How is the HB bebeficial?

[Prophet]

I would like to know how the hollow base is beneficial in pistol reloading. I understand the concept of weight and velocity. The concept of why the hollow base is implemented I do not understand. As always thank you for your time and thoughts

-P

[Anti-Hero]

The hollow base expands to seat against the rifling, creating a better seal in theory. I've got a few hundred 155gn .40 waiting to be loaded on the bench. I've never loaded with them before.

[XDRoX]

Two bullets of equal weight but one being a HB will be longer.
A longer bullet will have more bearing surface in the barrel leading to better stability and accuracy.

I've had great luck with HB bullets. When I run out of my current 9mm stash I'm going to switch over to HB.

[Prophet]

Sounds good, thanks.

[drdarrin@sbcglobal.net]

All true but there is a twist with the .357 148 gr HBWC. Load them upside down for defensive rounds. Probably not a lot of penetration but it would definitely leave a mark.

[J-cat]

The hollow base expands to seat against the rifling, creating a better seal in theory. I've got a few hundred 155gn .40 waiting to be loaded on the bench. I've never loaded with them before.

Because you are worried about undersized bullets in an oversized bore?

[J-cat]

Two bullets of equal weight but one being a HB will be longer.
A longer bullet will have more bearing surface in the barrel leading to better stability and accuracy.

Not always.

I would shoot 9mm 90gr XTPs into 1" groups at 25 yards from my 357 Sig on a regular basis. These bullets have very little bearing surface, maybe half that of the 124gr XTP which did not shoot any better.

A longer bearing surface gives you more wiggle room with OAL, so you are able to load longer or shorter to adjust for accuracy, point of impact and feeding reliability.

[Whiterabbit]

Your example is apples to oranges, XD's is closer to apples to apples. Closer.

[J-cat]

But his theory does not pan out in actual practice. A HB 124 is not necessarily more accurate than a plain base 124. That is an inaccurate blanket statement.

[XDRoX]

In my actual practice I'm having much better accuracy with the HB's.
But I was just trying to remember what Berry's puts on their website when I responded above.

From their site:
The "Hollow Base" in the base of the bullet allows us to make a longer profile without adding weight. *For example if we were to hollow base a 230gr .45 ACP bullet, it now weighs 185gr.. *The longer profile gives more "Bearing Surface" on the bullet, which helps a pistol barrel stabilize the bullet.


I could care less if you don't like hollow base bullets or if you're not having good results with them. I think they're a cool idea and I'm going to keep using them.

The ones I've tried in 380 even out of a pocket pistol have had stellar results.

[Anti-Hero]

Because you are worried about undersized bullets in an oversized bore?

I never said that did I?

So I loaded about 300 rounds of the 155gn, RNHB .40 for a GSSF match this weekend. I took a batch to the range the day before and I must say, I'm very happy with the performance. Extremely low recoil, very accurate, but kind of dirty. Not sure if I'm getting an incomplete burn or if bullseye is really just that sooty.

Load data:

155gn RNHB
4.5 gn bullseye
1.125 col. (I think, too lazy to go get my lot book)
CCI SPP
Mixed head stamp brass