✅ SOLVED Fired slug

[Older The Better]

Don’t know if it’s really a what is it? Question but I’m curious how a slug ends up this way. Also it’s an unusual size for what I find around here so I suppose any other info is welcome.

 

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[releventchair]

Bullet mushroomed well.
Good way to dump energy in a thin skinned target.
But.. Lead up front fragmented a lot and lost integrity. It was not bonded to the copper cup. The rear however retained mass enough.
I've seen mostly copper cup recovered in an offside deer shoulder with little lead remaining. Energy dumped snuffed the deer nearly instantly so no complaint of performance.

The caliber suggests it was no varmint round where deliberate design of the bullet created the fragmentation.
It did it's job though. And would suffice on medium game , maybe larger , depending on shot placement.

Less energy/velocity from travel at longer range and the bullet would have fragmented less. And at optimum range more likely have given the classic mushroom shape expansion with more lead retained up front.

A bullet asked to perform well at varied ranges comes with challenges.
Materials and designs are studied often.

 

[Older The Better]

So in my mind in the mushrooms I find it’s from the tip spreading and the mass following through leaving a dome shape, this one is cupped on the inside, I was curious if that was from some factor like a hollow point or a soft target or some kind of way the lead expanded then cooled shrinking back into a cup… kind of the way dry wall mud dries over a screw hole just much faster… if I’m following the last post it was a soft target at a far enough range the bullet didn’t shatter but close enough it still mushroomed

 

[releventchair]

So in my mind in the mushrooms I find it’s from the tip spreading and the mass following through leaving a dome shape, this one is cupped on the inside, I was curious if that was from some factor like a hollow point or a soft target or some kind of way the lead expanded then cooled shrinking back into a cup… kind of the way dry wall mud dries over a screw hole just much faster… if I’m following the last post it was a soft target at a far enough range the bullet didn’t shatter but close enough it still mushroomed

The inside up front was just spit out after contact after breaking up. It splattered .
Hollow points in that size bullet are more likely military. And those of them I've tested don't fragment or mushroom hardly. Just bend.

Design is why yours spent itself the way it did.
A compromise where at high velocity the front end wrecked but base retained mass.
Not a bad thing.

A solid copper bullet in a newer design has "petals" that roll back when enough resistance is encountered. A substitute for lead that may or may not mushroom nicely.
Design has deliberate weak areas that allow the movement of material. And still retains more original weight/mass than your style bullet did..

If your bullet shed half it's weight while still leaving the wound channel the expanded area did , combined with the energy shed in the target (vs passing through without dumping energy or hydraulic shock) it did it's job well.
Where did the lead fragments from your bullet go? If in lungs they caused more damage.
Or if striking bone they could have scattered causing more trauma elsewhere while still spending energy.

 

[Older The Better]

Thanks for explaining twice I think I’m getting my mind wrapped around it, never really thought of a slug as more than a hunk of lead but I can see how they can be engineered to function certain ways

 

[crashbandicoot]

Thanks for explaining twice I think I’m getting my mind wrapped around it, never really thought of a slug as more than a hunk of lead but I can see how they can be engineered to function certain ways

Is the base lead? The core,not the jacket.If so it looks and acts like a Nosler Partition bullet.The diameter suggests a.35 caliber of some sort,maybe a 35 Whelen,which is a 30-06 necked up to 35 and is usually a handloaders deal which would explain the Nosler Partition bullet. Look up Nosler Partition Bullets,a look can explain better and faster than I can. May be something else mind you I,m guessing without the bullet in hand.

 

[Gare]

It could have been a Hollow point .

 

[crashbandicoot]

What keeps throwing me is the jacket metal is awfully thick for a conventional rifle bullet and the cannelures and dished base suggest something out of the ordinary too. The diameter is odd. Maybe a oddball metric caliber and European style bullet. 8x57or 9x57 or something along those lines.

 

[Older The Better]

It’s all lead there is no jacket, not saying it couldn’t have separated somehow… I’ve found just the copper jackets before, but this is all lead

 

[crashbandicoot]

It’s all lead there is no jacket, not saying it couldn’t have separated somehow… I’ve found just the copper jackets before, but this is all lead

That would be consistent with the cannelures. Rules out the Nosler too.

 

[crashbandicoot]

I,m stumped,I can,t find a bullet with that diameter.Possibly a pistol bullet,but the diameter,s not right for the common ones. I,ll try some more,got me curious.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Two cannelures for lube - it's a swaged lead pistol bullet, almost certainly a hollow point. .38/.357 bore. It probably started out at 0.358" but by the time it made it out the barrel it was squeezed down and again upset on impact. That's why they use a "forcing cone" in pistol barrels.

A .357 magnum has a 0.347" diameter between the lands. The grooves are 0.357". Depending where you place the calipers the measurement will be between those.

 

[crashbandicoot]

Two channelures for lube - it's a swaged lead pistol bullet, almost certainly a hollow point. .38/.357 bore. It probably started out at 0.358" but by the time it made it out the barrel it was squeezed down. That's why they use a "forcing cone" in pistol barrels.

Sure looks like it.The diameter kept throwing me off as most 38/357 have a .357/.358 bore,But I,m not going to argue your point,makes sense.

 

[releventchair]

Thanks for explaining twice I think I’m getting my mind wrapped around it, never really thought of a slug as more than a hunk of lead but I can see how they can be engineered to function cer

Crash mentions the Cannelure in his post that follows. Yours is set far back.
Hornady or someone does that on one style. Maybe more.
But the cup/jacket rolled back to it is where some designs stop rolling back.

Here's some feeble search results for fired bullet examples.

Edit: Oh crap Charlie! I'm not looking at a copper jacket , but a solid lead bullet?
L.o.l..
I'll wipe my glasses and sneak off.

 

[crashbandicoot]

Some kind of cup and core bullet. Copper cup /lead core.

Your specimen might be old.
The way the copper performed is a result of it's thickness and malleability.
Many modern tears jaggedly. Though some recovered cups are closer to yours.

Crash mentions the Cannelure in his post that follows. Yours is set far back.
Hornady or someone does that on one style. Maybe more.
But the cup/jacket rolled back to it is where some designs stop rolling back.

Here's some feeble search results for fired bullet examples.

Cool!

 

[crashbandicoot]

Crash mentions the Cannelure in his post that follows. Yours is set far back.
Hornady or someone does that on one style. Maybe more.
But the cup/jacket rolled back to it is where some designs stop rolling back.

Here's some feeble search results for fired bullet examples.

Edit: Oh crap Charlie! I'm not looking at a copper jacket , but a solid lead bullet?
L.o.l..
I'll wipe my glasses and sneak off.

Me too!

 

[releventchair]

Me too!

Well ,we both get a white cane I guess.

Dad filled pistol bullets when I was a kid. Wine was the last thing I remember being used. Wasn't paying much attention except for trying to not break my nose shooting his 44Mag..

Still , it didn't occur to me the front section was molded that hollow and deep in the O.P.'s pics .
Ah well.
Charlie caught it. Fortunately.

 

[AlabamaRelic]

What’s the weight? The devil’s in the details.

 

[Older The Better]

I double checked for lead, definitely is. I put a small notch in the base and the lip with my thumbnail. I did the calipers again in mm… 8.92 I don’t know if these extra pics will help but I’ll add them. Thanks all for the interest.

 

[Older The Better]

155.4 gn
Or
10.07 g
.356 oz