ORIGINAL: Mr. Longbeard
Well I bought a box of hornady 220gr RN bullets for my semi auto and it seems like I'm hearing a lot of people saying that I shouldn't shoot them out of a semi auto... So I was wondering if they would shoot decsent out of my 300 Mag or my 300 WSM???
As sabot loader seems to be saying, some of those fat round-nose 220-grain bullets are too soft to be driven at real high velocities, especially the ones with a lot of lead exposed at the nose. But I see no reason why you can't use them in a semi-auto. What caliber is yours? just use a reasonable load, and keep the o/a loaded length within specs, and try them. You may want to use a medium-burn rate powder like IMR 4064 if you are loading for a .30/'06 or 308.......
If you decide to use them in the .300's, keep the velocity below 2500 FPS, and they should work well. I used 220's in a .308 Win. at 2300 FPS w/48 grains of Norma MRP, and they were great at putting deer down right away. They only gobble up alot of meat if they are driven too fast, because they are soft, and blow apart at high velocities....