.300 vs .338, B.C. vs wieght ?

[Kalashnikov]

I shoot a 300 RUM with bullets that have very high B.C (.505 or greater). However, I see the various .338's are often preffered for long range shooting, I would assume because of the higher bullet weights and not B.C., which is lower than the heavy .308 bullets.

What is more important for long range shooting, B.C. or bullet weight, and why ?

This may decide whether or not I rechamber to 300 RUM or .338 RUM.

 

[Michael Eichele]

[ QUOTE ]
What is more important for long range shooting, B.C. or bullet weight, and why ?


[/ QUOTE ]

It depends on what youre trying to accomplish. If you need to kill an elk at 1300 yards, you will need the heaviest of 338 bullets with a high BC. If all you want to do is kill paper at 2000 yards or varmints, you need the highes BC possible. If you take a 308" bullet and a 338" bullet each weighing 200 grains with the same form factor, the 308" bullet will win out every time. The reason some shooters prefer the big 338's is due to the fact that to get the higher BC's for extreem range shooting, the bullet weight must go up. With these two factors, it makes a very deadly long ramge BIG game round.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[Wild_Bill]

Hi i would hate to disapoint you .500 is a low BC have a look at the Sierra 240gr 30 cal bullet it has a BC of .711 and the 300gr 338 MatchKing has a BC of.768. The 338's also retain more energy than the 30 calibre projectiles at the longer ranges like 1000 yards and beyond.

If you have a standard 300 Ultra mag try the 220gr Sierra MatchKings with a BC of .629 they are the heaviest projectile that will stabalise in your 10 twist barrel some may stabalise the 240 but a 1 in 9.5 to 9 twist is better and the 9 is recomended but at the velocity of the ultra mags the 9.5 twist will stabalise them fine.

Hope this helps dont worry about them being match bullets they perform very well on game at the long distances. Now if you step up to Wildcat projectiles made in Canada they are even heavier having projectiles up to 300gr in 30 cal and extreemly high BC's aswell.

The only hunting projectiles worth looking at in 30 cal in the ultra mag are the 200gr Accubonds.

Cheers Bill
Australia

 

[Michael Eichele]

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The only hunting projectiles worth looking at in 30 cal in the ultra mag are the 200gr Accubonds.


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I have had good experiances with the 200 AB. For a hunting bullet it's BC isnt bad either. I get .590 out of my 300 RUM. For deer sized critters though, I use the 178 AMAX. I get a BC high enough in my rifle with that bullet that most shooter here would call me full of crap. But, it is what it is. Its also a solid 3/8 MOA performer day after day to boot! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

BTW, the AMAX was created as a match bullet but Hornaday does recomend them for hunting lighter big game such as deer, antelope ect...

 

[screech]

The reason I went with a 338 was the 300gr. matchking. It is simply a beast if you run the ballistics for a factory bullet. Not a wildcat. wildcat makes some long range hamering bullets though.

 

[Jon A]

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The reason I went with a 338 was the 300gr. matchking. It is simply a beast if you run the ballistics for a factory bullet.

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I think this is the biggest advantage the 338 has had for a long time--the 300 SMK is much better ballistically than the 240, even a bigger difference than the advertised BC's show. 30 Cal just hasn't had anything that would come close.

Now that Richard is up and running in both calibers, much of that's going to be obsolete as 30 cal will get a huge jump in performance and improvements will be made in 338 as well.

 

[Kalashnikov]

Thanks for the great info.
Being relatively new to long range ballistics, I am learning a lot. It would seem that I should be looking at much heavier bullets than I have been using. I am intrigued with the high BC of 200-220 grains in a 30. And you have enlightened me on the .338....me likes what I am hearing!!

Paul

 

[screech]

No prob we are hear to help and learn.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Heavy 7mm and .264" have great BC's as well, but there little smaller diameter limits there use on bigger game at LR. I like 7mm's for deer, I dont think theres much better. However, for LR critters bigger then deer, I like the .30 cal. My dad is going to be building a .338 EDGE so will be playing with the .338" cal and 300g SMK. I like to think if a bullet has a BC of .6 or greater, it can be classified as a LR bullet. Theres lots of them out there.