RCBS 180g sil 30cal

[nockhunter]

Has anyone used the RCBS 30cal 180g sil (175g) hollow point or clone to hunt with? I was going to order some from GT bullets since I don't cast at the moment. I will be using (hunting) them in a Savage 110 30-06. Their alloy is 3-3-94.

Mike

[MT Gianni]

I have not shot that bullet. The alloy seems a little harder than what I would hunt with and the meplate on the sil bullet is not really a hunting meplate. I would expect better results with a 150 fn or a 180 fn than the silhouette bullet.

[Larry Gibson]

I would suggest using GT's 225 gr HP sized .311 instead as it has a softer alloy and should do well in your '06 at 1800 - 1950 fps with a medium or slow burning powder in the 4895 - 4831SC range.

GT's specs;

This is a hollow point 30 caliber bullet made for the 300 Blackout. Weight is 225gr cast in our 2-2-96 pistol alloy. It is a bore rider nose with a waist to help feed in standard AR mags at mag length. Of course it is a good heavy weight candidate for of 30 caliber cartridges as well. This is the same bullet as our plain base design but with a gas check for those wanting to shoot at somewhat higher velocities.

Comes sized an lubed at .309 as default but we also offer them in .310 and .311 as alternative sizes.

These are cast in 2-2-96 our pistol alloy that contains 2% tin - 2% antimony - 96% lead

[dg31872]

I assume that RCBS 180 FN would be a better choice for hunting, but would the FN feed in the 300 BO?

[nockhunter]

I was considering both the 225g and the 175g hollow point, but I thought the 225g would be too soft.

Mike

[nockhunter]

I might just order the 225g hp from GT bullets, any good loads with AA5744, or any other powder?

Mike

[nockhunter]

I've been doing some research on the two different alloys, 2-2-96, and 3-3-94. It seems the hardness for 2-2-96 is 11BHN, and 3-3-94 is BHN12. Is there that great a difference in hardness between the two?
I think a hollow point in either bullet would expand nicely from a 30-06 with a mv between 1800-1900fps.

Mike

[MT Gianni]

With the harder alloy hardness may not be as big of an issue as lack of cohesion. Too much variation from pure can cause shattering or lack of tenacity. The hollow point may mushroom but will it stay there or peel apart. All things you need to find out in a shooting box to recover them before you hunt with them.

[pls1911]

I've used the RCBS 165-SIL on all sorts of critters up to 300 pound pigs in a .308 and a TC in 30/30.
No Magic, no surprises, just dead critters.
Alloy is roughly Lyman #2, at times heat treated, always gas checked.
The RCBS 180.SIL at 1700-2000 fps should do equally well.