Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/401545
S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 8 1 S upposing, just supposing, you needed to shoot an elk at 400 yards. And it might be windy when you do. What cartridge/ bullet would you choose? Which would shoot flat, hit hard, and deflect the least in those tricky mountain winds? Something with a heavy bullet, right? Like a 300 Win. Mag. with 180-grain Remington Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded? Or would you go with a or I wouldn't be posing it, so you'd better pick the 6.5-284 Norma. At 300 yards it's already dropping a half-inch less, drifting three inches less in a 10-mph right-angle wind, and packing just 220 less fp. By 500 yards it drops five inches less, drifts eight inches less in the breeze, and lands with, surprise surprise, 43 fp more energy. More energy from a 140-grain bullet than the 180-grain. Will wonders never cease? S uch trajectory numbers befuddle and frustrate most American hunters. Probably French and Norwegians shooters, too, because we've all been sold "heavy bullets and magnum power" for the last 100 years. What we haven't been sold is the truth: A bullet's ballistic coefficient often counts for more than magnum mass and muzzle velocity. The big difference between the above bullets is the ballistic coefficient (B.C.) of each. B.C. is a way to rate a bullet's ability to resist or overcome air drag. The higher the B.C. number, the more efficient the bullet. In the above example the 180-grain bullet has a B.C. of .402. The 140-grain bullet is much higher at .612. A bullet's B.C. is a combination of its mass, diameter, and form. The denser the bullet material, the narrower the diameter and sleeker the form, the higher the B.C. What the 140-grain 6.5mm Berger bullet hree high B.C. bullet styles include, l-r: Cutting Edge 7mm, 160-grain; Barnes LRX 168-grain; Berger VLD 168-grain. T S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 8 1 Ron Spomer i f l e s R What we haven't been sold is the truth: A bullet's ballistic coefficient often counts for more than magnum mass and muzzle velocity. 6.5-284 Norma with a 140-grain Berger VLD Hunting bullet? Here's a bit more information to help you decide. The 300 Win. Mag. burns 68 grains of powder and leaves the muzzle at 2,960 fps, carrying 3,501 foot-pounds (fp) of energy. The 6.5-284 Norma burns 50 grains of powder, departs at 2,900 fps and hauls just 2,614 fp, spotting the 300 Magnum 887 fp. You know this is a trick question