Romulus augustulus
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2023
the problems with hunting projectiles comes from the fact that manufacturers (Speer, Hornady, Sierra etc) have to make projectiles that can work across a wide spectrum of velocities. The manufacturer makes bullets for a caliber not a cartridge. a .30 cal bullet might be loaded in a .30-40, 7.62N or a .300 win mag. making a bullet that will perform in all of those is hard and it leads to more chances of a poor outcome.
the humble .30-30 Winchester center fire has a great reputation for killing game large and small. it's a light weight cartridge compared to .30-06 but it punches above it's apparent weight class because the .30-30's projectiles are tailored to it. they are made to expand at .30-30 velocities and work perfectly at the average .30-30 engagement distance. the reason for this is there is no comparable .30 cal lever action cartridge that is popular enough to manufacture which lets them tailor the bullet to the cartridge.
The opposite example is the .270 Winchester. when it was released just after WW1 it was like winchester had captured lighting in the cartridge case. if you had a .270 you might as well have been dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe into the woods because you were killing a deer that day. the 130gr bullet was tailored to the cartridge.
But as the years went on and more .270 cal cartridges came to market bullets became compromises and velocities dropped until by the 1990s the .270 had a well-earned reputation for slow kills within 100 yards and wounding past that distance. it's only recently (post 9/11) that the velocity craze has lead to tougher .270 bullets becoming available and now the .270 is once again shooting a 130gr over 3000FPS like it was designed to do and is back dropping deer in their tracks.
the humble .30-30 Winchester center fire has a great reputation for killing game large and small. it's a light weight cartridge compared to .30-06 but it punches above it's apparent weight class because the .30-30's projectiles are tailored to it. they are made to expand at .30-30 velocities and work perfectly at the average .30-30 engagement distance. the reason for this is there is no comparable .30 cal lever action cartridge that is popular enough to manufacture which lets them tailor the bullet to the cartridge.
The opposite example is the .270 Winchester. when it was released just after WW1 it was like winchester had captured lighting in the cartridge case. if you had a .270 you might as well have been dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe into the woods because you were killing a deer that day. the 130gr bullet was tailored to the cartridge.
But as the years went on and more .270 cal cartridges came to market bullets became compromises and velocities dropped until by the 1990s the .270 had a well-earned reputation for slow kills within 100 yards and wounding past that distance. it's only recently (post 9/11) that the velocity craze has lead to tougher .270 bullets becoming available and now the .270 is once again shooting a 130gr over 3000FPS like it was designed to do and is back dropping deer in their tracks.

