High Noon
Silver $$ Contributor
Small caliber shooting friend Matt Smith just mentioned my Low Drag 25.5 grain seventeen caliber bullet on a twenty caliber thread and I thought I’d shed some light on the story.
One thing I learned early on working at the Research Center was how many things great things were discovered by accident. In over 21 years I was there I witnessed many examples.
Years ago a small box arrived in the mail from Bob Simonson who made all my seventeen bullet making equipment. Receiving small packages from Bob wasn’t anything unusual however what this small box contained was. You see Bob a precision tool and die maker extraordinaire was always designing and mailing me his recent prototypes. He had an extreme passion for the small calibers and our friendship bonded around that a story for another time. I opened the box with curiosity of what’s Bob up to now? Inside was a precision bullet point up die and a hand written note which said I made a mistake on this die however you may find something to use it for. A few days later I was talking to Bob and he explained he had made a mistake making the point up die which was an extreme ogive for the 37 grain seventeen bullets and just shortened it up a little thinking I might be able to use it. This wasn’t a cheap point up die to say the least made of carbide and to the highest accuracy standards. I set it on my bullet making bench and went back to work. Finally one evening when the dust was settling down I took a closer look at the die. I decided to try to point up some 25 grain bullets on the standard jackets. I was quite nervous not knowing if this would work or might I stick a bullet and possibly ruin the die. ( only a precision bullet maker understands that feeling ) I went slowly and it just didn’t feel right so I aborted the first attempt. I was almost certain the standard 25 grain jackets were too short. So I thought I’d give the 30 grain jacket a try. Again I went very slow trying to feel the bullet being pointed up. Eventually I had a perfectly formed bullet and it easily ejected from the point up die. BINGO….the very first Low Drag Seventeen caliber bullet was made and did it look awesome! But how would it shoot? The next morning I was up to the Woodchuck Den testing range and couldn’t wait to test these new low drag bullets. With the length and extreme point I was certain it would require at least a 1/9 twist so I used my 17 Tactical. After just a couple five shot groups I was ecstatic more like on cloud nine! Did those flat base low drag bullets perform! If I’m not mistaken I had the BC figured close to a 30 grain flat base bullet but remember how much faster you can push a 25 grain bullet. Thinking this morning ……to look back this may be the most accurate seventeen bullet I ever made and tested! That’s a really big statement because I made some very accurate seventeen bullets over several decades. Bob’s mistake turned into a incredible bullet design!
Special thanks to Matt for his love and passion of the small calibers and the mention of these 25.5 grain Low Drag bullets!
Todd
One thing I learned early on working at the Research Center was how many things great things were discovered by accident. In over 21 years I was there I witnessed many examples.
Years ago a small box arrived in the mail from Bob Simonson who made all my seventeen bullet making equipment. Receiving small packages from Bob wasn’t anything unusual however what this small box contained was. You see Bob a precision tool and die maker extraordinaire was always designing and mailing me his recent prototypes. He had an extreme passion for the small calibers and our friendship bonded around that a story for another time. I opened the box with curiosity of what’s Bob up to now? Inside was a precision bullet point up die and a hand written note which said I made a mistake on this die however you may find something to use it for. A few days later I was talking to Bob and he explained he had made a mistake making the point up die which was an extreme ogive for the 37 grain seventeen bullets and just shortened it up a little thinking I might be able to use it. This wasn’t a cheap point up die to say the least made of carbide and to the highest accuracy standards. I set it on my bullet making bench and went back to work. Finally one evening when the dust was settling down I took a closer look at the die. I decided to try to point up some 25 grain bullets on the standard jackets. I was quite nervous not knowing if this would work or might I stick a bullet and possibly ruin the die. ( only a precision bullet maker understands that feeling ) I went slowly and it just didn’t feel right so I aborted the first attempt. I was almost certain the standard 25 grain jackets were too short. So I thought I’d give the 30 grain jacket a try. Again I went very slow trying to feel the bullet being pointed up. Eventually I had a perfectly formed bullet and it easily ejected from the point up die. BINGO….the very first Low Drag Seventeen caliber bullet was made and did it look awesome! But how would it shoot? The next morning I was up to the Woodchuck Den testing range and couldn’t wait to test these new low drag bullets. With the length and extreme point I was certain it would require at least a 1/9 twist so I used my 17 Tactical. After just a couple five shot groups I was ecstatic more like on cloud nine! Did those flat base low drag bullets perform! If I’m not mistaken I had the BC figured close to a 30 grain flat base bullet but remember how much faster you can push a 25 grain bullet. Thinking this morning ……to look back this may be the most accurate seventeen bullet I ever made and tested! That’s a really big statement because I made some very accurate seventeen bullets over several decades. Bob’s mistake turned into a incredible bullet design!
Special thanks to Matt for his love and passion of the small calibers and the mention of these 25.5 grain Low Drag bullets!
Todd
