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Aerospike 300 BLK 146 Lulu adventure begins

Dellet,

It’s always a pleasure to watch you at work. I think I learn more by just watching your approach to things, there’s a lot to absorb from your input here, I’ll probably go back and read your input/posts again, it can be applied elsewhere.

Also, my compliments on how you’re handling this thread, purpose driven, most guys would have bailed long ago. I think I would have anyways. Kudos!

The 300 blackout is a hoot, I’ve built three but it can also drive you crazy at times, especially when shooting Subsonic, at least for me. I’ve found answers to many of my questions in several of your threads, much appreciated!

Sean
I’m one of those experiential, visual type learners. You know, the kind that have to pee on the fence, get kicked twice by a mile, touch the fire.
Then there’s the unique quality of being able to crack diamonds with my forehead. Only way to make good money if you’re hard headed:cool:

Thanks tho for the good words
 
Most likely they are chuck marks. He’s having trouble cleanly parting the finished bullet. So probably chili king them up and turning the base. Makes you wonder how concentric the base to bearing surface to tip is.

View attachment 1575117
This is what the base on all mine look like. If you look at the outer edge of the base, there is a bright circle. So the tail flares, then the base has a slight cup, then the spike in the center.
The tail flare seems diminishing.
 
I posted this before cropping it a couple pages back, it helps put the straight on view in better perspective. It looks like a complex set of curves and angles to machine. Getting it exactly right is probably the difference between it actually working as advertised or not.

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Google "rocket nozzle design characteristics" and you will see where the shape comes from.

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I had to add the little chamfer at the very end to prevent the lathe from making a little lip on the base of the aerospike.
 
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I did figure out why it’s called an Aerospike, it’s got this crazy little spike on the tail end that makes comparing overall length impossible when you want to sort bullets. Probably doesn’t do much for accuracy either.

View attachment 1574612

It sits more or less in the center of a cup, pretty sure gas flow off the base of this bullet with 1/4” jump won’t be as direct as it could be. But what do I know.
“more or less in the center of the cup”

So…. Would an off center or non uniform spike along the long axis affect the spin flight of the bullet? Would it be enough to move the center of gravity on the long axis to induce wobble?

Thinking out loud…
 
“more or less in the center of the cup”

So…. Would an off center or non uniform spike along the long axis affect the spin flight of the bullet? Would it be enough to move the center of gravity on the long axis to induce wobble?

Thinking out loud…
I honestly don’t know. Some of it could be optics and it looks worse than it is.
The spike could be perfectly centered and the machine mark on the base could be slightly off.

Keep in mind I don’t completely understand the concept, of the tail shape and improved flight. Right now all I’m concerned with is having enough confidence to shoot these through a suppressor. Right now, I don’t have that.

In my mind I see a few weaknesses with the base. Some I’ll try and prove either way.

Traditionally a cupped base was used to enable a bullet to obturate and seal bore under low pressure. Really common on heeled bullets. So to see a cupped base on a boat tail sends a warning flag to me. Maybe a false flag. With the bullet unsupported before it hits the rifling, it would seem any inconsistencies in the base would magnify a push to one side or the other causing the bullet to enter the bore at an angle.

Until I completely understand the concept, it’s trial and error for me.

I think a weakness with @HappyHellfire is that all his modeling has been for in flight, and he hasn’t considered how much of the bullets flight is impacted by simply how it leaves the case mouth and enters the bore. If the bullet is pushed sideways, the engraving will be off, as will the balance of the bullet once it’s in flight.

Same thing an inch or two down the barrel. When that base is under 65,000 psi pressure. Will it deform?

Most of this could probably be corrected by some better machining, maybe a change in material. Right now it doesn’t matter how solid the concept is, if the magic bullet leaves the case perfect, but leaves the muzzle off center.
 
What bullets did you get?
I have a grand total of 60 bullets of the 6.5 variety. The machining is less than desirable, but I’m planning to give them the fairest possible chance to shoot that I possibly can. I contacted Hellfire for his best “pet load” on the 6.5 bullets so that I can start with his most accurate load. The feedback was very limited and I fear I’ll have to start with a quick ladder test to make sure I stay under the max charge.
Dave
 
This is not a land mark from setting up a dummy round, this is in fact straight outta the box, I received this picture from a well known and respected shooter who's testing the 6.5's.
All I know is if my work that I pride myself in looked like this representation of your work that your so proud of I'd be out of a job and on welfare.View attachment 1575098This bullet should have been recycled not packaged and shipped.
Please don't try to excuse or explain away the obvious flaws as this is YOUR life's work not mine.
This picture is close to the average of ANY bullet I’ve received from Dr. John. Here is a picture of ALL ten bullets from 1 of the 6 bags I have. I will not comment on the machining quality of these bullets, I will simply post the pics and let you be the judge. Take special note of the boat tail shape of bullet #1 versus the other 9 bullets.
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I posted this before cropping it a couple pages back, it helps put the straight on view in better perspective. It looks like a complex set of curves and angles to machine. Getting it exactly right is probably the difference between it actually working as advertised or not.

View attachment 1575159
I did the same thing holding them up to a bright light while in the calipers.
 
This picture is close to the average of ANY bullet I’ve received from Dr. John. Here is a picture of ALL ten bullets from 1 of the 6 bags I have. I will not comment on the machining quality of these bullets, I will simply post the pics and let you be the judge. Take special note of the boat tail shape of bullet #1 versus the other 9 bullets.
View attachment 1575319
View attachment 1575320
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View attachment 1575322
Maybe if your going by Missouri, you could drop em’ off in Sierra’s cement mixer.
 
Played with the lathe settings and processes. These are the new Win 308 design I'm developing. They are supposed to be .308 diameter, 1.238" long, and have a mass of 148.7 grains.

Performance wise, I never saw a difference between tests with the smoother finish but I've never tested for extreme accuracy. If you demand a pretty finish and super tight tolerances I think I can do it but the cost will have to increase. The machining time shoots up and I will have to measure each bullet by hand until I get an automated system in place.

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The bearing surface will be scarred in firing. I didn't think that surface scratches were that important. Give me a minute and I'll post the results of the corrections.
A lot of these imperfections may not effect flight, but they point to a lack of quality control and pride in workmanship. You often site 95% confidence level, when a lot of people look at theses bullets, 50% or more of the confidence level has been lost.

More statistics, in a 3 groove barrel, you have equal chances of the jaw marks aligning perfectly with a land or a groove. Those that line up with a grove will not be ironed out completely, those with a land, will. Every other shot will leave varying amounts. Basically any thing deeper than .0005” has a good chance of remaining on the bullet.
 
A lot of these imperfections may not effect flight, but they point to a lack of quality control and pride in workmanship. You often site 95% confidence level, when a lot of people look at theses bullets, 50% or more of the confidence level has been lost.

More statistics, in a 3 groove barrel, you have equal chances of the jaw marks aligning perfectly with a land or a groove. Those that line up with a grove will not be ironed out completely, those with a land, will. Every other shot will leave varying amounts. Basically any thing deeper than .0005” has a good chance of remaining on the bullet.

I think that we are again talking two different dialects.

Statistical confidence has nothing to do with perception. If these bullets were covered with "I love Joe Biden" stickers they would still fly the same despite the reaction of the shooter to them.

"Pride in workmanship"? I wonder if the first guy to put rifling in barrels caught this much shit? I'm done. If you don't want to test them then fine but I'm done with your arrogance. Did you really try to use a folk tale to tell a PhD that he needs to be willing to learn? Do you have any idea what a PhD even means? "Love of learning". I've dedicated my life to learning. I shift through the shit on this forum to learn. I have never asked for respect but I'll be damned if I put up with this disrespect any longer.

I would rather my bullets never hit the market than listen to this any longer. If you or anyone else want to work with me to develop these bullets then fine but if you want to get your kicks in humiliatingly a "nerd" online then go pack sand.
 
I think that we are again talking two different dialects.

Statistical confidence has nothing to do with perception. If these bullets were covered with "I love Joe Biden" stickers they would still fly the same despite the reaction of the shooter to them.

"Pride in workmanship"? I wonder if the first guy to put rifling in barrels caught this much shit? I'm done. If you don't want to test them then fine but I'm done with your arrogance. Did you really try to use a folk tale to tell a PhD that he needs to be willing to learn? Do you have any idea what a PhD even means? "Love of learning". I've dedicated my life to learning. I shift through the shit on this forum to learn. I have never asked for respect but I'll be damned if I put up with this disrespect any longer.

I would rather my bullets never hit the market than listen to this any loner. If you or anyone else want to work with me to develop these bullets then fine but if you want to get your kicks in humiliatingly a "nerd" online then go pack sand.
Not getting kick at all, I look forward to shooting these. There is just a ton of things that you seem to be over looking that will make a difference on target. When you make statement like I’ve never tested for accuracy, you’ve completely missed the boat.

Here’s another example of lack of quality control, this bullet isn’t even round. It was also a full 1/2 grain light.

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How in the world will you prove your point, when there are so many other issues with the bullets?

That’s the whole point of the critique to this point. I’m spending the time to hopefully find enough bullets to prove your idea, instead of simply shooting them as boxed, and calling them a failure.

Then again, maybe you’ll prove everyone else wrong. Your tail design is so advanced, that round doesn’t matter.
 
Not getting kick at all, I look forward to shooting these. There is just a ton of things that you seem to be over looking that will make a difference on target. When you make statement like I’ve never tested for accuracy, you’ve completely missed the boat.

Here’s another example of lack of quality control, this bullet isn’t even round. It was also a full 1/2 grain light.

View attachment 1575368

View attachment 1575370

View attachment 1575372

How in the world will you prove your point, when there are so many other issues with the bullets?

That’s the whole point of the critique to this point. I’m spending the time to hopefully find enough bullets to prove your idea, instead of simply shooting them as boxed, and calling them a failure.

Then again, maybe you’ll prove everyone else wrong. Your tail design is so advanced, that round doesn’t matter.

Is it optical illusion; or is that bullet's nose and tail completely off axis from the bearing surface?
 

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