Monday, October 05, 2009

Y'know...

Looking at the picture of the zombie target again, some of those holes from the FN 1910 look awful big and ragged for .32 FMJ.

I wonder if it actually keyholed a couple? That might also account for at least some of the ~6" scatter that I refuse to dignify with the term "group"; the trigger and sights are a handicap, and I'm not that good of a pistol shot, but I'm not that bad, either.

The bore is kinda rough, but I've seen a lot rougher, and I don't recollect there being anything weird about the muzzle crown.

I'm going to need to take it with again next weekend, I see. I want to see if I can get it to shoot.
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12 comments:

Douglas L. Perry said...

Now you're sure that the bullets aren't going end over end, right? :-)

I had a barrel so worn in my old .22 rifle when I was about 12 that the bullets weren't even rifling anymore.

11:39 PM, October 05, 2009
skipelec said...

What was the range?
25 yds, could keyhole, closer not so much.
Slug the barrel. Shot out?

12:44 AM, October 06, 2009
Joe in Reno said...

I would agree that the picture shows the bullets are tumbling. On the upper left shot the bullet base is in 7-8 o'clock and the lower left 1-2 o'clock. From the tears, it looks like they all tumbled. Don't give up on the barrel yet. Try different bullet brands/weights. Maybe something that closely duplicates the original loading. I seem to remember that some of the original loadings were soft lead with a thin copper plating and a concave base. Groove diams. were not very consistent then and needed the bullet to upset a bit for any accuracy. I've got a Browning HP that puts anything up to 135gr in a nice tight group but tumbles 147s consistently no matter what brand/velocity/bullet style.

2:08 AM, October 06, 2009
Frank W. James said...

Test it from a bagged rest, also. Just to make sure you're not 'breaking' your wrist at the wrong moment.

I've done it on easy recoiling guns to the point I could almost keyhole a target on demand with certain pistols.

All The Best,
Frank W. James

3:30 AM, October 06, 2009
og said...

You might also be looking at the properties of the paper. I've had targets that were made of such cheap crappy paper it still had chunks of wood floating around in it, and it would tear in wierd ways.

7:37 AM, October 06, 2009
Tam said...

Og,

I thought about that, but the same Fiocchi .32 made normal-looking holes out of the Colt.

8:34 AM, October 06, 2009
Tam said...

skipelec,

Hey, my Martini will Keyhole at 7 yards when shooting OWS ammo. (.452" lead bullet, ugly-looking ~.458" bore...)

8:36 AM, October 06, 2009
og said...

Gotcha. Say, did you ever read Franklin Mann on confirming and diagnosing bullet tumble? He lined up a series of cards and shot through them. You can read "A bullet's flight" online for free. Bring black coffee.

12:21 PM, October 06, 2009
Dr. StrangeGun said...

Don't forget the quick'n'easy test, see how far a bullet fits in the muzzle.

Someone should make a conical spike (like an ice pick on steroids) to slip in the muzzle of guns, with graduated marks of .005 on it.

1:04 PM, October 06, 2009
Anonymous said...

Dr. Strangegun - that would work just fine, but I think you'd need a reasonably caliber-specific pilot to make sure its square to the bore. Still entirely do-able, though. Anyone with a bench-top lathe and some brass could do it.

Jim

7:04 PM, October 06, 2009
Kristophr said...

Too complex.

You slug the barrel. Then measure the slug.

Simple ... it's the standard procedure.

Failure to engage rifling will do it.

You could load the cartridges with patched roundball to improve accuracy. XD

7:34 PM, October 06, 2009
Larry said...

Dirk Manley. Nice.

4:48 AM, October 07, 2009

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