Cutting EdgeBullets

Handloader 28044 www.handloadermagazine.com

John Haviland

Daniel Smitchko operatesCutting Edge MachiningSolutions in Drifting, Penn-sylvania, and he is also ob-

sessed with shooting big game at longrange, the best arrangement for some-one who sells a line of target andhunting bullets from .22 to .60 caliber.His copper and brass bullets are ma-chined to incorporate several inno -vative features, such as grooves toreduce pressures and fouling, a gassealing band and very high ballisticcoefficients. Each bullet Cutting Edgeproduces is a machined little jewel.Cutting Edge’s extensive line of all-copper bullets in-cludes hunting bullets and very low drag target bulletswith a long nose and boat-tail. The Cutting Edge web-site states some of its copper hunting bullets “. . . docome apart as intended when only flesh or organs arehit.” That may or may not be a good thing for a biggame bullet. All I can say is an unbroken bullet equalsmore than the sum of its parts.

What interests me are Cutting Edge’s DangerousGame Brass solid and hollowpoint bullets in calibersfrom .338 to .600 and Enhanced System Projectile Rap-tor bullets also turned from brass in .22 to .50 caliber.I recently shot some of the Dangerous Game BrassHollow Point (DGBR-HP) bullets in a .45-70 lever ac-tion and 6.5mm Raptor bullets from a 6.5x55 SwedishMauser, and they pretty much did what Cutting Edgestates they would.

The Enhanced System Projectile (ESP) Raptor is an

extremely long bullet for its weight because it’s madeof relatively lightweight brass, constructed with adeep, hollow cavity and a sharp polymer tip. The6.5mm 100-grain Raptor measures 1.106 inches longwithout a tip and 1.40 inches long with a Talon tip in-stalled. The tip brings bullet weight up to slightly over102 grains. In comparison, the Berger 6.5mm 140-grainVLD Match bullet is 1.405 inches long.

This long bullet length requires seating the bases ofthe bullets deep into cases to obtain a cartridge lengththat fits in a rifle’s magazine and sets the bullets shortof contacting the rifling. That deep bullet seating sig-nificantly reduces powder capacity. To compensate,Smitchko suggests using relatively faster burning pow-

Above, some Cutting Edge bullets can be shot with orwithout a plastic tip. Right, bundles of dry newspaperwere used to check penetration and expansion.

A New Twiston Penetration

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Long bullet length requires seating thebases of the bullets deep into cases.

ders that occupy less space in cases. I loaded compar-atively fast burning IMR-3031 and 4064 powders in my6.5x55 Swedish Mauser with the 100-grain Raptor, andthe powder charges were still compressed by the longbullet.

Smitchko suggests using close to the maximum pow-der weight listed in the Sierra reloading manual for anequal weight Raptor bullet. “You can then work up andwill almost certainly never reach dangerous pressuresquicker with this type of bullet before you would witha cup and [lead] core bullet,” he wrote in a letter.

The Raptor actually has short bearing surfaces tohelp reduce pressure during firing of such a long bul-let. The bullet has a front and rear body that is narrowenough in diameter to ride on the tops of the riflinglands and three raised bands in the middle of the bodythat bear against the rifling grooves. The 6.5 100-grainRaptor body diameter is .256 inch, while the front andrear bands are .264 inch. The middle band is raised ap-proximately .0005 inch. This SealTite Band, accordingto Cutting Edge, “ensures there will be no pressure es-caping around the bullet when fired.” Cutting Edgewill modify the position of the SealTite Band on cus-tom-ordered bullets of different bullet lengths. A Ma-terial Displacement Groove, behind the band, providesa place for material to go that is sheared off the bandby the rifling lands.

The Raptor bullet can be shot as a solid, hollowpointor with the hollowpoint capped with a Talon polymertip. Merely loading the bullet base first turns the bulletinto a solid. Raptor bullets come with a hollow pointand can be shot that way. A 50-count box of Raptors,though, comes with 25 polymer tips that snap into thehollow nose. That tip nearly doubles the bullet’s bal-listic coefficient and enables it to easily slide from arifle’s magazine into the chamber.

The hollowpoint comprises pretty much the fronthalf of the Raptor. It is designed to expand on contactwith game. Its six petals expand and then after 2inches of penetration break off “and move away fromthe main wound channel in a star pattern creating amassive amount of trauma, while the main body con-tinues to penetrate,” according to Cutting Edge.

The DGBR-HP is also a long bullet for its weight. The.45-caliber, 295-grain DGBR-HP is 1.042 inches longcompared to a length of .967 inch for the Speer .45-cal-iber, 400-grain flatnose softpoint. In the .45-70 I loadeda couple of grains below maximum of Reloder 7 andH-4198 listed in the Sierra reloading manual, and the295-grain DGBR-HP bullets heavily compressed thepowders with the bullets seated deeply enough for

Handloader 28046 www.handloadermagazine.com

Cutting EdgeBullets

The 295-grain DGBR-HP bulletfired from the .45-70 also turned in velocities comparable to the300-grain bullet listed in Sierra’smanual with equivalent amountsof powder, but from a 5.5 inchshorter barrel. But the Danger-

The real test of these bullets ishow well they expand when theystrike something solid. Big gameseasons were closed where I livewhen I shot the Cutting Edge bul-Like the Raptor, when the DGBR-

HP strikes game, its cavity is de-signed to explode six petals off in a star pattern after 2 inches of penetration, creating massiveamounts of trauma, while the solidbase continues in a straight linefor deep penetration.

The Raptor and Dangerous Gamebullets shot pretty well at targetsat 100 yards. The accuracy columnin the table lists the average sizeof two, three-shot groups for eachbullet.

Velocities of the Raptor 100-grain6.5 bullet were right in line withthose listed in the Sierra reloadingmanual for 100-grain bullets shotwith similar amounts of IMR-4064and 3031. However, the Sierra man-ual results were recorded from a

barrel 9.5 inches longer than the20-inch barrel on my 6.5x55. Per-haps the SealTite Band worked toclose off the bore to prevent pow-der gases from slipping past thebullets.

ous Game bullet does not wear aSealTite Band. So maybe thesebrass bullets with their narrowbodies develop higher velocitiesthan copper jacketed bullets witha lead core.

Left, Cutting Edge DangerousGame bullets are available in avariety of weights in .45 caliber.Above, 6.5mm ESP 100-grainRaptor bullets come 50 to abox; Talon tips snap into thehollow point.

Left, the 6.5mm 100-grain Raptorbullet (left) is about the samelength as a Berger 6.5mm 140-grain bullet. Right, the SealTiteBand on some bullets is approxi-mately .0005 inch wider in diam-eter than the bullet body to sealoff powder gases in the bore.

Below, the 295-grain DGBR-HPpenetrated 14 inches into drynewspaper. Right, the 100-grainRaptor plowed through 10 inchesof dry newspaper. The petals onboth broke off after penetrating a few inches.

case mouths to crimp in the crimp-ing grooves.

The DGBR-HP also has a narrowbody and raised rings of groove di-ameter. The thin body sections at the front and rear of the bulletmeasure .440 inch in diameter.Three bands in the middle of thebullet and one on the heel have diameters of .457 inch. Polymertips, which lock in the hollowpoint, are available for shootingthe bullets in single-shot and bolt-action rifles.

October-November 2012 47www.handloadermagazine.com

lets, so I used bundles of dry news-papers instead.

The Raptor 100-grain bullets had

an impact velocity of approxi-mately 2,850 fps from the 6.5x55when they hit the bundles. Two ofthe bullets penetrated 10 inchesstraight into the papers. The re-covered bullets had shed theirnose petals while the back half of the bullets remained intact.They weighed 70 and 72 grains.The first 4 inches of the bulletholes were about one inch wide,

then narrowed down to about .5inch for the remainder of the path.At 3 and 5 inches in, I found a couple of the petals in the bullets’paths of pulverized paper. Try as Imight, I found no sign any petalshad flown off to the side from thechannels.

I also shot a couple of Nosler

Above, this three-shot group wasfired with 295-grain DGBR-HPsand H-4198 through a Marlin .45-70 1895 Guide Gun. Below, a three shot group with 6.5mm100-grain Raptor bullets and IMR-3031 was shot from a 6.5x55.

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Cutting Edge Bulletsbullet powder charge velocity group(grains) (grains) (fps) (inches)

.45-70:295 DGBR-HP RL-7 52.0 2,074 1.18 H-4198 52.0 2,146 .77

6.5x55 Swedish Mauser:100 Raptor with Talon tip installed IMR-4064 43.0 3,120 1.32 IMR-3031 40.0 2,956 1.30

Notes: The .45-70 loads were fired from a Marlin Model 1895 Guide Gun with an 18.5-inch barrel and a Nikon1.5-4.5x scope. The 6.5x55 Swede loads were fired from a Mauser Model 1895 with a 20-inch barrel and aRedfield 3-9x scope. Velocities were recorded with an RCBS AmmoMaster chronograph set 10 feet in front ofthe muzzles on a 60-degree day. The .45-70 loads were assembled with Remington cases and WinchesterLarge Rifle primers. The .45-70 cartridges had a length of 2.505 inches to seat the 295-grain DGBR-HP bulletswith the case mouth crimped in the forward crimping groove. The 6.5x55 cartridges were loaded with Normacases and Winchester Large Rifle primers. Cartridge length was 3.03 inches.

Be Alert – Publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in published load data.

October-November 2012 75www.handloadermagazine.com

Cutting EdgeBullets

HOCH CUSTOM BULLET MOULDS

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davefarmer@hochmoulds.com

www.hochmoulds.com

Tool room quality, nose-pour,most standard or custom designs

made to order. Cylindrical(straight) or tapered. Rifle &

pistol designs available.Quality hand-cast bullets for reloaders,competitors & recreational shooters!

Extensive selection of pistol, rifle,big bore & paper-patched bullets.

Website: www.MontanaBulletWorks.com7730 Hesper Rd. • Billings, MT 59106 • Tel: 406-655-8163

Cutting Edge 295-grain DGBR-HP bullets cost $32.31 for 18 bul-lets, and Raptor 6.5 100-grainbullets with Talon polymer tipscost $62.23 for 50. For more infor-mation, contact Cutting Edge Bul-lets, 75 Basin Run Rd., PO Box248, Drifting PA 16834; or www.cuttingedgebullets.com.

(Continued from page 47)

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100-grain Partition bullets fromthe 6.5x55 at about the same ve-locity into the bundles. They alsopenetrated 10 inches. The bulletshad peeled back to their partitiondividing wall with most of the frontcores sheared off. They weighed67 and 60 grains. They made a sim-ilar-sized path as the Raptor bul-lets through the paper.

The Cutting Edge 295-grain DGBR-HP bullets hit the papers at about2,000 fps and ripped 2-inch wideholes the first 4 inches or so throughthe papers. The holes narrowed toabout an inch in width until thebullets stopped after 14 inches.The nose petals were broken off,and the recovered bullets eachweighed 192 grains. I found onepetal in the bullet’s path 4 inchesin from the start. There was nosign any of the other petals hadpeeled off to the sides.

While I was at it, I shot Kodiak350-grain bonded core bullets andbullets that weighed 420 grainscast of wheelweights from an RCBS45-405-FN mould into the stacks.With an impact speed of 1,900 fpsthe Kodiak bullets ripped a hugehole for 7 inches through the paper.They penetrated 10 and 13 inchesand were pretty well mashed flatwith retained weights of 193 and214 grains. The cast bullets toreholes that I could wiggle four fingers in the first 5 inches. Theystopped after 11 and 13 inches andhad lost a bit more than half theiroriginal weight.

These evaluations of the CuttingEdge bullets show the Raptor equalsthe performance of the Nosler Par-tition, which means the Raptorshould be a good hunting bullet,as the Partition is the yardstick tomeasure hunting bullet perform-ance against. Anything big or oftooth and claw is in serious dan-ger of demise if it stands in thepath of the Cutting Edge 295-grainDGBR-HP bullets.