Selecting the "right" bullet for reloading

[SilkOnTheDrySide]

Practice and know your rifle.  Learn how to calculate ballistics and read wind.

It took me missing two bears in the Wenaha to get serious about my shooting.

Now I won’t even send one unless we are shooting 600+.  Ammo and bullets are too expensive 😆

I’d start there.  Download a ballistic program, buy a kestrel and learn how to dial.  Throw those ballistic dials away.


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Man, I'd do just the opposite except for the go shooting part. Ditch the gear and just go shoot stuff.

For bullets I'm on a lead free kick right now for all my hunting guns. I've had great luck with Barnes bullets, but I don't shoot nearly as many big game animals as a lot of guys do. I typically use the TTSX bullets though which solve a lot of the problems that the TSX and original X bullets had. I shoot a lot smaller stuff like porcupines to test bullets though and I've had some pretty spectacular results on those.

I'm really loving the Hammer bullets for the last 2 years. They shoot as well as Bergers do in all my guns with less load development and higher velocity compared to other similar weight bullets. I've yet to have one fail to expand in all my completely unscientific testing with impact velocities as low as 1650 fps, as long as they were properly stabilized. The same goes for the Berger bullets I tested too though.

For lead core bullets it's really hard to beat Accubonds. Those were my go to hunting bullet before I went lead free and they always performed and shot really well for me.

If you are shooting long range, especially long range at animals I think you’ll save yourself a lot of headache and frustration if you learn to dial.

Using hold over at varying elevations at range is just being plain lazy IMO.

I’ve been on that side of the equation—and since I’ve gone this way I realized how bad it was.

I’m not going to get into a bullet discussion...but I’m shooting a 28 Nosler with Hand Loaded 195 Berger’s, and been happy with the performance on game I’ve killed.


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[theleo]

Practice and know your rifle.  Learn how to calculate ballistics and read wind.

It took me missing two bears in the Wenaha to get serious about my shooting.

Now I won’t even send one unless we are shooting 600+.  Ammo and bullets are too expensive 😆

I’d start there.  Download a ballistic program, buy a kestrel and learn how to dial.  Throw those ballistic dials away.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Man, I'd do just the opposite except for the go shooting part. Ditch the gear and just go shoot stuff.

For bullets I'm on a lead free kick right now for all my hunting guns. I've had great luck with Barnes bullets, but I don't shoot nearly as many big game animals as a lot of guys do. I typically use the TTSX bullets though which solve a lot of the problems that the TSX and original X bullets had. I shoot a lot smaller stuff like porcupines to test bullets though and I've had some pretty spectacular results on those.

I'm really loving the Hammer bullets for the last 2 years. They shoot as well as Bergers do in all my guns with less load development and higher velocity compared to other similar weight bullets. I've yet to have one fail to expand in all my completely unscientific testing with impact velocities as low as 1650 fps, as long as they were properly stabilized. The same goes for the Berger bullets I tested too though.

For lead core bullets it's really hard to beat Accubonds. Those were my go to hunting bullet before I went lead free and they always performed and shot really well for me.

Using hold over at varying elevations at range is just being plain lazy IMO.

And some have the opinion that guys that are shooting long distance and using every piece of technology out there are lazy as well.

Too lazy to develope a skill? Yeah, there's an app for that!

[jasnt]

Sometimes I dial and hold

[yorketransport]

Practice and know your rifle.  Learn how to calculate ballistics and read wind.

It took me missing two bears in the Wenaha to get serious about my shooting.

Now I won’t even send one unless we are shooting 600+.  Ammo and bullets are too expensive 😆

I’d start there.  Download a ballistic program, buy a kestrel and learn how to dial.  Throw those ballistic dials away.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Man, I'd do just the opposite except for the go shooting part. Ditch the gear and just go shoot stuff.

For bullets I'm on a lead free kick right now for all my hunting guns. I've had great luck with Barnes bullets, but I don't shoot nearly as many big game animals as a lot of guys do. I typically use the TTSX bullets though which solve a lot of the problems that the TSX and original X bullets had. I shoot a lot smaller stuff like porcupines to test bullets though and I've had some pretty spectacular results on those.

I'm really loving the Hammer bullets for the last 2 years. They shoot as well as Bergers do in all my guns with less load development and higher velocity compared to other similar weight bullets. I've yet to have one fail to expand in all my completely unscientific testing with impact velocities as low as 1650 fps, as long as they were properly stabilized. The same goes for the Berger bullets I tested too though.

For lead core bullets it's really hard to beat Accubonds. Those were my go to hunting bullet before I went lead free and they always performed and shot really well for me.

If you are shooting long range, especially long range at animals I think you’ll save yourself a lot of headache and frustration if you learn to dial.

Using hold over at varying elevations at range is just being plain lazy IMO.

I’ve been on that side of the equation—and since I’ve gone this way I realized how bad it was.

I’m not going to get into a bullet discussion...but I’m shooting a 28 Nosler with Hand Loaded 195 Berger’s, and been happy with the performance on game I’ve killed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He’s only planning to shoot 3-400 yards. There’s no reason to invest a bunch of money in equipment that’s really unnecessary at that range. With a little practice it’s easy to make consistent hits on kill zone sized targets using simple hold overs and a duplex reticle. Keep it simple and affordable and people will shoot more.

Sometimes I dial and hold

That’s when you know you’re having fun. When you’re out of adjustments and you have to dial down the magnification on a second focal plane scope so you can get enough holdover. 

[SilkOnTheDrySide]

Practice and know your rifle.  Learn how to calculate ballistics and read wind.

It took me missing two bears in the Wenaha to get serious about my shooting.

Now I won’t even send one unless we are shooting 600+.  Ammo and bullets are too expensive 😆

I’d start there.  Download a ballistic program, buy a kestrel and learn how to dial.  Throw those ballistic dials away.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Man, I'd do just the opposite except for the go shooting part. Ditch the gear and just go shoot stuff.

For bullets I'm on a lead free kick right now for all my hunting guns. I've had great luck with Barnes bullets, but I don't shoot nearly as many big game animals as a lot of guys do. I typically use the TTSX bullets though which solve a lot of the problems that the TSX and original X bullets had. I shoot a lot smaller stuff like porcupines to test bullets though and I've had some pretty spectacular results on those.

I'm really loving the Hammer bullets for the last 2 years. They shoot as well as Bergers do in all my guns with less load development and higher velocity compared to other similar weight bullets. I've yet to have one fail to expand in all my completely unscientific testing with impact velocities as low as 1650 fps, as long as they were properly stabilized. The same goes for the Berger bullets I tested too though.

For lead core bullets it's really hard to beat Accubonds. Those were my go to hunting bullet before I went lead free and they always performed and shot really well for me.

Using hold over at varying elevations at range is just being plain lazy IMO.

And some have the opinion that guys that are shooting long distance and using every piece of technology out there are lazy as well.

Too lazy to develope a skill? Yeah, there's an app for that!

Quick...710 yards at 5100’ elevation.

Hold over is a 5” difference in my high BC bullet from my sight in point to that elevation.

Most “average” guns will be more.

Add in inherent firearm accuracy of 1 MOA, and you are looking at up to a 12” difference with a perfect shot.

Miss or marginal hit.

You can call long range shooting lazy all you want.  But I work harder on firearm performance in a weekend then guys do all season, and really encourage others to do the same.

I’ve been there.  Don’t want to see others make the same mistakes.




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[SilkOnTheDrySide]

Practice and know your rifle.  Learn how to calculate ballistics and read wind.

It took me missing two bears in the Wenaha to get serious about my shooting.

Now I won’t even send one unless we are shooting 600+.  Ammo and bullets are too expensive 😆

I’d start there.  Download a ballistic program, buy a kestrel and learn how to dial.  Throw those ballistic dials away.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Man, I'd do just the opposite except for the go shooting part. Ditch the gear and just go shoot stuff.

For bullets I'm on a lead free kick right now for all my hunting guns. I've had great luck with Barnes bullets, but I don't shoot nearly as many big game animals as a lot of guys do. I typically use the TTSX bullets though which solve a lot of the problems that the TSX and original X bullets had. I shoot a lot smaller stuff like porcupines to test bullets though and I've had some pretty spectacular results on those.

I'm really loving the Hammer bullets for the last 2 years. They shoot as well as Bergers do in all my guns with less load development and higher velocity compared to other similar weight bullets. I've yet to have one fail to expand in all my completely unscientific testing with impact velocities as low as 1650 fps, as long as they were properly stabilized. The same goes for the Berger bullets I tested too though.

For lead core bullets it's really hard to beat Accubonds. Those were my go to hunting bullet before I went lead free and they always performed and shot really well for me.

If you are shooting long range, especially long range at animals I think you’ll save yourself a lot of headache and frustration if you learn to dial.

Using hold over at varying elevations at range is just being plain lazy IMO.

I’ve been on that side of the equation—and since I’ve gone this way I realized how bad it was.

I’m not going to get into a bullet discussion...but I’m shooting a 28 Nosler with Hand Loaded 195 Berger’s, and been happy with the performance on game I’ve killed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He’s only planning to shoot 3-400 yards. There’s no reason to invest a bunch of money in equipment that’s really unnecessary at that range. With a little practice it’s easy to make consistent hits on kill zone sized targets using simple hold overs and a duplex reticle. Keep it simple and affordable and people will shoot more.

Sometimes I dial and hold

That’s when you know you’re having fun. When you’re out of adjustments and you have to dial down the magnification on a second focal plane scope so you can get enough holdover. 

It’s not a huge investment to get setup to dial accurately.

A kestrel is like 150$, a ballistic app is 10$, and there are plenty of scopes with dials that can be had for less money then the old Leopoldo VX3 standard.



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[Karl Blanchard]

At 1,000ft of elevation and 57 degrees my come up is 8 minutes at 400 yards.  At 9k and 27 degrees my come up at 400 yards is 8.16 minutes.  Pretty a cds dial or bdc reticle can handle that 

[SilkOnTheDrySide]

At 1,000ft of elevation and 57 degrees my come up is 8 minutes at 400 yards.  At 9k and 27 degrees my come up at 400 yards is 8.16 minutes.  Pretty a cds dial or bdc reticle can handle that 

Yes at 400 yards it can.  But When the dial goes out to 800, you don’t think guys are going to give it a whirl?

Look guys can do whatever they want.  But it’s not like I’m encouraging something that is unnecessary.  Learning to dial correctly increases accuracy, and there’s really no argument against it...


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[Karl Blanchard]

I agree but that's not what this discussion is about this discussion is about a 308 inside 400 yards.

[theleo]

Practice and know your rifle.  Learn how to calculate ballistics and read wind.

It took me missing two bears in the Wenaha to get serious about my shooting.

Now I won’t even send one unless we are shooting 600+.  Ammo and bullets are too expensive 😆

I’d start there.  Download a ballistic program, buy a kestrel and learn how to dial.  Throw those ballistic dials away.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Man, I'd do just the opposite except for the go shooting part. Ditch the gear and just go shoot stuff.

For bullets I'm on a lead free kick right now for all my hunting guns. I've had great luck with Barnes bullets, but I don't shoot nearly as many big game animals as a lot of guys do. I typically use the TTSX bullets though which solve a lot of the problems that the TSX and original X bullets had. I shoot a lot smaller stuff like porcupines to test bullets though and I've had some pretty spectacular results on those.

I'm really loving the Hammer bullets for the last 2 years. They shoot as well as Bergers do in all my guns with less load development and higher velocity compared to other similar weight bullets. I've yet to have one fail to expand in all my completely unscientific testing with impact velocities as low as 1650 fps, as long as they were properly stabilized. The same goes for the Berger bullets I tested too though.

For lead core bullets it's really hard to beat Accubonds. Those were my go to hunting bullet before I went lead free and they always performed and shot really well for me.

Using hold over at varying elevations at range is just being plain lazy IMO.

And some have the opinion that guys that are shooting long distance and using every piece of technology out there are lazy as well.

Too lazy to develope a skill? Yeah, there's an app for that!

Quick...710 yards at 5100’ elevation.

Hold over is a 5” difference in my high BC bullet from my sight in point to that elevation.

Most “average” guns will be more.

Add in inherent firearm accuracy of 1 MOA, and you are looking at up to a 12” difference with a perfect shot.

Miss or marginal hit.

You can call long range shooting lazy all you want.  But I work harder on firearm performance in a weekend then guys do all season, and really encourage others to do the same.

I’ve been there.  Don’t want to see others make the same mistakes.




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Quick... stop being lazy and get closer.

[Taco280AI]

Partition, Accubond, LRX. Others will work as well, but that's what I'd use in that situation.

The LRX is supposed to be a little softer than the TTSX and will open up with slower velocities. Haven't used one on an elk yet, but have taken three deer with them from 110 yards to 293 yards. I'd show the bullet, but a deer has yet to stop one. And two deer were done at the shot, one took a few steps and laid down.

[Taco280AI]

Why is it that in so many of these threads, when a person is talking about 300-400 yard shots on game others have to show up with useless info about 700+ yard equipment and shooting? Nobody cares! It's irrelevant!

Hey guys, I'm looking to get a light pickup for daily driving...
You need the Ram 3500 Cummins, blah blah blah...
Um, no.

Essentially the same thing.

[Karl Blanchard]

"Quick" and long range shot at game should never go in the same sentence in my experience.    I 100% disagree with LEO on the lazy part as I work harder at finding quality places and animals than probably 90% of guys.  So  when given a solid opportunity at an animal after shooting thousands of rounds in the off season, conditioning,  scouted, applied for a dozen states, time from family, backpacked 7 miles up a mountain, walked 3-8 miles a day, and glassed for dozens of hours, I find it comical that I'm considered lazy for shooting an animal well within my comfort zone.  Would I rather shoot one at 150? Yep! But public land in big country you take the opportunity if you posses the skill set 

[Karl Blanchard]

Why is it that in so many of these threads, when a person is talking about 300-400 yard shots on game others have to show up with useless info about 700+ yard equipment and shooting? Nobody cares! It's irrelevant!

Hey guys, I'm looking to get a light pickup for daily driving...
You need the Ram 3500 Cummins, blah blah blah...
Um, no.

Essentially the same thing.

  I'm right do what I do thing.  It's been going on since man existed and isn't anything new

[theleo]

Why is it that in so many of these threads, when a person is talking about 300-400 yard shots on game others have to show up with useless info about 700+ yard equipment and shooting? Nobody cares! It's irrelevant!

Hey guys, I'm looking to get a light pickup for daily driving...
You need the Ram 3500 Cummins, blah blah blah...
Um, no.

Essentially the same thing.

Because some guys have to let the world know their brilliance of choosing a 3500 Cummins for a daily driver (guys that actually have use for that kind of truck on a daily basis excluded). Truth is there's a lot of bullets that work for the application, just like there's a ton of cars that work as daily drivers, from cheap to expensive. Still, it's fun to turn the mirror on guys that say any other way than there's is "lazy" or "unethical".