Not sure where to post this but I will try here. In the July issue of Rifle magazine, in an artical by Ross Seyfried (page 12) he is talking about weight retention and bullets flying apart. I quote "This trouble is aided and abetted by boat-tail designs (which are worse than useless to a hunter, and we will attack them another day)." What's up with boat tails?

Leo,
Sounds like Ross is on his soapbox again. And though he is an experienced hunter/reloader, to paint all boattail bullets as being unsuitable for hunting is not appropriate IMO.

Like any bullet design, some are made well, some are not. Today, you have mono-metal boattails, standard core and jacket, and bonded core design. How can they all be catagorized as performing similar?

Sometimes Ross gets on a rant and doesn't know when to stop.

BigBullet

Sounds like Ross better be careful what he spreads on his toast, he doesn't know shit from apple butter.

I have been killing deer all my life with boattails and never shot one twice. He needs to try Barnes all copper bullets and forget about things flying apart.

The taper inside a boattail makes it more likely to seperate from the core if there is any forward movement of the core at all. Of course this wont apply to solid copper bullets. And I think what he really meant by saying they were useless to hunters is that the small gain in trajectory is negligible in the field. There is no pratcial advantage unless youre shooting extreme long distances. Look at drop tables for the same weight bullets in a flat base and a boattail and you wont see a lot of difference inside 500 yds

We just need some new gun writers, hopefully in the mold of Ken Waters. I tired of this new crop of writers who like everything years ago, and looking back a decade or two, one realizes just how much the gun rags have slipped. Even Handloader/Rifle magazines are a shadow of what they once were. Does everyone have to wildcat a cartridge to be bona fide? If all this new stuff is so great, how come Bullseye and Unique are still with us?

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There is no pratcial advantage unless youre shooting extreme long distances. Look at drop tables for the same weight bullets in a flat base and a boattail and you wont see a lot of difference inside 500 yds

The difference in wind drift is more significant that the difference in trajectory.

Sorry 'bout the diatribe. I use boattail bullets, and I like 'em. I like the way they load and start into the case neck, their wind bucking ability, and their terminal performance. It all started way back with Nosler's solid base, but today it's a toss up, with my favorites being Sierra's HPBT and Nosler's ballistic tip. (not necessairly in that order tho)

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Originally posted by Luckyducker:
Sounds like Ross better be careful what he spreads on his toast, he doesn't know shit from apple butter.

Crude.....but appropriate I think

It was late at night when I posted and I forgot to say July "2003" not of this year. I was wondering if he has wrote anything since then.

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Originally posted by buckshot:
We just need some new gun writers, hopefully in the mold of Ken Waters. ...

Hey Buckshot, Let me toss Bog Hagel in there with Ken Waters. If you EVER see any writers as knowledgeable or as detailed, I'd sure like to know about them.

Handloader started downhill when "howl" was riding the editor seat.

On the positive side, the NRA American Hunter is beginning to get better articles. I just haven't become familiar enough with the current crop of their writers to give them an endorsement. But the magazine is totally different and much MUCH better than it was two years ago.
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Boattail Bullets work fine when used within their design envelope - same goes for all Bullets.

I've been told the boat-tail offers no advantage till the bullet goes subsonic. True or not?

I always liked them because they're easier to seat when reloading.

Terry

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Originally posted by Hot Core:

Hey Buckshot, Let me toss Bog Hagel in there with Ken Waters. If you EVER see any writers as knowledgeable or as detailed, I'd sure like to know about them.

RIGHT ON!

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NRA American Hunter

Its good to hear they are getting one of the publications right. Their rifleman magazine has sure gone to hell in a handbasket. I PO's me to no end to see write up's on handguns, and 1/2 the adverstisments on handguns. Coupled with the technical errors, it stinks.

They are averaging a one good artical per edition at best in my opinion, it has really gone down hill. Maybe a good feature artical and the reloading column and thats a hit or miss.

A copy of a couple a months ago did a write up on Sprinfield pistols

If I was interested in that I would subscibe to the American Handgunner, not the rifle version. The current editor is suffering from a cranial anal insertion.

Ross Seyfried left Rifle magazine maybe a year ago - differences with the editor, I understand.

FWIW, Barsness used to believe that boattail bullet jackets separated easily, also, He's since changed his mind.

If they add any benefit is another issue, however. Maybe accuracy - the ballistic tip bullets seem to use them.

I agree the magazine isn't what it was, but that's not an accident. The publisher decided to go for more circulation by making the articles more "general" (read: "dumbing down"). It's worked; their circulation is way up, so the advertisers are happy. It's just us poor loonies who are left out...

Jaywalker