Cast Boat Tails?

[AlanF]

Any experience with cast boat tail bullets? Arsenal offers a .258 mold that drops a 70gr boat tail bullet. The weight is perfect for my .256 Win Mag but I have never seen or heard of shooting a cast boat tail.

[nhyrum]

The Lee 230 grain 300 blackout is a boat tail. Ain't no berger, but they shoot. But I don't think cast would work well in your case without a gas check, maybe powder coat of it was a flat bottom

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[GregLaROCHE]

I’ve cast and shot Lee’s 230 grain boat tails. It shoots well for a heavy boolit. My friend who I loaded it in 30.06 said they worked really well on wild hogs. Another friend and I tried to get it to shoot subsonic in an A1A, but never got it to work. Probably because it didn’t have a fast enough rifle twist. I remember reading that boat tails only really make a difference after 300 yards and that the best bench rest shooters use plain base and not boat tails. They sure make it easier to seat boolits though. The only sure way to know is to cast some and test them in your gun.

[stubshaft]

My only experience with BT bullets is the Lee 230. From my perspective, the biggest drawback is that you cannot put a GC on it and drive it to its full potential. That being said, I usually shoot it sub-sonic out of my 7.62X39 Contender pistol and it is VERY accurate.

[beagle]

I had very good luck with the Lyman 257420 in my .256 Contender barrel. Don't expect rifle velocities with cast but at 100 yards it will give a pop can fits and is pleasant to shoot./beagle

[nhyrum]

My only experience with BT bullets is the Lee 230. From my perspective, the biggest drawback is that you cannot put a GC on it and drive it to its full potential. That being said, I usually shoot it sub-sonic out of my 7.62X39 Contender pistol and it is VERY accurate.

People say that standard 30 cal checks fit it. I haven't tried, mostly because finding them can be difficult

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[AlanF]

Thanks guys.

[GooseGestapo]

Sounds like a perfect candidate for powder coating!

[charlie b]

It would be really interesting to know the reason for the Lee design. Normally boat tails are used on supersonic bullets to decrease drag and increase stability by managing where the shock waves attach to the bullet. Subsonic it is different aerodynamics and a boat tail needs to keep the flow attached, so they are normally a different shape than the supersonic version. Maybe why some people have better luck with them using gas checks, converting them to a flat base bullet.

[wmitty]

Wasn’t the original reason for going to boat tail design jacketed bullets for indirect machine gun fire on troop concentration areas? As in WW I tactics? I realize it improves ballistic coefficient but it sure seems to make it more difficult for the core to remain in the jacket of an expanding hunting projectile.

[405grain]

From Wikipedia regarding ammunition for the 1886 Lebel rifle: "balle M was replaced in 1898 by a new design, a 12.8 g (198 grains) 90/10 bronze mono-metal, pointed (spitzer) boat-tail bullet called "balle D", which provided a flatter trajectory and improved long-range performance. Designed at the Atelier de Puteaux (APX) by Captain Georges Desaleux, the balle D was the first pointed and boat-tailed bullet to be placed into service by any military." So, they've had solid copper alloy, spire pointed, boat-tailed bullets for 124 years. The only thing new about bullets is the advertising!

How in the heck would you put a gas check on a cast boat-tail bullet? And why? The check isn't going to be sealing anything!

[WALLNUTT]

Someone (old CBA article) punched holes in gas checks and placed them in a mold w/ tweezers in the first full diameter band. The lead poured through the hole attaching the check. I don't recall the results, seems like a lot of trouble.

[charlie b]

The Lee 230gn mold has a boat tail that seems to accept gas checks very well. Some who have done that report better accuracy.

Yep, aerodynamics had a lot of experimentation and analysis being done in the late 1800's and early 1900's. They had a lot of issues to work out, including how to measure things like muzzle velocity and more precise bullet trajectory.

[44 bore]

That boolit is actually designed for air rifles. How well it'll work in a PB is to be tested.

[popper]

I see no sense in any for cast. It is a design for HV super that doesn't work for cast. My GC 308 no-BT works fine @ 200 yds and 2400 fps. But the alloy is tough also. With the small bullet, a bevel base might make seating easier.

[GregLaROCHE]

It would be really interesting to know the reason for the Lee design. Normally boat tails are used on supersonic bullets to decrease drag and increase stability by managing where the shock waves attach to the bullet. Subsonic it is different aerodynamics and a boat tail needs to keep the flow attached, so they are normally a different shape than the supersonic version. Maybe why some people have better luck with them using gas checks, converting them to a flat base bullet.

I wondered why they made it a boat tail too. Perhaps it’s only for marketing purposes. It looks cool, but is designed for tumble lube with those small grooves. I PC mine.

[sutherpride59]

Gentlemen let me give the perfect answer. 99% of the time if you see a boat tail mold then the bullet is designed for airguns. Yes it looks cool but the intention is not for high pressure powder burners. Yes there are airguns out there powerful enough to push slugs hard enough and far enough that they need the extra BC provided by a boat tail design.