what is the flattest shooting cartridge?
- Thread starter xcaribooer
- Start date
There is always the lowly 264 Win Mag. Lots of high BC bullets for it so it will retain equal or more energy at 500m using a 140gr, than a 300 WM with a 165 or 180. It is also in the 33" drop range at 500, and using 140 gr bullets.
When you get to 500m and beyond, it is all about BC of the bullet.
6.5 STW or 6.5 RUM if you want to use those 264 high BC bullets at speed. - dan
Last edited:
Do they now?
Also I didn't realize mall ninjas were cannibals.
Seriously folks a 300 watt laser would shoot really flat.
It sure would... Be nice to ignore gravity, wind and the precession of the planet (not that I need to worry about that for my 100m moose shot lol); just line up the scope right on target and flip an electronic, no creep trigger...
As a bonus you could use it to cook the animal as you walk the kilometer or so that you shot it from... and since its not a firearm you could carry it everywhere... no registrations... you might be on to something here... I may start CLN (Canadian Laser Nutz)...
Jeff
Seems to me that a .300 RUM with a 165 gr. Nosler BT at about 3400 is about as flat as you can get. It is flatter than the Lapua, but doesn't handle wind as well. I found this out when my RUM liked 165's better than the heavies, and I was pissed until I ran the ballistics. Could also be done with the .30-378 and maybe the .300 Wby.
mike shickele
Regular
There is really no super cartridge, but to flatten trajectory you need about three things in the recipe. The cartridge needs to go fast, it needs to push a very heavy for caliber bullet, and the bullet itself needs to have the best ballistic coeficiant that you can possibly find. For the 270weatherby think the sierra 150gr spitzer BT, for the 7mm stw think the hornady 162gr amax, and for the 30-378weatherby think the hornady 208gr amax as starting points. Of course, none of the bullets that I mentioned should ever be used on game (especially at the velocities that will be achieved) as they are explosive at the best of times, and there are heavier bullets for each of these, and probably slightly faster cartridges, but this gives you an idea of what your looking for.
Mike
Mike
I have a 300wsm and it prefers lighter bullets. Check the numbers for a 150gr bullet, pretty sweet without crazy recoil. Also a 270wsm with a 130 gr bullet is very flat.
Lots of good ideas in this post, still personal preference.
my 2 cents.
Lots of good ideas in this post, still personal preference.
my 2 cents.
That would have to be the 243 middlestead.plus 5000ft/s if I recall.
I know its some what of a wild cat .The question can't be answered without knowing the range that is being considered. Out to 500 yards, a light bullet driven at high velocity can shoot very flat, but if the range is 1000 yards or more, a bullet with a higher B.C. will do better.
What's it really matter? I mean honestly, how many of us ever truthfully have shot an animal at 500 yards???? Some sure, most no! One thing I have come to realize in my years of hunting. Most hunters are horrible range estimaters!!!!! What some hunters call 100 yards, may be 60! What some may say is 500, is more like 300, at best. You can take all the wsm's, rum's, and stw's, and even most magnums. All they really do is give a few guys, something to yak about at the range,once they shoot them through a chronograph! Hunting is just hunting, the firearms we choose as hunters are our own preferance, for our own reasons. I'm not picking on anyone for what they like. I'm 37 years old, and have hunted for 33 of those years. I have experienced a lot of different things in that time. One thing I have learned is that it doesn't take a cannon to put meat in the freezer. All the firearms mentioned in this thread are great, and each one of us goes with what we feel is good. That's the way it should be! If I had to pick one out of them all, it would be the 7mm mag. Although my main rifle is a 6.5x55 swede. Out to 300 yards, It's my pick!
Wrong Way
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Yup. 7mm Rem Ultrmag...shoots flatter than a 22/250 with 55's
Go down a little in bore size and look at the .243 middlestead if you want to see laser-like ballistics though
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
British 14" naval guns fired "bullets" that weighed 1920 pounds from barrels 42 calibers in length at a sedate 2575 fps, yet they had a range of up to 44,150 yards when fired from coastal batteries. A .303 fires a 180 gr bullet at a similar velocity, yet the effective range is only 1000 yards.
Last year at the shooting range we had a fellow shooter who own a Lazzeroni Warbird shoot over my chrony, he was getting a tad over 3800 fps with 150 gr Nosler ballistic tip, equiped with a Smidth& Bender 5X25X56, at 200 yards he was shooting .5 inch impressive rig... JP
I did a bit of looking around a while ago and the 22-243 Middlestead has one of the fastest muzzle velocities around with a 30-35gr bullet of 5100ft/s to 5200ft/s. However past 300 yards it has more drop than a rifle with heavier bullets - those like .22s act like shuttlecocks.
The flattest is still, as I have said before, the 6mm Rem with 55gr Nosler Varmints. Look at my previous posts, it's flatter than the 7mm or 30cal RUMs.
The flattest is still, as I have said before, the 6mm Rem with 55gr Nosler Varmints. Look at my previous posts, it's flatter than the 7mm or 30cal RUMs.
