New Stuff

[BillLarson]

Thank You for a much needed improvement in bullets.....
both aerodynamically and expansion wise....

 

[nralifer]

Wanted to post a couple of projects that we are working on at Badlands. The pic below gives a glimpse. The round on the left with the long ICBM2 is a 338LM for comparison. The middle round is a 308 Win with a new 125 gr .308 bullet with a specially designed hollow point and tip intended for reliable expansion at very low (<1600 fps) velocity impacts. How low awaits gel testing as soon as blizzards around here go away. The one on the right is a 338 LM case necked up to a .373" ID to accommodate our 300 gr .375 BD2 bullet. It is intended as an all around large game, including dangerous African game, capable of both < 100 yd use out to about 800 yds. That bullet has a G1 BC of .620 that in the modified 338 LM case we hope can go 2900 fps from a 26" barrel and be usable in CIP length magazines. At that speed it will have 5600 ft-lbs of energy, be capable of expanding reliably at 800 yds under standard sea level conditions, and have a residual energy of 2225 ft-lbs. We have a couple of custom rifle makers anxious to use this case in their rifles. Getting a reamer made by PT&G. Also designed an expander that can expand the .338 neck in one step to .373 ID that will be made available to those who wish to roll their own. We will keep everyone posted.

Here is a F/U on the 308 light for caliber bullet project. The project took an unsuspected turn, like new projects sometimes tend to do. The 125 gr prototype bullet on gel testing did not prove reliable enough at expanding as a second bullet we also made weighing 136 grains. The two bullets were identical in length but differed in hollow point cavity design, with the 136 gr having our conventional design and the 125 gr bullet, having a wider and deeper hollow cavity design and notched at the mouth that required a thicker stem on the tip. Turns out the thick stem did not clear the hollow as readily as our conventional thinner stem used in the 136 gr prototype bullet, thus the reliability of expansion of the 125 gr bullet was not as great as that of the 136 gr prototype bullet. We decided to go with the 136 gr bullet instead. The extra 11 grains also increased the BC to the point that it exceeded most 150gr lead core bullets including Bergers. The 136gr 308BD2 G1= 0.414 and the G7= 0.218. Using 53 gr of LVR powder from a 24" 1:9 Bartlein barrel 3300 fps can be obtained with out showing pressure signs with a bullet jump of 0.025". Accuracy is excellent (achieving 0.28 MOA three shot groups with minimal load development), and expansion at 2300 fps impact velocity is full, making this light bullet effective to 500-600 yds depending on altitude. Penetration in 10% clear gel was 24". See pics below.