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RN vs Spitzer
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Goosic View Drop Down
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Points: 8325 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Goosic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 03 2020 at 8:10am
Originally posted by Honkytonk Honkytonk wrote:

Thanks a bunch for all the info! Very useful. I'm a hunter first and foremost. I use our local range for load development, scope alignment and keeping what limited shooting skills I have kinda "sharpish" for the hunting season. I've become very interested in round nose bullets of larger grains driven at modest speeds for my Lee Enfields that prefer 180's over 150 gr. I've loaded up some RN's and will begin shooting these rifles at the range next week and begin to compare grouping performance. Thanks again!
 
I have a couple of handloads using the 215grn RN Woodleigh if and when you would be interested in that. 
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Pukka Bundook View Drop Down
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Goosic,
 
My old Ishapore loves the 215 grain. I had to put on a taller front sight to bring it down a bit.  It shoots with that bullet and open sights about 1.7" high at 100 yards, and at 200 yards on the 200 yard setting it shoots 2.8" high.
This rifle and load has collected a whole pile of elk and deer, plus a good few coyotes out to 300 yards.
Yes, I know it's not the best cartridge for coyotes or deer, but it works so I stick with it.
I use old Dominion or Imperial ammo.  Some Winchester too.
 
I should add, that with lighter bullets, (150 or 174-180), it shoots nowhere near the sight settings, that's why that rifle stays with the 215 grain.
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Honkytonk View Drop Down
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Points: 4681 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Honkytonk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 04 2020 at 6:03am
I did a search for 215 gr RN in Canada. Unfortunately the one place I had seen them are currently out of stock of their Woodleighs. Several years ago an older fellow at work gave me a box of CIL 215's but they've long been loaded and shot. I wish I would have conserved them better!
Question: Should a Hornady 174 gr RN (.312) "grip" the rifling better than a spitzer due to more bullet contact because of the less severe taper? Thanks!
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britrifles View Drop Down
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Points: 5741 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September 04 2020 at 2:31pm
HT, yes, the flat base RN 174 gr bullet will have more bearing surfaces area contact with the rifling.  That might help in a worn bore, but if your barrel is .303 to .304, the spitzers should still shoot well.   Test them both and see how they shoot in your rifle.  
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Honkytonk View Drop Down
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I have developed 180 Sierra Prohunter (spitzer) loads for the rifles that shoot the heavier pill better than a 150 spire point so I'll be able to see fairly quickly how the RN stacks up against them. 
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Honkytonk View Drop Down
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Would it also make sense that owners that feel their Enfield bore is worn that the 174 Hornady RN would be a good option to try seeing that it is .312" and has more contact area than a spitzer?
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Shamu View Drop Down
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Possibly more because of the .312 instead of .311"?
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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britrifles View Drop Down
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Yes, would certainly be worth trying the .312 RN if .311 spitzers did not shoot well.  
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Charlie Gillman View Drop Down
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Over the years, I've shot a number of deer with the 180 grain .311" Sierra spitzer, and it's OK, but I really didn't like the its performance on hogs in Texas. I thought the bullet was a little hard, not opening up reliably on smaller 90 to 125 pound meat pigs. Now I use 180 grain .311" Remington Cor-Lokt or 180 grain .311" Speer Hot Core and like the roundnoses much better for on-game killing power. They have more smack. The .312 Hornady 174 grain RN kills very well, too, I filled this year's Doe Tag with it, she fell over on the spot, never moved.   The Sierra spitzers are very accurate, I have several boxes left, they're used for target shooting. 
Gill
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Most bullet manufacturers will tell you the optimal velocity for their hunting bullets.  If your range is 200 yards look at how your choices perform at the velocity you might have with your load at that range.

I have had round nose (Brown Bear 180 gr soft-point 7.62mm x 54R) give disappointing results on whitetail deer.  The Brown Bear is apparantly designed for it's name sake.  Killed the deer (both under 20 yards ground-level double lung) but I might as well have stabbed them through with a length of rebar and pulled it back out.  No real sign of expansion but great penetration.  They ran out of air before blood.  
Charlie P.

Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.
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I had a similar result this season. I switched from a 150 SP Hornady to 168 gr Hornady RN. Folded a nice doe at 75 yards. Saw her actually shudder. It trotted off and died in the bush about 75 yards away. Autopsy revealed a neat .312 hole through and through, including the heart. I was somewhat surprised by the results with the RN.
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Points: 5 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Coachman1967 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 15 2020 at 5:49pm
I've been using the 174 gr. RN for many years now in many of my SMLE's. I even worked up a load for my single shot 303 Martini Henry that is pretty deadly. The last critter I took with one of my 303's was a couple years back, knocked down a cow Moose at about 175 yards. It went about 30 yards and piled up, no worries with the terminal performance of those 174 gr's.
If God intended us to be vegetarians, he would have made broccoli more fun to shoot.
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