Anyone still use flat base bullets??

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  This afternoon, I put some loads together for my rebarreled .300 H & H. I hoped to use a boat tail bullet either Horn. or Nosler. When I loaded a batch to try over IMR 4350 the Serria flat base and WW Silvertip in 150 grain shot super. The boats, only fair.  Looking back, I have notice the old Serria 150 grain fb in .30 cal. is one of the most accurate bullets I have shot in almost 50 years of load ammo. Anyone else have bullets that they have found acc. in the old flat base style???   

[Dee]

Most of the flat based bullets I have loaded were all accurate, and I have loaded thousands.

[Cheesehead]

In most cases they are the most accurate in my reloading experiance, for example, corelokts and partitions.

Cheese

[Graybeard]

It's easier for companies to make accurate flat base bullets than accurate boattail bullets but if done right both are very accurate. I like loading BTs as the slip into the case easier but really I don't let which type they are make decisions on what I shoot. It's just not a criteria in my bullet selection.

[beerbelly]

I load for an old  .303 Enfield. Load it with Boat Tails and they come out of the muzzle tumbling. Load it wit flat base bullets and it shoots as good as any thing I have.
                          Beerbelly

[Lone Star]

The reason for the tumbling is that BT bullets are longer than the normal RN bullets used in the .303 and are not fully stabilized at your velocity.  With the right twist rate/velocity combo BTs are the most accurate long range bullets - witness the wins in 600 and 1000 yard competition, all done with BTs.

Flat-based bullets usually have a longer full-diameter shank than BTs, and will often shoot better in rifles with a long freebore like the Weatherby magnums.  Cup-and-core BTs are more prone to shed their jackets than similarly-built flat-based hunting bullets, or they will at least exhibit some core creep.  Cut open your next recovered BT bullet and see if the core still extends all the way to the jacket bottom.  Many won't.




.

[Drilling Man]

  The most accurate bullet i've found out of my Douglas feather weight bbled 280 Rem., is the 145 Speer flat base.  It's a bit soft on game, but i don't use it for anything big anyway...

  DM

[yooper77]

This one is easy.  I use mostly flat base bullets.  They are usually cheaper than boat tails and are just as accurate or more accurate.

yooper77

[cwlongshot]

I do have a couple boat tailed favorites, but by and large most of my bullets are flat based...

As for accuracy, I would be talking about them if they didn't shoot well...  Heck, who brags about lousy accuracy rite???

CW

[mauser98us]

In my mauser sporters with military barrels,due to the long throat,flat base bullets with their longer shank flat shoot better.

[SteveHawaii]

The flat based bullets also work best in my Rossi .243 because of the long freebore (over 1/4 inch).  Only the heavy flat based bullets are long enough to reach the lands.  Also, I only shoot between 100-300 yards.

[Drilling Man]

  NP's are flat base, and they shoot quite good for me, and this is a light weight "hunting gun" with a 4x scope, not a bench gun,





  DM

[billy_56081]

From what I remember hearing. Flat based bullets are less affected by and uneven crown. As a boat tail exits the muzzle the gas will push on one side of the boat tailed portion of the bullet more than the other if the crown is not perfectly even. I am not sure where I heard this but I remember it in a discussion on bench rest competition shooting.

[jlchucker]

I use flatbase bullets in everything I load.  Of course most of my loading is for leverguns, but I do go Modern once in a while, and load 30-06, 308, 7mm-08, 243, and even on rare occasions, I've been known to load up some 223.  My brother, the outcast of the family, has a whizzybang shortymag Browning in 270wsm.  Between the two of us about 95 percent of our loading is with flatbase bullets.  Even for the shortymag.  The accuracy is there, the performance is good, and the price is right.  I don't think anyone ever made a bullet mold for casting a boat-tail projectile for 45-70?  If so, how in hell would you ever fit a gascheck on it?  And would the aggravation be worth it?   

[LaOtto222]

I think if you check most if not all benchrest bullets are flat based. I use both, but the flat based bullets seem to shoot better over all. I still use Hornady baot tailed bullets in my 224 caliber guns, but that does not mean they are the most accurate, they have a higher BC with acceptable accuracy. I have a few guns that just seem to shoot flat based bullets better, so that is what I use in them. Good Luck and Good Shooting.

[stimpylu32]

I use flatbase bullets in everything I load.  Of course most of my loading is for leverguns, but I do go Modern once in a while, and load 30-06, 308, 7mm-08, 243, and even on rare occasions, I've been known to load up some 223.  My brother, the outcast of the family, has a whizzybang shortymag Browning in 270wsm.  Between the two of us about 95 percent of our loading is with flatbase bullets.  Even for the shortymag.  The accuracy is there, the performance is good, and the price is right.  I don't think anyone ever made a bullet mold for casting a boat-tail projectile for 45-70?  If so, how in hell would you ever fit a gascheck on it?  And would the aggravation be worth it?   

Western Bullet Co. makes a 425g cast BT bullet .

http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,184669.0.html

stimpy

[Retsof]

I currently only load for 1 rifle (Ruger 350 Rem Mag) and flat base bullets are all I've ever shot out of it. I have no complaints with the accuracy. I have nothing against BT's. I just have not seen the need to use them for the short distances I typically shoot deer. One day I may try the Sierra 225 gr BT to see just how accurate it is but I'm not sure I'll replace the current bullet I'm using (ie, 220 gr Speer). "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" has pretty much been my motto.

[charles p]

I can't tell any difference.  I can't back this assumption with fact, but I feel the flat base bullets may hold together better when the range is short and the velocity is high.  In my deer hunting experience, I've had as many "too short" shots as "too long".  No need to plan your ammo around the longest shot, when you might as often get the short one too.

[Drilling Man]

I can't back this assumption with fact, but I feel the flat base bullets may hold together better when the range is short and the velocity is high. 

  I think your right about that...

  DM

[Dave in WV]

I use flat based bullets in my .243, 7mm-08, and 30-06. My .243 doesn't seem to like boat tails.

[billy_56081]

Dave have the crown redone and I bet it will like boat tails better.

[BBF]

I currently only load for 1 rifle (Ruger 350 Rem Mag) and flat base bullets are all I've ever shot out of it.

Besides the 220 gr Speer which was accurate from my 350 Mag and 35 Whelen, the Hdy 250 gr. RN was outstanding.

[huntswithdogs]

Flat base is about all I use in any of mine.


HWD

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  The results of this thread were quite a surprise to me..... Probably 90 percent of my reloaded ammo for rifles is BT bullets. I have several thousand flat base .22 cal., but in the years since I bought them, the BT have become my main stay. This is also true for most of my shooting pals. The only time we bought flat base was when we got .22 cal bulk ammo for a really cheap price....

[Cheesehead]

I took my 308 to the 200 yard range last week. The bullet of choice is a 150 grain Reminton Bronze Point. Two rounds in the 10 ring and one in the nine ring. I bought a 1000 pack of these some time ago, and I think I might buy another. I love flat base bullets.

Cheese

[Dave in WV]

Dave have the crown redone and I bet it will like boat tails better.

Thanks for the tip.

[Brithunter]

Hmmmm well personaly I prefer flat based bullets, seating is not an issue for me  , and the Boat tail has no effect really until past 300 yards which is why it's used in long range shooting. Most bench rest is done at 100 yards.

Now 303 bullets like the MkV11 (Mk7) are already very long as they have an alloy or fibre filler in the tip hence Boat tails in 303 go over length. I suppose that in a P-14 with teh velocity pushed up toa round 2700-2800fps they might shoot better but at the std velocity they're marginal on stability I feel.

Now I am using some Boat tails for handloads at the moment as they were all I could get at the time. In my 7x57 BSA they are not quite as accurate as the same weight flat based bullet and required a different seating depth and need loading deeper (BT) in the case. Only tried the Nosler Partitions in one rifle and it didn't like them at all, accuracy was poor.