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Understanding Caliber, Bullet Weights And Ballistics'

Opening day found me with a friend hunting the exclusive whitetail deer. My friend is carrying a 30-30 and almost apologizes for carrying the gun. Stating that is all he can afford. I was carrying a 30-06 loaded with 180 grains soft point. To make a long story short my friend downs his deer with a single shot. I on the other took 2 shots. The bullet placement was with 1 inch of each other on both deer, right behind the front leg in the lungs. The deer hit with the 30-30 was knocked over and died right on the spot. My deer hit with 30-06 hit in the same lung area ran off and I finished him off where he dropped 75 yards away.

According to the ballistic chart the .30-06 with 180 grain bullet is going 2850 feet per second (fps). The 30-30 with 170 grain bullet is traveling at 2170 fps. The foot energy pounds for the 30-06 is 2750 (FTS) and the 30-30 is 1860 fts. Clearly the 06 is the more powerful weapon but why did the deer hit with the 30-30 drop dead and the one hit with the 06 run off ? First let us look at the simple part both calibers are .30 meaning the diameter of the bullet is .30 of an inch. Next you have bullet weight measured in grains the 06- 180 grains the 30-30 170 grains right now both weapons are almost equal. Speed is the next factor, this is the big change because the 06 carry’s a larger case holding more powder for greater speed (other factors such as gun design and pressure will not be discuss right know).

The 06 clearly the strongest weapon and should have knocked the deer down just by looking at foot energy pounds. The reason it didn’t is quite simple the 30-30 a slower moving bullet with a big flat nose, this helps the bullet to mushroom better once it hits the target and more fts was transferred from the bullet into the animal causing the animal to die. The 06 being a faster bullet with small point nose shot through the deer only causing minimum damage and most of the energy was wasted on the ground were the bullet hit after leaving the deer. This brings me to a point I read back in the 70's where a hunter said he reloaded his own 06 ammo and used the 170 grain flat nose 30-30 bullet in his 06. The bullet in the 06 was slower and didn’t have the range of the small pointed bullet but up to 200 yards transferred the fts into the target better. Most big game shot in America is under 100 yards. In less you go out west where the average shot on antelope is 350 yards.

American weapons are described in factions of inch 30-30, 30-06, 308 are all the same diameter bullet. Actual bullet size for all 3 is .308 on an inch. Hand guns are the same way .22, .25, .32, .357, .38, .40, .44, and 45 are only describing the diameter of the bullet. Some novice think that .44 is a more powerful weapon then a 30-30 simple because .44 is larger number. The fact is the you can’t compare pistols to rifles. A pistol is a slower moving bullet because of pressure and case size of the shell you can only achieve a certain speed. The .44 shooting a 240 grain bullet is going 1470 fps. A fine deer round with great knock down energy because as earlier stated most of the fts with be transferred into the deer. But let us look at the popular 9mm. The 9mm shoots a little 125 grain at 1350 fps. The bullet is small lightweight and has a poor track record for a constant knock down reliable weapon. Why, with Military rounds FMJ the bullet will not mushroom and will pass clean through, small bullet, slow speed with little fts to shock the intend target. Remember a bullet kills by shocking power.

Each weapon has an intended purpose. What do you intend to use a weapon for ?  Self defense, hunting or both ? The 9mm is a useless deer round with not enough power to continently knock down a deer. Self defense, only with proper ammo is the weapon any good. FMJ used by the military is useless on a soft target because it does not mushroom, passing clean through and not transferring enough (fts) into the target. But load the same weapon with Remington Golden Saber and the weapon is a fine choice because it's rating changes from a low 56% reliable knock down to a 93%. Simple because the bullet mushrooms changing the diameter from 9mm to approx. 16 mm slowing down in the target and transferring more energy.

Now we need to discuss the difference between bullet types. Without getting into reloads look at the basic. The following has been provided from Federal arms Classic Bullets and is one of the better explanation of bullets and how they perform before and after hitting a target.

RIFLE  BULLETS

Classic Rifle Bullet Styles

The bullet that mushrooms and retains it's weight is transferring more energy into the intended target. Light to medium skin animals is trying to tell you that the bullet will expand and transfer it's energy into shock energy on deer and black bear. Heavy skin animals like the Grizzly or Brown bear needs a more specialized bullet. But plenty of the big bears have been killed with the above bullets except for the FMJ.

So what is the perfect round ? There is not one for everyone. If you live in the brush country and seldom shoot over a 150 yards the 30-30 is all you need. The 30-30 has killed more deer in North America then all other calibers combined. It has also been used for all large game in North America including grizzly. But most experts agree the 30-30 is under powered for the big bears.

If you are out west you may want to look at the long range flat shooting guns like the .243,.270, 30-06, 7mm Rem. Mag and the .300 Win. Mag. Again depending on your intended purpose, if all you hunt is deer, and antelope the .243 and .270 are fine choices. Finding ammo is always a concern so I tend to stick to popular loads the 4 top rifles in America are 1.) the 30-30, 2.) 30-06, 3.) .270 and 4.) the .308.  Ammo for these rifles can be purchased just about anywhere in America.

For those of you on a budget the SKS and the AK are fine hunting rifles with a little modifying are legal in most states. In my state of Michigan we are required to have no more then 5 rounds in a magazine. A simple block can be made to stop the magazine from accepting more then 5 rounds. The bullet for the rifle is a 123 grains traveling at 2408 fps and the FTS is 1573. This round is most referred to as a 30-30 type hunting round. Make sure you buy soft points if you are hunting with it. 

I have heard many myths that are still around from the Viet Nam War. One is that the M-16 round tumbles when you shoot it. Some folks have gone as far to say that the barrel is specially made so the bullet tumbles as soon as it leaves the end of the barrel. If that was true the gun would be more useless then it already is. In order for a bullet to travel long distance it has to be twisting in the air shooting straight. If it tumbles when you shot it would travel all over the place and never hit anything. The tumble myth came from the GI reporting hitting the Viet Cong in the leg and bullet ending up in the chest. This can be explained by understanding the little bullet is 55 grains traveling at 3224 fps with a Foot energy pounds of 1224. The bullet is so small and fast when it hits a hard target like a bone it will sometimes  tumbles transferring the energy as the bullet is stopped in the target. When this happens it is a fine round and causes massive damage to the intended target.

Most of the time even with the new 62 grain armor piercing round the bullet punches right through the soft target causing little damage. If you had a chance to read about the soldiers in Somalia where sometimes they were hitting the bad guys 4 - 6 times before they dropped down out of the fight. The bullet is too small and with Military rounds is useless for a good one shot knock down rifle.  The rifle is complicated and jams frequently.

The other rumor from the Viet Nam war that is still floating around is that the Viet Cong could use our M-60 ammo in their AK. What a crock of baloney that one is, anyone who knows rifles and have seen the two rounds side by side can clearly see the .308 is way too large to even be chambered in a AK. 

The formula for figuring foot energy pounds is bullet weight x feet per second x fps divided by 450400. If you are into reloading  you will know the bullet weight and if you have a chronograph you will know the speed so here is an example. 30-06 reloaded 165 grain bullet chronograph at 2800 feet per second the foot energy pounds is 165 x 2800 x 2800 divide by 450400 equals 2872 foot energy pounds.

The basics are bullet weight, bullet speed, and knock down power.

Remember a .22 shell shoots a 40 grain bullet, the .223 is just a little bigger then a .22.  The AK/SKS is 3 times the size of a .22 and the M14/.308 is almost 4 times the size of a .22. What does all this mean ? Again what do you want from a rifle ? Long distance shooting of the 3 the M14 is the best round. A good deer brush gun the AK/SKS is a good choice. A good coyote gun the AR-15 is your ticket.

Small bullets are not very good at causing damage. I have noticed that most hunting rounds for deer are 125 grains and higher. Ranges under 150 yards, slower flat nose bullets work better. Long range small pointed tip bullets travel better and if you are into reloading boat tails are worth the money if the range is over 250 yards.

Some of the speeds are from my reloading manual and may not match your speed exactly. Another point to keep in mind is that the Army snipers had to switch to 175 grain boat tails to reach 1000 meter accurately. They needed the heavier bullet because it was not effected by the wind as much. Speed bullet weight and bullet design will transfer into knock down power.

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