Bi-Sected Gold Dot
 

Just for the heck of it - this afternoon (can not hunt anymore this year)I decided to cut open a Gold Dot. I had a 180 grain 40mm Gold Dot sitting on the desk so I took it out into the shop and with the sawzall cut it in half...

I really wanted to see what the piece of copper at the bottom of the HP really was. In my mind I was hoping it would be some thing like what I know a Nosler Partition is with a copper shelf across the bullet supporting lead on top and in the bottom.

It is not built that way - but now I know.

Here is what I think I proved to myself:

1. While the copper is electroplated to the lead it is not a thin layer of copper - it is what I would call the normal thickness of copper. It is definetly "bonded" stuck to the lead. It would be very difficult to separate the two.I could not get it to separate by picking at it.The lead and the copper are going to stay together retaining the weight of the bullet.

2. The "copper dot" embedded in the lead at the bottom of the HP is just a peice of copper where the all the copper petals of the hollow point come together. This junction does seem to stop the expansion of the petals at this point as you have seen in other pictures.

Again just thinking to much probably....

RE: Bi-Sected Gold Dot
 

that's pretty interesting actually. I never expected them to look like that inside.

RE: Bi-Sected Gold Dot
 

Thats a great looking shot of the Gold Dot. I've never seen an autopsy preformed on a bullet before. I'm learning more than expected from you guys.

RE: Bi-Sected Gold Dot
 

That's pretty good thickness on the jacket. Do you think the "dot" comes from the nose of the plated bullet during the swaging operation?

Would make sense, as you said,that it would inhibit further expansion. This was interesting. thanks.

RE: Bi-Sected Gold Dot
 

Pglasgow

And remember this is a 10mm 180 grain Gold Dot - I would expect a little more thickness with the .452 - and I agree with your assesment of the dot... what I realy had trouble believing was that it would hold together as it drives through - but it does... Those pictures of recovered bullets from a wet dirt bank really show that.... + they retain most of their weight and you gotta know shooting wet dirt is tougher on the bullet than an animal....

RE: Bi-Sected Gold Dot
 

Gee - I always thought the dot would have come from a little copper dimple at the inside bottom of the jacket. As far as trying to pick the copper away from the lead, I don't think it can be done. I have seen these shot into steel plates and picked them up off the ground later. Look like a silver dollar, and still have just about all the copper jacket they started out with.

RE: Bi-Sected Gold Dot
 

One thing that occurred to me is that copper has a very high melting temperature. The dot mayhelp toprevent the lead under it from "flowing" out into a continued mushroom, not to mention the jacket. Have you noticed the expandedbullet at speer's site looked a whole lot like the fellow's bullet recovered from the deer? Looks like there was alot of heat flowing across the exposed lead. Awesom expansion. I kind of see these gold dots performing similar to the barnes expanders. Opening rapidly due to hydraulic pressure with very high weight retention.

RE: Bi-Sected Gold Dot
 

Ya can't really tell how much weight a bullet lost when recovered unless you weighted the bullet first. I shoot Speer Mag tips in my 300 win mag and I have found some aslow as 5gr. under and some ashigh as 4 gr.over listed weight on the box.

But the expanded pictures posted else where of the gold dots sure were impressive.

:)Al

RE: Bi-Sected Gold Dot
 

wow thats cool

RE: Bi-Sected Gold Dot
 

ah wunt dat gun in da background :D