Will a heavier bullet perform better in the Wind?

[zach.trumble]

Am I right in thinking that a heavier bullet will hold a straighter line in the Wind?

Real world scenario, muzzleloading season is late in the year here in Michigan and we can have some windy weather. Would I be better off going with a heavier bullet like 300 grain rather than 240. Shots will most likely fall in the 100 yd to 150 yd range with an occasional 200 yd or so.

Thank you for your time.

 

[sabotloader]

Am I right in thinking that a heavier bullet will hold a straighter line in the Wind?

Real world scenario, muzzleloading season is late in the year here in Michigan and we can have some windy weather. Would I be better off going with a heavier bullet like 300 grain rather than 240. Shots will most likely fall in the 100 yd to 150 yd range with an occasional 200 yd or so.

Thank you for your time.

Yes, generally a heavier bullet will be less effected by mother nature while in the air and in most cases deliver greater energy to the target. But, a lighter bullet can also preform if it is shot at a fast enough velocity.

If you are planning possible shots at longer ranges with a muzzleloader I would certainly use a heavier bullet. We are limited in what powder load we can safely use. The rule of thumb is "double the velocity quadruple the energy" - In most cases the law of "Diminishing Returns" would not allows a ML shooter to double the velocity.

I believe that is one of the big reason you see long range target shooter using those BIG heavy lead conicals - to reduce the effects of the atmosphere on the flight path of the bullet.

 

[Grouse]

It all depends on the load. A 300grn bullet with say 80 to 90grns of powder will move a heck of a lot more then a 200grn bullet shot with 120grn load. A lot of factors to consider when talking about wind drift in a ML

 

[sabotloader]

It all depends on the load. A 300grn bullet with say 80 to 90grns of powder will move a heck of a lot more then a 200grn bullet shot with 120grn load. A lot of factors to consider when talking about wind drift in a ML

So why would you not shoot the 300 gr. with the same amount of powder you shot the 200?

 

[zach.trumble]

Re: RE: Re: Will a heavier bullet perform better in the Wind?

It all depends on the load. A 300grn bullet with say 80 to 90grns of powder will move a heck of a lot more then a 200grn bullet shot with 120grn load. A lot of factors to consider when talking about wind drift in a ML

So you're saying that it takes more forced to get a heavier bullet moving and the faster a small bullet goes the better it holds up in the Wind?

I'm looking at running relatively standard charge of around a hundred grains of BH209 and wondering if one of those bullets over the other will hold up better against Wind Drift.

I suppose of course that the trade-off of a heavier bullet if it doesn't shoot as flat.

Thank you for your time.

 

[ronlaughlin]

Wind drift is a function of the bullet's ballistic coefficient, and the time it spends flying in the wind.

Two bullets i have hunted with are the 200 grain SST, and the 300g XTP. Out of my rifle, the SST starts at around 2250 fps. The XTP starts at about 1925 fps. The Ballistic coefficient of the SST is 0.265; the BC of the XTP is 0.180.

Because it is slower, the XTP spends more time in the wind, than the SST. Even if these bullets had equal ballistic coefficient, the heavier XTP would drift more than the SST, because it is flying in the wind for a longer time.

Even if the speeds of these bullets were the same, the heavier XTP, would be pushed off path more than the SST, because it has a lesser ballistic coefficient.

This is a real world example of how the lighter bullet 'performs' better in the wind than the heavier bullet.

Other real world examples will show the heavier bullet as the better performer.

 

[zach.trumble]

I see. I'm wanting to test the Dead Center 260 vs 300. I'll just have to test it out.

Thank you for your time.

 

[ENCORE50A]

I see. I'm wanting to test the Dead Center 260 vs 300. I'll just have to test it out.

Thank you for your time.

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/200 ... -software/

 

[Grouse]

It all depends on the load. A 300grn bullet with say 80 to 90grns of powder will move a heck of a lot more then a 200grn bullet shot with 120grn load. A lot of factors to consider when talking about wind drift in a ML

So why would you not shoot the 300 gr. with the same amount of powder you shot the 200?

That's a question you would need to ask others. In my case I've never used more then 110grns of Bh209 with a 300grn bullet. And the big reason is recoil for me. But use a lot more powder with 200grn bullets sometimes with less felt recoil to me. But obviously different guns to.

 

[Grouse]

I see. I'm wanting to test the Dead Center 260 vs 300. I'll just have to test it out.

Thank you for your time.

The 260 will win easily in all aspects. I've used them both. I should mention the 260 I used was 40cal.

 

[52Bore]

Am I right in thinking that a heavier bullet will hold a straighter line in the Wind?
Real world scenario, muzzleloading season is late in the year here in Michigan and we can have some windy weather. Would I be better off going with a heavier bullet like 300 grain rather than 240. Shots will most likely fall in the 100 yd to 150 yd range with an occasional 200 yd or so.

Yes, but at the distances you reference it's doubtful you can tell the difference.

Here is little data that I cut/paste from a larger spreadsheet that might help, 250 (84w) & 300 (56w) MV from BH209 website and 500 MV actual data.

 

[52Bore]

Sorry, the 300 data is not 84gr, it's 56gr.
If you were using the same load; the 300gr would have 2050MV. 10mph wind would be 2.2"(100) , 9.1"(200).

 

[ronlaughlin]

...... I'm wanting to test the Dead Center 260 vs 300.......

Here is some information from PRbullet website.

Using that information from PRbullet, one can utilize a ballistic calculator found elsewhere, that provides wind drift information to make the two following calculations.

The calculation say the wind drift in a 10 mile an hour wind, of both the 260 grain bullet, and the 300 grain bullet is about 1/2 inch at 50 yard. The calculations indicate the 300 grain dead center will drift slightly less than the 260 grain dead center from 100 yard out. At 300 yard, the 300 grain bullet will drift about 1 1/2 inch less than the 260 grain bullet, in a 10 mile an hour wind.

 

[Grouse]

...... I'm wanting to test the Dead Center 260 vs 300.......

Here is some information from PRbullet website.

Using that information from PRbullet, one can utilize a ballistic calculator found elsewhere, that provides wind drift information to make the two following calculations.

The calculation say the wind drift in a 10 mile an hour wind, of both the 260 grain bullet, and the 300 grain bullet is about 1/2 inch at 50 yard. The calculations indicate the 300 grain dead center will drift slightly less than the 260 grain dead center from 100 yard out. At 300 yard, the 300 grain bullet will drift about 1 1/2 inch less than the 260 grain bullet, in a 10 mile an hour wind.

First off your talking about a different 260 DeadCenter then I am. And those BC'S are over inflated for sure

 

[ENCORE50A]

The heavier bullet will shoot better in the wind, as long as the BC's for the heavy and light bullets are close. In other words, you're not shooting a flat nose against a tipped bullet. The difference at short range (<200) isn't much. However the further the distance (>200), the heavier bullet is better.

 

[sabotloader]

......

First off your talking about a different 260 DeadCenter then I am. And those BC'S are over inflated for sure

Grouse, I believe you are totally correct for any of the BC's from Cecil. It really is not that they are wrong - but he uses a very high velocity to computes the numbers more than a normal person might be able to shoot from a normal ML. With a the big custom smokeless ML's you might reach some of the velocities he uses for calculations.

 

[sabotloader]

The heavier bullet will shoot better in the wind, as long as the BC's for the heavy and light bullets are close. In other words, you're not shooting a flat nose against a tipped bullet. The difference at short range (<200) isn't much. However the further the distance (>200), the heavier bullet is better.

Exactly!

I was trying to express what you have written but did a very poor job doing it!!!!

 

[zach.trumble]

Re: RE: Re: Will a heavier bullet perform better in the Wind?

I see. I'm wanting to test the Dead Center 260 vs 300. I'll just have to test it out.

Thank you for your time.

The 260 will win easily in all aspects. I've used them both. I should mention the 260 I used was 40cal.

It seems like the differences are negligible as far as hunting whitetails @200 yd is concerned.

what other factors play in here?

Why the .40 over the .45 caliber?

Thank you for your time.

 

[Grouse]

Re: RE: Re: Will a heavier bullet perform better in the Wind?

I see. I'm wanting to test the Dead Center 260 vs 300. I'll just have to test it out.

Thank you for your time.

The 260 will win easily in all aspects. I've used them both. I should mention the 260 I used was 40cal.

It seems like the differences are negligible as far as hunting whitetails @200 yd is concerned.

what other factors play in here?

Why the .40 over the .45 caliber?

Thank you for your time.

Without checking, the 40cal 260 DeadCenter would have a better BC then a 45cal 260 DeadCenter.

I don't believe in a computer at all when it comes to bullets. Knight had a prototype 40cal 230grn bullet I know at 400 yards would drift less then any heavy conical bullet. And Lehigh had a 215grn bullet I think sabotloader said it had a better BC then the bullet I'm talking about. Just imagine driving across a bridge on a real windy day in a truck. Then drive across the same bridge on the same day in a car. All should know the truck gets blowed around more then the car. It's simple aerodynamics to me.

 

[ronlaughlin]

The heavier bullet will shoot better in the wind, as long as the BC's for the heavy and light bullets are close. In other words, you're not shooting a flat nose against a tipped bullet. The difference at short range (<200) isn't much. However the further the distance (>200), the heavier bullet is better.

The following calculation is for a 75g hypothetical bullet that has the same ballistic coefficient as the 300g Dead Center.

Note how it flies exactly the same as the 300g bullet. Weight does not directly determine wind drift, nor trajectory. Ballistic Coefficient and time of flight are the determining factors. Weight does play a roll in determining the ballistic coefficient. Weight does play a large roll in determining the energy carried by the bullet..