Stick with the 180 or got to 200 grain accubond

[land308]

I have a stock rem 700 bdl in 300 win mag that shoots pretty well. My question is would there be any real advantage for me to move up to a 200 grain accubond over the 180's I am using now? My longest successful shot thus far is 637 yards on a cow elk(my target animal for these questions). I would like to work up to getting cvonfortable at 800 to 900 yards over the next few years. I'm just wondering if there is any real world advantage in jumping up in weight or would this just cause a little more kick and a little more drop at those ranges.
Thanks for any input.

 

[winmagman]

If your looking to get to 800-900 yds or further go with the 200 gr AB , yes you'll get more kick but you'll get *less* drop. The BC of the 200 gr AB is higher than the 180 thus it will fly flatter further out there.

Chris

 

[chain]

I had this same issue, I went with the 180 I just didn't get enough speed(I thought) out of the 200. That being said I am going to work on the 200 loads after hunting and maybe even the 208gr A-Max's.

 

[jwp475]

by winmagman
If your looking to get to 800-900 yds or further go with the 200 gr AB , yes you'll get more kick but you'll get *less* drop. The BC of the 200 gr AB is higher than the 180 thus it will fly flatter further out there.

Where do you find the numbers to support you statement?... At 1460 ft. elevation 84 degress and 50% RH and 3073 FPS my Exbal program shows a correction of 14.5 MOA for the 180 AccuBond at 800 yards
The 200 AccuBond at 2950 FPS calls for a correction of 15.25 MOA
This shows that the 180 shoots 3/4 MOA flatter than does the 200

 

[winmagman]

jwp475,

I'm using the ballistic calculator that is at the top of this sub catagory. I used info for my area, 1000ft elv, 30 degrees (typical hunting temps), no place for humidity info. Since I don't shoot the 180s, I picked 3070fps as an average velocity from the Nosler manual and used that. Used 2970 fps for the 200s( what mine run).

At 800 yds the program shows both bullets drop 17.8 moa, after that the 200 gr starts to take over, admittedly by not that great a margin. Interesting though the difference between programs and info used.

I don't know if this program is as good as, better than, or worse than exbal, but thats where my numbers came from. Guess thats my story and I'm stickin to it.

Chris

 

[älg]

what about wind drift??

 

[Nomosendero]

what about wind drift??

Good question since w. drift is harder to call than drop.

 

[winmagman]

Well on the program I'm using the drift in a 10 mph crosswind at 1000 ft elev in 30 degree temps is as follows.

The 180 gr launched at 3070 is 46.9" @ 800, 61.8" @ 900, and 78.6" @ 1K.

The 200 gr launched at 2970 is 40.5" @ 800, 53.5" @ 900, and 68.2" @ 1k.

Would be interested in seeing the results from other programs for comparison purposes.

Chris

 

[älg]

Good question since w. drift is harder to call than drop.

Yes I did not have the exact data about wind drift but the idea behind the question was to point out that high BC bullets are not just intended for achieving a flatter trajectory but less wind drift.- At known distances ( i.e. lasered) drop can be easily corrected... wind drift is much harder to assess.

For that reason, even though the 180 ACCB may shoot flatter at some distances, the higher BC of the 200 ACCB will give it an advantadge if velocity is not too low.

 

[land308]

Thanks for the info. I think I will jump up to the 200's beacause of the decreased wind drift. I was mainly focused on the drop and penetration aspects but having less wind drift would be a big plus. I have been lucky up to this point and have not had to deal with much wind but I know those days will come.

 

[jwp475]

Don't get me wrong I like heavy bullets.. I built a 338 Laupa around the 325 Grain Wildcat bullet and I am going to build a 300 Ultra around the Widcat 265 grainer