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Thread: 44 mag ballistic coefficient

  1. #1
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    Default 44 mag ballistic coefficient

    Last night I was up and picked up a reloading manual, got on line and such and was looking at the different bullets for the 44 mag. A buddy(aka Phone Man) said he wanted to try a Speer 300 gr with a BC of .193.

    That got me to wondering about other 44 specs.

    When looking at the Lyman 50th anniversary edition, I was surprised to see that the BC of the Hornady 225 gr FTX was lower than the 200 gr bullet and the 240 grain bullets on the same page. I thought the FTX with the gummy bullet was suppose to have a higher BC. That is the way it is advertised.

    I wish I had the manual here to go more in depth so right now y'all will have to rely on my memory. (tables found below)

    But please tell me why the FTX's BC is smaller than all the others. Especially when they say the BC is higher with the FTX.

    From Hornady's bullet pages:

    180 gr XTP BC 138

    200 gr XTP BC 170

    225 gr FTX BC 150

    240 gr SWC BC 204

    240 gr XTP BC 205

    300 gr XTP BC 245

    I will add that when I have used the FTX bullet factory loads above, groups have improved considerably over other factory loads by Hornady and others.
    It's not enough to simply tolerate the 2nd Amendment as an antiquated inconvenience. Caring for the 2nd Amendment means fighting to restore long lost rights.

  2. #2
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    Maybe because its longer? . More surface area to create friction? Not sure but my best reloads are the 240 xtp.

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    The longer boowetts usually have higher BC.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tha Dick View Post
    The longer boowetts usually have higher BC.
    That is what had I had thought. And Hornady advertise that the FTX bunkers have a higher BC.
    It's not enough to simply tolerate the 2nd Amendment as an antiquated inconvenience. Caring for the 2nd Amendment means fighting to restore long lost rights.

  5. #5
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    A lot of the manufacturers inflate their BC's

  6. #6
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    How is BC measured?

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    Hornady is notorious for inflating their BCs. I saw that with my Grendel. 123 AMax supposedly has a .510 BC. After shooting a ton of them out to 1K over good chronos we ended up with a .460 BC. Once we plugged that in to our Kestrellong range data became more accurate.
    BC doesn’t matter in a .44. Even out of a carbine that slow bullet is dropping like a stone.
    I never shot any 300s but I have shot a bunch of Gold Dot 270 grainers out of a 20” Marlin.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by FLS View Post
    BC doesn’t matter in a .44. Even out of a carbine that slow bullet is dropping like a stone.
    I never shot any 300s but I have shot a bunch of Gold Dot 270 grainers out of a 20” Marlin.
    THIS!
    Your time is much better spent finding an accurate load than worrying about BC. BC is pretty much irrelevant in a .44 mag. (and even with most rifle calibers under 300 yds). Mine did not like the 300gr. XTP at all. It did best with the now discontinued 275 gr. XTP. YMMV.
    Last edited by CWPINST; 03-29-2019 at 08:53 AM.
    If it ain\'t accurate at long distance, then the fact that it is flat shooting is meaningless.

  9. #9
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    And I agree with all that say the BC in a 44 is not important BUT it usually gives an indication of the bullets performance. In two, if not three, of the 44s I have shot, the performance stepped up more than just a noticeable bit with the Hornady gummy bullets. And I am just wondering why it measures so poorly.

    But now, I have an explanation.....

    The way the BC is measured usually is spread over the length of a bullet. The Hornady FTX in the 44 mag starts to take a greater or quicker and abrupt narrowing of the cross section of the bullet over is total length to come down to the pointed tip.

    Don't ask what I just said.
    It's not enough to simply tolerate the 2nd Amendment as an antiquated inconvenience. Caring for the 2nd Amendment means fighting to restore long lost rights.

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