Odd projectile for a .36??

[Justin Urbantas]

I had a thought the other day when I was thinking about that fellow shooting a .36 rifle at deer.  Do you folks think a 148 grain .357 diameter hollow base wadcutter would shoot well from a .36 rifle? I would assume upon ignition,  the base would flare sufficiently to engage the rifling. Has anyone tried this, or want to try this, and give results of the test?

[smokinbuck]

I had a mold years ago, don't remember the maker, that cast a hollow base wad cutter. The one I had was in .45 and I tried it with several different loads but as I recall never did have much success.

[axelp]

I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but the issue with shooting conical bullets out of a slow-twist roundball barrel is the bullet length. It requires a faster twist, or more powder in order to stabilize the longer projectile. This can increase pressures as well. There are some barrel makers that state that using conical bullets in their roundball barrels void the warranty.

[Daryl]

No - I do not think a 148gr. WC will shoot well in a .36 round ball rifle.  It is too long and requires a fast rifling twist to be stable.
The flat nose will cause trouble as well.  I used for those shooting gophers South of Moosejaw in another lifetime but would never
 consider trying one on deer. I know for sure, though, the 128gr. .36 TC Maxiball will shoot quite well in the 48" twist Seneca rifle they
made. How it would work as a primary projectile for deer,  I do not know. As I've noted in other places, I used my wife's Seneca .36
with that maxiball to finish off a deer.  If I were to guess, I'd say the bullet penetrated about 16 to 18" from where it entered the neck,
 to where it stopped in the spine between the shoulders. It was a downward shot aimed at it's head. It threw it's head up just as I fired
with the bullet impacting back of the jaw and running down the neck beside the spine until it hit the bend up between the shoulder blades
then broke into the spine and stopped in the cord.  Seems to me, my wife used to shoot about 50gr. 3F with that bullet.

[hanshi]

Some years ago I experimented with .32 HBWC bullets in a rifle that gave exceptional accuracy when using ball.  The twist was 1-48" but nothing I could do made a difference.  Maybe a shorter, solid base slug would work; I just don't know. 

[Daryl]

Standard rifling twist for the 148gr. WC was 18 3/4".  Other makers used 14" as well as aftermarket barrels for that bullet.

Don't even consider using it in a 48" or slower twist? 

Yes I am well aware that higher velocity will make up 'some-what' for too slow
a rate of twist, but - you cannot get that bullet going fast enough to make up
 for 3" or 4" too slow, let alone 30" too slow.
Use round balls in round ball twists- or re-barrel.
This one would likely shoot not too bad, if you can get it loaded straight.

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/index.php?cPath=34_255

This  one has better lube grooves and might shoot, with enough powder behind it.

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/product_info.php?cPath=34_260&products_id=2205