Bear Creek Ballistics 280 gr. bullet

[redear]

Today I recieved a package from BCB with 2 packs of the ballpoint bullets and a 5 bullet sample of the same bullet with a pointed polymer tip instead of the semi flattened ballpoint. I am a computer dummy so no pics unless someone wants me to text them a pic from my phone. They are now machined instead of cold formed and have a semi matte finish. they have a cannelure which I didn't need and also a fairly large radius on the bottom edge going into the flat base which I'm not crazy about going sabotless in my scout conversion. They measured .4514 and I sized them down to .4504 and they sized very smooth and the cannelure wasn't harsh on my sizing die, they seemed like a soft copper. They are precision made for sure. I am contemplating going and getting some imr 4227 for a single powder charge to try and also possibly some n110 for a duplex load with the 4198. also thinking the large radius on the bottom of the bullet may need 2 wool wads instead of 1 but will try 1 first. I need to get over across the road where I shoot with the lawn mower and knock the grass down a little too before I shoot, kip

 

[redear]

I pushed one through my barrel and the rifling left very precise marks all around, just deep enough for me to see them. these bullets came 15 to a small cardboard box and included high pressure sabots for use with a 50 cal muzzleloader, although I won't need those.

 

[ENCORE50A]

It'll be interesting any difference in accuracy between the ball and point tips......

 

[redear]

Just got back from the gun store and bought a bottle of IMR 4227 , I was also looking for some n110 or 4759 to try as a primer in a duplex with 4198 but they didnt have either. the ball points are a semi flattened ball, I wouldnt really call it a ball, but they do look good, the pointed tips are very precise and pointy, lol

 

[redear]

I have a very experienced freind on another board that wants me to try a saboted 40 cal barnes 195 gr bullet and less powder. I don't know though, I really hate sabots, but if it stacked the bullets in a hole at 100 yds. I might consider it. he says it saves on recoil and scopes too, and will do anything I want for deer hunting out to 200 yds.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I have a very experienced freind on another board that wants me to try a saboted 40 cal barnes 195 gr bullet and less powder. I don't know though, I really hate sabots, but if it stacked the bullets in a hole at 100 yds. I might consider it. he says it saves on recoil and scopes too, and will do anything I want for deer hunting out to 200 yds.

Try it out. Theres no bad reason to go shootin

 

[Ninering62]

I have a very experienced freind on another board that wants me to try a saboted 40 cal barnes 195 gr bullet and less powder. I don't know though, I really hate sabots, but if it stacked the bullets in a hole at 100 yds. I might consider it. he says it saves on recoil and scopes too, and will do anything I want for deer hunting out to 200 yds.

I took many deer & other med sized critters with a 223gr Powerbelt with a cpl shots thru the yrs out past 200yds. I personally think that anything over 200gr bullets on deer inside 250-300yds is just overkill. Ive grenaded the inside of numerous deer learnin this either by using super fast small bullets or heavy slow movin hollow points in my younger days.

 

[Mnt monkey]

Redear,I haven't done much sabot shooting smokeless for the last couple of weekends I've been trying some 40 Cal's in light blue sabots in one of my 1 and 20 twist smokeless barrels, a gentleman here sent me some 250 grain Pittman's, also tried all of the 225 gr that I had at the house, the 225 Furies and the 225 Pittman's shot around an inch that was with 55 to 57 grains of 4198, I stepped up to the two fifties and ordered some 250 furies both bullets shot 1/2 inch I'm very happy with that they didn't shoot a single hole or I would have posted the groups and rant and rave, but for an easy-to-use hunting load I will go back and revisit those come deer season,there are a lot of moist wet damp mornings here in Southeast Texas where I live that I would like having a tight-fitting Sabot down my 45 Cal barrel for atmospheric purposes,also sometimes the temperature may rise so much or cool so much I don't have to worry about my bullet sizing issue I can just seat that 40 cal bullet and go,,also I do just like to experiment and know every single facet in detail of what my rifle can and cannot do

 

[redear]

thanks for the insight into this stuff guys! A forum buddy is sending me 100 200gr sst's at 40 cal and told me to order some light blue sabots which I did last night. I agree with wanting to know everything my gun will do, that just makes sense. He's claiming less recoil and better scope survival and more fun to shoot.

 

[jims]

I found the 200 SSTs slightly more accurate than the 195 Barnes. Some swear by the Barnes on deer but we have never had a problem with the 200 SSTs. Often dead right there or at the most a 50 yard tracking.

 

[redear]

I'm trying to look the 200 sst 40 cal. up but all I see is bullet and sabot packs together, can they be bought by the 50 or 100 without the sabots? everyone seems to shoot the light blue sabots with smokeless. I ordered 4 packs of light blue smooth sabots yesterday, and Sew from another site is gifting me 100 of the sst's I think he loaded up on them years ago when there was a good sale on 2nd's, he shoots alot of saboted 40 bullets in a 45 sml. It was pretty here today but it was a little cool at 54 degrees, I almost went and fired a few off. And then I saw that the stimulus money had been deposited in my account, lol, I feel stimulated!

 

[GM54-120]

I took many deer & other med sized critters with a 223gr Powerbelt with a cpl shots thru the yrs out past 200yds. I personally think that anything over 200gr bullets on deer inside 250-300yds is just overkill. Ive grenaded the inside of numerous deer learnin this either by using super fast small bullets or heavy slow movin hollow points in my younger days.

You are overlooking the big picture. A bullet that is very light for caliber performs poorly over a broad impact velocity range. A 50cal 223gr PB is a horrible bullet when combined in that equation. You can not compare it to a 225gr 40cal bullet with a bonded .015" jacket. That 225gr 40cal bullet with a good ogive design will fly far far flatter too. Basically point and shoot to 200 yards or more. The 223gr PB will be falling like a rock from the sky.

How many softer lead 250gr or less bullets do you see offered in 50A&E?.....Virtually ZERO because they would perform so poorly even at those speeds. Why people would shoot bullets like that in a ML faster but not in a 50A&E or 500S&W is a mystery to me.

 

[GM54-120]

Redear, go look at Richards posts on Hanks board. Shooting a 250gr 40cal Fury with modest amounts of 4198 he got awesome velocity and deadly accuracy. Its exactly what i believed all along. The additional bullet weight made 4198 come alive. I bet Reloder7 would also. No need to push it at warp speed or duplex. The increased BC and weight over a 200gr SST will offset any speed loss if there was any. The additional SD and bonded jacket will keep it together. Plus its about the same cost as a 200gr SST.

 

[Mnt monkey]

I couldn't agree more,, again I might shoot some of those 200 s grs just to see what my gun does with them out of curiosity sake but I'm not going to hunt with something like that I won't as much BC and bullet weight is I can comfortably shoot of course they have to shoot a hole ,I've had very good results last couple of weekends with the 250 grain 40 Cal's in a light blue Sabot with 55 to 57 Gr of h- 4198 Pittman's and Furys both shot the same. I do like to use light bullets when I'm introducing a friend or family member to shooting, but I consider those bullets to just be plinking let's have some fun bullets.I shot a couple of deer three or four years ago with a 168 grain cutting edge bullet 45 Cal with a sabot in a 50 cal barrel,,I was hunting in a tight place 80 yards , would have been my farthest shot,it's hard to put into words how devastating those bullets were they went inside the deers chest and just blew up,I walked up to one deer and there was five or six yards of blood sprayed all over the ground out of the deers lungs and mouth it was awful I didn't sleep for the rest of the day ,,,not,,however the next day I had a big smile

 

[GM54-120]

40cal 200gr XTPs make good plinkers and youth loads. Light amounts of N110 will get you into BH209 range. Just stay under 35gr so sabots dont fail. My favorite NULA 50cal load is 39gr N110 and a 225gr XPB. Swap out to a 225gr Hornady for recreation. The load is 100% dependable in any temp. Deadly on deer out to around 150 or possibly more.

 

[Ninering62]

Redear,I haven't done much sabot shooting smokeless for the last couple of weekends I've been trying some 40 Cal's in light blue sabots in one of my 1 and 20 twist smokeless barrels, a gentleman here sent me some 250 grain Pittman's, also tried all of the 225 gr that I had at the house, the 225 Furies and the 225 Pittman's shot around an inch that was with 55 to 57 grains of 4198, I stepped up to the two fifties and ordered some 250 furies both bullets shot 1/2 inch I'm very happy with that they didn't shoot a single hole or I would have posted the groups and rant and rave, but for an easy-to-use hunting load I will go back and revisit those come deer season,there are a lot of moist wet damp mornings here in Southeast Texas where I live that I would like having a tight-fitting Sabot down my 45 Cal barrel for atmospheric purposes,also sometimes the temperature may rise so much or cool so much I don't have to worry about my bullet sizing issue I can just seat that 40 cal bullet and go,,also I do just like to experiment and know every single facet in detail of what my rifle can and cannot do

You are overlooking the big picture. A bullet that is very light for caliber performs poorly over a broad impact velocity range. A 50cal 223gr PB is a horrible bullet when combined in that equation. You can not compare it to a 225gr 40cal bullet with a bonded .015" jacket. That 225gr 40cal bullet with a good ogive design will fly far far flatter too. Basically point and shoot to 200 yards or more. The 223gr PB will be falling like a rock from the sky.

How many softer lead 250gr or less bullets do you see offered in 50A&E?.....Virtually ZERO because they would perform so poorly even at those speeds. Why people would shoot bullets like that in a ML faster but not in a 50A&E or 500S&W is a mystery to me.

Yes sir I know the PB223 gr .50 cal bullet is no comparison to a 225/240/250gr .40 cal Fury or others like them. I'm just learning about Fury bullets in .40 & .45 myself. I have zero exp with ML sabots in any cal. The personal exp I do have is from way back when TC Firehawk & Thunderhawk .50 inlines came out I shot all kinds of bullets avail then & in the whole bullet weights & types avail back then with loose powder then started using 3 pyro pellets & PB's of diff weights until I settled on the 223 gr PB's. I'm not , never have & never will say they are a great bullet or match grade bullets. They just AINT! But for an up to deer size critter & within the norm hunting distances I usually had, they never failed me as far as a good kill & didn't grenade the critter either. I shot alot of them bullets out of both my .50 Omega's & really had no probs pullin the trigger on deer out to 200-250yds. I only had a cpl op's to take those longer shots on deer, but I knew the gun I knew the bullet I knew the scope & dead deer down both times. I shot the 295gr PB's before in my Thawk & Fhawks w/2 .50 pyro pellets very successful but never shot past 150yds with them. Not sayin any of what I had & used all those yrs ago were " all that ", I knew that back then. It was however a very affordable, fairly accurate within short ranges, very easy to use, fast easy to reload & it worked for my general purposes. Thats all. I now really want to find out how a 275gr .401 Fury in a blue crush rib sabot will do in my Paramount behind a 105gr BH209 charge.
I am always more than happy to learn something new or find out sometimes that what I thought I knew was all or partly wrong. I always appreciate someone smarter &/or with more or expert experience to enlighten me. You for one always are a fantastic source of info. Thank you.

 

[GM54-120]

IMO the 275gr 40cal will really be pushing the limit of what any current 45x40 sabot can handle. They are too short. No need to use a crushrib either. I can load a smooth 45x40 in my Pacnor that has .450 lands on the dot. Everything im reading and seeing says the CVA 45 bores are running larger.

Might want to call Harvester, word is...they got a new 45x40 sabot in the works.

 

[redear]

thank ya'll so much for all this insight into this stuff! and GM54-120, I have always cherished your load info on this board and other boards, I know you are one of the most experienced at this on any board I visit. I'm just finding my way. I know even the most experienced all seem to have their own favorite procedures too. GM54-120 knows the guy thats sending me the bullets he is Sew on other boards and he has alot of sabot experience in sml guns too. He is suggesting I push a moistened patch down the barrel a couple of times and then a dry patch a couple times between shots with the sabots, and also to lightly knurl the bearing surface of the bullets. any of ya'll done these procedures too? I guess I need to have something to do between shots.

 

[redear]

and he also puts a wool patch under the sabot, does this help protect the plastic sabot?

 

[michiganmuzzy]

thank ya'll so much for all this insight into this stuff! and GM54-120, I have always cherished your load info on this board and other boards, I know you are one of the most experienced at this on any board I visit. I'm just finding my way. I know even the most experienced all seem to have their own favorite procedures too. GM54-120 knows the guy thats sending me the bullets he is Sew on other boards and he has alot of sabot experience in sml guns too. He is suggesting I push a moistened patch down the barrel a couple of times and then a dry patch a couple times between shots with the sabots, and also to lightly knurl the bearing surface of the bullets. any of ya'll done these procedures too? I guess I need to have something to do between shots.

Ive never used a wool wad under a sabot but ive knurled bullets to hold tighter inside a sabot. Just rolled it between two bastard cut files with varying pressure to get the knurl that i wanted.