When does velocity beat BC in a 284 Win?

[yorketransport]

I've been running the 168 Berger VLD Hunting bullet in my 19" 284 Win Striker for a while now and I'm very happy with it. It's my go to gun when shooting out to about 1300 yards. At the elevation I shoot at most (3400 ft) that's where it starts to go sub sonic and it gets a little tricky past that point. I keep saying that I should play around with the 180 Hybrids to get a better BC, but I don't know that the higher BC will offset the lower velocity.

Right now I run the 168s at 2650 fps from the 19" barrel. It's a moderate load that's giving me 10+ firings per case (Lapua 6.5x284 necked up) so I could easily run the 168s faster. I expect the 180s would be in the 2550 range, maybe 2600 if I pushed them with Reloader 17. I've crunched the numbers and it looks like the 180s will beat the 168s even at the lower velocity, but I'm curious what other people's real world experience says.

And just because I love to post pics of this gun, here it is.

 

[BIGMAC]

Nice Striker

 

[calgarycanada]

At similar pressure higher BC bullets will beat lower BC bullets in wind drift. I'm pretty sure 180s will extend your supersonic range. You have to run numbers to find out by how much.

Pretty interesting gun you got there.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Will the additional recoil matter to your pistol?

 

[284driver]

Will the additional recoil matter to your pistol?

Doubtful. You don't get up on a rifle scope mounted on a specialty pistol as you do on a shouldered gun.

 

[Cold Bore]

but I don't know that the higher BC will offset the lower velocity.

Right now I run the 168s at 2650 fps from the 19" barrel. ...... I expect the 180s would be in the 2550 range, maybe 2600 if I pushed them .....

I've crunched the numbers and it looks like the 180s will beat the 168s even at the lower velocity,...

Those bullets are close in weight, with a small velocity spread between them. One just happens to slide through the air a bit better.

Even though started slightly slower, the higher BC bullet is going to carry that velocity further, and slow down less quickly.

That applies to the 284 Win, and everything else that we shoot.

Look at the guys shooting AR-15's at 1000 yards. They are all shooting the 80-ish grain class of bullets; nobody is even trying it with the 55 grain stuff. In that case, the initial velocity difference is much greater, but the further out you reach with it, the more obvious it becomes that muzzle velocity isn't everything.

Or, if still doubting, go buy a box of bullets and actually TRY it. You're only out the cost of a lunch to get some real-world data, from your gun.

 

[yorketransport]

Will the additional recoil matter to your pistol?

Not really. I actually put a muzzle brake on the gun since that picture was taken a while back. Without the brake I could shoot it with a full field of view with the scope on 12x (where I typically have it set) With the brake I can run on 16x with a full field of view with no concerns about getting scoped. The recoil really isn't bad at all once you get used to how the gun moves.