Light vs Heavy, pros and cons

[Kuyong_Chuin]

Seems to me that my Brother basically uses two bullet weights for everything. 150 grain for his rifles, 270, 30-06, 300 Weatherby Mag, and 7mm Remington Mag. For his pistols he uses 180 grain for the 44 Remington Mag and 185 grain for the 45 acp. He would use a 180 grain for that if he could find it in a jacketed bullet. It got me thinking, what are the pros and cons of both using lighter bullets vs heavier bullets when reloading rounds for deer hunting.

 

[gamestalker]

Using 150's for the .270, 30-06, 7mm rm, and 300 wm, he is not short changing any of those cartridges by any great degree IMO. He is definitely getting some excellent velocity potential for the 7 mag and 300 wm.. But in consideration of pros or cons, it would greatly depend on how far away his shots are taken from. The 06 would be right at home, while the .270 would be losing a chunk of it's potential in this particular respect, but nothing that would make it unreasonable or lacking for deer.

With exception to 300 wm, I've successfully hunted deer with the other 3 cartridges using bullets in that weight class, and had nothing but great results. The 300 wm would be pushing into the 3300 fps range at the muzzle, so bullet integrity would be monumental at such screaming velocity due to rapid expansion causing the bullet to explode before achieving good penetration. But if one was using a good quality bonded, solid, or other high retention grade projectile, I'm sure it would produce better controlled expansion.

With regard to the 44 mag and 45 acp and 180's or 185's, both would be achieving maximum velocity potential. I don't have experience with the 45 acp, but the 44 mag has dropped deer for me back in the day with 180's out to 100 yds.. But I think I was losing some accuracy potential, as 180 gr. is not enough bullet to obtain optimum accuracy with, IMO.

IMO, 45 acp would be a very poor choice for big game, considering it's low velocity capability. Even with a light weight 185 gr. bullet, velocity above 1000 fps would be difficult to obtain. I wouldn't have much confidence in it's ability to drop deer beyond 20 yds unless it was a head shot.

From a personal perspective, I've always been drawn toward mid to lighter weight projectiles for any given cartridge. I've had excellent deer and other game hunting results using 120 gr. - 145 gr for 7mm rm, 150's for 30-06, 165's for 300 wm, and 130's for .270 win.. Shot placement and bullet integrity, regardless of projectile weight, are key factors with just about any bullet weight. I've known of people poaching deer using nothing but a 22 lr, so just about any cartridge can put deer down, some are just better suited for the task.

To sum it up, everything you listed for cartridges, with exception being the 45 acp, would be very effective on deer with the weight projectiles indicated in your post.

GS

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I'm not a fan of light for caliber bullet weights so I'm not a fan of the 185gr bullet in the .45 ACP. I also think the 150gr bullet is light for the 30-06 but I also don't consider the 180gr bullet a necessity. I like the velocity achieved with a 165gr bullet with the added energy you get with the heavier bullet.

I do not feel the one size fits all approach is a good one when loading ammo when it comes to bullet weights or powder too.

 

[Kuyong_Chuin]

I'm not a fan of light for caliber bullet weights so I'm not a fan of the 185gr bullet in the .45 ACP. I also think the 150gr bullet is light for the 30-06 but I also don't consider the 180gr bullet a necessity. I like the velocity achieved with a 165gr bullet with the added energy you get with the heavier bullet.

I do not feel the one size fits all approach is a good one when loading ammo when it comes to bullet weights or powder too.

I feel the same as you on the one size fits all approach it is too limiting on what the round is capable of doing. He wants them all loaded with Nolser Ballistic Silvertips in 150 grain and H4350 powder. He says he is going to plan a trip out to the northwest and hunt some "big game" like moose, bear, and elk with them. I have a feeling that the rounds are going to come apart and not penetrate deep enough on those big brutes using that light of a round on anything bigger than a whitetail deer. Just to clarify something he will not be using the 1911A1 for hunting, it is for home defence and target practice when he has the 22 conversion unit on it.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

IMO the Nolser Ballistic Silvertips are good deer bullets but not so good on Moose and Bear. I would use a premium bullet like the AccuBond or even better, a Partition bullet instead. I would also use a heavier bullet than 150gr, especially in the 300 Win Mag.

 

[Plain Old Bill]

Depends upon the gun/purpose/operator, I'm thinking.
One of the great advantages to reloading is the ability to tailor a load to an individual weapon to maximize accuracy with a bullet type and weight and speed that will nicely fit the job at hand. And...it's got to feel good to the operator.
Definitely not a "one-size fits all" person, but I do try to minimize the primers and powder choices if possible. It's not easy always. For my military weapons, they all get FMJ bullets anyway, but for personal defense or hunting the projectile certainly can be and is customized.
Heck, I never enjoyed shooting 1911s until discovering 220 grain bullets. The 185s and even the 200s had a snap and muzzle flip that made things difficult for me- 220s settled me right down.
Your mileage will vary, we're all different.
You may surprise yourself trying something new.

 

[Kuyong_Chuin]

Depends upon the gun/purpose/operator, I'm thinking.
One of the great advantages to reloading is the ability to tailor a load to an individual weapon to maximize accuracy with a bullet type and weight and speed that will nicely fit the job at hand. And...it's got to feel good to the operator.
Definitely not a "one-size fits all" person, but I do try to minimize the primers and powder choices if possible. It's not easy always. For my military weapons, they all get FMJ bullets anyway, but for personal defense or hunting the projectile certainly can be and is customized.
Heck, I never enjoyed shooting 1911s until discovering 220 grain bullets. The 185s and even the 200s had a snap and muzzle flip that made things difficult for me- 220s settled me right down.
Your mileage will vary, we're all different.
You may surprise yourself trying something new.

Myself I am always up for trying new things. If I wasn't I would never have taken up reloading or any of the many other things I have tried over the years.

 

[ArtP]

When I plan for different calibers and choose bullet weights, I consider sectional density before weight.

I don't choose bullet weights on trajectory, or fitting some idea that all my bullets weights must be the same for different calibers. I look for a reasonable SD for caliber, and I'd go heavier on large game or longer distances.

For a refresher, since you brought the question; SD describes the shape or the bullet or the relationship between mass and diameter. It's completely lost on me why someone would want the same bullet weight in different calibers as that would cause different shapes, different characteristics, different SD, etc.

I try to stay within proven SD's. That is a 130 or 140 for .270, 165 for 30-06 etc. If I had a 7m, I'd choose a weight based on reasonable SD, not some notion that 150 is king, though it likely is close in 7mm.

 

[jmr40]

I'll answer the rifle part.

With conventional bullets there isn't much disadvantage to shooting heavier bullets. The much better BC of most heavier bullets almost makes up for the faster speed you get from lighter bullets. The difference in bullet drop between a 130gr vs 150gr in a 270 or 150gr vs 180gr in a 30-06 is a lot less than most folks realize. The difference in energy is substantial, and if hunting larger game could matter.

But you do have to consider recoil. And the difference in trajectory is there. If the lighter bullet will do the job, and if a little less recoil and slighter flatter trajectory helps, then use the lighter bullet.

The wildcard is the newer copper bullets. They have changed the rules,because they don't need weight to penetrate like the old school bullets do. A 180 gr bullet can be fired at about 3000 fps from a 300 magnum, but with old school bullets be lucky if it weighs 120 gr after impact, most likely well under 100 gr. You can fire a 130 gr copper bullet @ about 3600 fps. It will still weigh 130 gr after impact and give at least the same performance. A conventional 130 gr bullet would probably explode on impact and give little penetration.

 

[41 Mag]

I grew up watching my pop drop everything he shot using Sierra 150gr bullets out of his 03A6. I went a bit differently with some 165's in my 06. After quite a few years I am shooting the 150's in my .308 but still rocking the 165's in those 06's.

In my 7mm Rem I use the 140 - 150gr range bullets and in my 7 STW I am shooting factory Federal loaded 150gr Nosler Solid Bases. I can't say I haven't thought of using a bit heavier bullet, but the ones I am using have done all I have asked of them out to around 450yds, and haven't blown up yet even as close as 50. In fact I like the combination so much I picked up all I could afford when Nosler was clearing them out a few years back.

In my revolvers I do however shoot the heavier side of the mid weight bullets for caliber. I don't have to push them as hard to get equal or better performance. No sense pushing the limits with a the lighter ones when the heavier one will do as much or more and is less punishing to both me and the revolver. I do admit, I had my time when I was running the Sierra 180gr's up to top end and got some really great groups at 100yd with them using the 4x scope I had mounted on top. Even so it was miserably useless in the woods unless you were hunting from a stand overlooking a food plot. The eye relief was simply terrible. Dropped the scope, went to heavier bullets then slightly heavier cast bullets and now don't sweat none of it.

 

[WestKentucky]

i hate windows 8

 

[WestKentucky]

i always shoot light-for-cal bullets. in west ky we have gentle rolling farmland that is occupied by soybeans and corn in the fall when i hunt deer and coyote. those fields blend together terribly well and a 300 yard shot on a good whitetail can suddenly turn into a 500 yard shot. Its all in how the fields roll and the lighting. i shot a solid 8pt several years back at what i thought was 250ish yards at about 7am. I watched him fall in a wateway. i finally found him at noon at almost 500 yards an extra hill and waterway over. the lighting made everything blend together and my range was way off. luckily i held high on the shot to avoid a scrub cedar. the bullet must hav gone through the scrub as it hit low and slammed him straight down with heart and lungs shredded. this was with a 270 loaded with 130 grain which is not terrible light...fast forward 2 years. I missed a coyote at 60 yards with my first .357 shooting 180gr with all 6 shots. mud flew at his feet each shot....the fast and light bullet works well here because it allows for more error in range estimation. if your somewhere that range is easy to be sure of, heavier bullets buck wind better and typically fly truer, but in western ky i always shoot light.

 

[greenmtnguy]

If quality bullets are used, especially with hot rounds like the 300, 150 grain is fine in all those rifles for deer or caribou in my opinion. I'm sure that moose and elk have been taken with them many times too, but I'd tend to want to go with the heavier bullets where they are available. The heavier bullets will still hit plenty hard at longer ranges and the trajectory drop shouldn't be an issue if you practice with what you hunt with. But heck, my main deer rifle is a 45/70 so the 300 grain bullets in that are my "light" loads for deer. If I'm going to be shooting out 200+ yards, I might use my 270 Win or 30-06, usually with 150 grain bullets.

 

[Kuyong_Chuin]

i hate windows 8

I definitely agree on that, so much so that I have thought about using the disk for target practice.

 

[IM391]

go to www.terminalballistic.com and read the reviews on bullets, powder and conbining them for particular application.