Quote:
Originally Posted by legion
I looks like Elmer's bullets have less surface area (just the ring at the back) with which to grip the rifling.
|
They actually have more of their length at groove diameter than the LBT design. It's hard to tell from that picture, so I'll try to remember to post one of just the bullets. That is actually one of their key design features - the length of the bullet that engages the rifling. The Keith bullet is quite a bit longer than the LBT, even though it is 50 grains lighter. The crimping and grease grooves are much larger, and the nose much smaller in diameter. The LBT design is meant to pack as much weight as possible into the shortest bullet possible, so it has very shallow crimping and grease grooves, plus that bulbuous nose.
Quote:
Originally Posted by legion
I think the more modern bullets were designed with semi-auto in mind. I know that you can get a Desert Eagle in .44 mag. I'd think that the step at the back of Elmer's bullets wouldn't work well in a semi-auto.
|
The Keith bullet is definitely designed for revolvers. It's length, along with its three equal width, widely spaced driving bands (the full diameter portion of the bullet) is meant to enable it to jump the barrel/cylinder gap without tipping. There are always two driving bands supported by the cylinder or by the barrel as the bullet makes that transition, holding it straight. In other words, as the middle driving band (between the crimping and grease grooves) jumps the gap and engages the rifling, the base band is still in the cylinder. Shorter bullets, like the more modern LBT design and almost all new JSP or JHP designs don't do that.
The very length of these bullets makes them unsuitable for use in autoloaders. That, and they will soon solder shut the gas port in a Desert Eagle or any other gas-operated autoloader.
As an aside, autoloaders in the magnum revolver chamberings are a useless abberation anyway. Autoloaders are defensive arms; hunting is best left for revolvers. The magnum revolver rounds are needlessly powerful for defensive purposes, and the autoloaders that shoot them are needlessly heavy for hunting purposes. They won't shoot proper (hard cast semi-wadcutter) hunting bullets, and they are just too damn heavy and bulky to carry comfortably on the hip all day. The only "need" this combination fills is for less than savy shooters to impress their less than savy shooting buddies at the range (they probalby won't get them laid, though).