Bullet Hole Bailey

Ok....so right now i am shooting a 55 grain nosler balistic tip out of my AR and I am looking at the varmint grenades just for fun. But the only problem is that they only make it in a 36 grain bullet and i was wandering if i shot this with the same gun i am sighted in at 100 with a 55 grain bullet would the 36 grain hit higher or would it just keep a flatter trajectory? Sorry for all the questions....I just finshed with archery hunting until next season and now i really want to focus on varmints.

THANKS!

Soilarch

Umm...to answer the actual answer would take a long time. So here is my condensed answer:

If you don't change your scope adjustments the lighter bullets generally hit higher (for rifles). BUT it's possible that they will hit along the same height. You'll have to shoot it to find out left-right differences anyway, so you'll know soon enough.

bigbulls

They could literally hit anywhere on the target in relation to your current bullets. There is no way to tell except for actually loading them and firing them.

stubblejumper

Exactly.Lighter bullets could impact higher ,or lower.

Bullet Hole Bailey

oh...ok, thanks a bunch guys.

I know i have some odd/dumb questions sometimes........thanks for being helpful and patient!

TUK101

Yep, I am learning the same thing. I have figured out with my 270 that a 130 gr. bullet generally hits about 2 inches high and right at 100 yards from where the 150 gr. bullets hit. Not a huge difference, at least not at 100 yards, but if I where to shoot say at 200 yards that could end up being huge.

Bullet Hole Bailey

yea.....thanks again!

eldeguello

Often a heavier bullet will strike higher on the target than a lighter one. This is because the heavier bullet develops a greater recoil impulse than a ligher one, and, as it travells more slowly to the muzzle, the barrel has a longer time in which to rise in recoil, so that when the bullet exits the muzzle, the bore is pointing up more in relation to the target. However, in additon to the gross movement of the entire barrel, a barrel generaters high-speed vibrationsdue to the energy released on firing, so that the muzzle actually "flops around" some before the bullet exits. So it is POSSIBLE for the muzzle to be pointing almost anywhere in relation to the target when the bullet does exit. This vibration can cancel the rise of the bore, and make the bullet gostraight, up, or down on the target.

Short, stiff barrels are more likely to throw heavier bullets higher and with less barrel vibration than long, thin, whippy ones. These tendencies are even more in evidence in handguns.

Bullet Hole Bailey

ok...thanks guys!

Pavomesa

Eld is dead on with this one. I had this dramatically illustrated to me with a .357 magnum. I had the pistol sighted in for dead on at 50 ft with a medium load and 158 gr bullet. Then I loaded up some screaming 110 gr bullets and expected them to hit the target several inches higher than the 158 gr. Boy did I get a surprise. The all hit about 2" below the moderate 158 gr bbl.

The reason is all in the recoil and how your body reacts with it.