I consider a bc over .500 for many bullets I use as acceptable...
Acceptable for what purpose? Does that mean a bullet with a sub-.500 bc is unacceptable?
Sub -.500 bc is unacceptable for me for a hunting bullet. Especially if there are alternative bullets of that weight that fall into the "acceptable" category. Except when talking cartridges designed for short range such as on dangerous game or smaller bores such as .224 or less. It is the year 2024, bullet manufacturers should be able to manufacture bullets that are accurate, reasonable bc, good terminal performance and without them being excessively expensive.
Have you seen a difference in the field between an acceptable bc bullet and an unacceptable bullet? Say for instance you made a shot with a 140 grain 270 Berger that you wouldn't have been able to make with a 140 Partition due to a wind call, or perhaps you experienced inadequate terminal performance from a 140 Partition at the lower end of its velocity envelope?
What happens is rather than see differences in performance on game between two bullets with different attributes such as bc, accuracy or terminal performance is you get to know what that particular bullet does or doesn't do well, and you adjust your hunting style accordingly, to minimize the risk of failure. For example, on a very long shot in the mountains with a strong wind, you simply do not take the shot which you might otherwise attempt with a higher bc bullet that is very accurate. But this happens only at the margin, in a very small percentage of shots. Again, on long shots, you tend to know that Bergers often give a higher percentage of DRT's where finding something that you shoot might be difficult. So that's the situation rather than "if you hit them in the vitals with either bullet they won't know the difference". Another area where you adjust your hunting style is on close range shots with bullets that, from experience, you know come apart easily. Instead of taking a shoulder shot that may anchor them faster with a tougher bullet, you might shoot into the lungs and avoid the shoulder...and they often run further. Or in thick cover, you avoid the shots at running game that you might otherwise take with a stouter bullet.
