Speed vs weight

[zeke08]

I have always been a proponent of speed equals velocity equals power but I have found over the years my lighter weight bullets were not cutting the mustard on less than "perfect" shots. I have started loading heavier/tougher bullets for those less than "perfect" shots here in the thick woods of East TN. I went from a 140 grain ballistic tip (3028 fps 7mm) nosler to the 165 Hornaday (2842 fps). Seems to penetration is better and better knock down. What is yalls  theory on this subject.

[shot1]

I live in East TN also and if I hunted deer here exclusively I would go with a little heaver constricted bullet. I mainly hunt deer in East NC bean field country. When you say light bullets I understand that you mean light for caliber. Back when I was experimenting with the 7mm Rem mag out of all the bullets I used the 154 gr Horandy interlock soft point was the best bullet I used. I tried a lot of different bullets on deer and with perfect through the front shoulders shots 90% of the deer would run 50 to 100 yards before they went down. Their vitals were mush but they ran off. I can't explain why or understand why. My buddy had the same experience. If a deer got out of the field it was nothing but very thick cut-over and very hard to trail in. We gave up on the 7mm mag and went back to the 25-06 mainly. The 117 Sierra at 3000 fps just hammers deer in their tracks. If I was to use that rifle here in TN I would probably use the Speer 120 Grand Slam bullet. It is a little tough a bullet for my liking for broad side shots but if I had to take a racking shot on a big old buck I could count on it breaking bone and exiting. If it ran off a little ways I would most likely have a blood trail and could get to it quick before some other fellow had his tag on it. I used the Nosler Accubond for the first time this past season in 130 gr in a 264 Win mag to take 4 deer from 98 to 275 yards and I really like this bullet. It is the best of both worlds. It flies like the ballistic tip and starts to open up like it but holds together like the partition and keeps on trucking. Dropped all the deer in their tracks. I recovered one bullet from a buck shot a 111 yards facing me with a slight angle. The bullet entered the front edge of it's left shoulder smashing it and made mush out of it's vitals. When I was cutting up the meat I found the bullet in the right ham. It was a text book mushroom and weight was 87 grs. That bullet exited the muzzle at average 3350 fps and was still going at least 3200 fps on impact. For a bullet to do what it did and still hold together it is a good bullet in my book. If I did not have hundreds of 117 Sierra bullets for the 25-06 I would try the 110 Accubond.

To sum it all up. I like a fast quick expanding bullet for most of my hunting because I can wait to place the shot. But in situations where you cant wait a tougher bullet works best. The Nosler Accubond seems to be about perfect for both situations.

[kynardsj]

I was into the lighter/faster thing for years with my reloading for rifles and pistols. Over the last couple of years I've went with heavier bullets for both and am pleased with the results. I still feed each what it performs best with but have found that bigger/slower with more kinetic energy has improved my accuracy and gives me more versatility with what size critter I shoot.

[Slowpoke Slim]

Velocity looks good on paper, and reads well on internet forums.

 


Bullet mass (weight) is permanent, and doesn't lose value until it strikes the target.


Energy is mass x velocity.


When the light fast bullet leaves the barrel, it starts shedding velocity at a faster rate than the slower, heavier bullet. It doesn't take long for the slow, heavy bullet to "pass up" the lighter, faster bullet on their way down range.


I like shooting heavy-for-caliber bullets in all my hunting rifles. The only time I'll stray from that idea is when I'm putting together a rifle/load for a youth or new shooter. I prefer the heavy bullets performance on game.

[Siskiyou]

I normally look for the sweet spot, meaning a bullet weight that will carry velocity, energy, and flat trajectory out to four hundred yards.  I am not looking for the 400 yard shot but bullet designed for hunting that does that I feel is the best for the job, and will offer high probability of full penetration.  This is for deer and black bear.

.243/6MM = 100 or 105 grain bullet.

6.5 = 140 grain bullet.

.277=140 or 150 grain bullet

.284=160-grain bullet

.30 in my  .300 Savage and 30-06 = 165-grain bullet

At one time I was all for the 130-grain bullet in the .270 Winchester and I have killed a number of deer with it.  At close range, out to 50-yards, the fast expanding cup & core bullet puts them down fast, but I have spent a fair amount of time tracking deer shot by a brother or myself with 130-grain bullets in the chest cavity that did not exit.  That was the reason I went to the 150-grain bullet because I like the addition blood for tracking.

Below are the two images of the same bullet.  The jacket was found hanging on the hide next to a large exit hole.  I shot this nice buck across a draw at about 100 yards.  The deer was moving at a trot down slope.  After the shot the buck disappear downhill, and I knew that he was down when I heard his horns clatter on the rocks.  Once I got to the location was where the buck was at the time of the shot I started finding blood sign.  A few more yards downhill I found a strip of hide and blood.  One I spotted the down buck I quit looking for sign.

You can see the core is gone from the jacket.  This is typical performance of this old style Norma 150-grain match bullet.  I found it to be more effective than the 130-grain bullets in the 270 Winchester.









This Winchester 150-grain Power Point retained 74 percent of its weight and penetrated over 25 inches of deer at 250+ yards.  The deer went a short distance.



The bullet expanded to .75 inch.

I have taken a lot of Mule and Blacktail deer with 130-grain bullets from the 270.  Most used bullets have been the Remington Bronze Point, Remington C-L, and the Hornady softpoint.  Of the three the Hornady is my favorite.  I recovered this from a Mule deer taken at about 145 yards.  I did not recover the bullet that killed the rattlesnake that almost got me when I was packing the deer out.



The Bronze point normally fragmentized inside the chest cavity.  At 13 or 14 I was very impressed with the Bronze point on the first buck I killed with the 270.  The bullet hit the deer at close range in the ribs.  The bullet fragmentized destroying the lungs, part of the heart, and the front lobe of the live.  There were a few fragment cuts inside the rib cage on the far side.  The deer might have gone twenty yards.


I like a number of bullets but I have found the design of the Nosler Partition to be ideal with the front portion expanding rapidly and the portion behind the partition penetrating deeply or exiting.

I do not think there is a bullet that is one hundred percent slam-dunk.  A friend shot a buck far back in the ribs with a 12 gauge slug.  He ended up tracking the buck close to half mile.  The slug left a big entrance and exit hole.