220gr rn ballistic tip in 300 win mag for varmints?

[carolina sorillo]

Ok, so info on this bullet is very hard to find. I didn't realize until after I ordered them that they were designed for expansion at subsonic Blackout velocities. I loaded some anyway but not full house win mag. I backed them down to '06 velocity and got a 3/4", 3 shot, 100 yard group.

I emailed Nosler today and asked what kind of performance I could expect from this bullet if I ran it at full house win mag velocity, around 2700fps. The response was "very low weight retention and possible fragmentation."

The reason I asked about full house velocity is because I was thinking that since it has a fairly high BC it may shoot somewhat flat. If it does, and it doesn't retain weight and/or fragments it may work great at high velocity for varmints. Isn't that what "varmint" bullets are designed to do?


C.S.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

C.S. I believe that these 220 grain BTs being designed for the impact velocities of the .300 Blackout may in fact fragment in flight if pushed to full house .300 Win Mag velocities.

Being as they are so new, it’s likely data hasn’t been collected on the matter however and you are in a unique position to collect some through trial and error. If they do hold up in flight, I can guarantee they will nearly vaporize on the pelt of a coyote etc. Still, unless you’re determined to use a .300 for varmints, I would likely use them for something else were it me. Punching paper, barrel break ins etc. as I’m almost positive you’ll find their terminal performance to be consistently explosive whether just out of the muzzle or on impact.

Just my $0.02.

Good luck.



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[carolina sorillo]

I'm gonna shoot'em now just to see if they vaporize in flight!! :lol: I ain't ever seen that before!

I only have 5 left after I shoot the ones that I've loaded. If these don't work out I doubt I'll buy any more, they're a little pricey for hole punchers or mid-flight vaporizers. Not to mention, I have the Sierra 220rn that I can use for heavy duty work and it shoots good in my rifle. So, if these don't work out I may try hot rodding the 168ELD Match or 165TGK for anything I'll shoot here in NC.

C.S.

 

[PJGunner]

I'm gonna shoot'em now just to see if they vaporize in flight!! :lol: I ain't ever seen that before!

I only have 5 left after I shoot the ones that I've loaded. If these don't work out I doubt I'll buy any more, they're a little pricey for hole punchers or mid-flight vaporizers. Not to mention, I have the Sierra 220rn that I can use for heavy duty work and it shoots good in my rifle. So, if these don't work out I may try hot rodding the 168ELD Match or 165TGK for anything I'll shoot here in NC.

C.S.

I have to ask. I have a few boxes of the 220 gr. Sierras. My question is have you used them on big game and how well did they hold up at .300 Win. Mag. velocity? Just might want to try them on an elk hunt.
Paul B.

 

[Divernhunter]

For elk use Partition or Swift A-Frames for best results no matter the shot angle.
I will be using A-Frames on my hunt and have used them on 2 trips to Africa for big to small animals. They are excellent

 

[carolina sorillo]

I have to ask. I have a few boxes of the 220 gr. Sierras. My question is have you used them on big game and how well did they hold up at .300 Win. Mag. velocity? Just might want to try them on an elk hunt.
Paul B.

Paul,

I have only used them on paper so far and only ran them at '06 velocity. They made a nice little 5/8" group from 100yards.

I have only had the rifle for about a month or 2. Just long enough to fire a few factory test rounds to see how bad the recoil was(never had win mag b4), down load some ammo to reduce the recoil and then install a Witt Machine clap-on brake to really tame it down. The brake worked so well I fired the 30 test rounds at '06 velocity and didn't feel it the next day. Where the 6 factory rounds I fired without a brake I felt for a week. I think with the brake I can enjoy shooting full house stuff now too.

I can hardly wait to shoot something with it. Unfortunately, the largest game around here(NC) is Black Bear, Whitetails and Boar. None of which would give you an idea of they'd do if they collided with an Elk. There are some good reviews at MidwayUSA.

There is a small herd of Elk in the Smokey Mountains but the Elk Foundation and NCWRC would seriously frown on the taking of THEIR elk. They turned out 30 about 20yrs ago in an effort to re-introduce them to the area. I seriously doubt there will be an open season on them in NC in my lifetime.

C.S.

 

[PJGunner]

Well, I thought I'd ask. My loads for the .300 Win. Mag. use a powder no longer available, Winchester magnum Rifle Power or commonly called WMR. It was supposedly developed for the .270 Win. and .300 Win. Mag. and I must say it worked very well in bother cartridges for me. I'm also finding it's pretty good in a .280 Rem. as well.
Quite a few years back now I hunted an area in Arizona for elk and found my 30-06 lacking. Once the shooting starts the elk don't head for cover but out in very open "parks" where they can see you coming for a long way off and have time to move away.
I got lucky and pulled off a sneak and got to 530 yards from the herd. Early morning, no wind one tiny bush for cover. I had a good sitting position and shot the last cow elk in the hears as they slowly walked by, crying to myself because the big bull elk leading the way would have gone high in the books and me with a cow tag. Grrr. Anyway, the bullet was the 200 gr. Speer Hot Core pushing close to 2900 FPS and at the shot, the elk went down, kicked a few times and expired. Rifle was a Winchester M70 with 26" barrel. The load shoots very well in that rifle plus two of the three Ruger #1 rifles I have, an "S" and "B" models with 26" barrels. I have a third #1 S that I haven't shot yet so it's accuracy level is an unknown at this time. I don't think I'd have too much trouble reaching 2700-2750 FPS with that 220 gr. Sierra round nose.
Enjoy your .300 mag.
Paul B.

 

[JD338]

As you already know, the 220 gr BT is designed for the 300 Blackout at subsonic velocities. I don't think they will vaporize in flight but they will definitely be destructive on game and lack penetration.
If you y high BC and penetration, consider the 200 gr AB or PT.
It will turn your 300 Win Mag into a long range bone smashing hammer.

JD338

 

[carolina sorillo]

Ok, after a half day of work I ran over to the farm to test these 220 BT's. They were calling for rain and I was in a hurry so, I forgot some parts of my target stand, my home-made shooting bench was wobbly and I set the chrony too close and had a hard time getting readings!! Other than that, it was a great afternoon out with the 300. :roll:

If you've been reading all these posts you know I was already in no-man's land loading these without "good" data going off an educated guess where to stop. IMR's site has a max load of 75gr. of 7828 using the Sierra 220. The Nosler 220 rn Bal. Tip is just over 1/8" longer than the Sierra and I'm using 7828SSC so, I decided my max would be 73gr. With a stable bench I'm sure my groups would've been smaller but the majority of them were still under 1.5" with the wobbly bench.

The chrony readings I was able to get started at 2660 and maxed out at 2950!! As I said earlier I've never been one to flirt with max loads. So this was new territory for me. I checked each case for pressure signs as soon as I fired it. Most of the primers had a slight ridge around the firing pin dent. Not quite cratered but getting there. The last ones I shot were 72.5gr and the bolt was a little "sticky" and there was a shiny circle on the edge of the head of the case from the ejector. So I only fired 2 of them and didn't try any of the 73gr loads.

The 72gr group was .75" and had an average velocity of 2895. They had the same ridge around the firing pin hole as the rest but weren't "sticky" to extract. I bet they are really close to SAMMI max if not over it. The best group I got was from the 71gr load. It measured .587" center to center. My chrony didn't read any of these but it did read the load before and after so using those readings I estimate this loads velocity to be about 2830fps.


I have 5 of these left, make that 9, after I pull the 4 that I didn't shoot. I'll load them over 71gr and run one through some water jugs and let y'all know what happens. Then maybe I'll find something breathing to test them on. I was kind of disappointed that none of them "vaporized" in flight. Not that I could've seen it anyway. Recoil stiffer but still nothing like it was before the Witt Machine clamp-on brake was installed.

I shot 8, 3 shot, 100 yard groups. 2.24", 1.85", 1.82", 1.79", 1.35", .93", .75" and .59". All holes were perfect circles , no keyholes.

C.S.