For only 500 yds? With a standard savage twist? H1000 and any decent hunting bullet or berger from 95-100 gr will work dandy, unless you get to try the 103 eldx before I do.... I've run some pretty groups at 500 with pro hunter pills, but the all copper bullets have a better bc and I can run em faster so I'm on 4451 with that project. The standard go to though is either a Max load of h1000 under a 95 btip or a 100 Sierra.
The heavier bullets are recommended because somewhere around 500 yds, the wind starts making herself known to your groups, so heavier/longer bullets help out there. as for factory twist, 1:9.25" is plenty fast enough for the heavy hunting types, try out JBM tools, I personally stay away from anything in the marginal zone when I can, and try to stay as high on the scale as possible for my arid climate temps (-30 up to 110).
A given bullet drifts at right angles to the line off sight at the same speed for a given cross wind. Doesn't matter how far they are down range nor how fast they're moving.
Bullets drop faster than bricks; they've more mass for their shape (sectional density) with their higher "BC," if you wish. They drop at their own same rate regardless of range. A favorite long range benchrest cartridge shoots 24 caliber bullets slower than the 243; the 6mm Dasher.
The 85 gr Sierra hpbt #1530 and IMR 4350 at around 42.0 gr in Win or Rem brass, sorted by weight and primed with CCI BR 2 is a good starting point to test out a new rifle.
Is 1" what it'll do or better all the time?
I fail to see the logic in "must have" one or more manuals. The Internet has load data surpassing any paper media. None of those loads' data listed will be duplicated in your loads shot in your rifles.
When I said "must have" I didn't mean he was required to have one, only that since he has been doing this for a while he probably bought a manual along the way. It's just the way I said it, I really didn't mean required to have. I did tell him where to find the data online.
yah, newton says they all drop at the same rate. that's why a faster, slicker bullet prints higher at a given distance (it gets there faster with less drag).
