Worship of muzzle velocity commonly leads to the use of a lighter bullet for the sake of its higher muzzle velocity.
A few years back, I used Oehler's "Ballistic Explorer" to compare
(a) the justly respected .220 Swift factory load (presumably at 60,000 lb/sq in. or higher) with the 50-grain A-max
to
(b) my bigger .220 Howell with the 75-grain A-Max at a tad less than 50,000 lb/sq in.
Just reran the same comparison.
� at the muzzle
50-grain � 3,850 ft/sec
75-grain � 3,500 ft/sec (350 ft/sec slower}
� at 500 yards
50-grain � 2,282 ft/sec
75-grain � 2,630 ft/sec (348 ft/sec faster)
� at 1,000 yards
50-grain � 1,227 ft/sec
75-grain � 1,908 ft/sec (681 ft/sec faster)
That's right � at a tad past 200 yards, the "faster" 50-grain slows to the same down-range velocity as the "slower" 75-grain, and from that distance on farther down-range, the "slower" 75-grain is increasingly faster � with all the other benefits of its higher velocities and higher ballistic coefficient (energy, time of flight, wind deflection, trajectory) � despite its lower Pmax and MV.
Muzzle velocity, all by itself, does not tell all that there is to know about down-range performance.
