220 gr RN Sierra vs. Hornady

[nativetexanii]

Any preferences between these 2 and why? I'm about to start reloading and trying to decide.

[Ned Butts]

I have had good luck shooting both, the Hornady's profile replicates original ball ammo better.

[nativetexanii]

Thank you. That's the kind of info I was looking for.

[psteinmayer]

Hornady's shape is closer to the original .30 Army bullet. Sierra's bullet is ok, but it has a more pronounced taper with a smaller RN. Although they shoot ok, (at least in my Krags) they just come up a bit short in the accuracy department.

Back 15 years ago or so, Hornady offered a 220 gr RN FMJ bullet which was almost an exact duplicate of the .30 Army bullet. I shot a hundred of them in matches a few years ago until my stash was depleted... and they were the most accurate bullet I ever fed my Krag!!! I wish Hornady would bring that bullet back. Now Woodleigh offers a 220 gr RN FMJ bullet, but it's almost $2.00 a bullet - not really what you want to be shooting for matches or general plinking, LOL.

[reincarnated]

I suspect that the reason the Hornady FMJ 220 disappeared is that it would behave just like the original Krag bullets when shot at modern body armor. I don't think they bounce off. Even if they stop, the wearer is delivered a hard blow.

[Hamish]

Hadn't thought of that, I put it up to reduced sales of "old fashioned, decidedly not pointy, uncool round noses",,,,,,,.

[reincarnated]

In 1989 I worked for a small operation making bullets for big bore African type rifles. We also stocked the Hornady FMJ 220s for loading in .30 cal rifles for customers headed for Africa. There was a lot of police & gov't interest in our custom loads, esp with .30 bullets. Nobody cared if we loaded 11.2 mm Krieghoff or .450 thin rim stuff.