I have had a 7mm-08 for a while now and used 140 grain bullets all along, mostly FailSafes. I just recently became aware of the 150 grain Sciroccos and am interested for the additional weight and sectional density. I am guessing around 2700-2750 fps? Anybody have experience with them and also is there anything out of the ordinary I should know about boattail bullets?

They are a lot more fragile than the FailSafes. Also they have long skinny noses for the aerodynamic advantage so they might be a tight fit in a short action magzine.
lawndart

Lawndart is right - they are pretty long bullets for their caliber/weight. In a short action setup, you may have to seat them pretty deeply. Other than that, I'm sure they would work well.
- mike

Cobra,

I shot Sciroccos for quite a while in my 270 and was not disappointed with their terminal effectiveness. Lawndart is correct, of course, in obeserving that the Failsafe is much tougher--moreso than any other expanding bullet!

I've never had a Scirocco "come apart" in an animal. I did have one bullet throw a minor fragment in a big whitetail I shot quartering towards me at 70 yards. The bullet went through the on-side shoulder and entire chest cavity before exiting towards the back of the ribs. Even the fragment exited! Muzzle velocity was 2950.

I also did a water test at about 200 yards. At that range, the bullet penetrated about 16 inches through 3 gal. herbicide jugs. The bullet was picture perfect in expansino (about 2x) and weighed 127 of 130 grains.

Why did I stop using them? Cost. Also, wasn't real impressed with the accuracy, but will reserve judgement there--I think my technique has improved since then.

For what it's worth,

friar

p.s. seemed to get a lot of copper fouling.

My experiences with the sciroccos are on one antelope and one 2 year old mule deer buck. The antelope was quartering away, hit behind the last rib, traversed the body and exited the front left shoulder...complete penetration...The mule deer buck was one that my dad had hit poorly, and I finished it off at about 100-150yds. bullet hit base of the neck as he looked at me, traveled about 8 to 10 inches and stopped-completely pancaked, roughly 20%-30% weight retention. Now, granted, it hit nothing but solid muscle and neck bone, but I know that a Barnes or Partition would have made an exit. Gun is a 300 RUM, with factory sciroccos. Given factory ballistics, impact velocity was about 2900-3000 fps, so pretty brutal. I will not be using them again, and I have not been sold on bonded ballistic tip bullets-I will stick to partitions or Barnes from now on...I can't help it, I like an exit wound.

I should have mentioned mine was a Savage Sierra. It's a little bigger than most short actions so I think I'd be OK there. The copper fouling issue is one I hadn't thought of. Terminal performance is one area I'm especially interested in. I've never played with plastic tips or boattails before so I thought I would pick all your brains. Some good comments here, I would like to hear more.

Cobra,

My 7mm-08 loves the Barnes TSX. 140's/120's shoots em both great. I worked up loads with Hornady SST (139), Partitions (140), Accubonds (140) and the TSX. The TSX development loads were easier to find an accurate load with at near max velosity than any of the others. Fowling has not been an issue and the consistancy of these bullets has been outstanding.

Ditto, floridbigfish

Tried 30 cal Scirroccos in 3 different guns (50 to a box, had to use them somewhere). Accuracy was not good. They should be good since they are manufactured using that Juehnke machine. The Accubonds are more accurate if you like the plastic tip look. But TSX's are awesome in the accuracy department.

I think perhaps that the ogive used in the Sirrocco design is too similar to a VLD design. That type of bullet is very picky about length of jump to the rifling. It prefers a very small jump. To get that small jump would likely require an overall length that won't fit into the magazine box of most rifles. High Power competitors usually single load cartridges with VLD bullets. Not the best plan for the hunting format .
Just a thought.
lawndart

These day, there are so many great bullets - even bonded ones. You should get the same or better terminal performance from something like a Hornady Interbond or a North Fork. Those bullets in the right weights would alleviate the problem with the long bullet and seating. Either is known for great accuracy.
- mike

I'd choose the Hornady Interbond or Nosler Accubond over the Scirocco.

Id choose Hornady Interbonds any day over the sciroccos mainly becuse of price but they are pretty tough too and accuracy has been pretty good from my 300wm!

Regards

The Sciroccos have been very touchy as far as accuracy goes with many rifles I have seen them shot in. THey are long for their weight, and they have long parrallel sides, giving a lot of bearing area. Buy a box and try them out, they may work for you. But they are kinda on th esoft side, even though they are bonded.

quote:

Originally posted by Marc_Stokeld:
The Sciroccos have been very touchy as far as accuracy goes with many rifles I have seen them shot in. THey are long for their weight, and they have long parrallel sides, giving a lot of bearing area. Buy a box and try them out, they may work for you. But they are kinda on th esoft side, even though they are bonded.

Thanks to everyone that took the time to answer. I don't see anything definitive so I guess the only thing to do is as Marc suggests and buy a box and try them. A few of you did mention about accuracy so I will be keeping an eye on that. Happy Easter to everyone.