[delbert]

I bought most of my reloading equipment used many years ago. There was a very old book that came with it. In this book, the author talked about seating a heavy hunting bullet backwards over a charge of SR4759 or 4198 for a 2000 fps turkey bullet that would not expand. Anybody ever tried this? I no longer have the book and don't feel comfortable trying it on memory alone. Does anybody have an IMR 4198 load for the .270 winchester? Speer manual shows IMR SR4798 for .270 and IMR 4198 for the .243. I already have a pound of 4198. Will it work in the .270?

[cpttango30]

Bullets are made to fly in one direction. Base first is not it. I am sure that IF you could hit something with it (Which I highly DOUBT) it would to a fare amount of damage. A bullet flying backwards is going to be all out of balance and will more than likely start tumbling rather soon after exiting the barrel.

YMMV but I am not wasting any bullets on that idea.

[Eric0424]

What bullet weight are you loading?? I have some IMR 4198 data in my Lee manual. I wouldn't recommend loading a bullet backwards with any load.

[KennyFSU]

This sounds like a job for... MYTHBUSTERS!

[delbert]

I have 110's, 130's, or 150's. I was thinking of using the 150's. I'm not actually trying to kill turkeys. I wanted to fire form some new brass for my .270. The only way I can load a bullet to contact the lands (and thus hold the base of the case against the bolt face during firing pin impact) is to use a 150gr. backwards which reminded me of something I read in an old loading book.

[JonM]

try this:

The Box O' Truth #50 - Shooting Bullets Backwards - Page 1

interesting results. but for turkey no bullet is going to expand well on thin skinned game. any of the super expansive bullets would totally destroy a turkey. with small game yo want to AVOID bullet expansion thats why in most states it is illegal to use bullets on turkey and why they limit it to shotgun only.

[delbert]

Thanks JonM. That's what i was looking for. Now if I could only get a .270 winchester load with IMR 4198 so that I don't have to make the 70 mile trek with my fingers crossed hoping for SR4759..... The idea behind the backwards bullet in the book that I read was NO expansion. He described them as kind of a wadcutter for turkeys. He was using heavy soft nosed hunting bullets. When loaded backwards, with the soft point to the rear, they became a FMJ wadcutter and destroyed very little meat. The author had also experimented with hollow base wadcutters loaded backwards in a pistol. He said there was almost no penetration. More like what Elmer Keith was after with the FMJ's backwards. I'm sure the book was written before hollow points became popular.

[robocop10mm]

What brass are you using that it will not headspace properly for fire forming? If it is that far out of spec, make sure you aneal it first or you will get a large percentage of split cases.

[Eric0424]

Originally Posted by delbert

I have 110's, 130's, or 150's. I was thinking of using the 150's. I'm not actually trying to kill turkeys. I wanted to fire form some new brass for my .270. The only way I can load a bullet to contact the lands (and thus hold the base of the case against the bolt face during firing pin impact) is to use a 150gr. backwards which reminded me of something I read in an old loading book.

I meant to post this earlier.

No data on the 110gr in my Lee manual but 130 is 31.9 - 35.5, and the 150 is 30.5 - 34.5 with OAL at 3.250".

I did find one load for the 110gr bullet at Load Data.com, it's a "small game load" (<<their words) at 21grs.

Notes below the load data at LoadData.com:
"Remarks: case: Fed.; O.A. Ctg. Lgt. (inches): 3.30; under 1-inch at 100 yards; best small game & turkey load."

[rjd3282]

I read an article in Handloader magazine where they damaged the nose of bullets and loaded some backwards just to see what would happen. Surprising the damaged bullets were not affected that much and the backwards rounds worked well but weren't the most accurate.