"Ballistic coefficient" is a numerical representation of a given projectile's ability to overcome air resistance, expressed as a fraction of the capability of a "standard projectile", which is assigned thevalue"1". So, a bullet that has a B.C. of 0.50 is half as efficient at overcoming air resistance as the standard projectile. Stated another way, if both the 0.50 B.C. bullet and the standard projectile wereboth fired at the same MV, the 0.50 projectile would lose velocity at twice the rate of the standard slug.

Basically, the B.C. figure is only valuable as a means of comparing different projectiles if you need to choose bullets that will carry the maximum amount of velocity & energy to long ranges. If you shoot factory ammo, this doesn't help you a whole lot! If you are a handloader, it can help you in choosing bullets for reloading. However, there are other factors about bullet performance that are generally more important for hunters - for example, penetration ability, weight retention, expansion characteristics, etc.

A lot of shooters get hung up on such things as B.C., when in actuality the differences in B.C. between different good hunting bullets means very little to people who kill most of their game within1,000 yards.....