New Bullet Design
 

I am beginning the development of a new bullet design. While we will be considering the profile of the bullet and the design of the jacket, our principle focus will be on the core material and the distribution of the new core material to optomize the performance of the bullet. I have working with me engineers and a chemist from my staff and outside assistance from a ballistics expert and a reknown rifle builder.

Our project is expected to take about four months to the first round.

If you have any real world savey I would appreciate your input. What would you like to see, and what would you like not to see?

RE: New Bullet Design
 

I would like not to see the typical bullets we have out there now.

I would like to see high BC of course, at least as good as Accubonds, and if you can make them as good as barnes, even better. Reliable mushroom. This is the biggest concern. You hear and see reports all over the country here and other places, and some say barnes triple still pencils thru, others say they are great. Same with Accubonds. Barnes even had to put out a DVD to convince people that they will expand. Lastly, low copper fouling. Seems many companies can get the performance but fouling is horrible. TBBC being one.

1.) High BC equal or better than comp
2.) In this day and time, bullet price is important in the last year, have to beat out at least nosler.
3.) Expanding performance like TBBC or even partition
4.) Low copper foul/low pressure to reach peak velocities.
5.) dynamic jacket that will work in variety of barrels. Barnes had tons of issues with this.

I would concentrate on price. Alot of us here are sticker shocked this past year and it has affected my target practice. Its just not practical for me to blast off 50 dollars every weekend. Used too, it was 25 dollars.

RE: New Bullet Design
 

I like Bigs answer and would also repeat COST .

A bullet that will work with a broad velocity range ie .308 (30-30 2k fps 300 mags 3200+-).

if this is to be a pistol bullet I'd like to see a double ended semi wad cutter /hp swc or rnfp/rn hp

RE: New Bullet Design
 

We expect to greatly increase sectional density and at the same time increasing ballistic coefficient without making the bullet so long you cannot stabilize it without rebarreling your rifle.

If we cannot make the bullet expand properly like a Nosler Partition, we won't bother introducing it. We are not out to build armor piercing rounds. We want bullets that perform well on game and on the range. I expect to hunt Moose in the Yukon this fall with this new round.

I'm glad you brought up the fouling issue, because we do expect some shooters to be driving these bullets at high velocities and we fully expect to minimize fouling with choices of materials and design.

Thanks for the input.

RE: New Bullet Design
 

We may do some pistol bullets later on, but our initial emphasis will be on the rifle.

When we do pistol bullets I think we will be able to offer great performance.

WE do not know the cost structure of our bullets at this time. We are not using lead in them, so the core material will cost us more. We will have to wait and see what the materials cost is and what manufacturing process requirements are. We will be basic in the core material, because we are going to manufacture it. That will be a distinct advantage for us in the cost structure.

I can say this. I have been handloading for 40 years and have seen bullet costs increase exponentially. This is not what is driving the development, but we will do all we can to build if efficiently and cost effective for all shooters.

RE: New Bullet Design
 

How do you plan to increase sectional density?The calculation for SD is pretty basic so the only way to increase SD is heavier projectiles.

Sectional Density Calc.

7000 x (bullet diameter in inches) x (bullet diameter in inches) =X
Y= (bullet weight in grains)

Y divided by X = SD

RE: New Bullet Design
 

I would like to see some one build a bullet that would not heat the barrel up as much-or at least not as fast.

I would also like to see some one develop a bullet that was accurate at or just below sub sonic velocities that also had good expansion properties. Tom.

RE: New Bullet Design
 

I imagine they will lengthen the bullet with a lighter alloy, thats the reason barnes has such high SD and BC.

RE: New Bullet Design
 

What cartridge are you thinking of here? I assume it is a larger caliber that would typically be used in areas with a lot of cover.

It is a great suggestion and we need to consider this.

RE: New Bullet Design
 

We are fully aware of the calculation for Sectional Density. Be assured that if we are successful you will like the SD on our bullets. The jury is out on just how high we can drive it, but I am expecting at least a 30% increase in any given bullet profile.