Re: Hornady fans good news
Black Ops, check out
this article by Bryan Litz. It will make you rethink heavy in a 308. Truthfully, 175 gr is light when you look at what the dimensions of the projectile should be.
In FTR, there are a lot of people shooting 155 grainers, but there has been a movement towards heavier projectiles to get to 1,000 yards with enough retained velocity.
On the other hand, if you are trying to get to 1,000, there are better cartridges out there. For Palma and F-class, it is all that is allowed, so the movement to heavier projectiles is warranted.
The 155's are odd-balls in that they are extremely long for their weight. That is why they are in such wide usage. You can push them fast and their BC is high-ish.
Laurie Holland did a great article in the June 2010? issue of "Target Shooter Magazine." It had the following table, where low is low drag, medium is medium drag, and high is high drag:
Low
Hornady 208gn A-Max (0.967)
Berger 185gn BT L-R (0.972)
Berger 210gn VLD (0.979)
Berger 190gn VLD (0.982)
Berger 155.5gn BT FB (0.988)
Berger 210gn BT L-R (0.988)
Lapua 155gn Scenar (0.988)
Berger 185gn VLD (0.993)
Berger 175gn BT L-R (0.999)
Sierra 210gn MK (1.000)
New Sierra 155gn MK (1.018)
Medium
Berger 175gn VLD (1.035)
Berger 155gn VLD (1.047)
Berger 168gn VLD (1.047)
Sierra 200gn MK (1.058)
Sierra 190gn MK (1.061)
Sierra 220gn MK (1.068)
Lapua 185gn D46 FMJBT (1.081)
Sierra 175gn MK (1.084)
Old Sierra 155gn MK (1.092)
Sierra 240gn MK (1.092)
High
Berger 168gn BT (1.096)
*Sierra 180gn MK (1.099)
*Hornady 155gn A-Max (1.100)
*Hornady 168gn A-Max (1.101)
*Hornady 178gn A-Max (1.118)
Lapua 185gn Scenar (1.130)
*Hornady 168gn Match (1.143)
*Nosler 168gn CC (1.159)
*Sierra 168gn MK (1.161)
Lapua 167gn Scenar (1.163)
I was surprised to see the 175gr SMK in the middle category. I think it is popular because it goes transonic well, but at low temps at sea level, it is tough to keep it comfortably above transonic. For mountain dwellers, that is never really an issue.
