Fat Round nosed bullets at moderate velocity

[FredH]

Been using 200-250 gr. 35 caliber round nosed bullets at the stunning velocity of around 2500 fps for years. No plastic tips need apply. First out of a 358 Winchester and lately from a 35 Whelen. Open quick, hold together, wide mushrooms and almost always a good leaky exit hole. Gives a point blank trajectory out past 200 yards and a nice satisfying "Whop" when they hit. This being mostly a 250 yard load which covers almost all my deer hunting and does cover all my hog hunting. Recoil isn't bad, accuracy is excellent. Anyone else have good results with this type of bullet?

 

[Choupique]

Anyone else have good results with this type of bullet?

As long as the range is short, yes. Ive always found terminal performance of round nose bullets to be very good, especially with moderate velocity stuff like .30-30 and 6.5x55 155+ gr

If i was never in danger of needing to shoot more than 200 yards it'd probably be all I ever used.

 

[Macintosh]

To be honest Ive never used them. Used to be the standard 180gr option in a 30-06, but not even sure they are still available in that cartridge. And never owned a big-bore centerfire rifle. Curious if its the shape or simply the mass and moderate velocity that works so well for the purpose—are there legit advantages over a pointed bullet when comparing same diameter/weight/velocity?

 

[Choupique]

are there legit advantages over a pointed bullet when comparing same diameter/weight/velocity?

They always seem to behave more consistently to me. Idk how to articulate why I think that is. It can open up easier and retain more weight where as you must make a trade there with a Spitzer bullet. Less trading off has to be done with a round nose. Probably because its a simpler geometry to work with.

 

[ozyclint]

To me, the 35 Whelan screams round nose bullet.
I was thinking 35 Whelan when I saw your thread title before I even read your post.

 

[FredH]

To me, the 35 Whelan screams round nose bullet.
I was thinking 35 Whelan when I saw your thread title before I even read your post.

When I was trying to decide between 35 Whelan and 338-06 the deciding factor was at the time there were a lot of round nosed bullets to choose from for the 35.

 

[FredH]

To be honest Ive never used them. Used to be the standard 180gr option in a 30-06, but not even sure they are still available in that cartridge. And never owned a big-bore centerfire rifle. Curious if its the shape or simply the mass and moderate velocity that works so well for the purpose—are there legit advantages over a pointed bullet when comparing same diameter/weight/velocity?

I remember when there were 10 round bubble packs of Winchester RN Power points hanging from hooks on the ammo Isle for 30-06 and 308. For many years there were RN versions of the 180 and 150 gr. bullets offered for both the 308 and 30-06. A lot of people preferred them greatly. The RN corelokt boasted a thicker jacket and quicker expansion over the pointed version. RN supposedly open up at lower velocities, 1600 fps.

 

[Thegman]

They always seem to behave more consistently to me. Idk how to articulate why I think that is. It can open up easier and retain more weight where as you must make a trade there with a Spitzer bullet. Less trading off has to be done with a round nose. Probably because its a simpler geometry to work with.

I suppose round nose bullets generally have a larger circumference "opening" of the bullet jacket nose to work on and are generally designed for lower velocities (?).

 

[FredH]

I guess my favorites are the 200 gr. RNCL which at one time was cheap and easily available, what a bullet! Never anything to complain of as far as bullet performance. The other is the 250 gr. Hornady RN. Took a great big elk in Washington state with that bullet. Super thick alders and he was only thirty feet away. I angled one through his paunch up into his chest, it came out the front of his chest and his heart was laying fully intact against his rib cage. exit hole was 1 1/2" and bloody but he fell in place so no tracking. What a job it was cutting him up and getting his pieces out to the truck. His backstraps were huge. I bet that elk weighed more than 800 pounds live.

 

[Choupique]

suppose round nose bullets generally have a larger circumference "opening" of the bullet jacket nose to work on and are generally designed for lower velocities (?).

My pole vaulting coach (Olympic coach - great man) used to tell me its easier for tall people to vault than short people because when the tall guys leave the ground the pole is closer to vertical than it is when a short guy leaves the ground.

So however you word that for flat bullets vs pokey ones, at least for terminal performance.

We ask A LOT of pokey bullets these days. We want excellent BC, excellent SD, and a super wide effective velocity range. Round nose bullets dont have those problems.

 

[FredH]

My pole vaulting coach (Olympic coach - great man) used to tell me its easier for tall people to vault than short people because when the tall guys leave the ground the pole is closer to vertical than it is when a short guy leaves the ground.

So however you word that for flat bullets vs pokey ones, at least for terminal performance.

We ask A LOT of pokey bullets these days. We want excellent BC, excellent SD, and a super wide effective velocity range. Round nose bullets dont have those problems.

I believe generally most game is shot well within 200 yards. Many (most?) are sold on the premise that they must have a 600 yard rifle when unless you do it on purpose getting a shot past 300 yards is very unusual. The vast majority of game 300 yards out is unaware of your presence and can be approached.

 

[ozyclint]

If I had a whelan I'd try the Hornady Interlock 200gr RN.