Reviews
LONG RANGE BULLET COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS VIDEOS FROM TIBORASAURUS REX
We wanted to share a group of Long Range Bullet Competitive Analysis YouTube videos with you that were produced and recorded by Tiborasaurus Rex a well known long distance shooter from a few years ago. He compares our Alco Bullets to 5 different popular bullet brands (Hornady, Sierra, Speer, Nosler, and Berger). All things are equal; in that the bullets weighed from 162- to 168-grain, were shot at 3000 fps as a constant to compare the relationship in ballistic coefficient terms with regards to drop in MOA, maintaining velocity, trajectory, hold in the wind out to 1500 meters. We stacked up well to these brands and are very grateful to Rex for his kind words in these reviews below:
Long Range Bullets: Maximize your .308 Winchester’s Potential – (10 min video)
Rex’s Review of the .224
READ OVERVIEW
“Is it possible for the .308 Winchester with 168 grain bullets to keep up with the .300 Winchester Magnum out to 1,500 meters? With propriety bullet design from modern manufacturers like Alco, the answer is YES. In this video, Rex does comparative analysis of various 168 grain .308 caliber long range bullets to determine the best choice for long range applications. With many .308 Winchester rifles being configured for lighter varmint hunting bullets using slow 1 in 12 inch twist rates, the heavier long range bullet choices are often limited to 168 grains and under. This has limited many rifles to shoot inside 1,000 meters for a long time. However with new technology, there are new ultra-low drag bullets in 168 grain .308 caliber which can keep up with the 190 grain Sierra Matchkings being sent from the much more powerful .300 Win Mag. Watch this video for the full details!”
Long Range Bullets: Technologies Compared (30 min video)
READ OVERVIEW
“What is the best long range rifle bullet? In this video, Rex compares long range rifle bullets such as the Berger VLD, Sierra Matchking, the Hornady A-Max and the Nosler LR Accubonds. If an ultra long range bullet is needed to maximize your maximum effective range, there is some new technology to consider. ULD bullet was developed during the Viet Nam era for both long range military sniper operations and later, applied to experimental bullets for Secret Service assignments. Some of the characteristics of Alco’s ULD or Ultra Low Drag design were also incorporated in a similar but later development called the VLD or very low drag design. Both designs are equivalent for all practical purposes, except that the full ULD specification includes a rebated boattail design instead of the standard boattail (for about 15% gain in a accuracy by reducing muzzle-blast induced dispersion: the RBT step deflects most of the muzzle blast gas in a ring whereas the conventional BT tends to focus it into a ball in front of the emerging bullet, adding about 15% to the dispersion or random buffeting of the projectile.)
Alco’s Ultra Low Drag or ULD bullets use both a rebated boattail and a 14-caliber secant with a .014-inch offset from tangent, to achieve minimum air resistance for a given weight and caliber.
Using the aluminum tip gives you approximately 0.50 thousandths longer bullet and will shift the weight to the rear of bullet and adds to the BC. The steel tip is used for thick skin animals and any rough service apps, like removing bullet from rifle several times a day. Steel tip work well if you have to have a shorter OAL bullet because some barrel twist rates won’t stabilize a longer bullet.
The Ultra Low-Drag design projectiles are very streamlined with a long nose and we use either mild steel or aluminum for the Ballistic Tip that intersects the body of the projectile. This does 2 things: One, it increases the Ballistic Coefficient of the projectile, and two it allows the tip to be pushed into the body of the projectile for maximum expansion when hunting game animals and is utterly devastating on Large Game.
The Rebated boat tail or (RBT) is a hybrid between the accurate flat base projectile and the long range stability of the traditional boat tail projectile. In turn, you get the best of both worlds, and when combined with the ULD design and longer ballistic tip, you get one of the most accurate projectiles. Each Projectile is hand Swagged and not your ordinary assembly line projectile from the large competitors. Ultra match bullets are run on an ultra sonic concentricity machine for gyroscopic stability.”
Long Range Bullets: 7mm Comparative Analysis (8 minute video)
READ OVERVIEW
In this video, Rex compares a few 7mm projectiles to articulate the general external ballistic performance profiles of different styles of bullets. This is by no means a conclusive or exhaustive analysis, but rather an example of how different technology and design can offer radically different performance levels.
Long Range Bullets: Rex’s TOP Picks (9 minute video)
READ OVERVIEW
“Rex’s favorite long range bullets! Pretty simple. He likes Hornady, Sierra, Speer, Alco, Nosler, and Berger. Enjoy!”
SEE and LEARN MORE FROM REX for yourself!
TRex has a Sniper 101 YouTube series where he goes into great detail about long-distance shooting to up your game. There is a lot to learn from these great videos. You should check them out:
https://www.google.com/search?q=sniper+101&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS907US907&oq=sniper+101&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.5904j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
You can go to REX DEFENCE Instruction to involve yourself with his school for shooting instruction to master the craft of long distance shooting at different locations across the country. Here is a link to his site to read more about it:
https://rexdefense.com/about-rex/
* Thank you for your donations to the Rex Reviews Project! We hope these videos continue to be a great help to you all. Check out www.rexreviews.org for our FREE PODCAST feed! All the music in this video was created by TiborasaurusRex, an unsigned artist. Song Title: Particle Jam Music and Lyrics by: TiborasaurusRex Instrumentation and Vocals by: TiborasaurusRex Recorded by: TiborasaurusRex
Testimonials
Joshua C. was kind enough to send us this video he took while deer hunting in Lewiston, UT – God’s country. Lewiston is situated at the northern Utah border by Idaho. Joshua says, “I can literally take my scope, look out the back window of my home and at any one time see 40 to 60 elk.” For the hunt, he loaded up his horse trailer, drove four miles up the nearby mountains to a trailhead, unloaded and packed in. His cousin shot the deer you see in the video. Since he was a little boy he has gone regularly with family and a few friends for both deer and elk. Also a bowhunter, he prefers to use a smokeless muzzle-loader loaded with the Black Horn 209 powder (which is legal in his state) along with our .452 Alpha Hunters. Joshua has lived in the area his entire life. Hunting is in his blood, enough so that his email handle says ‘lives to hunt’ – we think he’s living right and wish him continued success.
Comments we love to hear – Recently, Paul Y. from Pennsylvania, used our .308 155 grain bullets and sent us a message saying, “I shot your bullets today and they are fantastic. I shot them next to Bergers, Hornady and Sierra and beside shooting better, they shot 1 in. high as all other brands were low. Your bullet is going 2960 MV sitting on top of 46.5 gr. of Varget. The 5 shot group is half inch outside to outside. The gun is Bat action, Krieger barrel, McMillan stock, Ken Farrell rings and Mark 4 Leupold 8.5-25-50, Lapua brass and CCI BR primers.”
Booming It In Utah
ALCO Bullets loves to see what our friends are doing with our bullets. We would like to thank Joshua in Utah for sending in this target using the Precision Alpha Hunter .452 325-grain bullets for the first time. He also shared a picture of his gun along with a cool case he uses to hold the bullets. We are appreciative of his comments: “Ordered these to shoot out of my 45 cal smokeless muzzleloader. I’m using blackhorn 209 to be legal to hunt in my state. Minimal load work gave multiple powder charges producing .5 moa and slightly under 3 shot groups. I will be trying them at distance out to 1000 on steel soon, but from what they did in close, I expect great results at distance. I would definitely recommend them to anyone looking for an awesome shooting 45 caliber bullet. The green dot is .75 of a inch for reference.” He said he made the bullet case by working with Inflection Design and Engineering at https://www.inflectionde.com/
Beating the Odds
ALCO Bullets wanted to share some nice targets and comments from one of our customers who shoots out in Las Vegas recently. He is literally ‘stacking the odds in his favor’ with our 7mm 168 grain ULD projectiles with the gun he built himself. We are appreciative of his statements: “These are the real deal and I’m a skeptic! Lots of “claims” out there, but when I held 1/3-ish MOA in a 15-22 mph full value crosswind at 200 yds, they made a believer out of me. No bench rest here. Just me and the .280 Ackley improved I built myself. Worth every penny for a serious shooter looking for that “next level.” The photos were taken last Sunday…. on a “nice day.” I can shoot similar groups like this with the Nosler Accubonds, but in a 15-22 mph crosswind the 800+ BC really is impressive. Your rebated boat tail seems to let these bullets stabilize right away as opposed to the Accubonds which don’t seem to stabilize until 200-300 yds.”
ALCO Bullets would like to thank Enrique Lopez for sharing two photos of the deer he shot with the .308 bullets in a 155 grain weight. People often ask us about how our bullets work on game. As you can see, the exit wounds are pretty big. The bullets expand and are effective on game. We are very appreciative of the note Enrique sent to us below:
“Attached (above) you will find the two pictures from the deer taken in Georgia with my .308 and your Alco 155 grain Bullets. They performed excellent. The first doe was shot at 40 yards and ran only 20 yards, the second is a young buck shot at 105 yards which collapsed at the shot. Both bullets exited leaving a nice exit hole making it very easy to find the short 20-yard blood trail the doe left. I am extremely happy with the results. Keep up the good work!”
Pushing the Edge
Recently, ALCO Bullets received a range report about our Precision .308 RBTST ULD projectiles in 220 grain from Marc in North Carolina that we are sharing. We appreciate his kind words and data. Marc said, “I took your 220 steel tips and loaded them up in my 300-win mag to the edge of comfort. I got 1/3 MOA groups, with a beautiful cloverleaf. The 300-win mag 220 grain …cold bore was 2884, and the damn thing kept getting faster. After plugging it into the Kestrel, I have 1500 ft/lbs. at 1175 meters (9.3 mil hold) and 1000 ft/lbs. out to 1600 meters (15.4 mil hold). Your products are out-F#59&dG-standing.”
They are very well constructed. The utmost considerations are given to each and every individual bullet they make and not just certain lot ranges? Every bullet weighs the same in the caliber you purchase, the bullets are constructed to have the same ogive, they are perfectly balanced, they have consistent diameters, the bullets have absolutely equal sectional densities…no variations and they have a rebated boat tail that support and ensure damn consistent muzzle energies amongst many other things that deal with trajectory science second to none, etc. Sure they cost a little bit more, but they are a reloader’s dream for hunting, target shooting or just the utmost in accuracy. Alco’s bullets absolutely halt variables that reloader’s have to tweak to maintain consistency from bullet to bullet that would have a definite impact on your objective to hunt, target shoot, shooting long range or just being consistent with your groups sub moa! Hence, the rebated boat tail permits the reloader to have absolute range dope once the bullet and cartridge has been developed for whatever purposes…
LCO Bullets would like to thank Steve Moneypenny for testing our bullets and posting the following on the FB Smokeless Muzzleloader Shooters Group:
“Bill Shepek from Alco bullets was nice enough to send me some bullets to try out and today was supposed to be nice with winds light and variable. The only thing variable were the gusts. Just had to work between it all. Alco’s wed site is a click and ship so no calling involved to order. Bill is a standup guy to work with.
First up was the 325 grain 12 ogive Alco Alpha Hunters. .014 jacket thickness. All targets at 300 yards.
Gun is Sav/Brux 1:20” 26” barrel with Direct Ignition.
Optics are Sightron SIII 6-24X50mm.
Scope had been zero’d at 100yd with both the 325’s and 300’s last month. Interestingly enough both bullets with the charges used zero’d the same which is highly convenient. Dialed up approx. 5 MOA for 300 yard targets. (20 inches)
325 grain Alco Alpha Hunter
80gr H322
No wad
Bullets sized at approx. .44970
#1. 2779 fps
#2. 2825fps
#3. 2811fps
#4. 2775fps
#5. 2758fps
#3 and #4 were adjusted 2 clicks to left, the #5 was adjusted to right one click but hit low. I am positive that was my fault. I only had two 325’s left so I stopped. Want to save those for a kill.
Bottom pic is 300yd target
Second up was the 300 grain Alco Precision .020 jacket thickness
Same bullet size settings #1 thru #3. On #4 and #5 snugged setting up to .44985 and shots tightened up. I have found once bullet and charge combo have been determined bullet sizing is key to fine tuning.
300gr Alco Precision 12 Ogive
70gr IMR4198
#1. N/A
#2. 2795fps
#3. 2780fps
#4. 2809fps
#5. 2813fps
I believe these bullets are capable of much better groups. I know I could get better, but every shot is a dead deer.”