[PatrickHarrison]

Is it safe and possible to do this as long as the bases are same diameter ie .311 pistol bullet in a .311 barrel?

[1hole]

Originally Posted by PatrickHarrison

Is it safe and possible to do this as long as the bases are same diameter ie .311 pistol bullet in a .311 barrel?

The weapon will never know what the label on the box says; do it.

[PatrickHarrison]

Alrite so a hornady xtp pistol bullet put in 7.65 argentine

[Poink88]

I think that as long as the diameter match, then it should work. It might not be optimal for long range though just because the aerodynamic design is not for the rifle velocity. JMHO.

[JonM]

You will probably have accuracy issues. Look for keyholing as in the bullet going in the paper at odd angles. Holes will be odd shaped sometimes ripping the paper. Its also possible they may disintegrate leaving the muzzle at rifle velocity.

The other issue is finding safe load data.

Personally i wouldnt do it.

[Shade]

Originally Posted by JonM

You will probably have accuracy issues. Look for keyholing as in the bullet going in the paper at odd angles. Holes will be odd shaped sometimes ripping the paper. Its also possible they may disintegrate leaving the muzzle at rifle velocity.

There are some accuracy issues, so as long as the twist rate of your
rifle barrel is in the range of the bullet and you are shooting the correct
caliber bullet for that barrel. You will be safe. You do have to find
proper load data or at least starting data for the round and work up
an accurate load from there. Hotter is not better.

I load .357 hunting handgun bullets in my 12 year olds .35 Remington
(Marlin 336C) Lever Rifle. I also use Hodgdon's SR4759 powder for an
excellent reduced recoil round for him. They are accurate and he got
his first buck (button) last year with it, he is ready to hit the woods
again this fall.

[oldpapps]

With the same diameter pistol bullets are safe.
First problem is to find a correct/safe loading for that weight of bullet. Something close and lighter will work and load light.
Second problem is the bullet it's self. Pistol bullets are designed to do there thing at lower velocities. Moderate velocities from a rifle is going to be fast for a pistol, The possibility of complete disintegration of the bullet is there. Followed by the shedding of the jacket. IF the bullet reaches the target it could very well blow up on target. That sounds neat at first but do you want to skin your target animal and send slivers of lead and jacket into it's body to fester?
As stated in the previous posts, stability could very well be a major problem.

Unless you have great numbers of pistol bullets to waste (you can send them to me ) I don't see any more value in this exercise than an interesting experiment. I think paper patched cast lead bullets would be a better way to experiment.

That said, I have played with some and they were fun to play with, not very functional but fun. Cast 75 grain .32 S&W bullets out of a .303 British, didn't have a crono at the time but they would hit paper at a hundred yards.

Enjoy and be safe.

OSOK

[hiwall]

I read an article once where a guy was just trying see how fast he could get a bullet to go. He had if I remember right a .257 Weatherby and he was using 50 grain .25 auto bullets. Sorry I don't remember how fast he got them (I think less than 5000 fps). No harm was done to anything. And the bullets only had to stay together for 10 feet or so to check the speed.

[PatrickHarrison]

Wow!!!! Thanks for the great info people its all just a question i was thinking a fun varmint/target round would be interesting with top fps speed from a 60 grain hornady xtp hollow point or some other pistol .311 bullet. Itd get grins and giggles from friends and family and well maybe somethin ill do when i get my reloading stuff for my 7.65 argentine mauser. Problem would be getting reloading information tho it would be awesome to have the rounds where they wouldnt disencrate or keyhole or spit sounds like a dang fun exsperiment. Ill have to get on it tho hopefully it wont be a fail. Thanks for the info people it realy helps! Good hunting and shooting!!

[JTJ]

Be very careful with your powder. I use to load pistol bullets at about 2000fps. You may need to stabilize the powder charge to prevent detonation with light loads. I used to use a tuft of kapok to keep the powder in place. For 308 the 30 carbine 110 grn soft point round nose worked pretty well.