Feedback on 160 grain button nose

First topic message reminder :

The Brazos thread got me thinking about 160 grain button nose bullets. The lowest I've gone is 185 grain, I cast my own H&G 68 bullets and have used the Magnus #801 and swaged hollow point #814.

My pistol was built by Jon and is still pretty darn tight. I typically run a 10 pound spring then just add powder until I get good reliability which usually ends up 4.1-4.4 grains of WST, I also crimp to .463".

So my question, since I still need to build enough pressure to function the pistol reliability will I end up using more powder and getting a higher velocity? Then the question is what is the net effect on recoil and feel, is it lighter feeling or more snappy due to the added velocity?

Lightfoot wrote:I started playing with the 160's and found that with 3.5gr of Bullseye that it will both function my wad gun and my service pistol.  The slide sometimes doesn't lock back, and every now and then, I'll have an alibi.  The recoil is so light!  They also tear a golf ball sized hole in the X ring under this loading.  The hardest part about shooting them is staying focused.  I'm smiling so big because it's just that much fun, and that makes it hard to stay in the zone!  

I'm the other owner of Brazos Bullets, so if there is anything we can do better, let me know!

Steve

Alibis will destroy you....

james r chapman wrote:

Lightfoot wrote:I started playing with the 160's and found that with 3.5gr of Bullseye that it will both function my wad gun and my service pistol.  The slide sometimes doesn't lock back, and every now and then, I'll have an alibi.  The recoil is so light!  They also tear a golf ball sized hole in the X ring under this loading.  The hardest part about shooting them is staying focused.  I'm smiling so big because it's just that much fun, and that makes it hard to stay in the zone!  

I'm the other owner of Brazos Bullets, so if there is anything we can do better, let me know!

Steve

Alibis will destroy you....

I couple of tenths would eliminate that, but it's only one out of maybe 200 as it is and that's in colder weather so I'll stick with it unless it gets worse.

Just a reason why a high percentage are running 4.2+ BE for reliability

Lightfoot wrote:I started playing with the 160's and found that with 3.5gr of Bullseye that it will both function my wad gun and my service pistol.  The slide sometimes doesn't lock back, and every now and then, I'll have an alibi.  The recoil is so light!  They also tear a golf ball sized hole in the X ring under this loading.  The hardest part about shooting them is staying focused.  I'm smiling so big because it's just that much fun, and that makes it hard to stay in the zone!  

I'm the other owner of Brazos Bullets, so if there is anything we can do better, let me know!

Steve

Hey Steve. Would love to hear your wad gun set up. Spring, slide mount dot etc.  those 160s are awesome

I run 4.0 gr bullseye for my short line load. I’ve ran as low as 3.6gr with no issues. I have a kart barreled range officer with slide mount match dot and 10 lb spring

lablover wrote:

Lightfoot wrote:I started playing with the 160's and found that with 3.5gr of Bullseye that it will both function my wad gun and my service pistol.  The slide sometimes doesn't lock back, and every now and then, I'll have an alibi.  The recoil is so light!  They also tear a golf ball sized hole in the X ring under this loading.  The hardest part about shooting them is staying focused.  I'm smiling so big because it's just that much fun, and that makes it hard to stay in the zone!  

I'm the other owner of Brazos Bullets, so if there is anything we can do better, let me know!

Steve

Hey Steve. Would love to hear your wad gun set up. Spring, slide mount dot etc.  those 160s are awesome

My gun is a old Les Baer with a bridge mounted dot.  13lb spring, 19 lb mainspring.  I've verified that it'll hold <2" at 50 with 200 gr and 3.5 bullseye.    It runs light loads well.  My service pistol is a Springfield R/O with a Kart barrel and 14 lb spring/19 lb mainspring.  I was surprised that it runs the 160's loaded that light.

Ahh, bridge mount probably made the difference

Got my new Magma mold yesterday. I'm digging this bullet profile. This picture shows the 160 grain button nose (drops at 163 grains with wheel weight alloy) next to the Magma 180 grain SWC profile and the Magnus #814 swaged HP SWC. If the weather holds up I'm going to try them Sunday.

zanemoseley wrote:... the 160 grain button nose ...

Zane, just for my education, why is this 160 called a button nose?  It looks more SWC to me.  My perception of a button nose is like the Magnus #801 45-185.  Thanks.

Technically Magma Engineering who makes the molds calls it a SWC however they have a 180 grain "button nose" that doesn't have the 90 degree SWC shoulder but still call it a SWC. The terminology can get fuzzy depending on who you ask.

Sexy bullet!

Look forward to your testing on Sunday. I’ll be testing some this weekend as well with titegroup.  My be loads work great

So I did some preliminary testing Sunday. I loaded the following

(10) at 4.2 WST
(10) at 4.3 WST
(20) at 4.4 WST
(20) at 4.5 WST
(20) at 4.6 WST

I was surprised to see the 4.2 actually ran my pistol and locked back. I did have one stovepipe at 4.3. Everything else ran fine, it got a bit snappy at the top end. Truthfully I wasn't shooting very good that day and was shooting fairly fast, you could call it more of a function test I suppose. I plan on loading 50 more at 4.3 and 50 more at 4.4 to see what runs reliably. 

I honestly don't know if I can tell a significant difference in recoil. These cast at 163 with wheel weights and my H&G 68 bullets shown in the photo above cast with a 180 grain mold drop at about 183-184 with wheel weights. I'll do some more head to head shooting between these profiles to see the difference in accuracy and recoil. I can even load a few magazines where I alternate very round between the 160 and 180, that should really be a good comparison. I run the H&G bullets with 4.4 WST, any less and reliability suffers. I was honestly surprised that the 160's ran with such little powder, I was expecting more powder due to the decreased weight, essentially the base profiles of the 160 & 180 are the same, just the nose is different.

Well I've been shooting the 160's for a bit now. They load easy, feed fine and shoot well. I think I've settled on 4.4 grains of WST (.463" crimp), seems to function reliability, I was expecting to need more powder.

At first I couldn't tell if the recoil was less than my 180 grain H&G 68 mold. Then I took some magazines and alternated the bullets so I could compare the 2 different loads back to back, the 160's had noticeably less recoil. Should be great for the short line.

Well I did a quick sand bag test today at 25 yards with my home cast 160 grain bullets using the Magma Engineering mold. I was pleasantly surprised. Even with just sand bags and a red dot I got a 5 shot group of .700" CTC. I'm running 4.4 WST and a .463" crimp however I need to try 4.5 because it tends to stovepipe occasionally, my pistol is tight and the slide is heavy with a 9000SC, I refuse to go lighter than a 10 pound spring so I'll just add a tenth of a grain at a time till she runs like a top. Now I just gotta figure out my long line load, might either go back to the Magnus #801 or some 185 JHP.

Anyone tried the Brazos 155gr SWC yet?

Bill

The 155gr bullet has a shorter bearing surface and a witch hat for a nose, I would deal with the extra 5 grains and use the 160.

You may find that load will work fine at 50 yds.

Yeah I might as well see how it shoots at 50. If I can sandbag 2" at 50 I'm tickled pink. Plus low recoil in slow fire is even better.

160s will shoot under 2” with WST of 4.1-4.4 if the gun is capable of doing so. Never been above 4.4 but doubt it would make much difference. Just make sure base is solid with sharp/solid edges.

james r chapman wrote:You may find that load will work fine at 50 yds.

My load of 4.3 BE holds under 2” at 50 yards off the bags with the 160’s

Now, this looks like a button nose. I thought someone here might be interested.  NFI

https://www.ebay.com/itm/455-Lyman-double-cavity-bullet-mold-452389-185-grain-WC-45-ACP/372671051493?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

4.3 of Bullseye, WCC Match or Starline Once Fired Case, CCI LPP, sub 2" groups at 50 yards. 

I gave those bullets the Keefer treatment. They were washed in gas to remove stuck on lead and lube, and then tumble lubed in White Lightning Xlox. The first time I shot them in practice at 50 it was a 97-5, I think. When I tested with the Ransom Rest I saw why. 

Fresh out of the Box, they would splatter blue lube everywhere in the heat but they still shot pretty good. NOTE that these were not the Brazos version but the Dardas which was from the Magma as well. I bought 4k last year before he went out of business. Over the winter they were weighed and separated into groups. They still need to be washed in gas and relubed.

jmdavis wrote:... lubed in White Lightning Xlox.

I have heard of White Label Xlox but not White Lightning Xlox.

joy2shoot wrote:

jmdavis wrote:... lubed in White Lightning Xlox.

I have heard of White Label Xlox but not White Lightning Xlox.

I've been sick for a few days. Maybe the White Lightning is a freudian slip.