The Practical Guide to Long Range Hunting Rifles

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The Long Range Hunting Series

The Practical Guide To Long Range Hunting Cartridges (2nd Edition)

Nathan Foster

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No part of this publication shall be reproduced, copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the author or publisher.

Published by Terminal Ballistics Research.

First edition published November 2013.

Second edition published January 2017.

Legal Notice & Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to make this publication as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty as to suitability or fitness for any particular purpose is given or implied. The information provided is on an ‘as is’ basis. The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage arising from the information or the use or application (in whole or in part) of the information contained in this publication. The author and the publisher expressly disclaim all and any liability and responsibility to any person reading or using this guide in respect of anything, and of any consequences of anything, done or omitted to be done by any such person in reliance, whether wholly or in part, upon the whole or part of this guide. In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions or any actions taken on the basis of the information contained in this guide.

All comments and criticisms regarding individuals, companies or products in this publication reflect the author’s honest opinion based on his own research and testing and for reasons outlined in the text.

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Other books by this author

The Practical Guide To Long Range Hunting Rifles.

The Practical Guide To Long Range Hunting Cartridges.

The Practical Guide To Bolt Action Rifle Accurizing and Maintenance.

The Practical Guide To Reloading.

The Practical Guide To Long Range Shooting – The art of a clean kill.

Dedication To my wife Stephanie for her tireless work, whether at the reloading bench or hauling game from precarious ledges. To my daughter Riley, thanks for all of the hugs and kisses and help with autopsies.

Special thanks to David and Lisa Kelly and to my good friend Oscar Williams. And to my hunting buddy kelvin Brace, thank you so much for all of your help in the field. To Dan Keene, thank you so much for your help with both product and personal support.

To my friends and readers who have helped me so much with fieldwork, feedback, photos and ongoing support.

So many warm, kind and wonderful people. Thank you to you all.

Contents

Introduction ...... 1 A SAFETY WARNING ...... 4 Part 1 - Ballistics fundamentals ...... 5 How bullets kill ...... 6 Mechanisms ...... 7 Fast Killing ...... 7 Velocity ...... 9 Bullet weight versus game weights ...... 9 Projectile construction ...... 10 Bullet diameter and frontal area ...... 11 Putting the information together ...... 12 The traditional controlled expanding hunting bullet ...... 14 The long range hunting bullet ...... 16 Shot placement ...... 21 Further notes on the nervous system...... 32 Exterior ballistics considerations ...... 34 Sectional density ...... 34 Ballistic coefficient ...... 36 Determining BC ...... 37 Retained energy ...... 42

Wind drift error ...... 42 Elevation error ...... 44 Coriolis and spin drift error ...... 47 Other considerations ...... 48 Lead toxicity ...... 48 Military and police applications...... 50 Low recoil cartridge designs ...... 54 Part 2- Projectile manufacturers, design considerations and modifications ...... 58 Bullet designs ...... 58 Hornady ...... 65 Sierra ...... 73 Speer ...... 78 Berger ...... 80 Matrix ...... 88 Rocky Mountain ...... 88 Nosler ...... 89 Taipan ...... 95 Dynamic Research Technologies ...... 97 Homogeneous copper projectiles...... 98 Projectile availability ...... 102 Preliminary testing of projectiles - Stop, hammer time ...... 103 Bullet annealing ...... 107 Meplat trimming and hollow pointing ...... 111

Part 3- How to select a long range cartridge ...... 116 Back work your project...... 116 What size animals do you intend to hunt? ...... 116 How far do you want to shoot? ...... 121 The walls...... 121 Accuracy ...... 125 Rifle carry weight and configurations versus recoil ...... 127 Altitude - add 100 yards ...... 130 Understanding COAL references within this book ...... 131 Cartridges not mentioned within this book ...... 134 Maximum effective range definition for this book ...... 134 Part 4- Cartridges for long range hunting ...... 137 .223 Remington ...... 137 .22-250 Remington ...... 153 .243 Winchester ...... 159 6mm Remington Ackley Improved (.244 Remington AI) ...... 168 .240 Weatherby Magnum, 6mm-06 & 6mm-284 ...... 170 .25-06 Remington ...... 173 .257 Weatherby Magnum ...... 177 6.5x55 ...... 180 .260 Remington ...... 195 6.5 Creedmoor ...... 200 6.5-284 Norma ...... 202 6.5-06 ...... 210

.264 Winchester Magnum ...... 214 .26 Nosler ...... 221 .270 Winchester ...... 226 .270 Winchester Short Magnum ...... 239 .270 Weatherby Magnum ...... 248 7mm-08 Remington...... 257 7x57 ...... 264 .280 Remington / .280 Ackley Improved ...... 268 .284 Winchester ...... 276 7x64 Brenneke...... 279 7mm Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum ...... 281 7mm Winchester Short Magnum ...... 283 7mm Remington Magnum...... 289 7mm Weatherby Magnum ...... 304 7mm Practical (7mm-.300 Win Mag) ...... 308 7mm Shooting Times Westerner ...... 321 7mm Dakota ...... 332 .28 Nosler ...... 334 7mm-375 Ruger ...... 337 7mm Remington Ultra Magnum ...... 339 .308 Winchester ...... 349 .30-06 Springfield / .30-06 AI ...... 369 .300 Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum ...... 383 .300 Winchester Short Magnum ...... 386

.300 Ruger Compact Magnum ...... 394 .308 Norma Magnum and .300-338 Win Mag AKA .30 FBI ...... 396 .300 Winchester Magnum ...... 400 .300 Weatherby Magnum ...... 413 .300 Dakota ...... 424 .300-375 Ruger ...... 427 .30 Nosler ...... 428 .300 Remington Ultra Magnum ...... 432 .30-378 Weatherby ...... 439 .388 Federal ...... 445 .338-06 A-Square ...... 450 .338 Ruger Compact Magnum ...... 457 .338 Winchester Magnum ...... 461 .340 Weatherby Magnum ...... 476 .338 Remington Ultra Magnum ...... 478 .330 Dakota ...... 484 .338 Norma Magnum ...... 486 .338 Edge ...... 488 .338 Lapua Magnum ...... 497 .338-378 Weatherby Magnum ...... 513 Large bore long range rifle cartridges ...... 518 Military and tactical long range cartridges ...... 518 Plinking and extreme range target shooting ...... 521 Large bores for medium game at long ranges ...... 521

Large bores for big game at long ranges ...... 524 Traditional medium and large bore cartridges ...... 528 Final thoughts about the large bores ...... 532 Large Bore cartridge tables ...... 534 Conclusion ...... 536 About Nathan Foster ...... 540