Rebated boat tails - .172

[wkndwarrior]

I recently purchased some mystery bullets from another forum and I've never seen a boat tail like this before. Googling tells me that they are 'rebated' but searching did not indicate a likely manufacturer. Curiosity is killing me - does anyone have a guess at what these are? They are .172/ 25 grain

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Reed's was selling RBT hp bullets, never tried any.

 

[Richard Jones]

Hammett

 

[wkndwarrior]

Hammett

Found some pictures on google and it looks like you are right on, Thank you! I only have 200 but hopefully they shoot well!

 

[Gabe22BR]

Someone broke a BT punch- At’s how they end up..

 

[extremeaccuracy]

Gabe22BR:
Those are rebated boat tail bullets (RBT) and while they do use a special punch during core seating and point forming the bullets in the picture show they are making a pretty good looking RBT bullet.

While those might be Hammett bullets I think they very well could be Genco bullets as well. (Both are top notched bullet makers that produce good .172 cal bullets so you can't go wrong with either. )The other possibilities are Nagel and Calhoon but Corbin, Niemi and I believe Detsch, and Ullrich have all sold RBT die sets over the years so narrowing it down could be tough.

If you measure the Ogive and its a 7S I would lean towards Genco bullets.
Are they 25.0 grain exactly or are they 25.5 or 26 grain perhaps? That would also help narrow it down some.

Wish you the best of luck on your upcoming shoot,

Carl C.

Extreme Accuracy

 

[Gabe22BR]

I never could Get rebated bullets to shoot small groups.
Varmint hunting, they’ll probably be fine…

 

[thekriebles]

Hammett

^^another vote for Hammett^^

 

[extremeaccuracy]

Gabe22Br, I'm with you on the accuracy front for most all boat tail bullets (from 100 to 300 yards). From 300 yards and under flat tail bullets hold a accuracy edge over the boat tail bullet designs. From 300 yards out depending on the caliber and speed the boat tail bullets more aerodynamic design starts to perform its function of reducing drag forces. For shooting the 1 mile and 2 mile competitions the boat tail designs (VLD's, ULD's and EVLD's) have a serious edge on flat base bullets.

I haven't seen anyone shooting the long range competitions with anything but BT designed bullets for a long time.

Wish you the best of luck on your upcoming shoot,

Carl C.

Extreme Accuracy

 

[extremeaccuracy]

Wkndwarrior: this might help you narrow it down. (I thought Genco had stopped making the 25 grain and 25.5 grain from my old notes below) there still might be batches out there though. Moving to the 26 gr helped with COG and bullet stability.

I'm not sure if Hammett offers both 6's and 7's ogive rebated boat tails or not. Sadly I can no longer find my specs for Unmussig bullets or Budd Tanner’s .172 bullets.

Genco Bullets .172 Caliber offerings:
· *16 grain FB, HP, 6s ogive (drawn from .22/.705" jackets)
· 22.5 grain FB, LT, 7s ogive (J4–.460 jacket)
· 26 grain FB, HP, 7s ogive (J4-.560 jacket)
· 26 grain RBT, HP, 7s ogive (J4-.560 jacket)
· 26.7 grain LT, FB, 7s ogive (J4-.560 jacket)
· 27.5 grain LT, FB, 7s ogive (J4-.560 jacket)
· 29 grain FB, HP, VLD (J4-.635 jacket)
· 32 grain RBT, HP, 7s ogive (J4-635 jacket)
HP = Hollow Point
FB = Flat base
RBT = Rebated Boat Tail
LT = Lead Tip

Mr. Calhoon: provides a wide range of bullet weights available for .17 shooters. He offers 19, 22, 25, and 28 grain bullets.

C.E. Nagel bullets: makes 20 and 25 grain bullets. He is using Niemi made carbide dies that were Starke’s.

Keep us posted on how they shoot for you and as always stay on target,

Carl C.

Extreme Accuracy

 

[Hal]

Sorry to say Chan Nagel is no longer with us.

Hal

 

[wkndwarrior]

Wkndwarrior: this might help you narrow it down. (I thought Genco had stopped making the 25 grain and 25.5 grain from my old notes below) there still might be batches out there though. Moving to the 26 gr helped with COG and bullet stability.

I'm not sure if Hammett offers both 6's and 7's ogive rebated boat tails or not. Sadly I can no longer find my specs for Unmussig bullets or Budd Tanner’s .172 bullets.

Genco Bullets .172 Caliber offerings:
· *16 grain FB, HP, 6s ogive (drawn from .22/.705" jackets)
· 22.5 grain FB, LT, 7s ogive (J4–.460 jacket)
· 26 grain FB, HP, 7s ogive (J4-.560 jacket)
· 26 grain RBT, HP, 7s ogive (J4-.560 jacket)
· 26.7 grain LT, FB, 7s ogive (J4-.560 jacket)
· 27.5 grain LT, FB, 7s ogive (J4-.560 jacket)
· 29 grain FB, HP, VLD (J4-.635 jacket)
· 32 grain RBT, HP, 7s ogive (J4-635 jacket)
HP = Hollow Point
FB = Flat base
RBT = Rebated Boat Tail
LT = Lead Tip

Mr. Calhoon: provides a wide range of bullet weights available for .17 shooters. He offers 19, 22, 25, and 28 grain bullets.

C.E. Nagel bullets: makes 20 and 25 grain bullets. He is using Niemi made carbide dies that were Starke’s.

Keep us posted on how they shoot for you and as always stay on target,

Carl C.

Extreme Accuracy

Carl,

I appreciate the detailed information. I weighed the first five out of the box and they were exactly 25 grains. I'm not sure what you mean by 6 or 7 ogive but I measured them in my Hornady comparator and all five were exactly .3 inches from the base to ogive using the .172 in insert.

I'm hoping to get some loading done this week and try them out if the weather holds this weekend. I'm not quite a one hole shooter myself yet so they'll probably be more consistent than the shooter. Worst case scenario is that I'll have to dig the 17 fireball out of the safe for additional testing. Unfortunately work is busy for the next few months so this may go on the back burner soon.

Dustin

 

[No manches"]

Genco is no longer in business.
Chad Nagel has passed..
Reeds in Oklahoma is" making them
And also Blackhole in Idaho.

 

[hogpatrol]

Todd Kindler made some 30 gr RBTs, No longer in business.

 

[nakneker]

Todd Kindler made some 30 gr RBTs, No longer in business.

Sadly, he helped me a few times with the small stuff.

 

[Basher42]

So then, at the risk of derailing the thread a bit, who IS making the heavier .172” stuff? Berger’s been OOS everywhere for ages apparently, same for Hornady’s 25gr V-Max. Seems the only things in stock are the 20gr variety, and the 15.5gr NTX nobody seems to shoot. I realize us .17 shooters are a small portion of the shooting population, but what options are left? I recently got in to the .17 as I’ve always wanted one. I managed a .17AB and a .17FB, with the plan of shooting the 20gr stuff from the Ackley Bee and the 25gr from the Fireball, but if I can’t find anything in 25gr…

 

[No manches"]

As of right now, I think only blackhole bullets out of Idaho!..

Reed's is held back due to jacket availability*


I need to check with Calhoon, they use to make .17 cal bullets..
But I had heard they stopped the .17 line of bullets.

 

[hogpatrol]

Brownell's is showing 25 Vmax in stock.

 

[wkndwarrior]

Since it seems that all of the right people are in this thread in talking 17's - will a cheap caldwell chronograph work for load development? My Labradar loses the 17's above 3800ish FPS on the small stuff.

 

[No manches"]

Since it seems that all of the right people are in this thread in talking 17's - will a cheap caldwell chronograph work for load development? My Labradar loses the 17's above 3800ish FPS on the small stuff.

I don't have a caldwell*

But my magito-speed does great up to 4400 fps
After that it laughs at me!..