Hollow base bullets splitting

[Verndari]

Weirdest thing today, I made up some loads in .32 S&W Long using the Speer 98gr. LHBWC bullets. Used W231, Titegroup, Red Dot and Bullseye powders with Starline brass and CCI primers. Starting grains worked all right but as the charge increased, I noticed extra bullet holes in the target. I was shooting 5 round groups at 25 yards and ending up with a pattern and not a group. Put a target at 10 yards and fired 5 rounds. I watched two bullet holes appear with a single shot fired. I think the bullet is separating at the skirt. It sucks because I wanted a nice target load. Revolver used is a Ruger GP100 in .327 Federal.

[jcc7x7]

Simple answer is to go back to the "starting grains worked"

IF its a target load you don't need more velocity only accuracy

Hollow base WC's are usually shoot at low velocity for caliber

[Dr. Phil]

Sounds like you just invented a new self-defense round!!

way to go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ignatz]

I loaded 1.65 to 1.7grs of WST with a Speer 98gr HBWC in a Remington 32 S&W Long case. That was for a Hammerli 280. It was around 720-730 fps and was fine for the Hammerli. That's about as fast as I would go for that pistol. Cuts a clean, perfect hole.

[Toolguy]

That usually happens on HBWC bullets if you push them too hard. They only work well for low velocity, light target loads.

[Verndari]

Interesting thing is with most of the powders, the issue starts around .2 grains from starting. Not looking for speed as much as accuracy. Makes me wonder how they can be used in the .32 H&R and .327 Federal I had seen. I'll play around with some other powders. The WST Ignatz mentioned sounds interesting.... 

[Spaceball]

Starline brass is thick at the base where the skirt of the HBWC would be sitting and squeezes the skirt a bit undersize. This extra thickness also reduces the case volume for powder, like +P cases.

Your starting load might be close to maximum because of the reduced volume. Most of the data for HBWC loads are based on European brass which is thin all the way to the base.

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Spaceball