Ron Fortier, Fouling Shot July –August 1997, 128.
Many years ago, as close as I can remember, around the first part of the 1960’s, Herter Incorporated introduced an unusual bullet design, dubbed the “Wasp-Waist Sonic Missile-Tail”. For our younger CBA members who never had the pleasure of leafing through the pages of a Herter catalog, whatever George L. Herter sold, it was the best, be it boats, bows, or bullets; you could take his word for it.The Herter .30 caliber 180 grain bullet, 1.35" long is basically a boat-tailed spitzer with a short indented (.301" diameter) section about .350" from the base. Total groove-riding surface of the bullet is less than .250", equally distributed on both sides of the indent. The bullet is not the accurate projectile it was professed be; the lack of bearing surface was probably the reason.
I never had the opportunity to try the Herter Wasp-Waist bullet when it was available and couldn't bring myself to shoot those recently offered me by a friend, considering them collectors items So, I did the next best thing and obtained a two- cavity mould for a .30 caliber wasp-waist bullet designed by Walt Melander of NEI.
When I opened the shipping carton and unwrapped only half a mould I went into a panic mode. I calmed down quickly when I realized the blocks had been wrapped separately to avoid shipping damage. On inspecting the mould, my first impression was that it was pretty; that is the only word that adequately describes it. I have never encountered a new mould as bright and shiny. Made from a hard aluminum alloy, it has a ground, stress relieved 3/16" sprue plate and alignment pins of harden, ground tool steel. The alignment pin sockets, made of stainless steel, are pressed into holes in the mould body, staked and then line-bored for precise alignment. The mould is vented by cross-hatched arched lines cut into the opposing faces of the blocks; none entering the cavities at anything approaching a right angle. The arched vent lines virtually eliminate whiskered bullets. When the mould is closed and the sprue plate is butted tight against the stop pin, the holes in the plate appear to line up perfectly with the longitudinal axis of cavities. The quality of the work is excellent.
The mould came equipped with a set of RCBS mould handles that had been modified by Walt Melander. The tips of the handles (see picture above) had been drilled to accept adjustable spring
plungers. Properly adjusted (The plungers had to be backed out slightly for proper functioning), the plungers tilt the front edges of the mould blocks inwards, so that the edges come together first. As the mould is closed, the blocks pivot smoothly from front-to- back allowing the alignment pins to enter the chamfered alignment holes without touching the face of the opposite mould block. The system virtually eliminates battering of the face of the blocks by the alignment pins. The handles have to be used to be truly appreciated.
The NEI bullet, designated the .30 Hornet, while a “wasp-waist” design, unlike the Herter bullet, has considerably more bearing surface.
Never having used a wasp- waist design, I heated up some linotype and immediately gave the mould a try.
The Hornet has no lube grooves, only a long gas check shank which leaves approximately .105" of the shank forward of the gas check to carry lube. The absence of lube grooves greatly facilitates casting, with the bullets literally dropping from the mould. Casting at my normal rate I produced 125 good bullets in just over thirty minutes. As cast, the bullets weigh 180 grains with a .310" groove riding rear section, and a .303" nose bearing section. I couldn’t determine the width of the forward section which is best described as a ridge. Bullet length is 1.205". Well pleased with the mould, my next concern was bullet design.
My first attempt to check the Hornet’s capabilities was with my heavy class bench-gun which has a 1-14" twist, eight-groove Shilen barrel. I didn't expect good accuracy from such a long bullet and a 14" twist, but I was curious to see whether the bullet would stabilize in the barrel at velocities around 2200 feet-per-second sized (.309"), gas checked, and lubricated twenty-five bullets in the normal fashion, and then ran them through a Gray forming die to bring the base section down to .3085" and the nose to .302". Normally I set the Gray die up to shape the bullets to fit the throat of my rifle, using sufficient force to flatten the gas check. Fearing that such force would cause the mid-section of the Hornet to buckle, I elected to only size the bullet, leaving the base unchanged.
After setting up the chronograph and tacking up my targets I loaded my single case with 28.5 grains of Re- Loder-7, a charge that has worked well with bullets of similar weight, and sent the first Hornet down range at a CBA group target. Even with the thirteen pound rifle, recoil was substantial. I checked the chronograph and saw 2150 fps. I checked the target through the rifle's 36X Tasco scope and saw zilch. No hit
Puzzled, I loaded the case again and switched over to the larger CBA score target. Holding near the center of the target, at the designator on the number four bull; a “4” about 3/g" high, I let the round go. A hit. The next round hit it again. The fourth shot hit almost six inches to left. Twenty more shots, with velocities hovering around 2150 fps produced similar results, with wild flyers ruining potentially beautiful groups. Subsequent tests with different powders, charges, and lower velocities produced no improvement. Either the bullet was too long for the 14" twist, or the shallow rifling did not offer sufficient purchase on the bullet's small bearing area.
Next the bullet was tested in a new Remington 700V, in .308 Winchester, with a composite stock and a 1-12" fluted barrel. Using conventionally sized (.310") and lubricated bullets, and 19 grains of 4759 for velocities around 1700 fps, I encountered no wild flyers, but couldn’t get groups smaller than 2.5". The poor accuracy in this instance I attributed to the newness of the rifle (tight throat) and the Hornet's .303" nose section which required the bullets to be seated well in to the body of the case so that the rounds could be chambered.
Thinking to overcome the tight throat/. 3 03" nose problem, I tried the Hornet in my wife Lois's .308 Remington 788. Lois has over 20,000 rounds through her rifle and the throat is well worn.
Chambering rounds loaded so that only the gas check was in the neck of the case proved no problem. Again, using 19 grains of 4759 and bullets sized .310", I went to the range with twenty-five rounds. Groups improved, averaging around an inch and a half. Considering the condition of the rifle this wasn't half-bad. Encouraged I decided to try the Hornet in my 03 A3 Springfield.
I have three barrels for my Springfield 03A3, a four-groove Remington and two two-groove Remingtons, all shoot very well. The threads on the barrels have been chased to facilitate removing and installing them, and changing barrels is a matter of minutes. I decided to try the Hornet in the four- groove barrel and one two-groove barrel.
The neck on the .30-06 case is long enough to allow a round to chambered without the base of the Hornet dropping into the body of the case, but then the short rear portion of the bullet is entirely within the case neck. The only support the bullet has is that provided by the case neck on the rear, and the top of the lands on the .303" ridge near the front of the bullet. An iffy proposition. I finally wised-up and went to something softer, adding some wheel- weights to the linotype to produce an alloy with a BHN of 18. The softer alloy allowed me seat the bullet out so that only the gas check and a bit of the rear of the bullet were in the case neck. With the softer bullets, the rounds chambered easily even in the two-groove barrel. Using a Lyman 48 receiver sight and a Redfield hooded front sight with a post, both Springfield barrels produced excellent results using 19 grains of 4759. They shot the Hornet as well as any bullet that was ever put through them. The results were so good, I decided to use a scope.
Switching back to the four-groove barrel, I removed the irons sights, and mounted a 24X Tasco scope on the receiver and went to the range with twenty-five rounds. I used eight rounds getting the rifle zero-ed and, without cleaning, fired the remaining seventeen for group. The bullets tore the center out of the CBA score target's 9 and 10-ring, with seventeen shots grouping into 1.606"; fifteen of the shots went into 1.018".
Would I recommend the NEI Hornet to other shooters? Yes, but, with reservations. From the shooting I have done so far, I am uncertain what the bullet will do in barrels with shallow rifling. I found it shoots best in the 03 A3 when seated out as far as possible (overall cartridge length is 3.472"), but, in other rifles, getting the front-end of the bullet to engage the rifling may require sizing the nose of the bullet to a smaller diameter, or using an alloy softer than linotype..
The NEI .30 Hornet, unlike its Herter predecessor, is a design capable of excellent accuracy. I have given it a lot of casual use in the Springfield since first testing it and it has performed very well, with longer, accurate shot strings being the norm; probably because of the bullet's small bearing surface.
There is something to say for not having a lot of lead rubbing up against the bore. Walt Melander has applied the concept of supporting the bullet forward and aft to some of his other designs. He cuts some moulds with a forward section slightly under bore diameter adding a ring, called a DD band, a bit larger than bore diameter, near the nose of the bullet. Even with its minimal amount of bearing surface the bullet is well aligned in the barrel. Ellis Lea claims the DD bullets shoot great.
Never having used a wasp- waist design, I heated up some linotype and immediately gave the mould a try.
The Hornet has no lube grooves, only a long gas check shank which leaves approximately .105" of the shank forward of the gas check to carry lube. The absence of lube grooves greatly facilitates casting, with the bullets literally dropping from the mould. Casting at my normal rate I produced 125 good bullets in just over thirty minutes. As cast, the bullets weigh 180 grains with a .310" groove riding rear section, and a .303" nose bearing section. I couldn’t determine the width of the forward section which is best described as a ridge. Bullet length is 1.205". Well pleased with the mould, my next concern was bullet design.
My first attempt to check the Hornet’s capabilities was with my heavy class bench-gun which has a 1-14" twist, eight-groove Shilen barrel. I didn't expect good accuracy from such a long bullet and a 14" twist, but I was curious to see whether the bullet would stabilize in the barrel at velocities around 2200 feet-per-second sized (.309"), gas checked, and lubricated twenty-five bullets in the normal fashion, and then ran them through a Gray forming die to bring the base section down to .3085" and the nose to .302". Normally I set the Gray die up to shape the bullets to fit the throat of my rifle, using sufficient force to flatten the gas check. Fearing that such force would cause the mid-section of the Hornet to buckle, I elected to only size the bullet, leaving the base unchanged.
After setting up the chronograph and tacking up my targets I loaded my single case with 28.5 grains of Re- Loder-7, a charge that has worked well with bullets of similar weight, and sent the first Hornet down range at a CBA group target. Even with the thirteen pound rifle, recoil was substantial. I checked the chronograph and saw 2150 fps. I checked the target through the rifle's 36X Tasco scope and saw zilch. No hit
Puzzled, I loaded the case again and switched over to the larger CBA score target. Holding near the center of the target, at the designator on the number four bull; a “4” about 3/g" high, I let the round go. A hit. The next round hit it again. The fourth shot hit almost six inches to left. Twenty more shots, with velocities hovering around 2150 fps produced similar results, with wild flyers ruining potentially beautiful groups. Subsequent tests with different powders, charges, and lower velocities produced no improvement. Either the bullet was too long for the 14" twist, or the shallow rifling did not offer sufficient purchase on the bullet's small bearing area.
Next the bullet was tested in a new Remington 700V, in .308 Winchester, with a composite stock and a 1-12" fluted barrel. Using conventionally sized (.310") and lubricated bullets, and 19 grains of 4759 for velocities around 1700 fps, I encountered no wild flyers, but couldn’t get groups smaller than 2.5". The poor accuracy in this instance I attributed to the newness of the rifle (tight throat) and the Hornet's .303" nose section which required the bullets to be seated well in to the body of the case so that the rounds could be chambered.
Thinking to overcome the tight throat/. 3 03" nose problem, I tried the Hornet in my wife Lois's .308 Remington 788. Lois has over 20,000 rounds through her rifle and the throat is well worn.
Chambering rounds loaded so that only the gas check was in the neck of the case proved no problem. Again, using 19 grains of 4759 and bullets sized .310", I went to the range with twenty-five rounds. Groups improved, averaging around an inch and a half. Considering the condition of the rifle this wasn't half-bad. Encouraged I decided to try the Hornet in my 03 A3 Springfield.
I have three barrels for my Springfield 03A3, a four-groove Remington and two two-groove Remingtons, all shoot very well. The threads on the barrels have been chased to facilitate removing and installing them, and changing barrels is a matter of minutes. I decided to try the Hornet in the four- groove barrel and one two-groove barrel.
The neck on the .30-06 case is long enough to allow a round to chambered without the base of the Hornet dropping into the body of the case, but then the short rear portion of the bullet is entirely within the case neck. The only support the bullet has is that provided by the case neck on the rear, and the top of the lands on the .303" ridge near the front of the bullet. An iffy proposition. I finally wised-up and went to something softer, adding some wheel- weights to the linotype to produce an alloy with a BHN of 18. The softer alloy allowed me seat the bullet out so that only the gas check and a bit of the rear of the bullet were in the case neck. With the softer bullets, the rounds chambered easily even in the two-groove barrel. Using a Lyman 48 receiver sight and a Redfield hooded front sight with a post, both Springfield barrels produced excellent results using 19 grains of 4759. They shot the Hornet as well as any bullet that was ever put through them. The results were so good, I decided to use a scope.
Switching back to the four-groove barrel, I removed the irons sights, and mounted a 24X Tasco scope on the receiver and went to the range with twenty-five rounds. I used eight rounds getting the rifle zero-ed and, without cleaning, fired the remaining seventeen for group. The bullets tore the center out of the CBA score target's 9 and 10-ring, with seventeen shots grouping into 1.606"; fifteen of the shots went into 1.018".
Would I recommend the NEI Hornet to other shooters? Yes, but, with reservations. From the shooting I have done so far, I am uncertain what the bullet will do in barrels with shallow rifling. I found it shoots best in the 03 A3 when seated out as far as possible (overall cartridge length is 3.472"), but, in other rifles, getting the front-end of the bullet to engage the rifling may require sizing the nose of the bullet to a smaller diameter, or using an alloy softer than linotype..
The NEI .30 Hornet, unlike its Herter predecessor, is a design capable of excellent accuracy. I have given it a lot of casual use in the Springfield since first testing it and it has performed very well, with longer, accurate shot strings being the norm; probably because of the bullet's small bearing surface.
There is something to say for not having a lot of lead rubbing up against the bore. Walt Melander has applied the concept of supporting the bullet forward and aft to some of his other designs. He cuts some moulds with a forward section slightly under bore diameter adding a ring, called a DD band, a bit larger than bore diameter, near the nose of the bullet. Even with its minimal amount of bearing surface the bullet is well aligned in the barrel. Ellis Lea claims the DD bullets shoot great.