I have a .284 that was built on a L579 action. 21" stainless Hart #3 barrel, Conetrol rings, Bansner High Tech stock. A very nice & well balanced rifle. Hindsight is 20/20 but if I had it to do over again I would have chambered it in 7mm-08. The 2.8 mag length limits bullet selection with the .284. I need a recommendation for a bullet in the 120-140 gr. range. A member hear recommedned the 130 gr Speer, but these bullets absolutely explode on small whitetails, i.e no exit on 70 lb broadside lungshot deer. I shot another small doe in the skinny part of the neck(5" diameter) and almost removed her head from hr body.

I've been told the Nosler bullets are too long and will have to be seated too deep. Can anyone recommend a short, tough bullet for the .284 Win?????

140 Nosler partition. Who cares how deep it is seated?

Thanks for the reply. The Nosler manual says the bullet will have to be seated past the ogive to stay at 2.8#. Powder space will also have to be given up to use this bullet. Do you have a different experience?

I meant 2.8", not 2.8#

Try the 139 gr Interbond. Hornady bullets tend to be long on the bearing surface and therefore may seat deep and still hold if that's your concern.



As far as "taking up powder space" goes all bullets take up powder space!

On the other hand I like the 130 gr Hot Core and the 140 Pro Hunter even going faster than a 284 can start them.

Are the Interbonds tougher than Ballistic tips?

Yes. The BT is known as a soft bullet.

http://www.jegeren.net/tester_kuler.htm is a comparative test that includes the Interbond.

I shoot GS's in mine 145 gr if I recall, RL15 or varget will fix the not enough room for powder/bullet seated to deep problem. Speer hot core will do fine for whitetails also. Nos part in 140 gr is always a good choice.

StikR,
OK, I see your concern. Let me do some measuring and some math. 2.800" COL lets you have 0.63" of bullet sticking out of the case, right? The ogive on the NP is approximately 0.65" long, give or take a few thou. So it should work, with only a trivial portion of the ogive inside the neck. If the gun has a long throat, the bullet may have to jump a ways before it contacts the rifling, but that is not necessarily the end of the world.

Speers usually have shorter ogives, but like you, I have not been impressed with the Speer 130, and I assume you don't want a 145.

I have a similar situation with a 7-30 Waters TC carbine. The Speer 130 didn't penetrate reliably, the 120 gr. Barnes X wouldn't group, and anything heavier is too slow and won't expand reliably. If only Nosler would make a 125 gr. partition.

I can't think of anything that will come closer to your needs than the 140 NP.

In my 7mm-08 I have to set the bullets way out for good grouping, the SST doesn't clear the mag by a long shot, the speer hot core flat base works easy and is fairly strong, the 120 grain Ballistic tip works better than the SST for me but they are so close in the mag. that I am going to file some off of the inside of the mag to make space.

The 120gr Nosler flat point is quite tough I think. I sectioned one and it has a hell of a jacket. I know the BC is appalling but it will certainly fit and should work well.

Stiker, I've been using the .284 Win since the early 70's and its a wonderful cartridge...I have tried most of the available bullets out there and years ago I setteled on the 120 gr. Nosler BT.I had originally thought it would be similiar to a varmint bullet but after talking with several other hunters that had a lot of experience with it, and after talking with the Ballistic guys at Nosler, I learned that Nosler cuts the 140 gr. jacket off the make the 120 gr. bullet...It is very tough and I usually get complete penetration with a muzzle velocity of around 3100 fps....I have opened the magazine well up so that in a Rem. 700 I now have about 3" in the Magazine instead of the normal 2.840. you can do the same thing in your Sako, its simple and easy.....Good luck...Let me know if I can help any further.....George

George,

How does Nosler make the 120 gr??? I didn't understand what you meant by "Nosler cuts the jacket off the 140 to make the 120". I have heard that the 120 BT is a tough bullet.

Is it really "easy" to open a magazine up to 3.00 in a Rem 700 or L579? I was advised against going that route.

I have a Model 88 Winchester in 284. It is very accurate and functions very well with the standard 139 grain Hornady. The bullet holds together just fine.

Why not take a look at the Barnes-X series? Over the years, I think they have made 7m/m in 100, 120, 130, and 140 gr. weights. One of those should be about as tough as they get and, as they are longer for the weight, the ballistic coefficients are still pretty decent even down at 120 gains.

I'd measure a 120 Triple-Shock and if it was within the length parameters I wanted, that's what I'd try first.

Alberta Canuck

Swift a-frame--short, stubby, accurate, tough enough to do a deer from any angle and probably get you near the lands and still fit the magazine. Then take the gun elk hunting or any non dangerous game.

StikR, I sent you a private message about the .284 Win magazine and the 120 gr. bullet...

Hornady 154 grain round nose

Speer 140 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw

The round nose will definitely fit and many shooters get excellent accuracy and performance on game - not much on trajectory though.

The TBBC is a very tough and has excellent accuracy - expensive though.


Without guns we are subjects, with guns we are citizens

I thought of building a SA .284 but the deep seating bullets bugs me. The Speer 145grGS is a good bullet, short for it's weight. You can even get a 160grGS to fit. the bullet is barely 1"oal.

I would look no farther than the 120 gr. TSX. JMO, Dutch.

139gr. Hornady BTSP's in my custom Rem. 788 have never let me down, I have only recovered a couple of bullets from the 100+ head of game I have taken with this rifle, one being from a head on shot on a moose at 150yards, the bullet traveled through the skull down the thickest part of the spine, approximate penatration was 28". I have taken a few critters with 140gr. Nosler Partitions, these bulllets perform much as advertised, but I am hard pressed to justify the increased cost over the Hornady's.

The Barnes 120gr X-BT is 1.109" long
Length from the base of the bullet to the
beginning of the ogive is 0.510"

for a minimum COL of ~2.680


I can't imagine one "blowing up" on impact

As for them not grouping well use either Barnes CR10 bore cleaner or BoreTech copper remover as per instructions.
even the slightest trace of guilding metal fouling in the barrel seems to cause major problems with Barnes X bullets

As for them grouping tightly how do they group in MOD? (Minute of Deer)

As for it "Taking up powder space" you worry too much.

The Barnes (#3) manual shows that bullet in the 284Win at:
3186fps with 50.0 of H4895 (MAX)
3164fps with 55.5 of IMR4350 (MAX)
3150fps with 55.0 of W760 (MAX)
3144fps with 57.0 of IMR4831 (MAX)
3124fps with 56.0 of H414 (MAX)
3087fps with 52.2 of H380 (MAX)

Theoretically you should be able to load Barnes 140gr XLC-BT's within your maximum length limitand those can be driven to 3050fps with a 60.5gr charge of RL-22 (MAX)

Any of these should result in a dead deer with an exit wound.

AllanD