Light vs heavy for caliber bullets on game

[Jaegerr]

I didn’t find anything online in a quick search, but I had a question on bullet weight.

I’ve been down the reloading rabbit hole before buying anything and personally wanting to load copper mono’s into a 300WSM and the consensus on monos is light and fast, but in bullets like partitions, bonded bullets, ELD-X, Bergers, etc is heavy for the higher BC which is a pretty straight forward desire.

How much does bullet weight affect terminal performance on game? It’s apples and oranges comparing monos to lead core bullets but for something like a 168TTSX running faster compared to like a 190LRX as an example. Thanks!

 

[sniper20]

If you need terminal performance at range, then you are going to want to go heavy. If you punch bullet info into a ballistic calculator, you will see that heavier bullets are going to retain velocity at range, but more importantly energy. If you are looking for a long range bullet, I'm not a believer in Barnes. Not because they are a bad bullet, but because they require more velocity to open up than a traditional bullet does. However, shooting a 300WSM, you should have enough speed with the 168 class bullet to get reliable opening at good range.

I'm a huge fan of the Accubond bullets, they have always worked exactly as advertised for me. I have used ELD-X and been happy. However, I have seen where they don't expand all that great at slower velocity (watched gel stuff at 700 yards, they penciled through).

I currently use Berger bullets, and for the first time using them, at 150 yards, they do more damage than I have ever seen (big doe whitetail). From watching online, they seem to do excellent long range performance, thus why I tried them.

 

[Legend]

I didn’t find anything online in a quick search, but I had a question on bullet weight.

I’ve been down the reloading rabbit hole before buying anything and personally wanting to load copper mono’s into a 300WSM and the consensus on monos is light and fast, but in bullets like partitions, bonded bullets, ELD-X, Bergers, etc is heavy for the higher BC which is a pretty straight forward desire.

How much does bullet weight affect terminal performance on game? It’s apples and oranges comparing monos to lead core bullets but for something like a 168TTSX running faster compared to like a 190LRX as an example. Thanks!

I wanted to reduce the recoil on my 300wsm so my kids could shoot it. I picked up some Hammer 124 grain copper bullets and reloaded with the minimum charge weight powder. I can tell you that there has been more than a few elk that never noticed the light bullet. And the recoil is super fun now.

Now I will add that this set up is out of velocity at around 500yds. I know this because I killed a cow at 550 and the bullet didn't expand. She died but the bullet penciled through.

So pick a bullet and keep them fast. Weight will not matter in my opinion.

 

[Jaegerr]

I wanted to reduce the recoil on my 300wsm so my kids could shoot it. I picked up some Hammer 124 grain copper bullets and reloaded with the minimum charge weight powder. I can tell you that there has been more than a few elk that never noticed the light bullet. And the recoil is super fun now.

Now I will add that this set up is out of velocity at around 500yds. I know this because I killed a cow at 550 and the bullet didn't expand. She died but the bullet penciled through.

So pick a bullet and keep them fast. Weight will not matter in my opinion.

I was looking at the 168TTSX, trying to research load data out of 20" tubes seeing if I can get them above 3,000 fps

 

[Legend]

I was looking at the 168TTSX, trying to research load data out of 20" tubes seeing if I can get them above 3,000 fps

I'll let you research that one.

But I will just reiterate that you shouldn't be afraid of dropping to low weight copper. As long as you know your range limit/velocity limit.

I guarantee you can get over 3000fps if you go lighter weight bullet. Try it for fun if nothing else.

 

[TaperPin]

Any bullet than holds together more or less in one piece is going to benefit from well anbove minimum impact velocity to open up well. Short-ish to medium-ish distances often benefit from light to medium weight for more dramatic internal damage, but eventually the heavier bullet catches up.

Sometimes it almost doesn’t make a difference - my 300 mag can shoot a 180 gr Accubond faster than a 200 gr, but at 600 yards the velocities are essentially the same. Between the muzzle and 600 yards, there isn’t enough of a difference to matter in velocity, and there’s plenty of energy with either. I should like the 200 gr better, but the 180 has a long reputation that’s hard to argue with and any difference in penetration is minimal. In my mind it’s a toss up at my max distances.

Copper bullets penetrate so well, there’s no advantage to heavy weight unless there’s a velocity advantage at distances way out there.