Explanation of Rifle Ammo to Newbie

[KnightofCydonia]

Could somebody explain Rifle Ammo to me?

What's the significance of the weight of the bullet down range and the advantages? How about the case length/diameter? Primer? Bullet shape performance?

Is there a website that has all this info?

 

[alec ouellet]

Try this link, a lots of info

www.reloadammo. com

Alec

 

[B]

Read up on internal and external ballistics. It will shed light on a lot of what you are wondering.

 

[Ganderite]

Longer bullets are heavier (longer) and tend to carry more energy down range.

Bigger cases have more powder and generate more energy.

The exceptions to all this make it interesting.

 

[BigUglyMan]

What's the significance of the weight of the bullet down range and the advantages?

Heavier bullets have more momentum as well. This means that they resist wind drift and decelleration better than lighter bullets, given equal diameter. Heavy bullets also tend to penetrate better than lighter bulelts (again, given the same internal construction and diameter). There are times when deeper penetration is desireable and some where it is not.

How about the case length/diameter? Primer? Bullet shape performance?

Case dimensions and loading methods are too complex a subject to be explained in a forum post. Simplisticly put, larger cases hold more powder and, generally, they require a magnum primer. There are exceptions to this statement. I use magnum primers in my 30-06 and 9.3x62 but not in my 25-06 despite the fact that their case length is essentially the same and internal volume is silimar. Case diameter plays a part in the selection of powder depending on the bore diameter. A case with a smaller bore will use slower powders than the same case with a larger bore (example would be the 25-06, 30-06, 35 Whelen which use the same case but bullets varying from .257" to .308" to .35" and all use different powders).

Bullet shape is more post-graduate ballistic fodder. Generally pointy bullets will shoot marginally flatter (less drop) than blunt shaped bulelts. This difference is likely quite small except at extreme distances. Some will tell you that a non-expanding bullet with a blunt nose will leave a larger permanent wound cavity that a similar diameter bullet with a pointy nose. Makes sense if you use the analogy of punching a hole in a sheet of saran wrap (stretchy, like flesh) with a sharp pencil versus a blunt one.

Hope this helps a bit. It's a very complex world with a lot of unknowns. A load that shoots small groups in one rifle may not shoot worth a damn in the next rifle off the assembly line. I suppose that's the fun of it all.