Rifling imprint on bullet

[Retired Guy]

My buddy showed me this 45 ACP bullet he shot at the range. Pics are not great, but notice that there are no ballistic marks on about 1/2 of the bullet. Is this normal?

 

[GUNSICK]

Rifling only shows where the bullet contacts the barrel.

 

[stuck in ny]

Of course there's no rifling mark on the curved part. How would the barrel interior touch it if its smaller in that cross section than the inner diameter of the barrel?

 

[dubleuhb]

Answer is yes, it is normal.

 

[Marine Cpl]

Of course there's no rifling mark on the curved part. How would the barrel interior touch it if its smaller in that cross section than the inner diameter of the barrel?

Look at the 2nd picture. It has no rifling on the non curved part.

 

[stuck in ny]

Look at the 2nd picture. It has no rifling on the non curved part.

You can see the marks if you look close.

 

[Retired Guy]

Bad barrel or undersized bullet? They were Remington or Winchester factory loads.

 

[Carlos Hathcock]

You can see the marks if you look close.

True. Faint at best. At what range / target/ material was this bullet fired allowing recovery of an almost perfect unmarked bullet?

 

[Retired Guy]

You can see the marks if you look close.

Verry light marking, as a guess, I'd say about 30% as deep as the other side.

 

[Retired Guy]

True. Faint at best. At what range / target/ material was this bullet fired allowing recovery of an almost perfect unmarked bullet?

Dirt pile. About 30 yards. Colt 1911.

 

[GUNSICK]

Dirt is abrasive and probably remover some of the rifling.

 

[stuck in ny]

Dirt is abrasive and probably remover some of the rifling.

That's probably what it is. It happed to hit/scuff more on one side.

 

[Eddie Gunks]

Bad gun. Bad ammo. Send to Me for disposal.

 

[Uzi]

I can see the rifling clear as day in the second photo. The groves are not as deep, but they're there.

 

[Podmonkey]

Its referred to as the bullet engraving in the rifling. The nominal diameter of the bullet is that of the depressed grooves and the bullet swages past the raised lands of the rifling.

 

[dsdmmat]

Look at the 2nd picture. It has no rifling on the non curved part.

Yes it does. They are faint but they are there. The bullet was probably under sized at .451 and came out of the case a little off center to get deep groves on one side and shallow on the other.


Edit: thought there were two separate bullets there.