Bullets: Round or Flat?

mklwhite · Post by **mklwhite** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 7:35 pm

I've been doing a bit of reading and in the past few days have read a bit about round nose bullets vs. flat nose (kind of wad cutter) style bullets. (Buffalo Bore 380+p mentioned it and an article in this months F-F-G about 22s.) Anyhow, I was wondering if there is a prevailing opinion here as to weather a flat nose bullet actually does more damage than a round nose while providing nearly the same penetration.

Post by **Chuck 100 yd** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:08 pm

YES !

Terry Murbach · Post by **Terry Murbach** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 8:58 pm

THIS HAS BEEN KNOWN FOR CENTURIES. THERE IS NO REAL COMPARISON. THE FN BULLET NOT ONLY PENETRATED DEEPER IT DOES IT IN A VERY STRAIGHT LINE, SOMETHING RN BULLETS CANNOT DO ANYWHERE NEAR AS WELL.

mklwhite · Post by **mklwhite** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:03 pm

Is there any real reason to use round nose bullets then? I guess some autos would/could have feeding problems, but for anything else?

Scott64A · Post by **Scott64A** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:07 pm

...which is exactly why I bought the jacketed 160gr SWC made by Speer.

I had heard that hard cast 158gr or 170gr SWC would penetrate well in hogs, so I got these because I thought the jacket would control expansion better. (Come to think of it, a good hard cast lead bullet would be fine, but these were right there for cheap,)

They are called "soft nose" but as oyu can see they are square in the front.

I use nothing but 170grFN for deer out of my .30-30, too. I shot a doe at 70yds head on and found that bullet in a ham. I have no comparison for you from a round nose bullet as I've never used one.

Heck, I haven't even shot a round ball from my BP gun!
All XTPs.
Shoots fantastic groups, so why mess around?

Bigahh · Post by **Bigahh** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:18 pm

mklwhite wrote:Is there any real reason to use round nose bullets then? I guess some autos would/could have feeding problems, but for anything else?

Many hunters like them in autos, pumps, and bolts for close range hunting. Don't know if its true or not, but for years the assumption was, and still is that round nose penetrate better than Spitzers, and are better in heavy cover. I have always used them in the past in my bolt guns. More exposed lead is my belief has better shocking ability on an animal. I just started hunting with a lever this past season, and due to the over population of deer in my area took 3 does with my 30-30, I instantly fell in love with the Hornady 170 Flat Point bullet at 2000 fps. I know why it's been around for over 100 years! It works!

canonsix · Post by **canonsix** » Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:42 pm

FLAT NOSE BULLETS RULE, Doug

WyrTwister · Post by **WyrTwister** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 5:52 am

mklwhite wrote:Is there any real reason to use round nose bullets then? I guess some autos would/could have feeding problems, but for anything else?

I bought a RNL mold for my .44 Mag Marlin . . The SWC's I had been shooting in my wheel gun did not feed well .

Considering the same thing for my .357 Mag Winny . For the same reason .

My .45 mold is RNL so it works OK for my .45 LC Puma .

All my .45-70 molds are RNL , also .

God bless
Wyr

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:13 am

ScottT uses round nose bullets out of Big Nose Kate and has no problem with penetration or killing critters. Shot placement is paramount to effectiveness no matter which top of bullet used. At distance, the round nose should perform better on paper with more retained energy however since we are all levergunners, distance isn't what we are looking for. I would think we are more concerned with feeding properly and in that case, round nose should win again. Paco's device makes a flat nose out of a round bullet with the result of a 22 being more effective on the game. That gives a practical nod to the flat nose. Ballistic gel tests show what is stated above about penetration and wound channels, however the increase of effectiveness was not quantatatively, but qualatatively, stated. Does not do any good to load a repeater up with bullets that don't efficiently chamber EVERY time. If your levergun feeds and shoots FN, then by all means use them. Elmer Keith liked large meplats on his bullet styles and Randy Garrets touts them too. Some rifles just don't seem to function well with them.

KirkD · Post by **KirkD** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 8:37 am

Terry Murbach wrote:THIS HAS BEEN KNOWN FOR CENTURIES. THERE IS NO REAL COMPARISON. THE FN BULLET NOT ONLY PENETRATED DEEPER IT DOES IT IN A VERY STRAIGHT LINE, SOMETHING RN BULLETS CANNOT DO ANYWHERE NEAR AS WELL.

Terry is bang-on as usual. You can take that to the bank. I use nothing but FN bullets .... even in my Springfield Armory 'Loaded' 1911 45 ACP. As far as feeding properly, I find that that's a matter of the olgive, not how rounded the actual point is.

TedH · Post by **TedH** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 9:03 am

The wider the better.

Kansas Ed · Post by **Kansas Ed** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 9:10 pm

I have found that some of my '95 Winchesters tend to feed RN bullets better. I think it has to do with feeding from a clip, which generally has less of an angular ramp into the chamber than a typical tube fed levergun with a sharply angled carrier.

Ed

blueroan · Post by **blueroan** » Mon Feb 11, 2008 11:04 pm

My little 1894 Marlins (three 44s and one 357) feed almost any bullet noses. The only thing I haven't had much success with is a LBT 432 300 WFN in the 44s. Probably why I got it cheap at the Quigley rifle shoot in Montana awhile back. The RANCH DOG 432 265 feeds well in the 44s, as do various LYMAN SWC and RN-FP "Cowboy Bullets" in both calibers.

The MEPLAT--the flat on the nose--does the damage, not the shoulders of a semi-wadcutter. While they wouldn't feed very well, I'd like to see what a hot loaded 44 caliber full wadcutter would do on something hostile! Those full wadcutters sure look good on my targets; someone said he could get them to feed in a 357 Marlin. Some experimenting may be required.