Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Heavier bullets hitting higher

This might be a dumb question but here it goes.
Why would heavier bullets hit the target higher than lighter ones? The rifle caliber in question was a 35 whelen shooting 225's and 250's. The heavier bullet was printing about a 1.5" higher. I don't know the exact muzzle velocity of the hand loads but was told that the 225's were shooting 2600+, don't think the 250's would be that fast.
Any thoughts?
I was thinking that it could be just the way that rifle barrel reacts to the heavier bullet?, more recoil maybe? but really don't have a clue
Thanks in advance

Dan

POI (especially at shorter ranges) is more about "harmonics" than weight. Different bullets are going to hit different spots.

Tanner

Because rifles don't need to make sense.



Travis

I've found "hotter" loads to print higher in general, even if the bullet weight is lighter than a lower-pressure load with a heavier bullet. You never really know until you put it on a target.

I think conventional wisdom says that a slower bullet is in the barrel longer and will be more affected by barrel vibration (harmonics). Seems fairly typical to see a heavier one shoot higher. In my experience the phenomena is more apparent at velocities less than 2,600 or so than at 2,800 or higher. YMMV.

Good point!

I had been shooting 200gr roundballs out of my ML and then switched to 413gr maxi's and they hit almost a foot higher at 50 yards with less charge.

I was all set to get scientific on the reasons and begin a whole regimen of tests, then I decided the deer don't give a [bleep], so why should I.

Sometimes they hit higher, or the left or right, sometimes lower.
All a guy really needs to know is anytime you change a component of your load, bullet, powder, brand of brass, or primers, the impact may change and there will be a need to check the scope zero on a target.

Additional information added.

Heavier bullets have a longer barrel time and are therefor liable to show POI changes for a number of reasons. What you are experiencing is a common occurrence with large bore handguns.......

yep. my whelen does the same thing with 200 vs 250's. some may laugh but i always thought it was because the bullet was slower getting out of the barrel and the barrel was already rising from recoil. opposite is true for hot loads out of my 45/70. hotter, faster loads shoot lower than factory loads.

The gun does start to recoil the instant the bullet begins moving.

Seems to me that phenominon is even more noticeable with big bore revolvers. That may carry over to big bore rifles, slinging heavier bullets. Would appreciate comments.

DF

I have found that a lot in pistols especially. Lower speeds do that too which seems counter intuitive to me. I had a super Blackhawk that shot about a foot high with slower cast bullet loads with the rear sight cranked down to the frame.

This!! Especially when it doesnt' matter other than the fact that you KNOW you are zero'd and go from there! That why stuff takes valuable time away from stuff you want to do. And in the end knowing why often doesn't educate you enough to save time later down the road in any other situation.

If you took a long straight edge and placed it on the iron sights of a rifle or handgun, you would notice that the axis of the bore would point at an angle lower than the straight edge, such that the bullet would print way low on the target if the gun could be held so tightly that it could not move at all upon firing.

This is because the recoil impulse begins as soon as the bullet begins to move and the barrel moves upward before the bullet leaves the muzzle. If the sights are adjusted correctly, the bullet leaves at the proper time for it to hit the target.

Anything that either changes the recoil impluse or the time the bullet spends in the barrel will result in a difference in elevation of shots on target.

More recoil (heavier bullets) or more time in barrel (slower velocity)tends to send bullets higher on target. Less recoil (lighter bullets)or less time in barrel (higher velocity) tends to send bullets lower on target.

There are some exceptions due to barrel harmonics and poltergeist interaction, and of course, the slower bullet will eventually drop more at longer ranges due to its ballistic disadvantages.

An all-too-often-ignored and very, very important factor in where bullets strike after being released.

243: 70 @ 3450=zero,
100 @ 3000= +3" 'on same vertical line. I always thought time in barrel and additional recoil. Maybe so, maybe no. No matter, I just mentally re calibrate or add or delete a few notches.

Bigger bore, have a .40-65 that shoots hot 370s about a foot taller than mild 270s. All examples @ 100.

If one worries about it, it could drive one crazy. Just rifles being rifles. Change ammo, change settings. Go shoot stuff. Jack

This is why you are supposed to time the barrel up.

Actually, it seems quite consistent that the heavier bullets hit a bit higher. This is quite useful if you want to use two different bullet weights and yet have the same trajectory downrange a ways.

Something like a 165 grain in a 30-06 sighted 2" high at 100, while the 180 hits 3" high. Out a ways they both end up at nearly the same POI, which means one can swap with impunity.