One Factory Bullet?

[addicted]

Addicted brings up an interesting point for discussion.
Berger VLD's rely heavily on the rate of twist in the barrel I think, and their bullet that shines regarding the super high BC is their 7mm  bullet. How does their .30 cal bullets stack up#1, #2 are they a good hunting bullet or are they a good target bullet?--I think on deer it doesn't matter much but when you get up into the elk/moose/bear sized animals anyway, and #3 what's your rate of twist in the barrel and how much will that matter? I'm not a long range guy so I don't know the answers here, just raising some possible points for talk.

the Berger VLD is not a strong bullet, and they even claim to make it explode on purpose. But the reason it shines down range is because it is very accurate and has a great BC which helps keep it accurate, fast, and energized long range. It puts proof to the thought that 95% of killing an animal is putting the bullet in the right place.

between 7mm bullets and .338 bullets covering the weights and BC's that they do there is almost no need for 30 cal bullets.
a 7mm 140 boat tail has a BC of .485 which is nearly the .507 of the 180 grain 30 cal with less recoil.

so it would take a very heavy 30cal bullet to get the BC of a middleweight bullet in 7mm. Lets say the 180grn7mm vld with .659 BC. it would take a 208grn A-max to get up to .64 bc.

[buckfvr]

At some point you run into a performance issue ( mostly from a hunting stand point ) with the heavier , higher  BC......at that point, trajectory suffers and may well off set the original intent of the caliber to be a COMBINATION of both somewhat fast and somewhat accurate.   You can look at any specific caliber and see on its charts that the faster, lower BC bullets look better as far as BDC, but the actual performance accuracy wise of the longer, heavier higher BC bullets take over at longer ranges.  SO...its more about personal use of a specific gun and caliber.....And even then, you have to have a gun capable of 1000 yard accuracy, and the proven caliber to go with it....then comes the glass.   

[high country]

Addicted brings up an interesting point for discussion.
Berger VLD's rely heavily on the rate of twist in the barrel I think, and their bullet that shines regarding the super high BC is their 7mm  bullet. How does their .30 cal bullets stack up#1, #2 are they a good hunting bullet or are they a good target bullet?--I think on deer it doesn't matter much but when you get up into the elk/moose/bear sized animals anyway, and #3 what's your rate of twist in the barrel and how much will that matter? I'm not a long range guy so I don't know the answers here, just raising some possible points for talk.

the Berger VLD is not a strong bullet, and they even claim to make it explode on purpose. But the reason it shines down range is because it is very accurate and has a great BC which helps keep it accurate, fast, and energized long range. It puts proof to the thought that 95% of killing an animal is putting the bullet in the right place.

between 7mm bullets and .338 bullets covering the weights and BC's that they do there is almost no need for 30 cal bullets.
a 7mm 140 boat tail has a BC of .485 which is nearly the .507 of the 180 grain 30 cal with less recoil.

so it would take a very heavy 30cal bullet to get the BC of a middleweight bullet in 7mm. Lets say the 180grn7mm vld with .659 BC. it would take a 208grn A-max to get up to .64 bc.

A 180 7mm is far from a middleweight. most guns wont stabilize one. It takes a custom to even chamber one efficiently.

[addicted]

Addicted brings up an interesting point for discussion.
Berger VLD's rely heavily on the rate of twist in the barrel I think, and their bullet that shines regarding the super high BC is their 7mm  bullet. How does their .30 cal bullets stack up#1, #2 are they a good hunting bullet or are they a good target bullet?--I think on deer it doesn't matter much but when you get up into the elk/moose/bear sized animals anyway, and #3 what's your rate of twist in the barrel and how much will that matter? I'm not a long range guy so I don't know the answers here, just raising some possible points for talk.

the Berger VLD is not a strong bullet, and they even claim to make it explode on purpose. But the reason it shines down range is because it is very accurate and has a great BC which helps keep it accurate, fast, and energized long range. It puts proof to the thought that 95% of killing an animal is putting the bullet in the right place.

between 7mm bullets and .338 bullets covering the weights and BC's that they do there is almost no need for 30 cal bullets.
a 7mm 140 boat tail has a BC of .485 which is nearly the .507 of the 180 grain 30 cal with less recoil.

so it would take a very heavy 30cal bullet to get the BC of a middleweight bullet in 7mm. Lets say the 180grn7mm vld with .659 BC. it would take a 208grn A-max to get up to .64 bc.

A 180 7mm is far from a middleweight. most guns wont stabilize one. It takes a custom to even chamber one efficiently.

middle weight as far as popular bullets in general, .243-.338

My new 7mm has a 1:8.7 twist btw 

[high country]

It won't likely shoot worth a hoot. Have you ever seen a 180 7mm? They will be seated super deep in order to fit in your mag. You could throat the rifle and do some custom work to get them to feed....$$

[Bob33]

The most common variables in bullet selection are accuracy, terminal performance, ballistic efficiency, cost, and availability.

In considering which bullet to choose, it’s important to decide what’s most important to the game you are hunting.  For example, with elk I would rate terminal performance first, accuracy second, and  ballistics third.  For antelope, I would rate accuracy first and ballistics second, and probably not care at all about the rest.  Killing an antelope is easy if you can hit it.  For varmints I would rate accuracy first, ballistics second, and maybe cost as a third.  I’d never consider cost a very important factor for big game.

Accuracy comes out near the top for everything I hunt.  Finding a bullet/load that your gun likes can be challenging.  You cannot rely on the experience of others.  You must ask your gun what it likes, and obey.

[addicted]

It won't likely shoot worth a hoot. Have you ever seen a 180 7mm? They will be seated super deep in order to fit in your mag. You could throat the rifle and do some custom work to get them to feed....$$

my action is made to take magnum cartridges so IF i wanted to look into it, I think i could make it work without too much seating depth.  I'm thinking my needs will have me peter out in the 160's.

[Curly]

What you need is a bullet that will hold together at high impact velocities if you are going to be shooting game at the close ranges.......and will still perform fine at longer ranges of 300 - 500.  You will want to have either solid copper or bonded bullets.  So, you're going to want to look at ammo loaded with the Nosler Accubond, Hornady Interbond, Nosler E-Tip, Barnes TTSX, or Hornady GMX.  (Probably 180 gr in the lead bullets and 168 gr in the copper).  Try a box of each and see which ones shoot best out of your rifle.

[coachcw]

I'd probbily pick the 168 barnes in fedral premium if I was shooting factory loads , if I where working up a hand load i might go with a 190 accubond , from what i've heard they group a lil better than the 180's due to the length of the projectile .