Blanks

[webers]

I'll stick with live rounds. You kever know when the man in the gray suit will need a lead deposit. While the gas causes lots of damage, the live round provides more stopping power.

[GROUPER55]

What the hell weber..you shooting water buffalo under there? There is no such thing as stopping power with a fmj .223 round, especially on a shark of a size would deem it to be popped. You zap the sob in the kill zone and its circles for the ****er. Just had to harrass you a bit man. ;)

[Kasshia]

I think if it were the size of the bullet that made a PH more effective then .357 would be more effective than .223 because of the larger projectile diameter. Instead it works the other way because of the larger propellant capacity of the .223.

For the best of both worlds build a PH chambered in .45/70.;)

[webers]

I wasn't comparing the .223 to the .357. Obviously, the .223 as a "military" round is designed for greater kill capabilities. What I meant was all things being equal, my .357 with a bullet head (live) as compared to a blank .357 has more stopping power, since the bullet head will also travel into the creature, expand, and do damage. I agree, the .223 is a superior round to a .357 round, has much more gas pressure than the 357, and that gas does most of damage. I wouldn't be surprised if the .223 blank does more damage than the live 357. I've shot both the 223 and 357 with live rounds, the .223 clearly did more damage.

Problem is, I own a 357, not .223. My point was that I wouldn't want to do anything that reduced the .357's capabilities.
And, shit, if waterbuffalo swam in the gulf I'd shoot it. Going"light tackle" works for bonefish and snook. I'd don't care what size the shark is, if I have to use the powerhead on it, give me more power!

P.S. I'm now considring getting a .223.

Now if they made a powerhead with a .50 cal round like those sniper rifles use . . . .

[richhermes]

Webers,
Is your middle name, Malvo?? HAHA

[FredT]

Originally posted by Kasshia

For the best of both worlds build a PH chambered in .45/70.;)
I have one in .444 Marlin. Does that count?

FT

[GROUPER55]

lol that would hurt....a .50 cal powerhead I cound't even imagine...

[webers]

I guess you would need earplugs for a .50

[inletsurf]

How about a 7mm?

[Kasshia]

Webers- I didn't say you were comparing those two rounds. I only chose them for illustrative purposes because the one with the larger projectile diameter has the lower propellant charge and they are both common chamberings for PHs. Sorry about any miscommunication.
Actually the 5.56 mm ball, or .223 Remington FMJ if you prefer, wasn't adopted because it "is designed for greater kill capabilities". Quite the contrary, it was adopted because it takes more of the personnel on the battlefield to care for a wounded combatant than a dead one and because the 5.56 mm is smaller and lighter than the .30 caliber round it replaced each man could carry more rounds. It was originally developed for civilian purposes as a mid-range varmint round. Anyway, getting back to the topic.

Fred- That .444 Marlin PH. I've recently heard of it. Is it true it will decapitate a hammerhead? Is that a commercial chambering or you custom make it? I can't help but think that at the range a PH is used that .444 would drop an elephant. Literally.:)

All- Has anyone tried any of the 12 gauge shotgun shell powerheads? How effective are they?

[Carl Benson]

Been kinda following ur PH conversations over the past month or so. Instead of buying a PH, Make ur own (disposable). We take 3/8" Gal steel pipe cut into about 4" lengths. The ID of the pipe is the same as a 44mag. Drill out the inside of the pipe to let the pipe act as the chamber on a rifle. (about 1.5" down) coat the primer and around the edge of the round with a waterproof
epoxy. let dry. Turn upside down and fill the PW with the waterproof epoxy. (this is the end the bullet comes out) let harden.. you can find tubing at hardware/marine supply stores that will slide inside the end where you can see the primer. The ID
should be the same as the dia of your spearshaft. Using the point of the spear shaft as the firing pin.. You just slide the PW on, shoot, throw away replace with another and repeat process.. This will come in handy when shooting behind a shrimp boat and the need arises. ..... The 45/70 rounds work real well. Using the same method as described above. The amount of powder you use for any round can be increased dramatically.. The friend who loaded the 45/70 rounds made 6 for test purposes. @ had 16 Grains of powder.(normal for shooting) 2 with 26 grains and 2 with 37 grains. Since the objective is to have all the power be expelled out the front of the PH is the reason for the GalvSteel pipe. You do not want the concusion being deverted sideways, only forward. The 45/70 w/26 grains of powder makes a fireball about 2.5 - 3 ' in dia. and you DO NOT want to be beside or infront of it when it goes off (or have it on your foot). We have used PH made like this that were 5 yrs old and they still worked as if they were new. We talked about a 50 cal. Rd for a PH but since we were not going to test its power, and probably couldn't find anyone else to test if for us, we scrubed the idea. The cost of making PH like this runs about $.50 each. A lot better than loosing one that cost 125.00 on a dive or having a fish swim away with it when it breaks your threaded tip off your shaft.. Now your out about 175.00 for the PH and the Shaft you just ruined. Hope this helps some of you out if you want to try making them yourself.

[FredT]

Originally posted by Kasshia

Fred- That .444 Marlin PH. I've recently heard of it. Is it true it will decapitate a hammerhead? Is that a commercial chambering or you custom make it?

The one I have was made by Ultimate several years ago. In testing he claimed he took the head off a 16' hammerhead with one round. That'd be about a years supply of smoked shark jerkey for my entire family and most of my friends! They are out of business, but recreating it wouldn't be a problem if you had a good lathe and minimal tooling.

Originally posted by Kasshia

All- Has anyone tried any of the 12 gauge shotgun shell powerheads? How effective are they?

We used to make a disposable 20 ga head "bangstick" out of 2 sizes of EMT conduit, rubber bands, broomsticks, and double headed nails back in the 60s. They worked fine on big (60 lb +) catfish of various species. Waterproofing the round was the big problem. I used custom reloaded waxed shells with additional hot wax sealing with good results.

FT

[Sea_Dad]

I have some experience dropping a 14' tiger with a 12 gauge PH. It put a hole about a foot across in it.

[inletsurf]

Man, a 444 would make your ears bleed!!!

[FredT]

Originally posted by inletsurf
Man, a 444 would make your ears bleed!!!

That's the main reason I still have it! It's a disposable and I'm not quite nuts enough to use it.

FT

[Reef Raider]

I thought the 12 ga PH were for the gators. Well maybe for the big sharks that you get line fishing we never bring a live shark in the boat my brother uses a 357 pistol to do the job.