shooting light for caliber bullets

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mike Crawford

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Is there any hope of getting accuracy out of a rifle that has a long throat .. but you want too shoot short bullets ???If you take a 30-06 for just an example .. it will chamber a shell with a 220 grain bullet .. Or you can get a bullet from sierra that is 110 grains .. . just an example .. you may be able too get even lighter bullets //// so the 110 grain is going too set back farther from the lands .. Does this effect accuracy is a big way .. The heavy bullets for moose and the light for yotes lets say .. Or are you just wasting time and go get a yote gun too start with
 
The short answer is maybe. The gun loony answer is always you should have a second gun.
As I am sure you have come to realize every rifle is different and the same story is true of bullets, lots of bullets like to be loaded nearly touching the lands, others love a bit of a jump and there are always exceptions to those. The only way to know is to try
I have a friend who built a fast twist (1-8.5, I believe) .270, intended to shoot the long heavy high bc bullets that have come out for it, longer than normal throat too, and damned if the thing doesn't shoot fantastic with 130 grain flat bases and some of the lighter bullets meant for the 6.8 SPC.
 
Years ago Imperial made some specialty bullets and the name escapes me now.
But, essentially it was a sabot in a 30:06 (there may have been other calibers) and it was a 55 grain pellet zipping out there.
Was it a varmint bullet I dont recall and have not seen them for years.
That reminds me I need a couple for my bullet collection...
Buy a dedicated yote gun if you are going to chase them on a regular basis.
Rob
 
My savage 308 shoots 125gr bullets fantastically. I think you just have to try them. It is better if you reload to help dial the round in.
 
I have 75 gr bullets that shot amazing in my 2506 with also shot some 120gr bullets well
As for 30s my 300wm is most accurate with 110gr gmx and i normally shoot 180gr bullets out of it. Its picky with 180 gr bullets. The gmx no matter what powder or how much it seems to place them all within a twoonie at 100 yards. However the 110gr gmx is nearly as long as the 180gr bullets
300gr hp bullets shoot just as good as the 500gn solids in my 458wm. So the answer is it is common for light caliber bullets to shoot well in factory rifles. However you may find a bullet or barrel that is the opposite. Its a trial and error thing. But at least u get trigger time figuring it all out
 
FLHTCUI said:
Years ago Imperial made some specialty bullets and the name escapes me now.
But, essentially it was a sabot in a 30:06 (there may have been other calibers) and it was a 55 grain pellet zipping out there.
Was it a varmint bullet I dont recall and have not seen them for years.
That reminds me I need a couple for my bullet collection...
Buy a dedicated yote gun if you are going to chase them on a regular basis.
Rob
Click to expand...

3006 accelerator. Fired a 223 55gr vmax. At least the ones i had were
 
I believe that Remington marketed a saboted bullet like Rob described under the name "Accelerator". I don't think that they worked out very well as I haven't seen them on the shelves for many years.

I agree with Rob...buy a dedicated rifle, or shoot middle of the road bullet weights in your 30-06. Coyote shooting isn't super high volume so there's no reason that you shouldn't use a 150gr bulk bullet (do they still sell bulk Winchester or Remington PSP bullets?) and get more practice with your hunting rig. You won't shoot enough to wear yourself out and induce bad habits but you will definitely benefit from using the rifle you hunt with all winter/spring/summer to practice. Probably makes a lot more sense to do that. If you really want to get into this theory, you could get a second, higher magnification scope, and swap it out between seasons to better suit the task at hand.
 
There's a couple reasons to use a big game rifle for coyotes. One is because that's all you have, (or what you have in hand at the moment) the other is to gain field shooting experience with your BG rifle. Both of those are also good reasons to just use your normal load.

I've had about zero luck getting a 30-06 to shoot 110s, compared to standard weights. Unlike big game hunting where accuracy of the rifle isn't that big a deal (heresy I know) it matters a lot on coyotes. For starters they are pretty small once you yank the hides off. Hit it around the edges and you'll either lose it or wreck it. That may not matter, there's a lot more coyote shooters than coyote skinners. Best way to turn a 150 dollar coyote into a 0-2 dollar coyote is to shoot it with a BG rifle. When calling I find that for every coyote that comes in wide open and stupid there are several that hang up at long range or sneak in and give you two ears and an eyeball to shoot at. With a tack-driver you have a coyote; with less you probably just taught another 'yote to be wary of exploding bunny rabbits.

I'd recommend getting a dedicated coyote gun if you're serious, and just using your BG load if you're playing.
 
The lighter bullet isn’t necessarily set further back from the lands. A 130gr .30 cal bullet from manufacturer X will likely have the same or similar ogive placement on thier 180 gr bullet offering.

130s often shoot well and you will gain a few hundred FPS over a 180, which flattens trajectory out a bit until about 350 yards, when the longer bullets with better BC start taking over. I had a 130 gr TTSX Load at 3500fps from my 300 WSM. Super accurate and would flatten deer, bear coyotes etc. But it’s a niche load. More practical is just a good load with a midrange weight bullet.
 
I'd say get a coyote rifle but if all I had was a 30 cal I might consider these for varmint:

http://www.campro.ca/en/products/bullets/30/30-308-147-bt-fmj

(provided it is legal to use fmj bullets on varmint of course)

I have loaded 110 gr sierra in a .308 and they shot fine in that rifle (ruger compact).

mike Crawford said:
Is there any hope of getting accuracy out of a rifle that has a long throat .. but you want too shoot short bullets ???If you take a 30-06 for just an example .. it will chamber a shell with a 220 grain bullet .. Or you can get a bullet from sierra that is 110 grains .. . just an example .. you may be able too get even lighter bullets //// so the 110 grain is going too set back farther from the lands .. Does this effect accuracy is a big way .. The heavy bullets for moose and the light for yotes lets say .. Or are you just wasting time and go get a yote gun too start with
Click to expand...
 
Ok I may not have asked the question just right .. and was useing a 30 cal as an example ,, But gatehouse may have given the answer I was looking for .. If you have a gun with a long throat and it has too have that throat too chamber the longest heaviest bullet for that caliber.. Then you put a light bullet in the said gun I was thinking it would be WAY back form the lands COMPARED too the heavy bullet .. So I would think you would have bullet jump too get too the same spot the heavy bullet starts from ... So Maybe I should have asked if bullet jump effects accuracy big time.. I would think on big game it may not matter as much as yote hunting . Or put even another way /// If you have a 30 caliber that shoots heavy bullets well what are the chances of getting it too shoot light bullets well because the bullet has too jump
 
montaine said:
I'd say get a coyote rifle but if all I had was a 30 cal I might consider these for varmint:

http://www.campro.ca/en/products/bullets/30/30-308-147-bt-fmj

(provided it is legal to use fmj bullets on varmint of course)

I have loaded 110 gr sierra in a .308 and they shot fine in that rifle (ruger compact).
Click to expand...

147 FMJ are terrible coyote bullets. They pencil right through. Yes, the coyote may die eventually but its not pretty or "fair".
 
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