Many of the Keith style bullets offered today would make Elmer roll over in his grave 
:shock: :roll: :evil: :evil: :evil:
:shock: :roll: :evil: :evil: :evil:
The Importance of Meplat Area
All this may be old news to some, but is worth repeating! There is a growing interest in hunting with hard cast bullets, even to the point that the ammo makers are adding some to there line.
I started hunting with hard cast in 1956 and used a then new Ruger Flat Top .44 Mag. The favorite bullet of the day was the 250 gr #429421......so I bought a mold from Lyman. Using Elmer Keith's published load, I stsrted sighting in.....only to find the old style front sight was too high! after setting the rear sigt at its lowest setting, I reduce the height of the front sight until the gun was grouping at 50 yards.
I thought I was ready. The first deer I shoot ran off!!!!! I went home a got my dogs and trailed it up......a couple of hundred yards away. The bullet went through the lungs, with no blood trail!
I thought is was just a flute......only to have it happen more times! I know now that the #429421, with only a .280" meplat, just did not cause enough tissue damage! A simple case of over penetration! Maybe if I had used a softer alloy, the bullet would have worked?
Over the years since then, there has beem a great deal of design changes in hard cast! The single most important change has been to increase the meplat (meplat area)!
It is the meplat area and velocity that causes tissue [email protected] Slugs
I started hunting with hard cast in 1956 and used a then new Ruger Flat Top .44 Mag. The favorite bullet of the day was the 250 gr #429421......so I bought a mold from Lyman. Using Elmer Keith's published load, I stsrted sighting in.....only to find the old style front sight was too high! after setting the rear sigt at its lowest setting, I reduce the height of the front sight until the gun was grouping at 50 yards.
I thought I was ready. The first deer I shoot ran off!!!!! I went home a got my dogs and trailed it up......a couple of hundred yards away. The bullet went through the lungs, with no blood trail!
I thought is was just a flute......only to have it happen more times! I know now that the #429421, with only a .280" meplat, just did not cause enough tissue damage! A simple case of over penetration! Maybe if I had used a softer alloy, the bullet would have worked?
Over the years since then, there has beem a great deal of design changes in hard cast! The single most important change has been to increase the meplat (meplat area)!
It is the meplat area and velocity that causes tissue [email protected] Slugs
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Not to be sarcastic but perhaps it's time for 'ol Elmer Keith to, "roll over in his grave". A lot has happened since he checked out. The S&W .500, the S&W .460, the Ruger .480, the Ruger .454 Casull, (first to mass market it on an affordable basis.) He jumped up and down over the .41 Magnum which was, and is stale by todays offerings. Let's face it, todays guns are like todays women, better performing, better to look at, and all around better achievers. Elmer is something to read about, and dream about, "what he would have done in todays society". Bill T.
Billt-I will be gentle--Had it not been for Elmer the magnum craze would have never occured.I realize some of you younger folks never will have any respect for those who dug the dirt trail that is now the superhighway---I hope you understand this.Somehow I get the feeling you are in your 20's,living in the city and have never had a real chance to do any hunting,plinking or self defense and have only read articles by folks who are just like you.Take the time to reread Elmer and you might actually learn something usefeul.Do you honestly think the big bores were designed in the last year or so?????Other good authors are Charles Askins,Skeeter Skelton and Bill Jordan---Take the time to read and learn :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: :idea: Feel free to post meesage here or pm me :wink:
Not even close. I'll be 54 this November and have lived in Arizona for the last 15 years. I shoot far more than I read. I like 'ol Elmer but if he didn't invent the .44 Magnum someone else would have. It's even been reported John LaChuck had more to do with it's actual conception than Elmer did. No matter because Dick Casull and John Linebaugh bested it and S&W polished off the .460 and the .500 that superseeded it. All have more power in a more solid package. City living isn't too bad. you earn enough money to play in the country! Thats what's important. Bill T.hoashooter said:Somehow I get the feeling you are in your 20's,living in the city and have never had a real chance to do any hunting,plinking or self defense and have only read articles by folks who are just like you.
Well, here we go again! We start the post off trying to discuss the importance of bullet design.....and end up arguing cartridge design!
The same factors in bullet designs apply to all cartridges! Without a proper bullet, none are much more than noise and will fail to develop their full potential.......James
The same factors in bullet designs apply to all cartridges! Without a proper bullet, none are much more than noise and will fail to develop their full potential.......James
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
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