convertin FMJ to hollowpoints for hunting

[MiG25]

Anybody ever tried taking an 1/8" off the tip of a 30 cal FMJ bullet and running a 1/16" drill bit down a 1/4" or so?

 

[drache]

I've heard of this done and personally don't suggest it. FMJ were not meant to mushroom properly. On top of that there have been cases where the core "squirted" through the outer jacket leaving it behind in the barrel.

 

[BigUglyMan]

Yeah, no.

 

[kevin.303]

i wouldn't. too much risk of the core separating and leaving the jacket in the barrel. what caliber? soft point hunting ammo is available in most of the surplus calibers these days

 

[636andy636]

Is it even worth it? Federal blue box centrefire ammo is rarely over 28 dollars a box for the most popular hunting calibres. Or even remington core lokt. Less work and will not have to worry about a balance issue or core jacket separation in your barrel

 

[Wolf@TS]

Potential for jacket/core separation, accuracy issues, and poor performance on game.
Any animal is at least worthy of spending a couple extra dollars on for even the basic hunting loads (Fed Blue box, Remington Core-loc etc ).

 

[yomomma]

You know your a red neck when...

 

[mrgoat]

If you cut an X down the FMJ tip then put a bit of duct tape on it you seldom get any separations, at least the way all the Red Necks do it around here.

 

[Brutus]

I guess this would have been viable during the Depression years of the 1930s, when people were actually starving to death.

These days, not so much.

 

[captonion]

The lead core is exposed @ the base of FMJ bullets. The closed tip of FMJ is what keeps the bullet together.. Opening the tip will make core separation,highly possible if not probable, leaving the jacket in the bore .. Not a good scenario for the next shot..

 

[jaycee]

Anybody ever tried taking an 1/8" off the tip of a 30 cal FMJ bullet and running a 1/16" drill bit down a 1/4" or so?

Seriously???

 

[captonion]

Seriously???

Better to ask first as the OP did...Most people out there don't know the danger of this.

 

[duncansuds]

Didn't know there was a danger. I have done it with 7.62x39. It worked well for me, made a guide and shaved just a bit off and made a small pocket on the tip. Was just as accurate and opened up beautifully in the two coyotes taken with it. Core passed through, jacket was shrapnel and cut large holes. Like I said , didn't know there was a danger in it, never considered the jacket separating in the bore, guess I got lucky. Been a while since I have owned it now, probably a good thing.

 

[MiG25]

I read it was a perfectly safe and satisfactory thing to do for hunting as long as the hole was of a consistent depth.

 

[drache]

I read it was a perfectly safe and satisfactory thing to do for hunting as long as the hole was of a consistent depth.

Sure it will kill an animal and will expand. But you're risking your firearm to do it.

 

[nomad 68]

Holy crap! I thought it was April fool's day for a sec!

 

[SuperCub]

I read it was a perfectly safe and satisfactory thing to do for hunting as long as the hole was of a consistent depth.

Using proper bullets would be the "perfectly safe and satisfactory thing to do for hunting"

 

[OneBarfly]

Turn them up-side-down and as it. Problem solved.

 

[Calum]

Go buy some proper hunting ammo and or bullets.
This isn't the dirty 30s.

 

[Goldenlakepete]

Spoiler Alert! If you're planning to read Stephen Hunter's book "The Third Bullet" about the JFK assassination read no further!

Hunter's theory of what killed Kennedy was a 6.5 Carcano bullet doctored in this way and fired (not by Oswald) from a .264 Winchester Magnum cartridge in a supressed M70 Winchester. The idea being that the bullet would explode on impact at the much higher velocity of the .264 yet even if particles were discovered they would still be found to be from a Carcano bullet.

I had a friend in the old days who constantly did this with .303 British bullets and he never had an incident of core separation. Just luck?