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 2 gives up to the 180-grain 308 bullet in mass, it more than makes up for in form. The 180-grain Remington Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded is a darn good, proven bullet, it's just not one designed to maximize long-range performance. You may know all about ballistic coefficients or be completely in the dark, as I was for 40 years. Ammunition companies haven't exactly been shouting about bullet B.C. They extoll thicker jackets, bonded cores, polycarbonate tips, nose notches, solid shanks, and massive knockdown power, but rarely B.C. Remington's catalog now mentions "sleek profile" as optimizing ballistic coefficient, but explains no further. Norma mentions "high ballistic coefficient" when describing one of the bullets it loads. To their credit, Winchester, Norma, Remington, and Hornady at least list B.C.s in the trajectory tables of their annual catalogs, but Federal still doesn't. Federal includes bullet weight in grains and grams. They even include the kind of primer used in the case. But not B.C. And not because their bullets don't have good B.C. numbers. I guess B.C. is just not something their customers ask for. But they should. Before the invention of digital ballistic calculators and inexpensive, portable chronographs, you needed to be a math geek to compute bullet trajectory. Ammo-makers saved you the trouble by printing trajectory and energy tables in their catalogs, and there was no need for them to list B.C. numbers. Bullet-makers such as Hornady, Nosler, Sierra, and Speer included B.C. numbers for their aftermarket bullets at least as far 200 YARDS 300 YARDS 400 YARDS 500 YARDS 600 YARDS Norma/Berger (B.C. .612) 2/2095/2.4 -4/1872/5 -16/1669/9 -34/1484/14 -60/1314/20 300 Win. Mag./Core-Lokt (B.C. .402) 2/2494/3.5 -4.5/2092/8 -17/1743/14 -39/1441/22 -69/1184/33 DROP/ENERGY/DRIFT COMPARISON Below are the results of a comparison between a 6.5-284 Norma cartridge (right) loaded with a 140-grain Berger VLD bullet and a 300 Win. Mag. 180-grain Core-Lokt Ultra Bonded bullet. Each was zeroed at 240 yards in a 10-mph right-angle wind. The numbers indicate each round's drop/energy/drift from distances that range from 200 to 600 yards.