Bullet weight selection

[mwkelso]

How do you choose the weight of your bullet?
I'm shooting a 300 win mag and have seen a lot of variations of preferred bullet weights. Does the majority of the choice depend on what the barrel likes?
I'm wanting to avoid getting too heavy of a bullet so I don't limit myself to shorter ranges for hunting, and likewise for too light of a bullet.

 

[BoomFlop]

Heavier, high BC bullets will actually allow you to shoot further as the will maintain velocity at further distance.

Probably by far the most popular bullet on this site in 300 Win is the 215 gr Berger.

Steve

 

[FEENIX]

Heavier, high BC bullets will actually allow you to shoot further as the will maintain velocity at further distance.

Probably by far the most popular bullet on this site in 300 Win is the 215 gr Berger.

Steve

^^^This!^^^

 

[J E Custom]

How do you choose the weight of your bullet?
I'm shooting a 300 win mag and have seen a lot of variations of preferred bullet weights. Does the majority of the choice depend on what the barrel likes?
I'm wanting to avoid getting too heavy of a bullet so I don't limit myself to shorter ranges for hunting, and likewise for too light of a bullet.

A lot depends on the barrel weight and the stock strength. If it is a factory sporter, I would recommend starting with 165 s or 180 grain bullets. you can always try heavier bullets if you need to shoot extended distances (600 to 1000+yards).

Mid range bullet weights are more forgiving in many cases and will do everything needed within reason.

J E CUSTOM

 

[LVJ76]

Up to what distance are you shooting? what is your max distance for hunting?

Boomflop is correct, the heavies with high BC's will fly further

 

[YZ-80]

For me, the choice depends upon what I'm hunting and what I think is going to shoot well. I like "flat" and I like "speed" so a lot of times, I'm biased toward lighter bullets. I hunt varmints and deer so for each rifle, I develop a load for each application. For a long time, the 130 Accubond was my go-to " heavy" in my 6.5X47. That all changed quick when I got a box of 143 ELD-Xs!

Cost is also a factor. Sometimes, if a heavier bullet shoots well and is cheap, I won't bother developing a lighter bullet for varmints and just shoot the heavy. I've been getting Nosler Ballistic tips really cheap and they shoot great out of my .243 & 25-06, so I'll Varmint with the 95 and 115 Grainers, respectively.

 

[mwkelso]

Up to what distance are you shooting? what is your max distance for hunting?

Boomflop is correct, the heavies with high BC's will fly further

Currently the max that I am comfortable with and consistently accurate is 500. I am wanting to start working out to the 1,000 mark next.

 

[mwkelso]

For me, the choice depends upon what I'm hunting and what I think is going to shoot well. I like "flat" and I like "speed" so a lot of times, I'm biased toward lighter bullets. I hunt varmints and deer so for each rifle, I develop a load for each application. For a long time, the 130 Accubond was my go-to " heavy" in my 6.5X47. That all changed quick when I got a box of 143 ELD-Xs!

Cost is also a factor. Sometimes, if a heavier bullet shoots well and is cheap, I won't bother developing a lighter bullet for varmints and just shoot the heavy. I've been getting Nosler Ballistic tips really cheap and they shoot great out of my .243 & 25-06, so I'll Varmint with the 95 and 115 Grainers, respectively.

I seem to have the same bias with my .270, but it doesn't see shooting outside of 3-400 yards very often. Not that it can't, it's just that the deer are usually closer.
It shoots 130gr Partitions very well. They fly faster and have more energy than the 150gr, which seem to take a dive much quicker than the 130gr. I haven't tried anything 140gr, but I do plan on that later down the road.
Just a note here, the 150gr being compared to are soft point core-lokt vs a 130gr partition. The ballistic coefficient between the two is a huge difference. I don't mean to point the performance difference only at bullet weight.

 

[codyadams]

If the max I am going to use a gun is 300-400 yards, I will lean towards lighter and fast. In a 300 win mag, around a 150-165 for instance. Though I wouldn't use a 300 win mag for 300-400 yards on anything other than big bear. For these distances, a 308 or 30-06 will suffice, or a .270, non magnum 6.5 or some flavor, etc.

If I want to shoot farther, out to 1000 or more, I get the heaviest highest bc bullet available that has not started down the far side of the bell curve for the given cartridge. In a 300 win mag, along the lines of a 215-240 grain or so, in a .308, a 185-215, in a 6.5x284 a 140-160, in a 270 win, a 150-170, and so on. Though in some cases, these may require tighter twist barrels.

Just depends what it will be used for. Inside 400 yards, wind isn't as much of an issue, neither is retained energy, all centerfire hunting cartridges will have plenty, but quicker shots/longest point blank range is.

 

[Caveman0101]

190gr ABLRs, shoot as far as you want and find something else to concern yourself with.

 

[Clem Bronkoski]

Getting back to the original posts your bullet selection should not be limited to and you should not get hung up on BC. The first thing to consider is your rifle's rate of twist. Normally the faster your twist rate the heavier (hence longer) bullet you can use.
I had a Rem 700 in .270 Win that just loved 130 gr bullets. But trying to feed it 150 grainers was an effort in futility. It would not shoot them well no matter what I tried.

 

[mwkelso]

Getting back to the original posts your bullet selection should not be limited to and you should not get hung up on BC. The first thing to consider is your rifle's rate of twist. Normally the faster your twist rate the heavier (hence longer) bullet you can use.

From my understanding, and please correct this if incorrect, is that a higher twist rate better stabilizes the bullet's flight, and that bullets need increased stability as their length increases.

I'm not too hung up on BC. I have a thread in the LRH+S section seeking clarification on that. Still plenty to learn there for me... Mainly for drag models though (G1/G7)

 

[LVJ76]

Currently the max that I am comfortable with and consistently accurate is 500. I am wanting to start working out to the 1,000 mark next.

Up to 500 yds bullets in the 180's will work great, for further than that I woukd go with a 215gr or 230gr high BC bullet.

 

[Clem Bronkoski]

I too have a lot to learn. My post above was based purely on experience with muzzleloaders and what I've learned reading and with my rifles. I have a bunch of rifles and reload for everything. I strive for the utmost accuracy. And except for my lever rifles, if I can't get a rifle to shoot MOA I dump it.