SwampWolf
Member
Why is it that, reportedly, some rifles will put bullets having different weights in virtually the same place at the same distance and others won't? In the latest issue of Rifle magazine, author Stan Trzoniec (whom I have a lot of respect for) tested a Cooper rifle, chambered in 30-06, and made the following observation: "...What really grabbed my attention, however, was how close the various bullet weights (150, 165 and 180 grains) were when it came to trajectory. For all practical purposes, all but one could be counted on to hit within one inch or less of each other even out to 400 yards..."
This isn't the first time I've heard of this apparently unusual phenomena but I've never understood how it happens. I understand that all rifles are dimensionally different from each other in one way or another, even rifles coming off the same assembly line on the same day. But it would seem that the ballistic properties of bullets having different weights are constants when it comes to downrange trajectories and points of impact, no matter what rifle they are shot from; all else being equal in terms of the type of ammunition, barrel length and twist, etc.
I've had a lot of different rifles in my time but never one that I could count on to put all of many different bullet weights in the same spot at the same distance. I've also posed this question in another forum but I wonder what ideas you folks might have. Thanks.
This isn't the first time I've heard of this apparently unusual phenomena but I've never understood how it happens. I understand that all rifles are dimensionally different from each other in one way or another, even rifles coming off the same assembly line on the same day. But it would seem that the ballistic properties of bullets having different weights are constants when it comes to downrange trajectories and points of impact, no matter what rifle they are shot from; all else being equal in terms of the type of ammunition, barrel length and twist, etc.
I've had a lot of different rifles in my time but never one that I could count on to put all of many different bullet weights in the same spot at the same distance. I've also posed this question in another forum but I wonder what ideas you folks might have. Thanks.