Grooved/Ringed Bullets?

[Flewis]

Can this type of bullet be used with the .300 Fireball? I have to admit I don't understand the idea behind the grooves. Seems like it provides less surface area for the brass to grip which would create a greater chance of bullet setback during chambering in a semi-auto.

Are they intended for bolt guns only?

What happens if your seating depth puts the end of the brass in the middle of one of the grooves?

http://www.barnesbullets.com/images/TippedTSXBoxandBullets.jpg

[Pitt300]

They can be used.
There is less "bearing surface" w/these bullets.
They are also EXTREMELY expensive & if your shooting them subsonic all you are after is the heavy mass @ 1050-1100fps for max energy.

[amafrank]

the grooving actually decreases the surface area in contact with the rifling and decreases friction and drag. Additionally it creates a better seal for the gasses by a means called turbulant sealing. Any gas escaping past one groove swirls around and blocks further flow because of this turbulance. That system has been used on many different items in the past with the mortar shell being a well known example.
There is no problem with bullet seating in the 300 fireball since you shouldn't crimp this round anyway. If you are shooting a semi auto you can adjust the bullet length to insure you crimp on one of the high points. The accuracy difference in seating shorter probably won't be noticable in the semi.
The idea behind these bullets is that a solid copper projo is less likely to break up in dangerous game and lose the energy thats needed to stop the animal. They are known as solids for that reason. If you load these in the 300 fireball at subsonic velocity you will not likely see any expansion of the type shown in the picture. I've seen some fantastic expansion of the 220gr matchkings when fired at steel plate and other hard targets up to 100yds away but against soft targets like water jugs or phone books or game animals the expansion is negligable.

Hope that helps
Frank