The Long Range Hunting Series The Practical Guide To Long Range Hunting Cartridges (2nd Edition) Nathan Foster Copyright Information Copyright © 2017 - Nathan Foster, New Zealand - All rights reserved. All images, drawings and photographs in this guide are the copyright of their respective owners and used with permission. 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. Trademarks All terms mentioned in this publication that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Terminal Ballistics Research cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this publication should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. 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 ...............................................................................