Bob Parker, Founder, Parker Productions

I conceived the Hydra Con™ idea in November of 1989. A Colorado sheepherder friend of mine was always "digging" me about my "Smoke Pole". He kept bragging how he could out shoot me any day with his "old 30-30". Not one to back down from a "friendly" challenge, I felt I was up to the task, and the contest was on.

The object of the game was to hang our hats at 300 yards and blaze away, seeing who could cause the greatest leakage on a rainy day! I decided to really fix his wagon. I would make a bullet that would make his hat look as if it had been shot with a sawed off shotgun, and completely destroy it! I figured a good "modified" hollow-point bullet would do the trick. I would insert a .22 rim fire, minus lead and powder, backwards into the hollow point muzzleloader bullet. I would fill the .22 rim fire case with black powder. Since we would put our hats on a big rock, I imagined my "modified" muzzleloader bullet striking the rock, detonating the black powder-loaded rim-fire case, and his hat should have floated on the wind like pollen.

Well, the shoot never materialized. However, I was left with the idea of how to expand a muzzleloading bullet. The Hydra Con™ is the result.

My first bullets were .50-caliber maxi-balls. I knew the .22 trick was O.K. for a "prank", but legality and practicality dictated the necessity to find an alternate souce of expansion material. Then the idea came.....why not hydraulics? I developed a prototype and was off to test. My first test medium was a very dead (and stinky) milk cow. The results were very encouraging. I made more bullets, tested for accuracy, and couldn't wait for the upcoming fall hunting season.