Early in the pandemic I experimented with modifying bullets into effective hollow-points for self-defense. These were primarily for 9mm, and I experienced some success. You can read about that here.

While the 9mm bullets were functional attempting to use them in the lower-velocity .38 Special was a failure, which was not unexpected. But my interest was rekindled today. I was at Pinto’s and on their clearance table found some Remington 125gr. JHP bullets for .357 Magnum. With nearly half the bullet being exposed soft lead I had some hope they might function in .38 Special.

On arriving home I took them to the reloading bench and looked them over, and on examination I felt little hope that they would expand at .38 Special velocities. I loaded a few over 6.0gr. of Universal, which is rather peppy but is by no means a +P load.

It occurred to me to have a go at modifying these using the device I had set up for my previous experiments, and after rummaging around a bit I found it and set about putting it to use.

In the photo above you can see the ram on the top-left. This is inserted in the reloading press in place of a shell-holder. The swaging probe (top-center) is inserted in the die. I place a bullet on the ram and run it up into the die where it encounters the probe which reshapes the hollow-point into a larger, more suitable shape. After adjusting the die and a bit of fiddling I had produced some much more satisfactory bullets.

I ran off a batch of the modified bullets and loaded them as well. Setting up my Clear ballistics gel blocks, which sadly are rather badly darkened from re-use so wound-tracks cannot be photographed usefully. I also set up my Caldwell Chronograph but even with it’s onboard LED lighting there was not sufficient light to get a good reading. I seriously doubt the bullets were travelling either 6,333 fps or 192 fps. I expect from the available data when fired from the sub-two inch barrel of my S&W Model 642 the bullets are likely travelling in the neighborhood of 750-800 fps.

Initially I did not fire through denim, having no ideal if they would expand or not. I fired five rounds into the gel (hoping to get a good reading from the chronograph.) Examining the gel I found that most of the bullets had stopped between 9-10″, excepting the single bullet that had not expanded. This bullet was found back-forward at 14″.

The two bullets with the greatest and most uniform expansion averaged about .6″ in diameter. The center bullet struck the base of another bullet, but the normally expanded area was around .525″The bullet that expanded slightly (center-left) expanded to .46″ and the bullet found facing backwards at 14″ shows only slight expansion of the hollow cavity. Having received such relatively promising results on bare get I fired two more shots through 4 layers of denim.

Both of these bullets expanded and penetrated 10-11″ into the gel. The bullet on the left expanded to .458″ and the bullet on the right expanded to .526″. I find this quite respectable from a 1-7/8″ barrel, especially from a standard-pressure load!

Now these loads do not quite meet FBI standards for duty loads. Fortunately I am not an FBI agent. and am unlikely to need the precise levels of performance they require in the course of their duties. I am quite happy with these loads, and feel fully confident in them for use as reloads for a compact carry revolver.

I should note that while they have a rather loud report recoil was not at all objectional, even from the light-weight alloy snubby.

Stay safe and take care,

Michael Tinker Pearce, April 9, 2022

I have long been a fan of CZ pistols, and this week the stars aligned and I had the opportunity to examine and review three- one of which I own.

The Taurus Model 85 that I butc… uh, customized in my quest for the smallest pocket .38 I could manage has been sporting a rather distinctive grip these last few years.

The old grip is similar to the Ergo grip, but with the gun’s shortened frame it is significantly smaller and flatter. It works shockingly well, and anchors the gun nicely in your hand even against the ravages of +P ammunition. Everyone that has (dubiously) tried it has been astounded at how controllable the gun is with this grip. But…

…it never feels secure in the hand. Also when drawing from a pocket it pretty much always comes out right, but you can’t tell that it’s right until the gun is out. OK, this is nit-picking; it works, and better than it has any right to. Complaining about the feel seems petty.

Nonetheless it niggled at the back of my mind. I’ve made and tested a lot of grips since doing these, and gradually came to the conclusion that I could do better. Since my lovely and helpful wife upgraded the laptop that runs the CNC machine I use for inletting grips to Windows 11 my CNC controller software no longer works. It also hasn’t been updated for Windows 11. I had to do these the old-fashioned way, inletting them with a milling bit in the drill press and with the wood mounted in a milling vice.

This was an excellent reminder of why I bought the CNC router and learned to make programs for it.

I used a piece of rather pedestrian Walnut and once fitted to the abbreviated Taurus frame began shaping them, first on the belt-grinder and then with sanding drums on the Dremel. I didn’t sand the results above 600-grit or attempt more than a functional finish on them; these are more proof-of-concept than show-off grips.

They are a little thicker than the old grips, and importantly the work just as well and feel more secure in the hand. Despite their appearance these are a two-finger grip.

Further when you grab this grip it’s instantly apparent that you’ve gotten it right. Indeed, it’s difficult to grab it wrong. It’s going to take more shooting and some drills to prove it fully, but it seems like it accomplished what I wanted- a more secure feeling grip without increasing the footprint. Seems like a win.

Stay safe and take care.

Michael Tinker Pearce, 20 March 2022