How big a FN is big enough .35 cal

[RU shooter]

I was looking at this mould at accurate's site for my 35 rem bolt action http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=36-210B-D.png

The "A" version is the same except has a FN of .250 instead , The A version is similar to the home made FN I shot my deer with last year but it did occasionally hang up on the ramp .My Saeco #351 bullets feed great but only has a small flat of .180 ,Granted I should only need one shot But hey stuff happens.... To those who have shot more deer than me with cast bullets ,would the smaller .200 FN be enough with a 50/50 AC WW and soft alloy around 1800 fps or so? my shots are normally 50-100 yds

Tim

[runfiverun]

my saeco nose meplat is 180 and is too small for my tastes.
even at full jaxketed velocity's i prefer to soften the nose.
now if i had a 250 nose i would feel much better about it.
thier boolit might have a slightly different tangent angle on the nose that will allow it to feed somewhat better.
the meplat being close to 65% of the boolits diameter is a good number to go with.

[Piedmont]

The way I see this, meplat size is a big deal if there is no expansion. In a rifle using gas check loads it isn't much trick to match your impact velocity with a suitable alloy. You are using a bolt action and probably a staggered magazine. That might not feed a large meplat bullet. The .200 meplat would suit me in a .35 caliber that I was going to make expand at impact.

[paul h]

I'm kinda partial meplats in the 70-75% of bullet dia which is .250-270 range for a 35 caliber.

Since it sounds like you arlready have an excellent bullet, I'd look at polishing your feed ramp to get reliable feeding. Much better to fix the gun to feed a good bullet design than choose a compromised bullet design due to the contraints of the gun.

[Ben]

I have an NEI , 35 cal. rifle mold, 260 gr. g/c with a big lube groove and generous meplat on the end of the bullet's nose. Cast at .3610".
I'll be shooting this one this fall out of my 35 Ack Imp Whelen and my two, 358 Win. rifles.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0002-40.jpg

I don't think I'll be running out of lube with this NEI bullet :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0001-60.jpg

Notice how the tall ( .005 " ) 3 groove rifling gets a " big bite " on the bullet.
Not much chance of a bullet skidding in this barrel :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/haysb/PICT0006-11.jpg

[1Shirt]

To me the bigger the better as long as it chambers easily, and the range is kept within reason.
1Shirt!

[JDL]

That's a good looking boolit Ben. How wide is the meplat?

[RU shooter]

That's a good looking boolit Ben. How wide is the meplat? Same here, I like how theres a nice radius to the flat thats what Im looking for

[Ben]

Not certain ? ?....I will however measure and get back with the measurement.

Thanks,
Ben

[prs]

You may find that when metplat is .707 of outer diameter that harmony is sweet.

prs

[runfiverun]

that looks like a bigger version of the rcbs 30-150/170 fngc boolits i like in 30 cal.

[BAGTIC]

You may find that when metplat is .707 of outer diameter that harmony is sweet.

prs

Is it a coincidence that a .707 meplat has an area exactly 1/2 that of the bullet?

[nanuk]

You may find that when metplat is .707 of outer diameter that harmony is sweet.

prs

Personally, I would want something .709 or larger.

.707 seems a mite small to me!

:kidding:

[waksupi]

If you have some long spire type bullets, start flattening the nose, and seating them to OAL. Try chambering the cartridge, and observe for nose hang up. This should get you pretty close. I only shoot Mausers, so they are operated at speed, and may feed a bit larger nose than a rifle you would just sneak the round home in.