4090,
I wrote a little about the badman bullets here
http://www.rossi-rifleman.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4578
I may give them another try one day, but I really need a good reason to do so....like you telling me that they were super accurate with your load!
I had put a scope on the gun at the time I was shooting these, and while the target did not look so good at 100 yards. I was able to hit some fist size rocks on the 115 yard berm, maybe 50% hits. So that aint bad, but should be better. But like I said, I think the problem was my powder load and I did not have enough bullets (or incentive) to load any different. I was hoping, that I could throw them into a case with anything behind them, and they would like MAGIC, be the most accurate thing I had ever shot in my entire life! That never works but I can dream, can't I.
It seems that this bullet is "aimed" at cowboy style shooting where the targets are not all that far away, but are steel and require a little weight to knock over(?). But the nose profile is such because reliable feeding is much more important than anything else for this style of shooting. One hang up and you loose.
You hit the nail squarely on the head with the "best compromise" statement. EVERYTHING is usually a compromise of some sort. And for the ease of use and clean up afterwards, and the good accuracy. That Lee 125 coated bullet is hard to beat for a plinking round, in the Rossi.
I shoot very little black powder. Maybe 50 rounds every 4-5 years. I have some 45 colt and 32-20 cartridges made up with it just to show young folks what it use to be like. I hate clean up afterwards!