Tailor made cartridges?

[daboyce67]

First let me say hi to everyone. New member here.

Here's my question. We all hear that the 180 gr is the tailor made size for the .30 caliber, even though it can accommodate bullets from 110-220 gr. And, I believe, the 130 gr. is ideal for the .277, 100 gr. for the .257, etc.

As I understand it, if you load with a bullet on the light end of a given caliber's range, the bullets are too short to be efficient (lacking sufficient S.D.?). And on the high end of the range, there is the sacrifice of flat trajectory and velocity. Somewhere in this maximum accuracy must also come into play.

Assuming these are true, and I'm certainly not questioning it, let me ask - is there a mathematical method of determining, based on a rifles given bore size, what size bullet comes closest to the ideal size? If so, please provide. If not, is there some other method that can be used?

 

[JD338]

daboyce67

Welcome to the forum. I am not aware of a formula but I tend to go with the heavier bullets on a given caliber for the Ballistic Coefficient, the bullets ability to slice through the air.
Bullet design and weight will determine how it will perform on game. Depending on caliber. For Deer size game, the smaller calibers will use the heavier bullets. Large calibers would do best with the lighter weight bullets.
For the middle calibers, 25 cal-30-33 cal, the middle weight bullets work very well.
Again, bullet design will be an important part of how a given bullet will perform.

JD338

 

[Antelope_Sniper]

This is one of those questions of life that probably gives itself more to art then science.