Anyone ever make their own hollow points?

[mark slavinski]

Yes, recently retired and spending way too much time in reloading room. Reason I ask, I hunt whitetails with .338 federal and absolutely love it. I have shot many of deer with mostly 200 gn hornady SP which work really well. I have a bunch of 200 gn fusion bullets that shoot fantastic but don't open up quite as fast as the hornady, was thinking of creating my own hollow point design. Can't find much on the net about doing this. I think it would be a great bullet seeing it's a bonded bullet. In the process of building a jig to hold the bullet while I drill it. I have some hornady 200 gn ftx that I pulled the tip to try to replicate the hollow point on. Any experience would be appreciated.

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

Yes, recently retired and spending way too much time in reloading room. Reason I ask, I hunt whitetails with .338 federal and absolutely love it. I have shot many of deer with mostly 200 gn hornady SP which work really well. I have a bunch of 200 gn fusion bullets that shoot fantastic but don't open up quite as fast as the hornady, was thinking of creating my own hollow point design. Can't find much on the net about doing this. I think it would be a great bullet seeing it's a bonded bullet. In the process of building a jig to hold the bullet while I drill it. I have some hornady 200 gn ftx that I pulled the tip to try to replicate the hollow point on. Any experience would be appreciated.

If you are going to try to make you own Hollow Points you should start with a Lathe or Mill to get the hole concentric. If it is not centered you will get a "Wooble" flying through the air and who knows where the bullet will hit. Then how much material you are going to remove to have the same weight for each bullet.
Unless you drill every bullet concentric for herd

We have a bunch of AMMO - "32 Winchester Special Silver Tips", .308 Silver Tips and .32 Special Rem Core - Lokt
We drilled holes in the Core-lokt and filled with Silver. The Winchester .32 Special and .308 Silver Tips we drilled and put plastic tips filled with Holy Water. The expansion from the hollow SILVER tips along with Holy Water in tips worked great on fully transformed Werewolves
The Lead Core Lokt drilled and filled with Silver was a Show stopper on Werewolves starting their transformation.

 

[HARPERC]

If you are going to try to make you own Hollow Points you should start with a Lathe or Mill to get the hole concentric. If it is not centered you will get a "Wooble" flying through the air and who knows where the bullet will hit. Then how much material you are going to remove to have the same weight for each bullet.

I have with a small hobby lathe. Been a minute though.

 

[Bob Wright]

Why not try? The target and water jug tests might tell you something. Ballistic gel if you want to spend a little more. Be safe.

 

[tigerwerkes]

I have been wondering the same thing but to make hp out of fmjs for varmints. I came across this:

Bullet Tipping Die

The Bullet Tipping Die is designed to improve ballistic coefficient, accuracy and consistency. Use with a wide variety of bullet types and calibers.

bullettipping.com

A little pricey but looks like the method has been developed. Thinking about giving it a try.

 

[VinceMule]

If you face off the front of the bullet, the hollow point will get bigger. I used a Wilson case trimmer, with the proper shell holder, and made very uniform depth of cuts from bullet to bullet.

 

[Aussie Hunter Steve]

When I was young and money was tight I used to turn my dad's surplus supply of WWII pointed military 303's into hollow points- I'd score a groove with a file at the desired length, then snip the tips off with side cutters. Next step was to square the bullet noses (now with lead exposed) using the side of the wheel on the bench grinder. Final step was to hollow out the tip with a rose countersink, which also thinned the jacket. The softer lead core naturally centred the tool, and they worked pretty good for a teenager.

 

[victor3ranger]

Might venture over to Cast Boolets and check out how they are making hollow points.

 

[ericbc7]

I believe Fusion bullets are heavily plated then struck for uniformity not cup+core bonded. It would be difficult to drill a concentric hollow point in these soft points. As another suggested, Enlarging the meplat with a trimmer might achieve the same goal with the added benefit of improving consistancy. Since these are not VLD type bullets, I would not expect any significant reduction in mid range ballistic performance.

 

[WYO300RUM]

If you face off the front of the bullet, the hollow point will get bigger. I used a Wilson case trimmer, with the proper shell holder, and made very uniform depth of cuts from bullet to bullet.

I did the same many years ago with a Hornady case trimmer . Only with pistol bullets though. I just used different size drill bits and different depths. It entertained me at the time. Was at least 35 years ago.

 

[victor3ranger]

I did the same many years ago with a Hornady case trimmer . Only with pistol bullets though. I just used different size drill bits and different depths. It entertained me at the time. Was at least 35 years ago.

It works that's for sure

 

[mark slavinski]

Got to work on it today, drilled out ten bullets to the best of my ability. Matched hornady ftx in depth and hole diameter. Once I was done I separated them by weight then by the hole being concentric. Out of ten bullets, only four had a perfectly straight hole. Loaded them up and shot some groups. As you can see, it didn't really matter if the holes were concentric or not. Will have to make some more up and see how they do in wet newspaper. I'm sure they won't be a big improvement if any improvement…. Sure beats working though!!

 

[Bob Wright]

Looks like the concentric ones shot tighter. That's progress. Not sure what your set up looks like when drilling. Short and stubby cutters like a center drill will reduce deflection. Fixturing the bullet rigidly and on center is also critical.
Looking interesting though. Fun being retired eh?

 

[mark slavinski]

Looks like the concentric ones shot tighter. That's progress. Not sure what your set up looks like when drilling. Short and stubby cutters like a center drill will reduce deflection. Fixturing the bullet rigidly and on center is also critical.
Looking interesting though. Fun being retired eh?

Oh boy, don't know how I had time to do stuff before!! Just amazes me how time flies in loading room! Yes, having fun!