Question about bullet grain.

rimlick

rimlick

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So I have about 100 rounds of .338LM 250 GRAIN ammo. This is what I've been shooting since I've had the rifle.

I was gifted some 300 grain match ammo, fancy stuff nearly 3 times the price of my normal ammo.

I'm curious how far off my zero would realistically be under 200 yards? Can the difference be easily compensated for?

I would like to use them for hunting but not sure how ethical it would be knowing the zero would be off.

Should I just sell the 300 grain ammo?

Thanks
 
There's no way of knowing without shooting it, but there almost certainly will be a difference. The most drastic difference in zero I've experienced with a change in bullet weight was 18" at 200 yds. Four to 6" is more typical, and a very few of my rilfe/load combinations are useable at that distance with only a 1-2" change in impact.

The change is not always vertical; I've had bullets group 4-5" to the right or left, on the same horizontal plane. Same bullet weight and charge, just a different bullet.
 
Could be the same, could be dangerously off for hunting. It depends on the nose profile, tail design, bearing surface, velocity, pressure-curve of the powder, case capacity, and many other factors. Other than shooting it at a target to see there's no way for someone to tell you how it'll work in your rifle.

If it's match ammo I wouldn't want to use it hunting either way. Match bullets are not designed to expand and hold together reliably on game. Many are hollow-point designs but they aren't expanding hollow-points meant for expansion; the hollow-point is just a result of the manufacturing process. Polymer-tipped match bullets likewise usually aren't meant for hunting. Sometimes a match bullet (HP or tipped) will act like a FMJ, sometimes they will expand decently, and sometimes they fracture and break apart rapidly.
 
Sorry I was completely wrong, they are Nosler Accubond "TROPHY GRADE" 300grain

So realistically if I want to hunt with them, I will just have to re-do my zero or at least be aware of the change at the bare minimum. I guess that is fair.
 
Shoot a few and re-zero. You will probably need a few clicks of adjustment.

BTW, it is bullet 'weight", not bullet "grain".

"Grain" is a unit of measuring weight, like a gram, ounce or pound - only smaller.
 
Nosler Accubonds are good bullets. Depending how many you have it could be worth firing 2-3 re-zeroing and then using them. Depends what your usage rate is. For me for hunting purposes a 20rnd box would last several years since I don't use my hunting guns for other than hunting. My precision rifles are way too heavy to lug around in the woods.
 
Even with rezeroing your scope for the 300 gr AccuBond ammunition, you still need to shoot it at various distances that you could be harvesting game at, in order to verify your rifles performance with this ammo. Ballistic charts and apps will only give you theoretical drop measurements for this load and barrel measurement.
Ethical hunting demands that you actually practice with your rifle/scope/ammunition shooting system to understand exactly how it is going to perform in the field at various distances, before going out and using it on game and guessing where your bullet may go. Not doing so, is completely unethical!
As you can imagine, this also very important for safety reasons. This is a projectile that carries deadly force over several kms.
 
rimlick mentioned under 200 yards so I kind of assumed that was his general hunting distance. A .338LM at 200yds will be pretty hard to mess up. Zero at 200, aim a little low at 100, still going to get the vitals.

That being said it does seem like an oddly short range for a .338LM.
 
300 grain Accubonds in the big 338's hit like a freakin' train. Re-sight your rifle in for 200 meters and then do the math from there and you are good to go.
 
BULLET WEIGHT: 250
Yards / Muzzle - Drop In Inches(100YD) Zero
200 -3.3"
30 -12"

BULLET WEIGHT: 300
Yards / Muzzle - Drop In Inches(100YD) Zero
200 -3.9"
300 -13.9"


From the manufacture, I am surprised the different weights shoot so similar.
 
rimlick said:
BULLET WEIGHT: 250
Yards / Muzzle - Drop In Inches(100YD) Zero
200 -3.3"
30 -12"

BULLET WEIGHT: 300
Yards / Muzzle - Drop In Inches(100YD) Zero
200 -3.9"
300 -13.9"


From the manufacture, I am surprised the different weights shoot so similar.
Click to expand...

On paper you can make them shoot the same. In the real world that is rarely the case.
 
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