Bullet tearing target

[fisher4]

Hi List: Just reloaded with some new 9mm micro Groove hard cast lead bullets 124 gr.conical. with 3.9 grains of HP38 and the results are disappointing. The bullets must be tumbling as they are tearing the target. Any idea what the cause might be?Doing the same thing in another gun. This batch of lead is "tumble Lubed "and I find they contain a lot of lube.
Thanks
Fisher4

 

[daBear]

Tumbling may be the result of underpowered loads or undersized bullets or combinations. I tend to think that 3.9g of HP38 is right on the low end of the scale for that weight. Just a thought, but you may want to warm up your loads a bit to see if that helps. I had the same problem a few years ago with underpowered loads and keyholing. Aside from the potential of disasterous problems, warming up(increasing the charge) the load may solve the tumbling and it may help to cycle the gun better as well. Just a thought...
Cheers
dB

 

[BEARMAN]

It sounds as if you are unsure if the bullets are tumbling. A target stapled to a shot out back board will quite often rip or tear. If you back the target with a layer of solid cardboard, the target will be firm enough to get an imprint of the bullet , if it is tumbling you may even see the marks of some hitting the target sideways. Sometimes, if load is well below maximum, the bullet can be stabilized by increasing the powder charge a very small amount.