Point of impact

[Iron Sight]

Same weight bullet and same gunpowder.

Will a bullet with a lighter powder load hit higher or lower on the target that one with the heavier load?

 

[243winxb]

depends. If the muzzle is fixed, the light load will hit lower. If the muzzle can move/recoil, like in a handgun, barrel time might make the light load hit higher at 25yds.

 

[tjj]

Is this a trick question??

Lighter load equals slower bullet equals longer flight time to target so more drop than with a heavier load. Am I right??
If so, what did I win??

 

[243winxb]

a bullet leaving a fixed muzzle on a level plain always hits lower. Gravity and air friction comes into play. Where this gets screwed up is optical sight/scope mounted above the bore.

 

[1858rem]

so how about using a heavier bullet and keep the charge the same(but safe)


so would a 168g bullet with XX.Xg of Xpowder hit higher or lower than a 150g with the same load?

 

[243winxb]

so would a 168g bullet with XX.Xg of Xpowder hit higher or lower than a 150g with the same load?

Now this IS a trick question. You would need to know the velocity by using a chronograph. The slower of the 2 would hit lower from a fixed muzzle/parallel to the ground. The heaver bullet may make more pressure/velocity then the light bullet, depending on the powder charge.

 

[JDGray]

When working up loads in a rifle, the groups always move up the paper, as the load gets hotter.

 

[Sport45]

Will a bullet with a lighter powder load hit higher or lower on the target that one with the heavier load?

It depends on the situation. For rifle shooting at distance the slower projectile will hit lower due to having gravity act on it for a longer period of time.

If it's a handgun at 10 or so yards the slower bullet will probably impact higher due to its longer time in the barrel during recoil.

 

[Superlite27]

Now this IS a trick question.

+1 on this.

Since you're increasing bullet weight, chamber pressure is increasing. This is compounded by the fact that if you are using a larger bullet while keeping your OAL the same, case pressure is also increasing (smaller case volume). This should lead to a higher velocity.

Yet, you are pushing more weight, which usually results in lower velocities. Usually due to the fact that the charge is reduced to avoid higher pressures.

Yet, the lighter bullet is easier to push leading to higher velocities.

So I guess my answer to your question is: Maybe.

Since you are keeping the charge the same, it will lead to an increased pressure for the heavier bullet. Depending on the particular characteristics of the specific powder you choose to do this, it's anyone's guess as to if this increased pressure is enough to overcome the extra weight in order to move the bullet faster.

Are you using a fast or a slow burning powder?

 

[Clarence]

At what range?

 

[1858rem]

im not really trying to trick anyone sorry. it seems like with the 168g load (powder charge pretty close to max) it hit higher than the 150g load(powder charge about 1 grain higher (reloader 15)) and since both charges were so close in weight i thought the heavy bullet maybe made the barrel jump higher, but if it is the gases exiting the barrel that make it jump i am confused now



same with my 204 .....even though the 32g load is at 4150 fps and the 40g load at 3700 fps, POI difference is within the avg group size. all testing at 100 measured yards.