Is it me and/or my particular choice of bullets? I was wondering whether any of you have the same experience with a Hornady 200 gr LSWC in .45 cal. I reload .45s and .38s, exclusively for punching holes in paper. For years, my go-to .45 load has the Hornady 200 gr LSWC with 4.0 or 4.5 grs of Bullseye. It feeds great and is pretty accurate. However, it doesn't leave a nice clean hole in the paper. It is a big, ragged hole with several tears in the paper which are perpendicular to the round ring in the middle. Never gave it much thought until recently when I started using Berry's 230 gr coated RN, 200 gr FP or 185 FP. These 3 bullets give nice clean holes. I don't necessarily want to give up on the LSWC and big holes don't necessarily offend me, but it seems that the name "semi-wadcutter" implies that it should leave a nice clean hole in the paper like my .38 wadcutters. The Hornady SWC profile different than the traditional H&G #68 because the nose is shorter and has more of an OG profile (rounder), which makes feeding in my 1911 very reliable. Similarly, SWC bullets in my .38 also give fairly clean holes, but again, the profile is closer to the H&G #68 (although different calibers) because the nose is longer and has sharper edges. Just pondering.
Clean holes in paper
- Thread starter DMY
- Start date
Average Joe
New member
The best clean round holes come from wad cutters, other than that its a crap shoot from bullet to bullet.
I punch a lot of holes in paper; and a nice sharp round hole is important to me. I shoot a lot of WC's and SWC's.
In the 45 ACP world, the sharpest hole cutting bullet I use is the H&G 68 design in lead. They don't however, cut holes as sharp as some 38 full WC's (lead).
And when you get into plated and jacketed, I have yet to find a bullet that cuts a sharp hole - with the sole exception of Rainier's 148 WC (plated). Speer's 200 TMJ SWC (an H&G 68 design), and X-treme's 158 SWC are excellent examples, as they fall way short of sharp holes IMO. Disappointing, actually.
FWIW, I have found that the cuts are sharper if cardboard is involved - be it bare cardboard (like an IDPA or an ICORE target), or a paper target stapled to cardboard.
In the 45 ACP world, the sharpest hole cutting bullet I use is the H&G 68 design in lead. They don't however, cut holes as sharp as some 38 full WC's (lead).
And when you get into plated and jacketed, I have yet to find a bullet that cuts a sharp hole - with the sole exception of Rainier's 148 WC (plated). Speer's 200 TMJ SWC (an H&G 68 design), and X-treme's 158 SWC are excellent examples, as they fall way short of sharp holes IMO. Disappointing, actually.
FWIW, I have found that the cuts are sharper if cardboard is involved - be it bare cardboard (like an IDPA or an ICORE target), or a paper target stapled to cardboard.
I can't tell you anything you actually asked to know, but I can add that Lapua makes some rifle bullets called "Cutting Edge" that have a overlap of the jacket on the widest part of the body, essentially making a kind of "razor-blade" that punches a clean hole in the paper, even when using a spitzer profile bullet. So you have that option when you want to pay 40-50c a round to have a nice clean hole in the paper when shooting .308's and such. I use them because it's the only 90gr OTM I could find for 300BO at the time. maybe they make such bullets in pistol calibers.
http://www.lapua.com/en/products/reloading/bullets/centerfire-rifle-bullets/11
http://www.lapua.com/en/products/reloading/bullets/centerfire-rifle-bullets/11
Lee S. Forsberg
New member
Bullets with sharp edges and a little more velocity.
Thanks
Thanks for the suggestions on cardboard and higher velocity. The cardboard is a good idea. In response to T. O'Heir, the answer is "yes". I reload 200 gr LSWC with 4.0 grs and 4.5 grs of Bullseye for .45 ACP. These are the sizes of my fixed volume Lil' Dandy rotors (numbers 7 & 8) when using Bullseye and both loads work well in my semi-auto and revolver. I never really thought about higher velocity making cleaner holes. I'll have to pay attention to that the next time I shoot upper end and lower end loads. Thanks again everyone for your valuable responses.
Thanks for the suggestions on cardboard and higher velocity. The cardboard is a good idea. In response to T. O'Heir, the answer is "yes". I reload 200 gr LSWC with 4.0 grs and 4.5 grs of Bullseye for .45 ACP. These are the sizes of my fixed volume Lil' Dandy rotors (numbers 7 & 8) when using Bullseye and both loads work well in my semi-auto and revolver. I never really thought about higher velocity making cleaner holes. I'll have to pay attention to that the next time I shoot upper end and lower end loads. Thanks again everyone for your valuable responses.
Once I was shooting new reloads (.44 Mag. w/LSWC) and was shocked by the holes I had made in the target 
. I thought I was getting tumbling at 50' because the holes were ripped and oblong. It turned out the target was thin paper and unsupported, just hanging from the hanger and it was moving as the bullet went through, tearing rather than cutting. I put a couple sheets of heavy paper on top of the hung target and started getting clean, round holes. Even round balls will make clean holes in paper if there is a stuff/secure backing.
The H&G 68 clone I use in my 1911 leave clean, sharp holes in all my targets even the light paper ones...
. I thought I was getting tumbling at 50' because the holes were ripped and oblong. It turned out the target was thin paper and unsupported, just hanging from the hanger and it was moving as the bullet went through, tearing rather than cutting. I put a couple sheets of heavy paper on top of the hung target and started getting clean, round holes. Even round balls will make clean holes in paper if there is a stuff/secure backing.The H&G 68 clone I use in my 1911 leave clean, sharp holes in all my targets even the light paper ones...