.257, .264 or .284 caliber bullets with good BC and expansion for PD?

[TGT]

Any of you guys know of a high rated BC bullet that expands very well on PD or ground hog sized animals in these larger calibers?
(ie: a bullet that will not just pencil hole through)

Because I don't hunt, I don't get to witness or know much about the expansion performance of the different bullets available in the .257, .264, or .284 calibers that I might utilize for PD or ground hog sized animals.

I thought it would be fun to build a large caliber rifle like a 6.5 x 06 for example, which I could do accurate long range paper target shooting but would also double for some fun prarie dog or ground hog devestation.

The problem I find is that any bullet in these larger calibers that has very good ballistic coefficient ratings of .435 or more is not designed to expand on small animals. Hornady lists at least one single light weight V-Max bullet in each caliber, but the bullets are of poor BC rating of .365 BC or less. I might as well be shooting a .435 BC, 75 grain .224 cal bullet out of a 220 Swift which would recoil less and burn less powder, and provide better windage and ballistics performance then a .264 or .284 cal bullet with a poor .365 BC.

 

[MCgunner]

Try the 100 grain Sierra Game King in .257". It won't explode on a prairie dog, but should expand. It is a good medium game gun for small deer and has a BC up there around .380 or something claimed average at sea level. .264" would likely be your best bet to get a high BC in an explosive bullet weight, I'm guessing.

 

[627PCFan]

I can only speak for the .284 cal bullets, the ones with the higher BC are usually the mid to heavier weight bullets say 150 grains on up to 180. The lightest varmint bullets I have come across are 120 grain Hornady's but because my rifle has a twist rate meant for the heavier bullets, I never saw good groupings no matter how much I tinkered with the load.

I would use this as the basis to tell the wife you need a 220, or 22-250 with all the fixins

 

[147 Grain]

Have you considered Nosler's Ballistic Tipped bullets?

 

[TGT]

I've spent probably about 3-4 hours combined over a couple of nights studying bullet design, doing forum searches, and comparing the trajectory and windage ballistics of these .257, 264, and 284 calibers to other smaller calibers like a 75 grain 224 bullet.

I have firmly concluded that for long range PD or chuck shooting, the only practical bullet out there to plan a custom rifle around for this kind of 400-700 yard shooting is the 75 and 80 grain Amax bullets which provide only 8" of wind deflection at 400 yards. (@ 75 degrees, 78 humidity and 8 MPH winds)

It's all a matter of bullet design. The bullet makers just don't design these large caliber bullets in the 435-550 BC range for the express purpose of busting small animals. The high BC bullets are designed for target shooting, or, for reliably taking down larger sized game. However, the 75 and 80 grain 22 cal Amax is designed at 435, and 453 BC.

While the bullet makers like Hornady do offer at least one light weight Vmax style bullet in each of these larger bore calibers, the BC is so poor, that the 75 and 80 grain Amax 22 caliber bullets will perform better. So then....the conclusion is; why shoot a .264 cal 95 grain Vmax bullet out of 30-06 sized case to kill a PD at 600 yards, when a 75 grain 22 caliber bullet will do it with less bullet drop and wind deflection out of a 22-250 sized case. That's a whole lot less recoil and powder to net ballistics that are actualy better.