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Xbowsniper

Xbowsniper

Member
Nov 19, 2017
1,238
139
New York, United States
Nation,

I've been testing various creations as far as my home made pellets are concerned. 

So far, most of the weights with the hollow base were not accurate at all, regardless if they were the 1/2 ogive, or the 3/4 ogive.

Make the exact same weights in a flat base, totally different results. 

The 2 weights that had the best grouping at 55 yds (all were tested at this distance), were the 15 grain, 3/4 ogive hollowpoints, and the 21 grain 3/4 ogive hollowpoints. 

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These are the 15 grain pellets 





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These are the 21 grain pellets. 

The first batches of these grouped decent, did not drift too bad in the wind as compared to "regular" diabolo skirted pellets. I did not weigh any of the previous lots, I only grabbed a pellet here and there and weighed them occasionally, getting only a .06-.08 variance. These, I will weigh every one, separate them, and try them again. It might just be that a slightly heavier or lighter one disrupts the balance to throw them out, and make them the lone flyer or two

I'll be testing these Saturday, as I wait for my remaining die and punches to be made. I have an S2 die, along with a flat base, cup base, and rebated boat tail base all on order. This, along with the capability of making a solid point, or a hollowpoint, along with the dies and punches I already have acquired, will give me endless possibilities for different kinds and designs of pellets. 

Stay tuned

Tom Holland 

Field Target Tech 
 
Xbowsniper,

those look awesome. Looks like you are having fun with all the experimenting. My Corbin die for my RCBS will actually be delivered tomorrow. Only took a month. I went with the hollowpoint, cup base and 1E. Not the most traditional but we shall see. Almost went with flat base since that’s what most are but figured it was worth a shot. If not I will have to order different bases. Good luck and have fun!
 
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Mike,

That's the cool part. As I said in my post above, the base made the difference. Granted, it's a homemade flat base punch, but I have a "real" one on order.

If they do not perform the way you want, the most economical and effective way is to change the base punch.

What caliber, and what power level are you shooting with the projectiles you are using now? If it's a faster speed than what I'm shooting, it will have more promising results. 

Tom Holland 

Field Target Tech 
 
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John,

That'll be Saturday when I shoot them. As I said previously, they look promising, but there's an anomaly that I need to find. I'll shoot a group of 10, and 7-8 of them will stack themselves at 55 yds. The 2 or 3 that end up indiscriminately in any direction, are the ones that I need to weed out. Hopefully by weighing them, that'll solve the problem. I think that just a little bit of higher or lower weight from nominal, sends them wonky due to weight imbalance. I do have groups to show, but I want to perfect the weight, style and type, before wasting everyone's time on a video that they wouldn't want to watch anyway, just due to groupings that are crap. I'd rather show the successes of tinkering with the proper design and weight, than failures of design and weights that don't work.

I still say if you guys get together and put your shoulder into it, you can knock it down!!

Good luck over there, do us proud. 

Tom Holland 

Field Target Tech 
 
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Xbowsniper,

I’m currently shooting NSA 23 grain .22 slugs at 930 FPS. Those and the VK shoot pretty good around that speed for me. I do notice they are both flat base. I probably should have ordered the dish and flat base punch but I will see how the cup does first. I was hoping the cup base plus the hollowpoint would put more mass in the center. Plus I want the hollowpoint for hunting. Thanks for the info and I’ll let you know how it all turns out. 
 
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Cosmic,

I sent him a message attached to his last video, and from what I gathered in his response, he only swages .22 at the moment, and I'm only doing .177. He does all these videos at my home range here on Long Island NY, but he is usually there during the week when it's quiet for filming. Basically he's got the place to himself. I did meet him briefly last year, but had no idea he even had a channel with 8000+ subscribers......I'm working on getting to 500 ( which I thought I'd never get!!). I'll have a lot more time available once the Pyramyd Air Cup is in the books, so I'll get to talking with him down the road. 

Tom Holland 

Field Target Tech 
 
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Nomojo,

I will be bringing samples to the Pyramyd Air Cup, hopefully by then I'll have a design and weight that will work in a 12 ft. lb rig. If that is the case, I'll make a bunch in that style and weight to give out to whoever would want to try them. If not, I'll just pump out a bunch of 3/4 ogive around 15 grains or so, and maybe they'll be useful in the higher powered setups.

If you are going to be at Pyramyd as well, give me an idea of style and weight, and base shape, and I'll make a batch for you.

My current choices are these:

1/2 ogive solid point

1/2 ogive Hollowpoint

3/4 ogive solid point

3/4 ogive Hollowpoint



My base shape are these:

Hollow base

Flat base

Pick a nose shape, and base, (or several), give me a weight you would like to try, and I'll make a batch of each, about 50 for each request or so. No problem. I'll have others that have requested the same, so feel free!!

Tom Holland 

Field Target Tech 
 
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Xbowsniper,

the package arrived today and of course had to start playing. It is more time consuming than I thought. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m using my reloading press but I have to do each twice. Run a whole punch in the external weight punch. Then switch to the hollowpoint punch to make that. Definitely fun to do and can experiment with. I made some 23 grain with a 1 E ogive and a cup base. 
 
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Nomojo,

I'll probably have tons of the 15's anyway. The only thing that I forgot to mention, all of my swage diameters are on the small side (.1775), so they should work reasonably well in poly barrels and smooth twist barrels. Whatever I create, the style, weight and size will be labeled on each individual package. 

Tom Holland 

Field Target Tech 
 
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Mike,

They look good and consistent, but that hollowpoint opening looks on the big side. When you shoot these, you might find the wind kicks the crap out of them, they might have the tendency to act much like a wadcutter pellet. If you can make that same pellet with a solid point, it most likely will perform better than the hollowpoint. 

Don't take my word for it, but try everything anyway, just a guess. If you get groups like I did, 7 on the same spot, then a flyer in left or right field, or both, go up in .5 grain increments until they get tighter, IF they get tighter. Then go down in .5 grain increments, and test them. From what the general consensus is, you are on the edge of stability, that's what you do to get the best grouping. After that, you change the base shape to tighten it up more.

Good luck, have fun, keep me posted. 

Tom Holland 

Field Target Tech 
 
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Mike,

What I would do, is these several things. 

Make sure that your raw slugs before you start swaging are long enough to make the pellet weight you want. So, if you want a 23 grain pellet, make sure the raw slug is 2 grains heavier or so, so that the lead has enough pressure to bleed off out of the bleed holes. Also, after you cut the wire before swaging, get an empty tin, take a LITTLE bit of swage lube, and wipe the inside of the tin, lid included. Place the raw lead wire in it, and cover it, and tumble them for a minute or two. This will lightly coat the lead, making it more consistent in the mold.

If you use too much lube, it will get what's called hydro-lock. The tip of the pellet will be deformed, because the lube will take the place of where the lead should be. 

I'm going to make a video on my process in the next few days, so look out for that, it might help.

Tom Holland 

Field Target Tech 
 
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Xbowsniper,

i was kind of thinking maybe too much lube. I form the cup base with the weight adjusting punch in it to get to my 23 grains. I take that out and then snip the excess off. I try to put just a little on my fingers and then put on the hollowpoint punch. I then swage it. Trying not to apply too much pressure. But I can’t get the thin wall deep hollowpoint like the sample that came with it. Also I think mine was shipped without the die locking collar. Thankfully I have extra off other powder burner dies. I am definitely anxious to see that video. Thanks 
 
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