Rainy Day Shooting - Rubber bullets in the garage - w/ pics

btefft · December 28, 2008, 01:37 PM

Rainy Day Shooting - Rubber bullets in the garage - w/ pics

Hey guys, I had a blast this morning. See, its raining here in Ga and I was bored. I got me some of those rubber bullets from Midway. All you need is a case, a primer and a rubber bullet and you're set to shoot.

The first pic is of the inside of my garage. The target is a little mailing envelope I colored a blue dot on. I sat in another wheelchair out under the eve so I wouldn't get rained on. And fired 6 times at the blue dot.

#1 and #2 are my 06 Harley Road King w/ sidecar.

#3 is my shelf of gun powders for reloading.

#4 is my Hornady LnL Progressive press and Lyman tumblers.

#5 are my fishing poles - I really like to fish.

#6 is my PVC pipe homemade target stand and envelop target.

#7 is my son's customized (he did all the work on it hiimself) Harley 1200 Sportster dirt bike, which he discovered is far too powerful to be a dirt bike. Now, it's a street bike.

The next pic is a closer-up of the envelop target. Those rubber bullets shoot darn good! I was probably about 15 - 20 ft away, I guess I need to measure it. Behind the target is a wet blue towel. The bullets hit it and fall into a box below.

The next pic is my Ruger SBH .44 Mag.

#1 and #8 are the .44 and Millet Red Dot scope

#2 is a Lee non-caliber-specific (universal) de-priming die (I use it in my
Hornady single stage Classic LnL press to knock out the spent primer and seat a new one.

#3 and #7 are two 44 Spl cases I modified (drilled out the primer hole with a 3/16 inch drill bit) - I used a magic marker to put on a green band so I would NEVER load one of these babies w/ gun powder and a lead bullet - that could mess your whole day up.

#4 and #5 are .44 caliber rubber bullets. They are simply big, hollow rubber bullets. You put them in the case by hand. Bullet #4 is resting bottom up, #5 is right side up.

And finally, here is a pic of 38 and 44 cases, two unmodified and two modified for the rubber bullets.

Case #1 is a .357 case, not modified. I'll use it for my true reloads.

Case #2 is a 38 Spl case modified with a 1/8 inch drill bit. At first I used the 3/16 (like I did for the 44 case) and the primer fell right through. The case in this pic has been drilled with a 9/64 inch bit. I want as much of the power of the primer to pass through and hit the bullet.

Case #3 is a modified 44 Spl case - I drilled out primer hole with 3/16 inch bit. This is one of the cases I used to shoot the 6-shot group you saw in pic #2. Later, I discovered that this case would not shoot a magnum primer, because the 3/16 inch hole is too large - so, I modified some more 44 mag cases w/ a 1/8 inch bit - they worked fine.

Case #4 is a regular .44 Mag case, like those I reload.

It is imperative that you don't not get these cases mixed up.
Never, never shoot a full power loaded round in one of the rubber bullet modified cases.

Didn't mean for this thread to turn into a rubber bullet clinic. I tried to anticipate your questions as I typed this.

Hack

btefft · December 29, 2008, 09:38 AM

For those interested in this fun way of wasting time:

Midway and Meister are the only two sources I could find for the Rubber Bullets.

Midway:
http://www.midwayusa.com/Search/Defa..._1-2-4_8-16-32

Meister:
Or, you can go to the source:
http://www.meisterbullets.com/asccus...45&navParent=0
this price includes shipping, Midway's does not. I'll get more from Meister, if I ever need more. They're no going to wear out, But I can see losing some. I didn't buy any 45 cal, because they won;t cycle the slide and I didn't want that hassle, but I may get some anyway.

The rubber bullets show no damage at all from firing them, so they should last forever. As I said, I put a towel behind the envelop target. The bullets passed through the envelop, struck the towel (it was wet at the time, left a nice imprint on the towel and dropped into a box I placed on the floor.

I'm going to the gun shop in a minute and buy some magnum primers for comparison to regular pistol primers. I'm going to chrony them then.

Hack

AlaskaMike · December 29, 2008, 10:23 AM

That sounds like a lot of fun! Some of the guys on the Castboolits forum cast hot glue bullets using their standard molds and a hot glue gun and shoot them with just the primer. Not sure if they drill out the flash hole larger though.

I've never done any of this myself, but it looks like a great way to spend a couple of hours.

Mike

btefft · December 29, 2008, 05:59 PM

Okay, I got some data for you all.

6 of those rubber bullets weigh a total of 78.1 gr (so, one weighs 13.017 gr)

I chronied the 6 that I weighed, here are the speeds:
395.4
393.5
390.4
372.8
412.2
and
414.6

Avg = 396.48 fps

Widest span is 2.984 in.
Diameter of one bullet hole is 0.430 in.
Group size comes out to be 2.554 in.
Shooting was unsupported.
Target 20 Ft away, chrony was 10 ft away.

= = = = = = = = = = = = =

Magnum primer report:

None of them fired when the hammer fell, not a one! Upon examination, I saw that all mag primers had a shallow dimple on them and they had been pushed deeper into the case. I figured that's why they didn't go fire.

Here are five of the ones that had shallow dimples and didn't fire.

It would be easy to check my theory. I took 4 of my 44 mag cases, and drilled them out with a smaller drill bit - 1/8 inches (if you remember, I originally used a 3/16 in. bit - now I know that is too big.) I put primers in and all fired. None backed out, which would have caused the cylinder to bind.

On the left is one of my first ones (3/16 hole) and the one on the right is a new one (1/8 hole). I guess mag primers have a harder surface than regular primers. All the regular fired, even with the bigger hole.

So, I'm going to re-drill new cases to 1/8 inch.

Hack

btefft · December 31, 2008, 11:16 AM

I finally got around to chronying the magnum primers, I did indeed get more velocity, here are the results:

I was shooting them out of my Ruger Super Blackhawk. 7 1/2 inch barrel.

Rubber bullet mass was 13 gr, on average.

Regular Primers.........Magnum Primers
395.4 fps.................558.6 fps
393.5......................506.5
390.4......................477.3
372.8......................517.8
412.2......................519.5
414.6......................493.3

396.5 avg................512.2 avg

Magnum primers increased rubber bullet velocity by 115.7 fps on the average (22.5 % increase)

I didn't do anything with POI, but I'd bet I have a flatter trajectory with the magnum primers.

Only drawback I noticed was the mouths of my cases were dirtier, but I guess that is to be expected.

Hack

GoldenRoyBoy · December 31, 2008, 11:24 AM

Hello Hack!
Like that bike!

Thanks for sharing your experiments with us; I didn't even know Midway, or anyone else sold rubber bullets to us civies! I'll need to give it a go!

GRB

btefft · December 31, 2008, 01:33 PM

Hi, GoldenRoyBoy,

I like my bike too, for me, it's good therapy.

These rubber bullets are just plain fun.

Hack

December 28, 2008, 01:37 PM	#1
btefft Senior Member Join Date: March 7, 2008 Posts: 181	Rainy Day Shooting - Rubber bullets in the garage - w/ pics Rainy Day Shooting - Rubber bullets in the garage - w/ pics Hey guys, I had a blast this morning. See, its raining here in Ga and I was bored. I got me some of those rubber bullets from Midway. All you need is a case, a primer and a rubber bullet and you're set to shoot. The first pic is of the inside of my garage. The target is a little mailing envelope I colored a blue dot on. I sat in another wheelchair out under the eve so I wouldn't get rained on. And fired 6 times at the blue dot. #1 and #2 are my 06 Harley Road King w/ sidecar. #3 is my shelf of gun powders for reloading. #4 is my Hornady LnL Progressive press and Lyman tumblers. #5 are my fishing poles - I really like to fish. #6 is my PVC pipe homemade target stand and envelop target. #7 is my son's customized (he did all the work on it hiimself) Harley 1200 Sportster dirt bike, which he discovered is far too powerful to be a dirt bike. Now, it's a street bike. The next pic is a closer-up of the envelop target. Those rubber bullets shoot darn good! I was probably about 15 - 20 ft away, I guess I need to measure it. Behind the target is a wet blue towel. The bullets hit it and fall into a box below. The next pic is my Ruger SBH .44 Mag. #1 and #8 are the .44 and Millet Red Dot scope #2 is a Lee non-caliber-specific (universal) de-priming die (I use it in my Hornady single stage Classic LnL press to knock out the spent primer and seat a new one. #3 and #7 are two 44 Spl cases I modified (drilled out the primer hole with a 3/16 inch drill bit) - I used a magic marker to put on a green band so I would NEVER load one of these babies w/ gun powder and a lead bullet - that could mess your whole day up. #4 and #5 are .44 caliber rubber bullets. They are simply big, hollow rubber bullets. You put them in the case by hand. Bullet #4 is resting bottom up, #5 is right side up. And finally, here is a pic of 38 and 44 cases, two unmodified and two modified for the rubber bullets. Case #1 is a .357 case, not modified. I'll use it for my true reloads. Case #2 is a 38 Spl case modified with a 1/8 inch drill bit. At first I used the 3/16 (like I did for the 44 case) and the primer fell right through. The case in this pic has been drilled with a 9/64 inch bit. I want as much of the power of the primer to pass through and hit the bullet. Case #3 is a modified 44 Spl case - I drilled out primer hole with 3/16 inch bit. This is one of the cases I used to shoot the 6-shot group you saw in pic #2. Later, I discovered that this case would not shoot a magnum primer, because the 3/16 inch hole is too large - so, I modified some more 44 mag cases w/ a 1/8 inch bit - they worked fine. Case #4 is a regular .44 Mag case, like those I reload. It is imperative that you don't not get these cases mixed up. Never, never shoot a full power loaded round in one of the rubber bullet modified cases. Didn't mean for this thread to turn into a rubber bullet clinic. I tried to anticipate your questions as I typed this. Hack Last edited by btefft; December 29, 2008 at 10:51 PM.

December 29, 2008, 09:38 AM	#2
btefft Senior Member Join Date: March 7, 2008 Posts: 181	For those interested in this fun way of wasting time: Midway and Meister are the only two sources I could find for the Rubber Bullets. Midway: http://www.midwayusa.com/Search/Defa..._1-2-4_8-16-32 Meister: Or, you can go to the source: http://www.meisterbullets.com/asccus...45&navParent=0 this price includes shipping, Midway's does not. I'll get more from Meister, if I ever need more. They're no going to wear out, But I can see losing some. I didn't buy any 45 cal, because they won;t cycle the slide and I didn't want that hassle, but I may get some anyway. The rubber bullets show no damage at all from firing them, so they should last forever. As I said, I put a towel behind the envelop target. The bullets passed through the envelop, struck the towel (it was wet at the time, left a nice imprint on the towel and dropped into a box I placed on the floor. I'm going to the gun shop in a minute and buy some magnum primers for comparison to regular pistol primers. I'm going to chrony them then. Hack Last edited by btefft; December 29, 2008 at 06:33 PM.

December 29, 2008, 10:23 AM	#3
AlaskaMike Senior Member Join Date: September 26, 2005 Posts: 941	That sounds like a lot of fun! Some of the guys on the Castboolits forum cast hot glue bullets using their standard molds and a hot glue gun and shoot them with just the primer. Not sure if they drill out the flash hole larger though. I've never done any of this myself, but it looks like a great way to spend a couple of hours. Mike

December 29, 2008, 05:59 PM	#4
btefft Senior Member Join Date: March 7, 2008 Posts: 181	Okay, I got some data for you all. 6 of those rubber bullets weigh a total of 78.1 gr (so, one weighs 13.017 gr) I chronied the 6 that I weighed, here are the speeds: 395.4 393.5 390.4 372.8 412.2 and 414.6 Avg = 396.48 fps Widest span is 2.984 in. Diameter of one bullet hole is 0.430 in. Group size comes out to be 2.554 in. Shooting was unsupported. Target 20 Ft away, chrony was 10 ft away. = = = = = = = = = = = = = Magnum primer report: None of them fired when the hammer fell, not a one! Upon examination, I saw that all mag primers had a shallow dimple on them and they had been pushed deeper into the case. I figured that's why they didn't go fire. Here are five of the ones that had shallow dimples and didn't fire. It would be easy to check my theory. I took 4 of my 44 mag cases, and drilled them out with a smaller drill bit - 1/8 inches (if you remember, I originally used a 3/16 in. bit - now I know that is too big.) I put primers in and all fired. None backed out, which would have caused the cylinder to bind. On the left is one of my first ones (3/16 hole) and the one on the right is a new one (1/8 hole). I guess mag primers have a harder surface than regular primers. All the regular fired, even with the bigger hole. So, I'm going to re-drill new cases to 1/8 inch. Hack

December 31, 2008, 11:16 AM	#5
btefft Senior Member Join Date: March 7, 2008 Posts: 181	I finally got around to chronying the magnum primers, I did indeed get more velocity, here are the results: I was shooting them out of my Ruger Super Blackhawk. 7 1/2 inch barrel. Rubber bullet mass was 13 gr, on average. Regular Primers.........Magnum Primers 395.4 fps.................558.6 fps 393.5......................506.5 390.4......................477.3 372.8......................517.8 412.2......................519.5 414.6......................493.3 396.5 avg................512.2 avg Magnum primers increased rubber bullet velocity by 115.7 fps on the average (22.5 % increase) I didn't do anything with POI, but I'd bet I have a flatter trajectory with the magnum primers. Only drawback I noticed was the mouths of my cases were dirtier, but I guess that is to be expected. Hack

December 31, 2008, 11:24 AM	#6
GoldenRoyBoy Junior member Join Date: November 10, 2008 Location: Trinidad, Colorado Posts: 107	Now say, who aint organized? Hello Hack! Like that bike! Thanks for sharing your experiments with us; I didn't even know Midway, or anyone else sold rubber bullets to us civies! I'll need to give it a go! GRB

December 31, 2008, 01:33 PM	#7
btefft Senior Member Join Date: March 7, 2008 Posts: 181	Hi, GoldenRoyBoy, I like my bike too, for me, it's good therapy. These rubber bullets are just plain fun. Hack Last edited by btefft; December 31, 2008 at 10:09 PM.