Moding Crow Mags

[kiwi]

Just came across these pics on another forum
Be interesting to try it

[tjk]

Now there's an interesting concept!!! Much better expansion than the ones I found in the BT's I 'harvested' this weekend. Wonder what tool was used to cut it without damaging or swaggeing out the skirt too much?!? Hope you can find out and let us know!!! I'd give it a try myself,......for sure! tjk

[bassethound423]

Crow mags are mostly soft lead, so my bet would be the cuts are made with a razor knike.

[glyconny]

I use to do this with centerfire ammo hollowpoints.  I used an exacto knife.  Not the most exact, but within 10 yards the variation in poi was minimal from a .45 pistol.  That being said, any marring of your pellet, will affect your POI, and unless you make precision marks with consistency, it'll be hard to anticipate poi from shot to shot.   My guess though is that within 15-20 yards, difference in poi will be minimal.  I'd love to see the results of this mod on a real life target.

[only1harry]

These are 2 CM's I recovered a year ago shot from my 350 .22.  It shoots them with 22.7fpe ME (748-755fps).
 
You need a Magnum gun to get great or full expansion with CM's.  These expanded to 0.30 & 0.31".  I think I read a while back you need 16+fpe for half-way decent expansion.
These are almost completely flat like a pancake so every part of the pellet is expanded, but they were shot into a thick phone book which may not be the same as flesh (maybe closer to bone), but every squirrel I shot with a CM went down & expired immediately and also bled a lot from the exit point which was clearly bigger.

I agree that if you modify them like pictured, it will undoubtedly affect accuracy.

[tjk]

E Sio, I plan on trying this out, and will give a post-mortim report on my findings!!!!! LOL's I was thinking a wood chisel, but on .177 cal pellets?!?!? Skirt damage would be my biggest concern. Little fellas are hard enough to hold as it is, and with an exacto-knife in the other hand,......?!?,....might have to fab a pellet seat for this operation, and do the math with measurments and proper drill bit widths. Worth a shot though!!!!!tjk

[SDale]

I've done this, and it DOES work! I used modified .177 cromags in the Talon SS I traded  to Preez and they were absolutely DEADLY on Pidgeons and skunk.

[glyconny]

That'd be awesome!  I think you are on to something with your idea of fabing a pellet seat, but I'd do some field studies first, with ones that you mod cheaply, before spending time and money on an endeavor like that. And don't foget to share the pics.

[hunter220]

Yep, those are the pics that I took.  Just use a razor blade and put 2 slices into the top, using firm and steady pressure and that is it!  Works great!  Blows birds up!  Here is the link to the pellet pics from my photobucket acct.
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh214/txwatcher91/P1070733.jpg

[ParishM]

i get great expansion with standard JSB Exacts 15.8  shot into a phonebook