November 27th, 2007

The Beauty of Solid Bullets

When it comes to creating the perfect, streamlined bullet form, solid projectiles represent the ultimate in bullet construction. Made of solid metals such as bronze and copper-nickel alloys, these bullets are lathe-turned for perfect uniformity, and the highest possible Ballistic Coefficient.

Lost River Ballistic Technologies was one of the pioneers of solid, lathe-turned projectiles in the USA. The original .408 Chey-Tac ammunition used bullets produced by Lost River on Swiss-type CNC lathes from solid bars of proprietary copper nickel alloy. Lost River’s bullets are hard to find today, but reader DesertLefty recently offered some for sale in our Forum Classifieds. We just thought you’d like to get a look at these slippery beauties. Shown below, for comparison purposes, are 6mm and 6.5mm Lost River projectiles, along with two conventional bullets. From left to right: 6.5mm 139 gr Lapua Scenar, 6.5mm 132 gr Lost River J40, 6mm 100 gr Lost River J40, and 6mm 115 gr DTAC.

DesertLefty notes: “You will need a very fast twist barrel to stabilize these. The manufacturer’s web site is no longer working, but I think the recommended twist was 1-7 and the BCs were about 0.7 for the 6.5mm and 0.6x for the 6mm.”

If you are intrigued by the ballistic performance of lathe-turned solids, check out the website of Germany’s Lutz Möller. Lutz has produced a series of ultra-high BC bullets, both solids and conventionally jacketed projectiles. His 105-LM bullet for the .338 Lapua won the 2005 Lapua Sniper Cup. The circular driving bands you see are a distinctive feature of Möller’s bullets. The bands reduce drag in ultra-long bullets by effectively reducing the bearing surface in contact with the rifling. This 105-LM bullet has an amazing BC of 0.93. Lutz also has a .408 Chey-Tac bullet with a 0.95 calculated BC!

Lutz Möller bullets

Lutz Möller bullets

LM-105 photos © copyright Lutz Möller, All Rights Reserved.

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