Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Why Do Boattail Rifle Bullets Fail?

"...occasions where people have tried to do bad things with good bullets..."

Ain't it just the truth! (And perhaps some have been known to push the cartridge suitability-to-task envelope just a bit, too.) I do think you've just explained why loads such as the standard 175 gr 7x57 Mauser round developed such wonderful reputations as reliable killers in the hunting fields. That long heavy bullet has enough shank to peel back without coming to the end of the cup.

Thanks! Some pretty good thoughts...

Boy howdy, that sure isn't gonna sell a lot of bullets! Honesty and marketing never did mix very well though . . . . . . . . . .

Thanx for the insight.

BMT

I never trusted boattails because of my experiences as a kid shooting them into various mediums and comparing them to other bullets. This does not include any of the new bonded bullets or bullets with other "locking devices" like Partitions, Interlock rings, crimped jackets into the core, etc. Just the old "cup and core" bullets. It is simple physics - try holding onto the pointed end of a pencil with your fingertips while someone tries to pull it out of your fingers. Then try the same experiment with the eraser end of the pencil, or try it both ways with a thimble. There is simply not as effective a gripping surface. The same reason a pointed bullet flows through the air better than a round one - less resistance.



In almost every case, of those admittedly imperfect tests, the bottails exhibited case and jacket separation. This may, in fact, be very deadly performance on soft-skinned game as the internal damage could be tremendous if sufficient penetration is achieved. (Look at the various self-defense loads that employ pre-fragmented bullets like the Glaser Safety Slug.) So they may kill the game, and thus be satisfactory... if that is your sole criteria.