what if any advantage SWC Vs RN bullets

They make nice round holes to score better?
Just my $0.02 worth
JD

I can think of one advantage. If you're a bullet caster you can get more bullets out of a pound of lead if you cast 200 as opposed to 230. But that doesn't have anything to do with the type, only the weight.

One disadvantage of the SWC design is that some autoloaders don't like them. With a RN bullet there's not that flat edge to catch when it's chambering.

Love SWC bullets in revolvers. But I like TC or RN bullets in autos.

The bigger hole in the target is the big selling point to the SWC design. I have no problems in any of my guns, but I know many people have had problems with them feeding.

The SWC was developed to produce a neater hole in paper targets.
RN profile rips the paper.

That's my story & I'm stickin to it!
YMMV

Both shoot well for me. I like RMRs 230 TP Round nose. I also like MBCs 200 gr SWC. (I prefer (coated) the BHN 12 softer ones, but they also have them in BHN 18)

The main advantage of SWCs is that they cut cleaner holes in paper targets.
(assuming your gun will feed them, mine do with no problems-Colt Commander mid 60s vintage, Citadel 1911)

I like 5gr of HP38/231 for either one. (1st choice, lots of close seconds)

Probably all about the perfect hole. You notice the clean cut if the backboard is a harder material than flimsy cardboard. It's like it was made with a hole punch. On shoot and see targets there is no real difference,

Detritus said:

what if any advantage SWC Vs RN bullets ... 200gr Semi-Wadcutter over a 230gr round nose bullets in .45acp.

is there a difference in inherent accuracy? easier to make PF? economics (price)

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If you look at the comparison picture above of MBC bullets, the 200 gr SWC bullet is essentially a 230 gr RN with some lead removed from the nose leaving the contact points for reliable feeding. Various Dardas/MasterCast/MBC/ZCast 200 gr SWC bullets have reliably fed/chambered in all the 1911s I have loaded for (Kimbers, SA, RIA, Citadel, Sig, etc.).

I think 200 gr SWC is inherently more accurate than 230 gr RN due to having the same length of bullet base/bearing surface that engages the rifling but with better weight distribution (more weight towards bullet base) for greater rotational stability in flight.

As to making power factor (PF), to make 165 PF, you need to push 230 gr bullet to 718 fps while you need to push 200 gr bullet to 825 fps which is very doable with many popular powders. One downside with 200 gr bullet is with some temperature sensitive powders like W231/HP-38, you would need to use more powder to make the same PF on colder days and many match shooters use 170 PF for their match loads for this reason.

An example is while 5.5 gr of W231/HP-38 would make PF on warmer days, you may need to use 5.8 gr on colder winter days to make the same PF with 200 gr bullet. With heavier 230 gr bullet, this is less of an issue and you can always use less temperature sensitive powders like Titegroup for 200 gr bullet.

And of course lighter 200 gr bullet will cost less than 230 gr bullet.

Won't guarantee the timeline, but I think the full wadcutter was developed first, to be used in target shooting to get that nice round hole. Then, to make the bullet design useful for other purpose, including hunting and maybe better feeding in semiautos, more lead was added to the bullet ahead of the old flat profile, to add weight for more stability and still maintain a flat metplate for a tearing wound in game. A lot of developers, especially Elmer Keith, designed their LSWC's with very wide metplates to really give the bullet a kick when hunting.

Fatcpa, you are correct in your timeline.

I use HBWC in my .38, just for poking' holes in paper, 780 FPS is all I need. Why bother with semantics?

I thought we were talking about SWC vs RN bullets.

Detritus said:

what if any advantage SWC Vs RN bullets

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If you have hunting plans, the Keith-style SWC is heads & heels better over any round nose bullet.

possibly Goofy thing to do but... had 5 or 6 plated 200gr SWC projectiles in a box of random reloading stuff my dad handed me about a week ago, so I loaded three of them into deprimed cases, loaded them into a mag and racked all three through

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Not googy at all, makes good sense to me.

"...more bullets out of a pound of lead..." 30.4 at 230. 35 at 200. Golly. snicker.
Little easier to get an RN to feed properly. No difference at all if your pistol is correctly set up for SWC's.

I'm a big fan of Missouri Bullets' 200 gr SWC.

Easy to load, feed just fine in all of my .45acp handguns (most of which are 1911s.) And they put a nice clean hole in a paper target.

In a pinch, I can also use them to load .45LC cartridges as well.