Hello all. Neophyte here.
When Googling to find the answer to my questions below, I could find none, but this forum had the most detailed discussions of the 225gr TSX bullet in .338., and I saw a lot of other interesting things on hunting and shooting.
I just bought a Mark V Weatherby Accumark in .340 Wby. I don’t reload. I have been shooting the 180gr Federal TSX round out of my 300 Win Mag with great success. I figured that the 225gr Weatherby factory loading with the 225gr TSX bullet was an obvious choice for me to hunt any thing smaller or less dangerous than a BB. However, once I started looking at the specs for that bullet, I became somewhat disappointed and confused by its ballistic coefficient. I appreciate any answers to my dillemma:
All bullet types by a given bullet manufacturer for a particular caliber seem, as is logical, to increase in ballistic coefficient as they increase in weight (and thus length). One exception I can find in the Barnes .338 TSX bullets:
185gr = 0.352 BC
210gr = 0.404 BC
225gr = 0.386 BC
250gr = 0.425 BC
http://www.barnesbullets.com/products/rifle/tsx-bullet/
For the .338 Tipped TSX bullets:
160gr = 0.342 BC
210gr = 0.482 BC
225gr = 0.514 BC
http://www.barnesbullets.com/products/rifle/tipped-tsx-bullet/
It is odd to me that the BC drops off for the 225gr TSX over the shorter 210gr bullet. Do you experts think it's a misprint or something else? If it's a misprint, I would like to know, so I could calculate (http://www.handloads.com/calc/) the actual downrange ballistics of the factory Weatherby 2,970 fps MV loading. If it is not a misprint, I hope Weatherby decides to load, instead, the 225 TTSX bullet instead. Using the calculator linked above, the difference between a 0.386 BC and a 0.514 BC 225gr bullet leaving the muzzle at 2,970 fps sighted in at 300 yards is that the TTSX would hit four inches higher and with FIVE HUNDRED more foot-pounds of energy at 500yds (2,239 fpe for the TTSX vs. only 1,749 fpe for the TSX at 500yds). That's a big difference.
Also, the Weatherby "Ballistics Specifications" pdf states that the .338-.378 225gr loading uses the same 225gr Barnes TSX, but lists a BC of 0.482. Is that a misprint? I know of no 0.482 BC 225gr Barnes TSX in .338 caliber. The only 225gr Barnes TSX in .338 caliber listed on Barnes' website is the 0.386 BC. I am hoping for answers to the above so that I can decide whether or not to use the factory Wby 225gr load in my .340, and if I do, how fast it will be going and how far it will drop at longer ranges.
Thanks in advance for any comments or answers.
When Googling to find the answer to my questions below, I could find none, but this forum had the most detailed discussions of the 225gr TSX bullet in .338., and I saw a lot of other interesting things on hunting and shooting.
I just bought a Mark V Weatherby Accumark in .340 Wby. I don’t reload. I have been shooting the 180gr Federal TSX round out of my 300 Win Mag with great success. I figured that the 225gr Weatherby factory loading with the 225gr TSX bullet was an obvious choice for me to hunt any thing smaller or less dangerous than a BB. However, once I started looking at the specs for that bullet, I became somewhat disappointed and confused by its ballistic coefficient. I appreciate any answers to my dillemma:
All bullet types by a given bullet manufacturer for a particular caliber seem, as is logical, to increase in ballistic coefficient as they increase in weight (and thus length). One exception I can find in the Barnes .338 TSX bullets:
185gr = 0.352 BC
210gr = 0.404 BC
225gr = 0.386 BC
250gr = 0.425 BC
http://www.barnesbullets.com/products/rifle/tsx-bullet/
For the .338 Tipped TSX bullets:
160gr = 0.342 BC
210gr = 0.482 BC
225gr = 0.514 BC
http://www.barnesbullets.com/products/rifle/tipped-tsx-bullet/
It is odd to me that the BC drops off for the 225gr TSX over the shorter 210gr bullet. Do you experts think it's a misprint or something else? If it's a misprint, I would like to know, so I could calculate (http://www.handloads.com/calc/) the actual downrange ballistics of the factory Weatherby 2,970 fps MV loading. If it is not a misprint, I hope Weatherby decides to load, instead, the 225 TTSX bullet instead. Using the calculator linked above, the difference between a 0.386 BC and a 0.514 BC 225gr bullet leaving the muzzle at 2,970 fps sighted in at 300 yards is that the TTSX would hit four inches higher and with FIVE HUNDRED more foot-pounds of energy at 500yds (2,239 fpe for the TTSX vs. only 1,749 fpe for the TSX at 500yds). That's a big difference.
Also, the Weatherby "Ballistics Specifications" pdf states that the .338-.378 225gr loading uses the same 225gr Barnes TSX, but lists a BC of 0.482. Is that a misprint? I know of no 0.482 BC 225gr Barnes TSX in .338 caliber. The only 225gr Barnes TSX in .338 caliber listed on Barnes' website is the 0.386 BC. I am hoping for answers to the above so that I can decide whether or not to use the factory Wby 225gr load in my .340, and if I do, how fast it will be going and how far it will drop at longer ranges.
Thanks in advance for any comments or answers.
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