Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Boat Tail vs Flat base bullets

I am interested in just how much difference BT's make in velocity at different ranges. Assume same rifle, muzzle velocity same bullet weight, only difference is one bullet is a BT & one is a flat base. Just how much difference will the velocity be say at 200yd, 300 yd 400 yd & 500 yds. Thanks Daniel

There is not an absolute answer to your question......too many variables.
There are many boat tail designs that vary greatly from a ballistic tip to a VLD, difference in bearing surface length etc.........
More than likely a BT will have a better BC than a flat base.

Find one of the online ballistic calculators and start punching in numbers.

At 100, 200 and 300 there is little to no difference given your parameters which is one reason why most short range BR shooters use flat base. After 300 the BT is going to start out performing the flat base. As said if you crunch some numbers on a ballistic calculator that’s what you will find.

This.

But then you also have to allow for the simpler design, the flat base, typically grouping better to begin with. Every decision has it's trade offs.

I had a Sako 270 that would not shoot boat tail bullets well at all. It would shoot flat base real well, 150’s better than 130’s

That is not a fully accurate statement. Maybe you're thinking about trajectory, but he asked about the difference in velocity; even at 100 yards there can be a measurable difference in velocity between a high b.c. boat tail bullet and a low b.c. flat base. The difference might be 100 fps, or it might be 0 fps.

But as said in post #2 above, there are too many variables to make an absolute statement that one style makes x amount of difference. The difference may be significant, or it may not, and it varies a lot depending on the examples you're looking at. This is where a ballistic calculator is useful to answer whatever questions you might have.

I wasn’t reading into the question what wasn’t really asked VLD compared to flat base. If one takes the question literally, then the most common meaning would point to say Sierra having a flat base(pro hunter) to a game king (boat tail) in which case both bullets are exact as possible, pushed to the same velocity out of the same rifle. The only difference allowed was flat to boat tail. Now if you throw in VLD it will be diffrent, but that wasn’t in the question.

13 fps at 200 yards,

Generally you will see more variance then that from shot to shot.

antelope sniper, Thanks for the information! That is exactly what I was looking for. Now I wonder if a WT can tell the difference in a flat base & a BT? LOL Daniel

Of course not, but you could have figured that out for yourself instead of asking a stupid question to prove a point about hunting bullets.

Very true, but now you have brought in a variable, SD. You have brought out a flaw in ballistic calculators. Most people will just take the average velocity of a 3 shot string plug it in and that’s it. The calculator gives you a prediction based on what you put in to it and how much you play with it.

What others said about using on-line ballistic tools. I bought an app that does well on my I-phone.

Most of my accuracy testing shows that the flat base bullets shoot smaller groups. I don't often shoot more than 100 yards, except Prairie Dogs.

In the last twenty - thirty years, I doubt that I've shot a single deer at much more than 100 yards. The last antelope I shot was at long range (for me) ~~ 450 yards. I'm finding that my old 7mm RM really likes 168 ABLR's. I've only tried it on one deer so far though. I shot a white tail buck at 20 yards with it this year. I didn't know at what distance I'd be finding deer. I have that 7mm sighted in at 250 yards. If the antelope season and the elk season were not at the same time, I'd be trying that 7mm combination on antelope.

Flat base have a tendency to be more accurate and easier to tune for at short ranges is well documented, not only that but they are a little easier on the throat in a high pressure cartridge.

Of course not, but you could have figured that out for yourself instead of asking a stupid question to prove a point about hunting bullets. [/quote

Yondering, You are the South end of a North bound mule!!!!

LOL, it is typical on the fire for folks to forget the short range only basics after all everyone has to have fast twist, shooting VLD’s at big game to 800 yards +. Statistically it has never been proven that a VLD will out perform a flat base or standard BT inside 300 yards. While both the VLD and BT will in fact have a somewhat advantage in down range performance from the get go, it really amounts to nothing. A high BC bullet compared to a low BC at 300 amounting to 1/4-1/2” difference in impact performance doesn’t mean sh*t on a 12-18” kill zone.
Basically they made the whole question over complicated and got a little butt hurt called it a stupid question, I was brought up as the only stupid question is one that wasn’t asked.

This Thread is exactly about fantasy Perfection on computer versus reality are confident shooter

This is presuming the VLD's and BT's group as consistently as the flat base bullets, which, they seldom do.

That's fair, and I owe you an apology; I overreacted. My only excuse is frustration from different comments in a different thread, and you got the brunt of it which was not justified.

If I can explain my thinking though - it seems pretty common here for certain 'fire members to have some angst against modern bullet improvements, and we get threads where someone is trying to "prove" the old stuff is just as good. The normal and correct reaction to that is - sometimes the old stuff really is just as good or even better, and sometimes it's not. Use what works for you and don't worry about whether the rest of us use boat tail bullets or plastic tips or whatever.
I interpreted your comments in that light, and perhaps I was mistaken.

I do caution though to not form a general conclusion to your question based on the one example provided above. You can easily find other examples where the difference is much greater, and some where there is no difference at all.

What documentation do you have for your statement about flat base being easier on the throat???
I have never found this to be the case