Hey guys,

I had a moment of weakness. I brought a brand new Remington 700 CDL Boone & Crockett edition in 300WSM. Blued fluted 26inch barrel and beautiful piece of laminated stock.

I have a box of 180gr Accubonds, but thinking about the 165's, which generally performs better at long range?. I'm picking that the 180gr Accubond is the better of the 2 due to it's higher BC, SD and weight. Local gunshop has a pound of Reloader 19 which looks like one of the better powders in my Nosler No. 5 reloading manual.

I made up a dummy round of the 180gr Accubond and noticed that the base of the bullet sits about 5mm down below the shoulder. I am assuming that 2 inches extra of barrel length will counter the slight loss of powder capacity?

This will be my long range rifle for deer, so I would like to develop a load that will shoot flat. Thinking about a Leupold VXIII 4.5 - 14 Boone & Crockett.

Regards,

Michael.

What is long range where you would be hunting with this rifle? I ask because the actual rather than relative distance is really key. I've hunted areas where 150 yards is long range, but I am also going to be hunting a place this year where 300-400 yards shots are likely in some areas.

Please don't consider this nitpicking. It actually matters.

LWD

I ran the following on biggameinfo.com using data from Nosler's website. As you can see, as the range extends, the heavier bullet retains more energy:

A 150 gr at 3250
Range Velocity Energy Windage in Optimal Game Wgt
0 3250 3518 0 1159
25 3192 3393 0 1097
50 3134 3272 0.2 1039
75 3078 3154 0.3 984
100 3022 3041 0.6 931
125 2966 2930 1 881
150 2912 2823 1.4 833
175 2858 2720 1.9 788
200 2804 2619 2.5 744
225 2752 2522 3.2 703
250 2700 2427 4 664
275 2648 2336 4.9 627
300 2598 2247 5.8 591
325 2547 2161 6.9 558
350 2498 2078 8.1 526
375 2449 1997 9.4 496
400 2401 1919 10.7 467
425 2353 1844 12.2 440
450 2306 1771 13.8 414
475 2259 1700 15.6 389
500 2213 1632 17.4 366


A 165 gr at 3100
Range Velocity Energy Windage in Optimal Game Wgt
Muzzle 3100 3521 0 1217
25 3048 3404 0 1157
50 2997 3291 0.1 1100
75 2947 3182 0.3 1045
100 2897 3075 0.6 993
125 2848 2971 0.9 943
150 2799 2870 1.4 896
175 2751 2772 1.9 850
200 2703 2677 2.4 807
225 2656 2585 3.1 765
250 2610 2495 3.9 726
275 2564 2408 4.7 688
300 2518 2323 5.6 652
325 2473 2240 6.7 618
350 2428 2160 7.8 585
375 2384 2083 9 554
400 2341 2008 10.4 524
425 2298 1934 11.8 495
450 2255 1863 13.3 468
475 2213 1795 15 443
500 2171 1727 16.8 418


180 gr at 3025
Range Velocity Energy Windage in Optimal Game Wgt
0 3025 3657 0 1345
25 2977 3543 0 1283
50 2930 3432 0.1 1223
75 2884 3324 0.3 1166
100 2838 3219 0.6 1111
125 2792 3116 0.9 1058
150 2747 3016 1.3 1008
175 2703 2919 1.8 959
200 2658 2824 2.3 913
225 2615 2732 3 869
250 2571 2643 3.7 826
275 2529 2556 4.5 786
300 2486 2471 5.4 747
325 2445 2388 6.4 710
350 2403 2308 7.5 674
375 2362 2230 8.7 641
400 2322 2154 10 608
425 2281 2080 11.3 577
450 2242 2009 12.8 548
475 2202 1939 14.4 519
500 2163 1870 16.1 492


200 gr at 2925
Range Velocity Energy Windage in Optimal Game Wgt
Muzzle 2925 3799 0 1502
25 2885 3696 0 1441
50 2845 3595 0.1 1382
75 2806 3496 0.3 1325
100 2767 3399 0.5 1271
125 2728 3305 0.8 1218
150 2690 3213 1.2 1168
175 2652 3123 1.6 1119
200 2614 3035 2.1 1072
225 2577 2949 2.7 1027
250 2540 2865 3.3 983
275 2503 2783 4 941
300 2467 2703 4.8 901
325 2431 2624 5.7 862
350 2395 2548 6.7 825
375 2360 2473 7.7 789
400 2325 2401 8.8 754
425 2290 2330 10.1 721
450 2256 2260 11.4 689
475 2222 2193 12.7 658
500 2188 2126 14.2 629