Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Engineering
Viability Of Bismuth As A Green Substitute For Lead In Jacketed .357 Magnum Revolver Bullets, Joel A. Jenkins
Viability Of Bismuth As A Green Substitute For Lead In Jacketed .357 Magnum Revolver Bullets, Joel A. Jenkins
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
In seeking to develop environmentally friendly lead-free non-toxic bullets, the research ballistically evaluated the performance of copper-jacketed handgun bullets containing a pure bismuth core. The lead was first removed from 140 grain HornadyTM XTP® bullets of 38 caliber (.357 diameter) by melting. The empty jackets were then refilled with pure bismuth, including the forming of a correctly sized hollow-point cavity. Due to the lower density of bismuth as compared to lead, the bismuth-cored bullets consistently weighed 125 gains. Conveniently this allowed direct comparison to commercially available 125 grain HornadyTM XTP® lead-cored bullets of 38 caliber. Both bismuth-cored and …