Hunting With Old Dominion Bullets

conor_90

conor_90

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I have read in some articles that bullets weaken over time. Is this really the case?

Does anyone still hunt with Old Dominion KKSP bullets anymore? Do they still work? I hear they had quiet a good reputation.

I recently purchased 100 KKSP 215 grain 303 bullets from the e.e, has anyone hunted with this load? What sort of powders did you use and any suggestion on getting load data?

Thanks,

Conor
 
Bullets weaken over time? That's the stupidest thing I've read all day. It's a hunk of lead traveling faster than the speed of sound. It's going to kill things just as dead as if you shot it a week after it was made. Having said that, those bullets are likely inferior to anything made today. Better technology has made for more consistent manufacturing, which makes bullets more accurate and consistently repeatable.
 
Conor, you are going to be very pleased with those 215 gr KKSPs. They really hold together and always expand on game.

Be sure to try some IMR 4320 in your load development.

Ted
 
I think you meant to say cartridges.
Cartridges can remain just fine for a very long time if properly stored. I have shotgun shells from the 60's and 303 stuff from the war that work fine.

But, left outside in the rain, not so much. I picked up a 30-30 I found near a parking spot when hunting once. DOA, not even the primer. I pulled it, and the powder was mush.

I hunted with the Dominion and Imperial loads when they were being sold new, they were fine hunting rounds.
 
Well...being a bullet caster. Lead can either age soften or age harden (or both) depending on lead composition.

So will it affect the bullet enough for it to not be useable? Probably not. Could it affect the rate or size of mushrooming? It might.

Would i still use them for hunting? Hell YES

All this is assuming that the core is not pure lead.
 
I have never had an issue and some of mine go back to the early 60's also
Mind you stored in the dark with humidity and temperature control also all those years
Cheers
 
I was wondering the same thing, i have a case of the Dominion blue box of 44-40 mixed with some boxes of 44-40 shots, made in the 50, all boxes and ammo look good since they always been in the attic away from humidity.

I will try a couple in my new 1873 Winchester this summer.
 
There have been issues with very old Kynoch solid bullets becoming brittle with age. (bullets, not cartridges). The theory is that an electrolytic reaction takes place over time because of the different metals used in the bullet jacket construction, causing metal fatigue.
 
Back in the '70s, I fired some WW-1 date stamped ammo in my LE, it all fired fine, but smelled terrible. That was 55 year old ammo at the time, left in a wooden box along the top plate of a cabin wall, not exposed to rain or sunshine, but to frequent and repeated temperature cycling throughout those years, which must have resulted in condensation. It goes to show how resilient ammo can be. Hard to say if Vietnam War era ammo would do as well today.
 
The bullets will work fine, they always did. Even old loaded ammo will shoot well but I have to much invested in a hunt to leave it to chance. If it was a meat hunt close to home and under 200 yds I’d use it.
 
I bought a couple boxes of Dominion 270 cartridges with 160 grain bullets at the last gun show I attended. I'm thinking of sighting them in with one of my rifles and using them on black bear this year.
 
I had some old Dominion 100 gr KKSP in .250 Savage that shot patterns in a 99. On the suggestion of a local smith pulled a couple bullets and the powder charges were all over the map. Reloaded them on 30gr IMR 3031 and under an inch.Shot several deer with them.
 
Cup and core bullets which were poorly stored can develop oxidation between the core and the jacket that "may" allow the core to slip the jacket on impact. These are easy to see as the exposed lead tips usually are coated with white lead oxide.
 
yomomma said:
Well...being a bullet caster. Lead can either age soften or age harden (or both) depending on lead composition.

So will it affect the bullet enough for it to not be useable? Probably not. Could it affect the rate or size of mushrooming? It might.

Would i still use them for hunting? Hell YES

All this is assuming that the core is not pure lead.
Click to expand...

Most commercial jacketed soft points are made with pure soft lead, to aid with swaging and promote expansion on impact. The explosive expansion typical of some hunting bullets is more a result of point style and jacket thickness.
 
conor_90 said:
I have read in some articles that bullets weaken over time. Is this really the case?

Does anyone still hunt with Old Dominion KKSP bullets anymore? Do they still work? I hear they had quiet a good reputation.

I recently purchased 100 KKSP 215 grain 303 bullets from the e.e, has anyone hunted with this load? What sort of powders did you use and any suggestion on getting load data?

Thanks,

Conor
Click to expand...

Excellent projectile!!

Unless they are visibly damaged, you are good to go.

Consider yourself lucky to find such a nice batch of gems. :)
 
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