Triple Se7en

If I remember correctly, we both purchased the 270gr SP's in .429 a while back with very limited success on paper at under 100 yards. Since then, I have gone to the .451diameter 180 & 230gr. HPs that rock with Harvester plastic sabots.

But since I went back to all-lead Buffalo S.S.Bs, those coppers are collecting dust. If you want my 230 gr Gold Dots David, send me your fulladdress by email or PM. I'll accomodate you for free.... may have a couple of other bullet brandsto send your way also.

HighDesertWolf

how did you manage to clean up the bullet so well without breaking off any pettles?? the bullets ive recovered from deer were covered in blood and had hair, flesh and chunks of bone imbedded in the lead and between the pettles. everytime ive tried to clean the bullets up to show the pettles would break off. you did one heck of job cleaning up that bullet I cant see any signs of flesh or blood at all on the bullet and all your pettles are intact please pass on your secret on how to get the bullet so darn clean without damaging it.

Triple Se7en

HighDesertWolfinadvertently just mentioned more high marks about this bullet...ie... how well it held together. I wonder if weighed, how much of that 300 grains remains? I would imagine Gummout or Brake Cleaner spray would clean-up that bullet pretty good.

mouthcaller

Wolf

For one thing this bullet is tough.Ican't easily bend the petels with my fingers and would have to get some pliers to pull those suckers out. I simply used one of the sharp thingson my leatherman and picked out the tissue. I cleaned it in the field where we field dress deer at our club and we have a old "pitcher pump" down there. I just keptwashing it ina stream of water and picking out the flesh until it got clean.

I assure you it came from the deer I shot yesterday morning around 6:15 AM.

I'll weigh it Monday.

mouthcaller

HighDesertWolf

LOL!! was I that obvious about doubting wether that bullet came out of a deer or not? I didnt mean to be too obvious but thanks for explaining how you got it so clean. I personally dont have any firsthand experience with gold dots but I assume the structure isnt to much off from hornady XTP's or winchester silvertip hollow points which lose their pettles easily from even slight pressure.

to give you an idea of what im talking about heres a picture of a 185 grain 45 cal silvertip hollow point I extracted from a deer it was intact prior to cleaning but while cleaning the brittle pettles broke off and the rest of the jacket came off the bullet.

gopherfan

Sabotloader-

Thanks for the information and the previous recommendation for this projectile (last summer). I have a ton of XTPs to burn through before I can justify buying more bullets but at $15 for 50 you can't go wrong...especially when you see someone post images such as these. Only 4 days until our opener in MI!!!

Tom

sabotloader

HighDesertWolf

I really am not sure of the construction of either the Hornady XTP's or the Winchester Silvertip HP's. I am assuming the lead is poured into the copper cup and the tips are formed. I have never cut one open to look - I do know that you can strip the copper from the lead on occassion. (separate the lead and the copper)

With the Gold Dot that can not happen, it is constructed more along the lines of a Nosler Partition. There are two sections of lead the lower section is contained and bonded in section of copper and the upper portion is bonded to the petals. You can see that in the pictures that mouthcaller has presented. The bullet is designed to open on impact with the animal the petals and the lead opening and causing a great deal of physical damage along with a huge hdrostatic shock wave in the tissue that it passes through.The second portion of lead incased in copper causes the bullet to keep driving through the tissue. I do not consider the petal fragile at all - they are pretty tough. When mouthcaller weighs that bullet I really do not expect a great difference in weight from when it was new to what it is now.

With a Gold Dot - the jacket should not separate from the lead at all, that is what the bonding does - holds it all together. These bullets were designed after Speer's "Bear Claw" big game rifle bullets.

gopherfan

I really think they are an excellent bullet and a really tough bullet for the price... It is hard for me to make the switch from Noslers to the Gold Dots, but as the price of Noslers continues to climb it will make it a lot easier.

It did some target shooting today and was able to recover several bullets from a saturated wet clay water bar. I can confirm what you are seeing in mouthcallers pictures - mine are not as symetrical as mouthcallers - but then shooting a clay dirt bank is not like shooting an animal. I'll try to get them cleaned up tomorrow and post some pics + the weight - I do not hink they lost much at all.

Hope you have a great season... it just never gets here quick enough nor does it last long enough....

HighDesertWolf

I looked into gold dot bullets I found out the jackets are actually electroplated copper in other words they are plated lead bullets just with a heavy copper plating, similar too federals new fusion bullets. which is actually better then your typical bonded core bullets. from what I hear jacket seperation with a gold dot bullet is near impossible. I think im gonna get a box and some harvester sabots and give them a try.

mouthcaller

Wolf,

You are beginning to see the light now. Look moreclosely at the pictures I posted. If you maximixe the image (click on the box in the lower right of the image) in full-scren mode you can see that the petels contain the copper jacket material with all the lead adhered to them. From your picture of a silvertip all I see is lead. Big differece. This gold dot bullet looked exactly like this after busting through the neck/shoulder area, running through the upper chest cavity, and getting caught by the hide near the diaphram. Again, I can't easily bend these petels with my fingers. The edges are too sharp and I would likely cut myself if I tried.

Below is a discription of the construction of these bullets from the Speer website:

Gold Dot® Hollow Point Handgun Bullets
Police officers know the best handgun bullet because they use it in their service ammo. It's Speer Gold Dot®. Handloaders can get the same premium Gold Dot bullets in component form. We're committed to reloading; unlike some other ammo manufacturers, we make our premium handgun bullets available to those who prefer to load their own.
We created the first bonded-core handgun bullet. Our method is so innovative that we hold patents* on the process. Using our proven Uni-Cor® technology, we bond the copper jacket to the lead core one molecule at a time. We've virtually wiped out the cause of most bullet failures — core-jacket separation. In the process, we've assured high retained weights and excellent penetration.
What about expansion? We have you covered. Most bullet makers add the hollow point cavity at the very last operation. This is not very smart if you want premium performance. We, however, form the cavity in two distinct steps. Very smart.
The first cavity operation establishes the limit of maximum expansion--a bullet isn't very effective if it rolls back so far that it falls apart--and precuts both the jacket and the core for symmetrical expansion. The final cavity operation establishes the rate of expansion. The flexibility of this two-step proces lets us tune each bullet to its intended velocity range. Bullets for low-velocity cartridges have a deep cavity; those for high-velocity have a shallow cavity. Very smart, indeed.