Hello everyone,
Some of you may have seen my original cartridge comparison spreadsheet that had 43 cartridges on it. Since posting that I've continued to work on it and I'm now up to 106 cartridges and a few more comparison columns so I thought I'd just make a new post explaining it. This started as a few different cartridges that I was trying to decide between for a 1000yd target/500yd deer & antelope rifle and it turned into this. The original had many of the common cartridges still used today but this version has a lot of the more obscure/unpopular cartridges just to see how they stack up.
A couple notes:
Some of you may have seen my original cartridge comparison spreadsheet that had 43 cartridges on it. Since posting that I've continued to work on it and I'm now up to 106 cartridges and a few more comparison columns so I thought I'd just make a new post explaining it. This started as a few different cartridges that I was trying to decide between for a 1000yd target/500yd deer & antelope rifle and it turned into this. The original had many of the common cartridges still used today but this version has a lot of the more obscure/unpopular cartridges just to see how they stack up.
A couple notes:
- This is all factory loaded ammunition. I know it's possible for reloaders to get better velocities and bullet choices.
- I used Hornady's factory ammunition specs for most cartridges. I would use their Precision Hunter line if it was available in that cartridge but if it wasn't I'd find another line of their ammo and I'd use a heavy for caliber bullet. If Hornady didn't have it then I'd use Nosler. If not Nosler than whoever I could find that loaded it.
- These are sorted by the rough distance that the bullet travels to before it drops below 1800fps. I chose this because it's a good general rule for proper expansion on hunting bullets and it really doesn't matter how much energy a bullet has if it doesn't expand properly. If multiple cartridges have the same distance then they are secondarily sorted by the max distance that the bullet has around 1000ft/lbs of energy which is generally regarded as the minimum energy needed to kill a deer. (I know it's not a perfect measure)
- All cartridges are zeroed at 200yds. It isn't ideal for all but I wanted to keep it consistent.
- The cost/rd column is based on November of 2021 prices which is obviously inflated but it still allows for rough comparison.
- I separated the rimfire cartridges at the top of the page and the big, slow cartridges at the bottom.
- H2O Case Capacity (gr) - This is the weight of water in grains if you filled the case up to the mouth. This doesn't account for the space the bullet takes up when it's inserted into the case but that can vary based on the bullet used.
- Overbore Index - This is based on the formula found on Accurateshooter.com (the case capacity in grains of water divided by the area (in square inches) of the bore cross-section) It's supposed to give a rough idea of how long a barrel will last. The higher the number the shorter the barrel life. There are many more factors that go into barrel life but I think this is a good starting point.
- Recoil - Both of these come directly from the table created by Jim Harmer at BackfireTV. Instead of using a standard weight for all cartridges they analyze over a dozen models of rifles chambered in each cartridge to determine the average rifle weight to put in the formula used to determine recoil. Jim uses the analogies found below to describe recoil and he states in one of his videos that these analogies aren't perfect but it gives you a good idea. The BackfireTV Youtube channel has some good content that you guys should check out.
- Recoil Energy - Jim describes recoil energy as "how much you’ll get rocked back and thrown off your target in the scope".
- Recoil Velocity - Jim says recoil velocity "predicts how much pain you’ll feel".
