# COMPAIRING DIFFERENT GRAIN WIEGHTS



## mudfish45 (Jun 29, 2009)

IVE GOT A GOOD QUESTION.WHEN PICKING BULLETS TO RELOAD WITH HOW DO YOU COMPARE THE DIFFERENT WEIGHTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU NEED IN A CARTRAGE .EXAMPLE A 270 160 GRAIN OR 130 GRAIN. WHICH DO YOU PICK AND WHY


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## People (Jan 17, 2005)

Usually most hunters will pick a heavier bullet for larger game like Elk and smaller ones for Deer.

I pick one that gives me what I want in performance. I mean like speed or a type of bullet. If I want to shoot a partition I may be limited to only a few choices.

Your rifle will also tell you what it likes. I have a 308 that would not shoot anything less than 175gr bullets. It really liked the 180gr bullets. Once I had the barrel set back I found it really liked the lighter bullets. I can still shoot the 175gr bullets in it and they shoot good, but I do not want to shoot the expensive bullets all of the time.

Ninjas want to grow up to be just like Chuck Norris. But usually they grow up just to be killed by Chuck Norris.


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## iwantabuggy (Feb 15, 2005)

I try to pick based on energy, velocity, and BC. It seems to me that most cartridges have a "sweet spot", if you will, that ends up giving you the most retained energy/momentum down range. For instance, in the .277 calibers, IMO, the 130gr is the "sweet spot". For .308 cal, 180gr. For .257, it is the 115gr. This is all strictly my opinion, and others will disagree.


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## alleyyooper (Jul 6, 2007)

With the state of the economy and cost of bullets today it is tuff to do as I did.
I bought several bullets in the weight I had read in Magizines about for my caliber such as the 243.
I started with the 105 grainers and worked down to 85 grainers. 
I tested the bullets expention on a 5 gallon pail with damp potting soil.

the 85 grainers seemed to work best for me and now over 40 years latter it is the only bullet I use in the 243 for every thing from crows to deer.
Your milage may very, due to rifle type, bore size, shape and twist.

 Al


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

mudfish45 I normally start with the bullet weight that the cartridge was designed around. For example the 130 gr for a 270 Winchester, the 165 gr for the 308 Winchester, the 180 gr for the 300 Winchester magnum etc. Then I pick a bullet one size lighter and a bullet one size larger and start testing with three or four different powders with different burn rates.

Ballistic coefficient is something I pay attention to for long range shooting. Then you have to decide if velocity or the higher ballistic coefficient is more important at the longer ranges. When hunting game larger than deer the most important thing to pay attention to is sectional density. I would rather shoot an elk with a 140 gr out of a 260 Remington than a comparable weight bullet out of a 30-06.

Years ago I read an article and the author said never shoot a deer with a bullet that has less than .225 sectional density and never shoot an elk with a bullet that has less than .260 sectional density. Today however bullet construction has improved to the point that his rule of thumb doesn't apply the same as it did 30 years ago.


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