Rifle/Bullet weight

[Guy Miner]

When I had but one rifle on hand for varmints & deer, a 6mm Remington, I had two loads:

75 gr hollowpoint for varmints
100 gr soft point for deer (sometimes the 105 gr Speer)

 

[Guy Miner]

Over the years I've tried many different combinations, but have settled on my standard loads:

.25-06, 115 gr
.30-30, 170 gr
.30-06, 165 gr
.375, 260 gr

Different game could make me shift my loads, but it sure is nice to have a rifle, scope, and load, always dialed in to work well together. For instance, I know that if I grab a box of ammo, and my .25-06 and head out, it's sighted in at 300 yards and is easy to hit with out to 400 or a bit more. Same stuff, every time... I like that. Keeps it simple.

Over the years though, I do admit that I've piled up a fairly good inventory of all sorts of different weights and types of bullets. Sometimes I'll shoot some of the others, just for fun, or just to burn them up.

Guy

 

[Anonymous]

Different game could make me shift my loads, but it sure is nice to have a rifle, scope, and load, always dialed in to work well together. For instance, I know that if I grab a box of ammo, and my .25-06 and head out, it's sighted in at 300 yards and is easy to hit with out to 400 or a bit more. Same stuff, every time... I like that. Keeps it simple.

+1
That's my philosophy Guy- just keep it simple. Rifle is always dialed in, the right ammo is always on hand...no thinking about it at all.

Once I settle on a load, I shoot up everything else. No need to clog up the works with something that I'm not going to use. On rifles that I have two of, I label them for what they're zeroed for, but ultimately I work to get those two guns to a single load to further reduce confusion.

 

[cloverleaf]

Well - I only have one rifle, (oh - crap, that's not true any more- there's that 243 safe queen but they are so much the same) So...since I only have one rifle - the 250 Savage, I have two loads:

75 gr V-Max
100 gr BT

Interestingly enough- they are both running about the same velocity- @2900 fps. CL

 

[Blkram]

I like and use one load per rifle as well. The rifle will always be sighted in for that load.

Where I have multiple rifles in a given cartridge or caliber, I will stick to a given load for each rifle.

The exception to this will be the Dangerous Game Rifles; the 376 Steyr which will have two 260gr loads with the AB and Solids, and the 416 Taylor which will have two 350gr loads with the TSX and Banded Solids. The two loads will be developed so that they will shoot to the same point of aim.

17 Mach II; Hornady 17gr
22 LR; 10/22 Blazer 40gr and Win 69A CCI Short
250 Savage; Win 100gr
250 AI; 110gr AB
260 Rem; Federal 140gr SGK
6.5 Creedmoor; Hornady 143gr ELDX
270 Wby; 110gr TTSX
284 Win; 140gr A-Frame or 150gr NP???
280 Rem; Federal 140gr AB
7MM STW; Federal 160gr AB
30-30; Federal 170gr NP
300 WSM; 180gr AB
338 Federal; Federal 210gr NP
338-06; 215gr SGK
356 Win; Win 200gr
358 Win; 220gr Speer Hot-Cor
375 Win; Win 200gr
376 Steyr; 260gr AB
416 Taylor; 350gr TSX
41 Rem Mag; Win 240gr Platinum Tip

 

[Europe]

great replies and information

Gil, I think you have it covered

Hodgeman, Gil, Dan--it warms my heart to see the 30-30 war horse still being used

Charles, the 9.3 x 64 with a 286 woodleigh, will get it done!!!!

Guy and others, I am a little surprised at the light bullet weight you each use in the 06. We used the 180 and it seemed to work on all animals from whitetail to moose

Dr Mike, you also seem to like heavy to caliber bullets, as we did. At least we were always told our bullet weight selection was heavy to caliber, at least compared to some---ie, previous mention about the 06

The gentlemen on this side of the pond dont have the number of firearms each of you have and therefore they will shoot different weights in the same rifle.

 

[SJB358]

I like the heavier bullets for caliber, but quite honestly, if you aren't shooting far to where BC matters, alot of the lighter bullets such as the GS Customs, Barnes, Nosler E-Tip's, Partitions, Accubonds, A-Frames and similar will end up weighing as much as the older style heavier for caliber bullets and probably gain a touch of trajectory for max point blank range.

Sectional Density matters less and less with the bullets you see these days. Still doesn't mean you should totally ignore it, but it is a game changer. Fact is, it seems like you almost need to drop down in bullet weight to get good terminal effects with the heavier, yet lighter sorta bullets.

You hear more an more of folks using 130 grain mono's in fairly large rifles, we have one of our own that runs 168's in his 300 RUM and loves it. Early on I would have thought different but I hardly ever have a problem with penetration with bullets, might as well take the speed and drive them fast.

Cool topic.

 

[Europe]

and before we head back out to sea, let me respond Scotty.

I agree. Without a doubt many thing have improved, which includes bullet manufacturing, as well as "understanding" what the bullet does. Nobody is any better at understanding what each bullet does, or will do than you Scotty and I think that is not just commendable but important. I think, a lot of us older folks when we were your age felt "bigger was better" and possibly stopped right there in our analogy process. We actual discussed this at one of the meetings with the older gentlemen here recently and almost everyone agrees with what you just posted---yet, if they could hunt today they also admit they would probably use the same thing they always used.

Thank you Scotty, as you make an excellent point.

However, I still think I would use the 300 Norma Oryx and solids in the 375 H & H if hunting Cape Buffalo today. Is it needed probably not, but some habits are hard to change

 

[DrMike]

As a certified codger (duffer(?), curmudgeon (?)), I grew up with "heavy for caliber" firmly implanted in my brain. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks, though not impossible. I primarily use 250 grain ABs in my 9.3X64 and 130 E-Tips in my 270 WSM. These bullets will just flat "git 'er done."

 

[c. schutte]

While not at antique status like the good doctor................. I was taught to hunt/shoot by both my dad and grandfather who were old school to say the least. They were always in the "Plenty" camp. Plenty of enough gun and plenty of enough bullet. Not super heavy but nowhere near light.

Their are two exceptions I can think of. One is a .270 with a 1:10 twist, for whitetail it should be fed 130 grain bullets. The other exception is the 9.3x64, I feed it the 250 grain AB's because it is a great combination of speed and weight for deer/elk. Probably bear too.

 

[Anonymous]

I've got admit, if I lived somewhere that limited the number of rifles I could own I might be more tempted to vary bullet weights and types to extend the flexibility of any particular piece.

Modern bullets are something of a conundrum- we've lived by the "heavy for caliber bullets at moderated velocity" dictum for ages and it just flat worked...right up until bullets got so good at controlling expansion and stuff like mono-metals.

With those tougher bullets, heavy for caliber and moderate speed doesn't help- it hurts performance. I've seen a couple of those that simply penciled through and failed to expand at all. I've dug one out of a friend's moose that could (without exaggeration) be wiped off and loaded again for another trip down the barrel.

It seems the tougher the bullet, the better they perform pushed hard. That's why in some loadings those tough bullets just don't make sense. For instance, the 7-08, 308, 7x57, etc at those mild speeds cup and cores do just fine- no need to reinvent the wheel. When you see realistic impact speeds in the low 2k range- the standbys like the Corelokt, the Hot Cor and similar were perfected a generation ago.

It seems a lot of folks like to "over bullet" for those cartridges.

 

[SJB358]

Don't get me wrong, I'd still run some 175 RN's in the 7x57 for fun and knowing I won't be shooting long, but most of the time I've settled down and like how the medium weights work for the most part. Heck, it's getting so a 175 grain 7mm bullet is a light one these days!!

 

[preacher]

Multiple loads per any rifle I have, properly zeroed for the load I choose for the Hunt. Only exceptions are the rifles I have/have had that only shot "one load well". I like to read John Taylor's glowing report on the .375 H&H but when I used one, I carefully zeroed the load I wanted to use and "if" the heavier bullet hit at same zero, wonderful, if not, still wonderful-wouldn't use it. A good 270gr is all that's needed anyhow.
I found out early that Life is too short, opportunities/finances too few and Obligations/Responsibilities too many and varied for me to hunt/shoot the way I wanted to! So, I had to be creative and hustle in order to do " a lot" of what I loved from age 13 to 50. Now, at 64, while not in the "Twilight of my years" I am definitely in the "mid afternoon", ha. I "should" have found out in my early 20s ( after I had some good Life experiences i.e work ethic, Military Service, wife & kids) that I had inherited a gazillion dollars. Then I could razzle dazzle my wife, educate my kids properly and still have time to hunt the World, accumulate warehouses of rifles ( ah, a few shotguns and pistols) and reload/shoot 6 days a week...church on Sunday, always!

 

[SJB358]

Multiple loads per any rifle I have, properly zeroed for the load I choose for the Hunt. Only exceptions are the rifles I have/have had that only shot "one load well". I like to read John Taylor's glowing report on the .375 H&H but when I used one, I carefully zeroed the load I wanted to use and "if" the heavier bullet hit at same zero, wonderful, if not, still wonderful-wouldn't use it. A good 270gr is all that's needed anyhow.
I found out early that Life is too short, opportunities/finances too few and Obligations/Responsibilities too many and varied for me to hunt/shoot the way I wanted to! So, I had to be creative and hustle in order to do " a lot" of what I loved from age 13 to 50. Now, at 64, while not in the "Twilight of my years" I am definitely in the "mid afternoon", ha. I "should" have found out in my early 20s ( after I had some good Life experiences i.e work ethic, Military Service, wife & kids) that I had inherited a gazillion dollars. Then I could razzle dazzle my wife, educate my kids properly and still have time to hunt the World, accumulate warehouses of rifles ( ah, a few shotguns and pistols) and reload/shoot 6 days a week...church on Sunday, always!

I like the way you think buddy!

 

[1100 Remington Man]

Remington 700 .223 Rem. 53gr V-Max Hornady
Remington 700 6mm Rem. Varmint's to Antelope 85gr Sierra HPBT, Deer 100gr Hornady but I just picked up some 95gr Noslers BT to try.
Winchester .264 Win Mag 120gr Nosler BT, has been my Antelope & Deer load. I plan on moving up to a heavier bullet so I have a back up to my 300 H & H
Winchester 300 H & H 180gr Nosler AB for any hoofed game in North America.

 

[idahohunter8]

223 - 53 vmax
270 - 129 Barnes LRX, 130 Partitions
375 HH - 250 Barnes TTX

 

[wildgene]

...hmmm, appears I'm the "odd man out". Only rifle I have 'one' load for is the .325 WSM, the .530 B.C. 220gr. Sierra SBT @2800fps takes it from the 'ho-hum', mediocre class of most of the 200gr (.400 B.C.) 'book loads' to very comparable to the 8mm RM/ .338 loads. Everything else, even the .223, has @ least a varmint or 'toy' load & a 'serious' hunting load. While I've managed to get 'match' loads in the .223 down into the 'teens', a 50gr. TNT over some TAC is consistently in the 1/4 MOA area, & costs about 1/2 of a match load. A light, fast varmint load & heavy hunting load for the .243, .25 WSM's & Creedmoor, toy loads, mule deer loads, & elk loads for the 7's & .300's. First time I loaded some 100gr. Sierra Varminteers for my 7mm RM I figured they'd never 'shoot', but they really surprised me, grouping as well or better than my hunting loads. They & the .30cal 110's allow for a lot of practice shooting over the off season, & have a pretty good 'near miss blast radius'. I usually pack a few rounds in my pocket for shooting the heads off grouse during hunting season...

 

[RaySendero]

I like and use one load per rifle as well. The rifle will always be sighted in for that load.

Where I have multiple rifles in a given cartridge or caliber, I will stick to a given load for each rifle.

The exception to this will be the Dangerous Game Rifles; .....

Yes - That is my one and only exception, too.

I worked up 2 reloads for my 458 WM.
Took me 3 years of tinkering to get these 2 loads to:
1) Shoot to the same POI and then
2) Shooting to the same POA.

My work finally paid dividends - See:

Two shot 1/16" CTC at 50 yds with irons sights.
Two different reloads:
1 is a 450 gr Swift-"A"
Other is a 450 gr Barnes flat nose solid.

 

[Blkram]

Ray, nicely done!

I hope to achieve the same results!

 

[sask boy]

Ray that is some fine shooting . I love it when a plan comes together :wink:.

Blessings,
Dan