is there any truth to a bullet not stabilizing till a couple of hundred yards. my nephew and i was getting better groups at 200 yesterday than i could get at 100 today.
stability?
- Thread starter model 12 toby
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post this on the reloading forum.... this should be good.. 8)
The short answer is Yes!!!
A few weeks back I chronographed 5 loads, 5 shoots each. My Standard Deviation for 46.9gr of Varget, Federal Gold Medal case, Zapalky LR primer and the new155gr Sierra Palma bullet was 2.35 with an extreme spread of 5.13; the group at 100yards… 1.5”!!! However, I know I can shoot sub 1 MOA at 800 and 900yds and 1 MOA at 1000yds with that load. My rifle is still mostly a stock Remington 700 SPS Varminter w/26”bbl.
I’m told that boat tail bullets sometimes take several hundreds yards to settle in. Most of the shooting records for sub 600yrd shooting are with flat base bullets. This is probably true, but personally, I have only been able to shoot minuet-of-buck at short ranges. I have always been better at long distance shooting.
A few weeks back I chronographed 5 loads, 5 shoots each. My Standard Deviation for 46.9gr of Varget, Federal Gold Medal case, Zapalky LR primer and the new155gr Sierra Palma bullet was 2.35 with an extreme spread of 5.13; the group at 100yards… 1.5”!!! However, I know I can shoot sub 1 MOA at 800 and 900yds and 1 MOA at 1000yds with that load. My rifle is still mostly a stock Remington 700 SPS Varminter w/26”bbl.
I’m told that boat tail bullets sometimes take several hundreds yards to settle in. Most of the shooting records for sub 600yrd shooting are with flat base bullets. This is probably true, but personally, I have only been able to shoot minuet-of-buck at short ranges. I have always been better at long distance shooting.
From "Precision Shooting" magazine, December 1999 issue,page 68, a quote by Kevin Thomas, (many years with Sierra, now with Lapua), " a boatail bullet will not stabilize until it passes 500 yards. Up until that point the shooter will experience larger than "normal" groups. The fantastic Sierra 155 grain Palma bullet, which performs exceptionally well at 600 yards and beyond, simply cannot do as well at the shorter distances". Others have placed the "changeover" distance at 300 yards. While certainly no expert on ballistics, I personnally use flat base to & including 300, boatails from 300 to beyond, so there is some of both being used at 300. Works for me. 
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