Opening up the hollow point on SMK's?

Cummins4x4

Cummins4x4

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In the sticks East of Lethbridge Alberta
Anybody know of a product or method to enlarge the opening on HPBT bullets? I have a crap load of them loaded (223) and due to renovations can't reload right now. Tried them out on gophers and they are very inconsistant, some expand, some just drill through. I am hoping opening up the tip will make them work better. Any ideas appreciated.
 
I am not aware of any tool to open up hollow points, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
If you had loaded match bullets, I am not surprised that you found poor expansion. Match bullets, and their jackets, are optimized for accuracy and not expansion.
I found that bullets such as Hornady SX, or similar types from other manufacturers, worked much better.
I suspect your remedy is to shoot them and load the cases with more appropriate bullets.
 
Try the Sinclair Meplat Trimmers, this might do what you are looking for.

###.sinclairintl.com/.aspx/pid=36562/Product/Sinclair_Meplat_Trimmers
 
But the gophers still die when you hit them, right?;)

There are many choices for accurate, frangible .224 varmint bullets which expand/disintegrate on contact as they are designed to do. I've used a pi$$-pot full of the Hornady SXSPs, Rem PLHPs, Speer TNTs, Nosler BTs, and the Calhoon HPs with excellent results.:)

One of my selling points to farmers/ranchers when getting permission to shoot is the fact that high velocity varmint bullets will disintegrate with minimal possibility of ricochets. A match bullet will not do this, so I would avoid them for varmint shooting and save them for drilling holes in paper.:cool:
 
carbonrod said:
They are going to be unreliable no matter what you do to them. Sierra says so themselves. I tried a meplat trimmer on a bunch of them at one point, and the end result was still tips that did not expand reliably.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this answers my question...
And thanks to the rest that replied suggesting other bullets. I always use frangible bullets, just got caught low on ammo due to a basement flood and not being able to reload for a few months:mad:. This won't happen again, once my bench is setup again I'm keeping a minimum of 1k rounds for each rifle.:eek:
 
I have used a 1/8th center drill and a collet chuck in 1 of our small lathes to make SMKs have a larger hollow point, it is tedious but works well.
You may want to try a smaller drill for 224 cal bullets, I was working with 308 and 338 cal bullets.
Like carbonrod, found meplat uniforming a total waste of time, they did not open up any better and flew alot worse.

Many will claim the SMK is a terrible hunting bullet, yet I have found that on big game at distance they work REAL well:D
 
I don't think opening up the hollow points is the way to go. SMK's are just that way and I find out of all the match bullets I have tried no game, they are the most inconsistent. Hornadys, PRVI and Nosler have been excellent for me.
 
Years ago I heard of one fellow using wax or grease (?) to fill the tips. He seemed to think it accomplished the same sort of thing ( to a lesser degree) as the drilling and filling with mercury thing.
Could be...?
More likely too much time on his hands and a vivid imagination.
But who knows?
 
alberta tactical rifle said:
Many will claim the SMK is a terrible hunting bullet, yet I have found that on big game at distance they work REAL well:D
Click to expand...
From shoulder fireable launchers, or with half a can of powder behind them. Out of 308, I found expansion unreliable at best. Some were just bent a little, some came apart, but didn't mushroom, etc. Not something I'd use on game given another choice. Using the same targets, and hot core hunting tips, on the other hand, each round had nice expansion.
 
"...some expand, some just drill through..." That's because they're match grade bullets. Not designed to expand. In any case, there's no need to waste your time opening the HP on a match grade bullet.
 
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