Help me choose a bullet

[Koda]

How do you select which bullet weight to use for hunting?

I'm buying components to handload a new 280AI for elk hunting. Ive narrowed down to either a Barnes TTSX or a Hammer Hunter. I'm looking thru the various weights they offer and kinda stalled out on picking the heaviest or choosing a lighter weight. I'm playing around in a ballistic calculator but don't really have a metric to judge a starting velocity for each weight.
Barnes TTSX: 140, 150gr, Hammer Hunters: 146, 155, 169, 177gr.

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[Nosferatu]

Twist of your rifle will narrow it down.

After that, it's all about experimentation and seeing what works best with your rifle.

For monolithic bullets, you want the lightest as possible. They need ~2000fps at impact to be effective.

 

[Koda]

Twist of your rifle will narrow it down.

After that, it's all about experimentation and seeing what works best with your rifle.

For monolithic bullets, you want the lightest as possible. They need ~2000fps at impact to be effective.

1:8 twist, 26in bbl.
It seems like all my estimates in this caliber easily reach out above 2000fps out to at least 500 yds. Im not certain I want to go lighter than 140g but Im open to ideas.

 

[Nosferatu]

1:8 twist, 26in bbl.
It seems like all my estimates in this caliber easily reach out above 2000fps out to at least 500 yds. Im not certain I want to go lighter than 140g but Im open to ideas.

Then go with the heaviest that will get you the speed at the distance you want to shoot and will stabilize.

Elk sometimes need to be reminded they've been shot and are dead.

You also get to a certain point where you completely overthink it and get paralysis via analysis. That's kinda how I finally ended up with 160gr Hammer Hunters for my -06. Searched, read and researched tirelessly, then finally tried a few weights, they all worked, this one just seemed to work the bestest!

 

[orygun]

I'll bet with that 1:8 twist you could stabilize some long bullets. I'd start on the heavy side of what's available and only work down in search of better accuracy if not happy with what I was getting.

 

[Koda]

Then go with the heaviest that will get you the speed at the distance you want to shoot and will stabilize.

Elk sometimes need to be reminded they've been shot and are dead.

You also get to a certain point where you completely overthink it and get paralysis via analysis. That's kinda how I finally ended up with 160gr Hammer Hunters for my -06. Searched, read and researched tirelessly, then finally tried a few weights, they all worked, this one just seemed to work the bestest!

I am totally overthinking it but thats kinda the fun of handloading. Im guessing they all will work close to the same which makes it a random selection it just seems odd to pull out a random straw.

 

[Nosferatu]

I am totally overthinking it but thats kinda the fun of handloading. Im guessing they all will work close to the same which makes it a random selection it just seems odd to pull out a random straw.

If it were easy, everyone would shoot the same thing.

And yes, us gun nuts WAY overthink this bubblegum. Part of the hobby. For some reason, I keep trying to find a reason to replace my -06, despite the fact I've spent a ton setting it up, shooting it, tuning loads for it and it's killed everything I've pulled the trigger at. But, there must be something out there that will just make that ungulate 1% more dead, right?

 

[Koda]

I'll bet with that 1:8 twist you could stabilize some long bullets. I'd start on the heavy side of what's available and only work down in search of better accuracy if not happy with what I was getting.

Now theres a metric I can use but it leaves me wondering if the heaviest option will lose more velocity at longer range than a lighter version. I just dont have a way to accurately estimate muzzle velocities to estimate ballistics. Im leaning towards the 169g at the moment.

 

[Koda]

If it were easy, everyone would shoot the same thing.

And yes, us gun nuts WAY overthink this bubblegum. Part of the hobby. For some reason, I keep trying to find a reason to replace my -06, despite the fact I've spent a ton setting it up, shooting it, tuning loads for it and it's killed everything I've pulled the trigger at. But, there must be something out there that will just make that ungulate 1% more dead, right?

right, kinda... if I already owned an -06 I would just stick with that. Great elk cartridge. Ive never owned a "true" elk rifle, so 114 pushed me over the edge and I bought one so here I am...

 

[Nosferatu]

Get a sample pack of those 169 and 177 HH and see how they shoot!

 

[Nosferatu]

Watch the standard deviation on the chrono as well. You want them as consistent as possible. All things being equal (accuracy, velocity, pressure, etc), pick the ones that deviate the least from each other.

 

[Koda]

Get a sample pack of those 169 and 177 HH and see how they shoot!

Im not confident enough handloader to know if I can find anything with just 15 rounds, Im only used to starting out with a OCW to determine best group, and velocity and that usually takes more than 15 shots...

 

[orygun]

@Koda , pardon my French, but how f-ing far are you really going to shoot?

If you believe you're capable of making a good field shot at 400+ yards, please accept my apologies for coming across as a know-it-all jerk.
Once we get past my jerkiness, look at the drop numbers. I've shot a couple of times at 400 yards and the least of my concerns was .8"!
Besides trajectory is just a number to either be mentally figured in, or ranged and dialed.
Pick what the rifle likes. Learn it's curve. Long shots on big animals usually favor the heavy bullet.

My two cents and worth what y'all paid!

 

[Nosferatu]

Im not confident enough handloader to know if I can find anything with just 15 rounds, Im only used to starting out with a OCW to determine best group, and velocity and that usually takes more than 15 shots...

I'm not the words greatest either. Messing with these hammers has taught me a lot though.

I started with 5 charge weights, 3 loads each. There's enough load data out there to get it pretty damn close right off the bat.

You won't be shooting a ton anyway, you'll heat up quickly.

 

[Koda]

@Koda , pardon my French, but how f-ing far are you really going to shoot?

If you believe you're capable of making a good field shot at 400+ yards, please accept my apologies for coming across as a know-it-all jerk.
Once we get past my jerkiness, look at the drop numbers. I've shot a couple of times at 400 yards and the least of my concerns was .8"!
Besides trajectory is just a number to either be mentally figured in, or ranged and dialed.
Pick what the rifle likes. Learn it's curve. Long shots on big animals usually favor the heavy bullet.

My two cents and worth what y'all paid!

The farthest shot Ive ever hunted was about 300yards. I dont really plan on long range hunting per se but the rifle and caliber are there I wouldnt mind learning to shoot farther just even for my own marksmanship.

 

[Nosferatu]

@Koda , pardon my French, but how f-ing far are you really going to shoot?

If you believe you're capable of making a good field shot at 400+ yards, please accept my apologies for coming across as a know-it-all jerk.
Once we get past my jerkiness, look at the drop numbers. I've shot a couple of times at 400 yards and the least of my concerns was .8"!
Besides trajectory is just a number to either be mentally figured in, or ranged and dialed.
Pick what the rifle likes. Learn it's curve. Long shots on big animals usually favor the heavy bullet.

My two cents and worth what y'all paid!

Very true. The longest shot I've taken at an animal is 288 yards. Most have been within 150.

 

[Koda]

Very true. The longest shot I've taken at an animal is 288 yards. Most have been within 150.

my average shot is around 75 yards. The only two kills I took at 300 were filling my antelope tags. I took a nice buck at 200 yds once though, nice shot actually.

 

[Nosferatu]

my average shot is around 75 yards. The only two kills I took at 300 were filling my antelope tags. I took a nice buck at 200 yds once though, nice shot actually.

Antelope is on my list. I'd love to get one. Vey tasty critters!

I shot a blacktail doe this year @~20 yards. That's brought my average down a bit! (not counting archery)

 

[saxon]

Hornady 175-grain ELD-X, Berger 168-grain VLD Hunting, Federal 155-grain Terminal Ascent, and Barnes 139-grain LRX.

 

[Koda]

Antelope is on my list. I'd love to get one. Vey tasty critters!

my two tags I had to work really hard just to get within 300yds, so if you get the chance nothing wrong with training for some longer range shooting if possible, otherwise plan on crawling thru the sage.