Modified bullets...........

[Richard]

Here are some Leheight's 185 gr. solid brass bullets that I modified. My only problem is going to be getting them to shoot! The last time I tried these Leheights, they wanted to drill the sabots I am going to try again by adding a .40 veggie wad inside the sabot.
Here is the deal with these bullets............they have a sharp boat tail that is causing the problem.
What I did to these bullets was this: You will see the the photo a small, what appears to be lead bullet? This is the .22 bullet that North American Arms sells for their mini black powder revolver. I am told by gmb54120 (who gave them to me) they run $6/100. You will note the bottom is a smaller diameter than the mid section. What I did, was to drill into the nose of the Leheight with a .206" drill bit. The base of the lead bullet up to the fat part is .211". I then pressed the bullet in up to the fat band. (can be done with a pair of plyers). Next, I chucked it in my drill press and filed a taper on the lead to match the contour of the bullet. Then grabbed it with some steel wool to polish it. It is very simple and fast to do. It increases the weight of the bullet to 207 gr. The lead bullet weights 30 gr., you drill a few grains of brass out of the bullet and file off some lead.
So, if I can get them to shoot, they should make one accurate bullet? ;D Actually I thrive on playing with this stuff Looking for the Holy Grail!!!!!
Richard

[deadon]

Richard if they shoot as good as they look, they will be worth big bucks Did you see the thread where a member suggested bedding the bullet in the sabot. This could be the answer for boat tails. Call me if you did not see it and thanks again for the bedding job. Hey guys I sent the ML to Richard on thursday afternoon at 3 pm and got it back the next Tuesday and he said he was sorry it took so long, he had a match on Saturday. Four day turn around AND a match WOW!!!

[jims]

They look sleek.

[ET]

Looking real good.

Hope they are a winner.


Ed

[Jon]

Richard those look great. I wonder if they are too hard to push through a full form die for a 40cal? Those were some impressive pictures with your new camera.
Jon

[Richard]

Rusty.........I did not see the thread........will have to look for it. Should be a no brainer.
Like I said, the first time I tried the ones Jon gracioulsy sent me, they did not work out. The wad in the base of the sabot or the bedding might be an alternative
Richard

[Jon]

Richard. If you need more let me know. I still havn't found the tips from Lehigh. Since you said you were not interested I havn't really been looking. As I'm cleaning up my toy room it is amazing what I find. If they show up I'll send them to you. The job you did on those bullets remind me of the 327 grain that Deadeye is working with. I wonder what the bc is?
Jon

[Richard]

Jon............I still have a few of those bullets you sent me. I am going to try them with the wads in the base and see how they do. I may also try bedding a few of them also and see how they work. If they look promising, I may have you send a few more to play with. They would still be cheaper than the Parkers and I am not a big fan of those heavy bullets.........sort of defeats the purpose of the .45.................that is, shooting lighter bullets faster with less recoil. Of course if you are a glutton for punishment, then have at the heavy bullets. Shooting them in the lead sled is one thing, but from your shoulder
Richard

[Chris Champion]

Thost look really nice Richard. Do you have a way to chuck a Lehigh up in your lathe and cut the boat tail off to make it a flat base?

[Richard]

Yes, I could flatten the base in the lathe, but it would be time consuming to do a whole lot of them. It would be a lot easier if they were made with out the boat tail..................Of course, you would then lose some BC in doing so plus, you would probably loose 10 gr and some more BC I would rather have a sabot made with a little more meat in the base and configured to accept a boat tail type bullet Anybody know a ML shooter in the injection molding business??? ;D
Richard

[Jon]

Richard. I'm sure a lot of guys would like to find an injection molder especially around a .357 .40cal. sabot. A good boat tail sabot would be great to. Both would open new avenues.

Jon