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?
Years ago, I made a bad shot on a MD at about 300 yards due to a howling wind that caused more bullet drift than I anticipated. For conversation, the bullet I was shooting at the time, the 100 gr Sierra SBT launched at 3300 fps from a .25-06, drifts about 22" in a 30 mph full-value wind at 300 yards, while the 147 gr ELD-M fired at 2697 fps from a 6.5CM drifts 8" in the same wind at the same distance. I believe my hasty underestimate of the wind would have caused less of a problem that day if I had been shooting the higher-BC, but slower, 147 ELD rather than the 100 gr SBT.
