Hornady bullets for pistol but in rifle configuration

[dodgyrog]

I have a couple of boxes of Hornady #3021 130gr SP bullets marked as Pistol.
They seem the same as the #3020rifle bullet.
Does anybody have any knowledge of these bullets and whether I can use them in my rifle?

[snayperskaya]

A poke around on the 'net suggests the #3021 was intended for single shot .308 pistols such as the Contender and were developed for low speed expansion when used in such pistols.It appears they are now discontinued but on some of the US-based forums it would seem that folks use them in .308 rifles the same as the #3020.

[dodgyrog]

Yes, I would like to push them a bit harder!

[snayperskaya]

Best to check yourself but it appears the Yanks use the same loads for the #3021 as they do for the #3020.....seems quite a few used the #3021 for loading 7.62x39 as well!.

[Laurie]

Yes as @snayperskaya says they (130gn Hornady Spire Point flat-base bullets) were originally designed for single-shot T/C Contender pistols and suchlike with their lower MVs from small cartridges like the .30 Herret. They give full expansion in deer size game at these velocities thanks to the amount of exposed lead and a thin jacket.

You can use them in rifles OK on paper anyway - I did for many years when they were cheap bullets and much better quality than most copies of military type FMJBTs. IIRC Hannams also bought them in bulk and bagged them in poly bags under its 'Relcom' brand name as a budget product. Short distance (200/300 yd) accuracy was good. If you drive them too fast at say full 308 Win rifle velocities, they might (or then again, might not) explode in flight through jacket failure.

I stopped buying them when the cheap 'Relcom' version disappeared and anything branded 'Hornady' on the pack rose rapidly in price. They were no longer cheap bullets and a 'proper' match bullet was a better buy. (There were other such sporting bullets back in those long-gone times. The Nosler 150gn 308 BTSP 'Solid Base' was a great 7.62mm match bullet for a while and really well priced. That design evolved into the 'Ballistic Tip' and it too was a great performer on the range and a real bargain. Then some fool told Tim Hannam that target shooters were increasingly using his hunting bullets as their performance was so good and he almost doubled the price over a couple of years.)