7.62x39 SiverBear 8M1 EFFECT MATCH

[Yoda-Dad]

Hmmm , interesting bullet .

LOA = 0.955"
Dia.Shank = 0.309"
Dia. just ahead of the crimp = .312"
Meplat Diameter = 0.082"
G6 B.C. = .157@2500fps , .168@2000fps , almost identical too standard M67 near as i can measure but slightly different in the 'downrange' profile . if its a meaningful diff i'll post it here .

first off , something i've yet to read/hear about this bullet is about its base . obviously an attempt is made here at creating a better , more uniform , bullet base/heel with an extra/seperate operation . like a sharp edged crimp .
Boattail Length: 0.070"
Base Diameter: 0.280"
not really a boattail but ,
this could make a real accuracy differance in guns with good crowns . along with the large-dia. , narrow , "driving band" ahead of the crimp .

we'll see if it works like a hollowpoint/softpoint as factory claimed in 2 types of watertests and compare pristeen/testfired - sectioned bullets . i've seen these with both a smallish 'airspace' under the nipple (comparable to the Uly FMJ)and some just full-o-lead although i suspect the ones 'full-o-lead' to have been hammerpulled (K.E. puller). and of course , chrono-data along with some kinda materials test if it acts weird in water .

i just cant see this bullet doing anything but act the Uly-FMJ however , the tests will tell ...

[ August 08, 2004, 20:08: Message edited by: Yoda-Dad ]

[Yoda-Dad]

... and the first round of tests sure did tell all . no HP/SP expansion period . none . nothing . @35yrds , some YAW flattening from hitting only 4.5" of water as printed on the face of the dry phonebooks backer (12"thick) . 4 of 5 were sideways impacting the backer and remained so through and through and 2 of those printed a thinner profile . 1 round penetrated the 4.5" water and 8" of backer before yawing to exit sideways .

this is unusual in itself . apparently , the SilverBears Nipple bullets small tip-space and the small tipspace in Ulyanovsk M67 FMJ , combined with no lead-core-base indentation , is sufficiant to cause :

1) faster / surer yaw hitting less 'wet mass' compared to standard M67 FMJ .
2) 'profile' penetration (really , very slow yaw too base first) rather than tumbling . this caused by internal core shift into the tipspace / out of the trailing hemisphere (bi-sected hemisphere) @90deg yaw . a little drop of core oozes out the base also .

standard M67 FMJ bullets (lead-filled to the tip w/base indent) need to hit minimum 5.5" of water to yaw with any reliability . yes , it cuts that close .

10shots measured@15ft. , 65F. heavy overcast , 16.25" barrel

AVE 2319 fps
HI ,2355
LO ,2272
ES , 83 fps
SD , 22
2305 , 2339 , 2318 , 2272 , 2333 , 2315 , 2355 , 2330 , 2304 , 2322

without this 1 low velocity , pritty darn good . feed , funtion and ejection - nominal . i noticed the zinc cases were kinda ruff-surfaced new (480grit ?) but got polished smooth from firing/ejecting . i doubt the zinc coating could have any effect on barrel-steel . zinc oxides are not hard .

[ August 10, 2004, 23:10: Message edited by: Yoda-Dad ]

[MartinS]

Remember the photographs of bullets in flight that showed the shock waves angling back from the nose? Wonder what the SBNipples would look like.
Push the shockwaves away from the bullet body?

[Yoda-Dad]

i've heard speculation about it being some 'airo-spike' thing but i think it just and intermediate stage of hollow point construction that somebody in supervision thought looked cool . an 082" flat meplat has more drag than a .062"radiused point meplat .

i see some value to the sharp-edged ' base uniformity crimp 'and being .312" ahead of the casemouth sure helps .

[TreverSlyFox]

The expansion part is strange. I've seen two reports on other boards of Whitetail Deer being taken at 75 & 135 yards 2 years ago. It was reported in both cases that the 8M1 "effect" bullet expanded nicely and they didn't hit bone.

Accuracy wise my SKS and SAR-1 loves this stuff and gives 1.5-1.75 MOA if I do my part right at 100 yards.

[Yoda-Dad]

did they recover the bullet ? i dont know if what they bought was different from what i bought but these things wouldnt expand hitting mud . in fact , i got a spare 5gal bucket i'll fill with mud and shoot .

a sideways bullet .955" long and .312" wide (or more with flattening) would still cut a nice wound .

when i tested standard M67 FMJ bullets , it was quite easy to see exactly what the bullets attitudes were after impact with the water on/in the phonebooks or newsprint , wet and dry . these Nipple bullets were sideways almost the whole way through . plain to see . go figure .

effect on the 2L (4.5"w) water bottle was FMJ-like , an caliber entrance hole - a split for an exit hole - the screwcap center popped 5ft. in the air and the bottle slowly fellover dead.
this is important 'cuz all normal-constructed soft/hollow points expand to their maximum diameter within the first few inches of penertation . even the Wolf 154grn SP desintigrated the first jug ...

[ August 21, 2004, 11:12: Message edited by: Yoda-Dad ]