24 minute read
BULLET BULLETIN: GET ON BOARD WITH BOATTAILS
BULLET BULLETIN
A boattail bullet can be a game-changer at long ranges.
GET ON BOARD WITH BOATTAILS
With their structural resistance to atmospheric drag, velocity retention and flatter trajectory, this style of bullet provides higher striking energy further out, perfect for long-range hunters.
STORY BY PHIL MASSARO • PHOTOS BY MASSARO MEDIA GROUP
Iuse a rather large number of different projectiles for the battery of rifles I’ve accumulated over the years, and the family has certainly grown in recent years. I enjoy experimenting with different bullet construction, weight, sectional density, ballistic coefficient, diameter and conformation. Sometimes the application might be a little skewed, either based on availability or accuracy, but I’ve always enjoyed trying to match the bullet to the hunt and/or the animal.
There has been an undeniable shift in bullet design over the last decade or two, with the strong emphasis being placed on the highest ballistic coefficient possible, and I’ll certainly attribute that to the immense popularity of long-range shooting. When I was growing up, I always remember my dad choosing Sierra boattail spitzer bullets for his .308 Winchester; I didn’t have that option, as I was shooting a tube magazine lever-action .30-30 Winchester.
In the ignorance of youth, I really felt like I was missing out, what with my slow-moving roundnose bullets, let alone the lack of a boattail. Ol’ Grumpy Pants’ scoped .308 Winchester shot lights-out (it was the Indian, not the arrows) and my iron-sighted lever gun (in the hands of a novice) couldn’t
Author Phil Massaro’s dad – “Ol’ Grumpy Pants” – really embraced the Sierra GameKing bullets offered in early Federal Premium factory loads. The Peregrine BushMaster bullet is one of the few examples of a boattail bullet without the spitzer nose profile.
come anywhere close. It had nothing to do with the boattail spitzer bullets, and had I known – or listened – at the time, I’d have realized that the distances in our hardwoods prevented almost any shot beyond 75 yards, and my gear was just fine for that job.
But those Sierra GameKings Dad was shooting seem rather archaic in comparison to what’s on the market today, when you look at the current lineup of VLD (very low drag) bullets available in both component form and in factory-loaded ammo. Let’s take a look at some of those bullets, and see how they compare to the classic spitzer boattails of yesteryear, and I’ll even throw a few flat-base models into the mix for good measure.
FIRSTLY, WHY A boattail at all? Well, like its namesake, a bullet that narrows or tapers at the base will have less drag as it travels through the atmosphere, just as a boat that narrows at the stern will travel through the water with greater ease. At short ranges, this feature may not give any ballistic advantage at all, and you almost never see a boattail on a roundnose or flat-base bullet. The only exception to this rule I can think of is the South African Peregrine BushMaster bullets; they use a flat-point bronze plunger over a hollow cavity in their monometal bullets, and upon impact that plunger compresses the air in the cavity and drives the sidewalls radially outward for reliable expansion.
In spite of the bullet being a flat nose, and clearly designed for dangerous game at close ranges, Peregrine puts a boattail on the BushMaster. I had to ask the engineers why, and their reasoning was that it made loading the bullet into the case much easier, and it wasn’t any more difficult to manufacture. I can’t argue; those bullets are incredible in the field, even on heavyweights like Cape buffalo.
For game animals that are traditionally shot at longer ranges, or for the target community, the boattail makes perfect sense. It most definitely helps the bullet resist atmospheric drag, which in turn allows the bullet to retain a better percentage of its initial velocity. The more velocity that it retains, the more distance that bullet can cover before dropping (all objects drop at the same rate), which results in a “flatter” trajectory. The boattail, much like the pointed spitzer nose profile, also lends a hand in the kinetic energy department; like trajectory, a higher velocity downrange equates to a higher striking energy.
The benchmark Sierra .30-caliber 168-grain MatchKing bullet.
Sierra’s revamped 169-grain MatchKing bullet, which made 1,000-yard target shooting with the .308 Winchester much easier. Note the elongated boattail.
e Xtreme Defender is based on the popular Xtreme Penetrator product line. e XD ammunition has an optimized nose ute, total weight, and velocity to achieve a penetration depth up to 18 inches* with a permanent wound cavity (PWC) that is just simply enormous; no other expanding hollowpoint comes close to achieving anywhere near this diameter and volume. Not only is the PWC over 100% larger than any other expanding bullet, expansion is achieved despite being shot through barriers. e solid copper body ensures that wallboard, sheet metal, and automotive glass will have no e ect on the PWC.
*Falling within FBI guidelines
is round o ers: A permanent Wound Cavity (PWC) that is 2 times greater than any expanding bullet reduced recoil. CNC machined from solid copper to overcome barriers to penetration Radial utes that force the hydraulic energy inward to build pressure Minimal surface area to increase the force at the point of contact and sharp cutting edges that defeat barriers.
Federal’s Terminal Ascent bullet and their Trophy Bonded Tip; note the difference in boattail angle between the two.
Federal’s Trophy Bonded Tip is an excellent bonded-core bullet, with a sensible ogive and boattail that combine for a very effective hunting trajectory; it remains one of the author’s favorite choices.
If the above statements are true, then why not put a boattail on every single bullet manufactured? Does the boattail have a downside? There are some aspects that can pose an issue in certain hunting situations, or in certain cartridges whose case capacity is less than generous. Many cup-and-core spitzer boattail bullets show a tendency to have the copper jacket separate from the lead core upon impact with a game animal. This is not a good thing, as although you do want your bullet to expand in order to cause as much trauma as possible to the vital organs, you also want the bullet to stay together to ensure deep penetration. Bonding the core to the jacket most definitely aids in keeping the bullet together; this technique is used in a
Hornady’s fantastic A-Tip match bullet; note the severe boattail angle, maximizing the ballistic coefficient, or BC. Barnes puts a severe boattail angle on their LRX series of bullets; being lead-free, the boattail adds considerable length to the bullet. The 7mm weighs a mere 139 grains, yet has plenty of length.
Berger’s Elite Hunter line offers match-grade performance from a hunting bullet; their BC values are derived from a sleek ogive and a beefy boattail. good number of bullets like the Swift Scirocco II, Nosler AccuBond, Federal Trophy Bonded Tip and Terminal Ascent, Hornady InterBond, and Norma’s BondStrike. All of these have an excellent reputation among hunters.
Putting a boattail on a bullet also adds length to the bullet, when you compare it to a flat-base bullet of identical weight, diameter and nose profile. This can be a problem in some cases, as the bullet’s base will sit deeper in the case, taking up valuable real estate. And the VLD bullets have a very slight boattail angle, making the bullet that much longer. In addition, should your rifle have any issues with the crown of the barrel, accuracy issues can arise with boattail bullets, as the expanding gases will act in an uneven manner on the base of the bullet. My old Ruger Model 77 MKII .22-250 Remington does OK with spitzer boattail bullets, but much prefers a flat-base match-grade bullet (specifically the Sierra MatchKing No. 1400 53-grain bullet). I suspect that the crown of the muzzle is the issue, and I should have it looked at by a competent gunsmith.
Sierra’s GameKing hunting bullet uses a crimped hollowpoint, thick copper jacket and a reasonable boattail angle that works wonderfully at hunting ranges. The author has a soft spot for the 180-grain .30-caliber Scirocco II; it gives the best balance of features for the .300 H&H, .300 Win Mag and .300 Remington Ultra Magnum-class cartridges.
TAKING A LOOK at the differences in boattail design, you can pick nits over boattail angle of varying models, trying to correlate and quantify the possible effect the changes will have on BC values, but I feel Sierra has summed it up best. Looking at the classic .30-caliber 168-grain Sierra MatchKing – the staple of the target community just a couple decades ago – you’ll see a boattail with a moderate angle when compared to some of the more radical designs. Keeping in mind that the opportunities to shoot 1,000 yards were few and far between, and that the .308 Winchester was the darling of the target community, the 168-grain MatchKing hollowpoint – with a G1 BC of .462 – worked perfectly. But that bullet at .308 velocities has a hard time staying supersonic at 1,000 yards, so Sierra set out to redesign their classic hollowpoint bullet. The result is the 169-grain Sierra MatchKing No. 2269, with a revised boattail and tighter meplat.
“This bullet was designed with one thing in mind, and that was to shoot 1,000 yards in a .308 Winchester,” says the company’s website. “To accomplish that, we added length to the boattail [emphasis added] and engineered a forgiving tangent ogive with a closed nose. Doing this gave it a .527 BC,
The excellent Hornady ELD-X hunting bullet; though the bullet has a good BC value, the author expected a more pronounced boattail. which keeps it supersonic past 1,000 yards in a .308 chamber. This bullet is basically a redesign of the legendary 168MK, which we will continue to manufacture. Anyone that enjoys shooting medium to long range with a .308 or even the big magnums will love this bullet.”
Compare the BC values of those boattail bullets to the G1 BC of .404 of the flat-base 165-grain Nosler Partition, and you can get a feel for the benefit of the boattail bullet base. Looking at the difference between those two MatchKing bullets, and the fact that Sierra’s engineers cite the elongated boattail as a part of the increased BC value, there is a definitive value placed on the length and angle of the boattail.
Please realize that a boattail bullet will show no advantage over a flat-base bullet until somewhere past 300 yards. Many bullet manufacturers will indicate that due to the location of the center of gravity combined with the bullet’s conformation, a flat-base bullet will “settle down” earlier than will a boattail bullet. It is for this reason that a flatbase bullet may show better accuracy at 100 yards than a boattail, but at the 300- and 400-yard mark (once the boattail bullet has had a chance to settle down) the tables will turn.
Further evidence of the importance of the VLD-style boattail lies in the good number of specialized reloading tools for this style of bullet. As an
Not all match bullets have a boattail; the author has long relied on the Sierra 53-grain MatchKing for pinpoint accuracy from his .22-250 Remington.
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The famed Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmint, shown here in .22-caliber 50-grain variety, with a slight boattail angle. The author has used this bullet out to 450 yards to absolutely flatten predators and varmints.
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example, Redding offers a flash holepiloted VLD chamfer tool, in addition to their micrometer-adjustable VLD seating stems.
If you’re a hunter who spends his time in the woods where shot distances are relatively short, you surely don’t need a boattail bullet. Looking at the example of my Tikka T3X Lite in 7mm-08 Remington, which loves boattail bullets, choosing the 140-grain AccuBond load from Federal for New York black bear and whitetail poses no issue. It’s a tough hunting bullet, fully capable of handling high-impact velocities. But in this instance, I’m looking for the structural integrity of the bullet more than the higher BC values. Were I hunting mule deer on the prairie of South Dakota where the shots are longer, the 150-grain Hornady ELD-X load might get the nod because of the BC value. Fitting the projectile to the game and terrain is half the fun!
.45 230 RN
9 115 RN
Riflescopes come in many models, magnifications and price points, and they’ve come a long way over the years, but regardless of brand, field of view or cost, their basic job is to help hunters and shooters hit their target. (DMYTO/SHUTTERSTOCK)
A USER’S GUIDE TO RIFLESCOPES
With so many makes and models to choose from, here are one hunter and shooter’s thoughts on getting on target.
STORY BY JIM DICKSON
The subject of riflescopes is a field in itself and there are scopes for every need and budget.
For your basic hunting needs, you can’t go wrong with a fixed-power 2¾x scope in either conventional or scout scope configuration. These have all the magnification you need for target identification and accurate shooting without the limited field of view that comes with higher magnification. You won’t shoot any more accurately with higher magnification, and you may not find the game in your scope’s field of view in time to shoot with higher magnification. Some folks like to move up slightly to 4x magnification and think that is a good trade-off between magnification and field of view.
The limits of the field of view can mean more than just a missed meal. If you have an angry wild dog or wild boar coming at you, any delay in firing can result in a dangerous situation. That’s why you don’t see high magnification recommended for dangerous game.
The best trick for putting the crosshairs on the target is to keep both eyes open and then bring the scope up into your field of view. The scout scope, with its long eye relief, was designed for this and is definitely the fastest at this game, but conventionally mounted scopes can benefit from this
technique as well. Whatever you do, you don’t want to start looking through a high-magnification scope and then begin glassing for the animal you were looking at a moment ago. Chances are he will be gone before you find him.
If you have a semiauto rifle, you can employ aimed rapidfire on moving targets and this is best done with a German three-post reticle, as crosshairs tend to blur in rapidfire.
For the record, my wife Betty always used Redfield 2¾x scopes with crosshairs, while I use Burris Scout Scopes with 2¾x or German three-post reticles, and we were both completely satisfied with the performance of our scopes on game. These fixed-power scopes tend to be considerably lighter than the larger, bulkier, variable-power scopes and there is less to go wrong with them.
Red dot sights are also popular and I have a nice Bushnell red dot sight that works perfectly. varmints, is where higher magnification scopes best strut their stuff. The variable-power scope is most popular and I recommend keeping them on the lowest setting until you have game in the scope, then moving up the magnification if you find that necessary. Otherwise, take the shot while you still can. Some of the cheaper variablepower scopes do not have the same point of impact at all magnifications. Personally, I would just get rid of that scope.
I know a man in Montana who often takes his elk at 500-yard ranges. He is feeding his family and says he feels more like a long-range sniper assassin than a hunter, but no one is more serious about getting elk meat to their family than he is. A good scoped rifle with good magnification is a necessary tool for him. Please note that he is well aware that at these ranges he is missing out on the thrill and satisfaction of the hunt. Much of that is derived from stalking close to the game. I know exactly how he feels. I get no pleasure out of a longrange shot at an animal I can barely see, though I will take it if I am hungry enough. For me, the thrill is getting close, like a cat, where I can see the quarry clearly. I may have to substitute a bullet for the fast close-range rush of the hunting cat because I simply cannot run 60 miles per hour, but everything else is the same for me as for the cat.
Bean field shooters in Alabama often have to take shots at crazy long ranges where higher magnification is needed just to see your quarry. This is specialized hunting with no real chance to stalk closer. When done on wild hogs, it is a vital necessity if the crop is to be preserved for harvest. Killing any coyotes that appear can be even more important, as they prey on livestock and pets and have been known to attack and kill children. Killing coyotes and wild hogs is serious business.
Your high-magnification scope may make the target look closer, but that’s not going to help you much to hit it. Longrange shooting requires exact knowledge of the distance and your specific bullet
“Long-range shots at game or targets, as well as shorter-range shots at varmints, is where higher magnification scopes best strut their stuff. The variable-power scope is most popular and I recommend keeping them on the lowest setting until you have game in the scope, then moving up the magnification if you find that necessary,” writes author Jim Dickson. (TIMOTHEOS/SHUTTERSTOCK)
When it comes to lining up a shot on the bull’s-eye, whether that be a wild boar, a black circle on a paper target or a gong at 1,000 yards, riflescopes may have a basic crosshair, three-post reticle – like this one – or a more modern one like a so-called “Christmas tree” milliradian reticle for ultraprecision long-range shooting.
(SLATAN/SHUTTERSTOCK)
drop at that range. Laser rangefinders and bullet drop tables are a virtual necessity if you want to hit your target. That flat-shooting rifle at 100 yards loops more like a howitzer round at long range and it’s easy to overshoot or undershoot the target. No artilleryman can place his shell on target without knowing the exact range and trajectory of his round, and at long range neither can the rifleman. There are also unseen air cross currents that can deflect your shot, as well as other factors making precision less sure. To wound and lose game is inhumane and a violation of all hunting ethics. Unless you are an expert long-range shot and have no other options, it is always better to get closer. Two hundred yards maximum for nondangerous game and 50 yards maximum for dangerous game is a good rule to ensure clean kills.
AS A GUN writer, I have to shoot groups
With game animals often only active at dawn and dusk, the light-gathering abilities of a riflescope’s large front lens, along with an illuminated reticle, help hunters take
and make ethical shots. (TIM JOHNSON/SHUTTERSTOCK) at 100 yards with the various guns I test and seeing that 1-inch black bull’seye at 100 yards is a lot easier with the Bushnell 3-9x and 4-16x scopes I keep for just that purpose. I really miss them when I have a gun with iron sights and I have to wring the last bit of accuracy out of it in a test firing. One inch is the smallest size you can see at 100 yards with 20/20 vision and it is called a minute of angle. With iron sights, it’s called overworking the gun writer.
It’s worth remembering that the U.S. used 3-9x variable-power scopes on sniper rifles in Vietnam with great success. This size has proved extremely popular with hunters as well.
While it is proper to use the magnification of your riflescope to see if that deer has antlers or not or to judge its trophy worth, never use your riflescope like a telescope or binoculars to hunt for game. Invariably this leads to the gun being pointed at another human being sooner or later. Remember, you are not the only hunter in the woods and the first rule of gun safety is to never let the gun point at anything you don’t want to shoot. I use the compact Steiner Predator binoculars for looking for game. They are easier to use and more efficient at this task, as well as safer for others afield.
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Game is often moving about most at dawn and dusk. Shooting in lowlight conditions is where the light gathering ability of the scope comes to the forefront. A large front lens is a big help and an illuminated reticle solves the problem of locating the crosshairs in the semidark conditions.
For hunting at night, we now have night vision scopes and thermal imaging scopes. These have proved their worth over and over again in stopping the depredations of coyotes and wild hogs. The military has a combination night vision and thermal sight, but as of now this type of sight is not commercially available.
One of the important features of a quality riflescope is the coating on the lens. Bushnell even has a rain guard coating to enable the scope to be used in a driving rain. Anyone who has hunted in the rain as much as I have will appreciate that feature.
THERE ARE MANY factors in choosing a riflescope. The best advice for the novice is to stick with a reputable manufacturer like Zeiss, Swarovski, Bushnell, Burris, Redfield, Leupold, etc. Figure out exactly what you need it for and buy a scope tailored to those needs.
Don’t go hog-wild and buy the biggest, heaviest, most complicated scope out there. It’s better to start small and work up only as needed. You will find a 2¾x fixed-power scope to be perfectly adequate for deer out to 300 yards; most are actually killed inside 100 yards.
“There are many factors in choosing a riflescope. The best advice for the novice is to stick with a reputable manufacturer ... Figure out exactly what you need it for and buy a scope tailored to those needs,” counsels the
author. (ROBERT NYHOLM/ SHUTTERSTOCK)
