Project Rifle - Barnes XPB Bullets

[Sabotloader]

Made it home from Kennewick and wanted to check out the new XPB bullets in my rifle bores.

A little bit of review, I have been working on finding a 50 cal. bullet that I could load and shoot from my 50 cal. Knights. I first picked up some Barnes 50x275 gr. XPB bullets.  I was lucky because these bullets right out of the package worked very well in my tighter Wiseman Project Rifle, but they were to loose for the rest of my Knights, they would drop right to the bottom of the bore.  But, with knurling the bullet appears to fit and work well in the other Knight bores.

Saturday I was able to locate a few boxes of Barnes 50x325 grain bullets and to my surprise they are shaped like an 'X' bullet instead of the Expander as the 275 is.

Today when I got home I really wanted to try these new bullets in the Knights.  The first rifle I tried was the project rifle because it was out... - well surprise!  The bullet dropped right to the bottom of the Wiseman Barrel :twisted:  Oddly enough! the 325 is smaller in diameter than the 275's.  I grabbed my digital mic and decided to measure them, but remember I am not the best at working a mic.   The .500x275 XPB's measured .5005 and remember they are tight in the Wiseman.  The .500x325 XPB - measure .4995 enough of a difference to give me a head ache! Because the 325's drop to the bottom of the bore.

 


Solution....knurling! - dug out my to files and ran 5 of the bullets through the files to knurl them.  With the knurling they now seem to be just right.



It really does not seem much of an impression on the copper bullet but it is enough...



Hope to get out in the next few days to shoot my newly knurled bullets

[kerrdog]

Hey Sabotloader,


How does the price on those compare to buying Barnes Muzzleloader bullets? I'm paying around $1.40 to $1.60 per shot, including the sabot.  And I'm thinking about a full bore bullet for my 1/48 T/C nw explorer. Maybe even my disc, as the bullet could be shorter and maybe more stable.  If you get a change to try those in your Renegade I'd be interested to see the results.

Will the copper expand into the rifling the way lead does, or is it too hard?  It would be cool to see one of the bullets after its fired from the Disk or Ultralight.

[Sabotloader]

Hey Sabotloader,


How does the price on those compare to buying Barnes Muzzleloader bullets? I'm paying around $1.40 to $1.60 per shot, including the sabot.

These are right $23/$24 for 20 bullets - so they are less expensive.

And I'm thinking about a full bore bullet for my 1/48 T/C nw explorer.

You know that Speer 50-300 grain Deep Curl might be an excellent one for the 1-48...



I do have to knurl them to make them tight enough for the DISC - they might work well in a Rene..

The other thing maybe these 325 XPB's might be just the ticket for a tight TC bore.

Maybe even my disc, as the bullet could be shorter and maybe more stable.  If you get a change to try those in your Renegade I'd be interested to see the results.

Will the copper expand into the rifling the way lead does, or is it too hard?  It would be cool to see one of the bullets after its fired from the Disk or Ultralight.

They certainly will not obturate to the bore the way a lead conical would.  Because of that sabotless shooters all recommend using a was or shot card under the bullet.

At some point I will shoot them from a DISC and the Ultra Lite.