand you right).  Don't know what you're patching with, but I want all of the patch to leave the bullet afterwards.  Any residue, even on the base is an accuracy killer.

[kirkwhitaker]

I am interested too...since my 256 will shoot 75gr resolabley well...i may try to pp a 80gr 6mm and see what happens...let me know...
kirk

[HWooldridge]

Billy,

I don't shoot silhouette but do shoot target with a variety of calibers into a shopmade steel bullet trap.  The back of this trap is angled to catch the slugs and made from 3/8 deck plate.  We have seen a pure lead paper patched 45-70, 510gr bullet over black powder leave a dent and a splash but disintegrate at 100 yds into lead powder and a dime sized remnant.  A jacketed .300 Win Mag makes holes in the steel and will occasionally punch through.  We also have a 7x57 Mauser with jacketed soft points which will almost always punch right thru - usually more often that the .300.  The 7mm bullets we have are some long, old European soft points that don't expand much on deer - the 300 Mag shells are fresh reloads with 165gr Noslers and are good game killers while the 45-70 bullets in pure lead expand reliably on game at a relatively low velocity.

I hope you are successful with a softer alloy but I'm suggesting that smaller calibers on silhouettes might work better with a tougher material than lead.  Bigger cartridges knock over rams due to higher bullet mass. Although it's a lot of work, it might be fun to turn some solid bronze or copper bullets on a lathe and then paper patch them.

Hope it works and let us know...H