Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Advantages Of A Roundnose Bullet???

I have been reading some good things about the .35 cal Hornady Roundnose Bullet. What advantage/difference do you get with a roundnose vs. a spitzer???

I've found that several of my rifles group better with roundnose bullets. My 30/06 loves Hornady's 220 grain roundnose interlock.

Downside is a lower BC with the roundnose, but it probably doesn't make much difference until you get way out there.

I always thought the big patch of lead on the nose of the Round Nose was intended to facilitate expansion. Its probably not needed with todays bullets, I shot thru a small deer with a 180 Corlopt .30 round nose it did not seem to do much damage to it. .

They look old fashioned cool???!!!

I have had the same experience as Tony. The whole BC discussion seems to have little bearing in the field.

They are shorter to begin with, so easier to stabilize and shoot well for a given weight than their spitzer counterparts are sometimes. They are also less inclined to tip and become destabilized due to their shorter length. Further, since they tend to expand a bit quicker, they may also be a bit less likely to tumble inside. And this doesn't apply to the Interlocks, but CoreLokts in the RN versions still have the nicely taper/skived, heavy jacket which really controls overexpansion.

"They are shorter to begin with, so easier to stabilize and shoot well for a given weight than their spitzer counterparts are sometimes."

Exactly so. That's all of the practical difference between RN and SP bullets, as a type.

They are safer in a tube magazine.

No sapling up to 4" diameter stands a chance in their path...??

Two good reasons;

1. They are accurate as hell

2. They are deadly on game...

all I need to know...

An expanding nose which "balls up" rather than "smears" to one side can help some of them run truer inside I believe.



(the one in the middle)


The round-nosed Core-Lokts tend to finish this way.


Okay, not a RN design but same general final shape and penetration qualities...

One of traits of the GameKing which perhaps bothers me more than core loosening or "feeding" is the way they seem to mushroom to a flat face (good), but that face is often/usually angled from perpendicular to the axis of the bullet. This can cause the bullet to veer or tumble. Their old round nosed versions seem less so inclined.

Been using the 220 gr Sierra RN in my .06 for many years. Every one I have found was in a dead animal.I have not shot them past 300yds on paper, but have shot a few elk past that with them. At least to 300yds,they shoot as accuraetrly in my .o6 as the Game Kings BT's
Generally I have found that those who talk bad about them have either not use them,or want to go with the newest botique bullets. These guys say you have to keep up with new technology,etc.

Uh-huh. And it's a real shame that the market did not understand what you (we) know. Now, unfortunately, we can no longer buy those fine 170 grain 7mm round noses, nor the 160 grain 6.5s or 100 grain 6mms, both semi-pointed (basically round noses). I have slayed a pile of meat with Sierra Pro-Hunters which did not have pointy noses. There really is nothing wrong with inexpensive bullets that work well. (Perhaps the economy will help some people realize that that is not an evil dogma.)

I've had excellent accuracy with Remington 180gr RNCL in 30-06 and 300 Savage. I've never used them on game (yet). I rarely shoot deer past 100 yards and truth be told, I might end up with a buttload of 180gr RNCLs some day and run them in my 30-06s and my 300 Savage for the rest of my days.

Remington 180-gr .303 Brit ammo and bullets shoot like match ammo for me.

Ditto the 180-gr .308 bullets from my .30-06s.

Hornady 150-gr .308 bullets out of a .300 Savage or .308 Win mildly loaded are super. Too bad they are so hard to find.

117-gr RN from a .257 Roberts is good stuff.

I have used them over the years in Corelokts in my 25-35, 30-30, 308 (Sav. 99) and in my 30-06 in the early years..They shot well and performed to perfection, did then and still do...

I have use them in my big bores such as the 375, 416, 404, 450-400, 470, 505 and others and again they performed to perfection, these were mostly Woodleighs.

Bottom line is the are accurate as a rule, they expand properly if you dont' drive them beyond their design.

Are they better than spitzers or any of the new "pointy bullets", probably not in most cases and they have a different job anyway so why comepare them...An Example of this would be the 350 gr. Woodleigh RN and PP..The RN is great for shooting buffalo in herds as it won't pass through and hit another animal as a rule, the PP on the other hand is a better bullet for penetration and will give you an exit wound and a good blood trail and I use it to hunt dagga boys that hang out in pairs or 3 or more, together away from the herds.

I like the RN in the timber but not for long shots..I like them in short magazine rifles such as the 99 and in tubular magazines..

There is room enough for both designs...

For 160 gr 6.5 RN, try Hornady. Still in the catalogue.

They offer a heavier weight for a given length of bullet.

[quote=taz4570]They look old fashioned cool???!!!

+1

....well, back here EVERYONE "knows" big ole bluenose PP's and Corelocks in 30/06 and 35 Remington hit these big Maine bucks "harder",smack'em down,...right?

How many bullets (roundnose of course) is THAT?
I have just purchased a couple hundred 250 gr. RN Horndaddys for the 35 whelen. I have never used RN bullets before and I am anxious to try them. All the posts seem like good info. along the lines of what I was thinking when I bought them.
As I get older and hopefully wiser the High speed flat shooters have given way to the big bore-big bullet way of thinking. In reality just an excuse to buy more rifles/bullets/dies/brass etc.