In relation to long-range taking pictures, the bullet is arguably essentially the most crucial element to hit chance. There are actually 1000’s of bullet designs on the market, however I surveyed the highest 200 ranked shooters within the Precision Rifle Sequence (PRS) and requested what bullets they run in long-range rifle matches. Would you imagine that over 80% of the professionals are cut up amongst simply 9 bullets?! That included shooters utilizing 22 caliber, 6mm, 25 cal, 6.5mm, 7mm, and 30 caliber cartridges – and nonetheless 81% of top-ranked PRS shooters circled round solely 9 bullets!
For a bullet to be in style amongst these elite shooters, it should be able to taking pictures sub-0.5 MOA teams and now have a really excessive BC.
What’s BC? A Ballistic Coefficient (BC) is a quantity used to explain the drag on a bullet in comparison with some customary bullet. For instance, a G1 BC compares the drag of that particular bullet to that of a G1 customary bullet. A G7 BC is evaluating the drag to a G7 customary. The upper the BC, the higher the bullet will have the ability to retain its velocity downrange and be much less affected by the wind. It’s highly effective to have a single quantity that represents how aerodynamic a bullet is. BC is seen as a efficiency metric, much like horsepower in a automotive – the upper, the higher! All issues being equal (they usually not often are), a bullet with a better BC can have a better hit chance at lengthy vary. (Study extra about BCs, drag, and if you happen to can belief the BC on the field)
These PRS shooters are repeatedly partaking comparatively small targets at distances from 300 to 1200 yards. There at the moment are as much as 15,000 shooters worldwide competing in PRS-sanctioned matches – and all the information on this article is predicated on what the highest 200 have been utilizing for the season that completed a few weeks in the past. This text will share all the main points of the bullets these elite shooters are utilizing to persistently place on the prime of the leaderboard match after match.
Finest Model of Bullets for Precision Rifles
I’ll break down the bullets in just a few methods, however let’s begin by taking a broad view of what model of bullets these guys are taking pictures throughout all the calibers.
76% of the professionals select to run Berger bullets! That included 7 of the shooters within the prime 10, 21 of the fellows within the prime 25 (84%), and 41 of the highest 50 (82%). So amongst these on the very prime, the p.c operating Berger bullets is even just a little larger. Berger has been the favourite amongst this crowd of precision rifle shooters since I began reporting on “What The Execs Use” following the 2012 season (view 2012 knowledge). Berger is known for making very constant bullets which are additionally very aerodynamic.
16% of the professionals run Hornady bullets, together with 2 of these within the prime 10 and 5 excessive 50. All 5 of the shooters within the prime 50 who have been utilizing Hornady bullets have been utilizing considered one of their A-Tip bullets. There have been 6mm, 25 cal, and 6.5mm A-Tip bullets represented within the prime 50, however no Hornady ELD-M bullets have been represented amongst these within the prime 50.
Berger and Hornady mixed to symbolize 92% of the 200 top-ranked PRS shooters within the open division. I’ll present a extra detailed breakdown of the particular weight and sort of bullets later on this article, nevertheless it looks like if you’re entering into this sport – beginning with a kind of manufacturers is a stable selection.
4% of those shooters have been utilizing bullets manufactured by Sierra Bullets, and three of these shooters have been within the prime 100 – however none within the prime 50. That features the Sierra bullets which are bought by different manufacturers, like 25 caliber Blackjack Bullets and the 6mm DTAC bullets bought by David Tubb at Superior Capturing Programs. Since all these bullets are made by Sierra, I mixed all of them right here below Sierra.
3% of the highest 200 ranked shooters have been utilizing Nosler RDF bullets, together with 3 shooters within the prime 50.
Jeff Guerry took eighth general within the 2024 PRS season standings, and he was utilizing a Hottenstein 108 gr. Barn Burner. Jeff was the one shooter on this group utilizing Hottenstein bullets. Hottenstein bullets are customized bullets which are handmade in Michigan for precision long-range taking pictures and short-range Benchrest competitions. There isn’t a lot data on Hottenstein bullets on the market, however they’re out there on the market by way of Bullet Central.
Lastly, there was one shooter amongst this group who stated they have been utilizing Barnes bullets, they usually completed 163rd on the season within the 2024 PRS Open Division.
Finest 6mm Bullet
Now let’s take a look at what particular bullet these shooters have been utilizing for the preferred caliber, the 6mm.
39% of 6mm shooters have been utilizing the Berger 109 gr. Lengthy-Vary Hybrid Goal bullet and 33% have been utilizing the Berger 105 gr. Hybrid Goal bullet. These two mixed to symbolize 73% of the top-ranked shooters, together with 5 of the 6 individuals within the prime 10 who have been operating a 6mm! They have been the preferred 2 bullets of any caliber – by an extended shot (pun supposed). Clearly, both of these bullets is a good selection.
The Berger 109 LRHT bullet is a comparatively newer bullet design launched in 2019. Ballistician Bryan Litz explains, “The 6mm 109 presents a number of benefits. Its ultra-sleek profile supplies a better Ballistic Coefficient (BC), leading to much less wind drift in any respect ranges. Berger’s proprietary Meplat Discount Expertise (MRT) expertise additionally leads to a better and extra constant BC, which is necessary for lowering dispersion at lengthy vary.” Berger’s MRT expertise applies managed strain alongside the nostril of every bullet within the Lengthy-Vary Hybrid Goal (LRHT) line of bullets, which they are saying produces “a homogeneous and repeatable profile for the business’s most constant Ballistic Coefficients (BC).”
“Whereas a excessive BC is fascinating to aggressive shooters, shot-to-shot BC consistency is crucial when partaking targets to 1,000 yards and past. Berger’s ballistic coefficients are all Doppler-radar verified with customary deviation unmatched by all different producers.” – Berger Bullets
The Berger 105 Hybrid bullet is a comparatively “older” bullet design in comparison with the others in direction of the highest of this listing. It was first launched again in 2011. The Berger 109 LRHT is a more moderen design with a better BC – however there’s nonetheless one thing compelling in regards to the Berger 105 Hybrid for a lot of of those shooters. (Extra on that later on this article.)
The third hottest 6mm bullet is the Hornady 110 gr A-Tip bullet, which was utilized by 10% of those professional shooters firing a 6mm cartridge. Hornady’s A-Tip line of bullets options a number of the highest BCs within the business, they usually’re additionally made with superior manufacturing processes supposed to maximise efficiency at excessive ranges. Hornady says their “Drag Variability Discount Expertise (DVRT) aluminum tip design will increase bullet drag uniformity for much less dispersion and smaller teams at longer ranges. Doppler radar verified low drag coefficient (excessive BC) bullets are forgiving of twist fee, seating depth, and muzzle velocity.” The manufacturing means of A-Tip bullets is fairly distinctive, together with minimal dealing with all through manufacturing, and the bullets are packaged sequentially proper off the press to maximise consistency from bullet to bullet.
These 3 bullets, the Berger 109 LRHT, Berger 105 Hybrid, and Hornady 110 A-Tip, symbolize what 83% of the 6mm shooters ranked within the prime 200 have been operating at matches. The remaining 17% of shooters have been unfold over 12 totally different bullets.
6mm Bullet BC Comparability
The desk beneath lists all the 6mm bullets this group was utilizing sorted by the G7 BC from Utilized Ballistics’ bullet library. How every producer calculates or measures their marketed BC varies, so getting the numbers from an impartial supply the place they’re all measured and calculated persistently may be very useful for an apples-to-apples comparability. The desk additionally supplies the load of every bullet, together with a BC to Weight ratio. That mainly attracts our consideration to the bullets which have a comparatively excessive BC for his or her weight.
You may see the Hornady 110 A-Tip and Berger 109 gr LRHT bullets are each in direction of the highest of the listing, and each have an excellent BC to Weight ratio. The Berger 105 gr Hybrid is way decrease on the listing, with a BC that’s 0.020 decrease. So why achieve this many of those top-ranked shooters nonetheless select to run the Berger 105 Hybrid? It’s merely a particular bullet design that appears to at all times group very tightly out of most rifles and may be very constant at long-range. So, whereas the numbers may not entice you to that bullet, it stays one of many prime decisions among the many finest shooters on the planet. In reality, the Berger 105 Hybrid was the bullet that Ben Gossett used to win the 2024 PRS Finale and clinch 1st place within the 2024 PRS Season Open Division (see Ben’s ammo load knowledge and rifle setup). The Berger 105 Hybrid stays probably the greatest decisions by way of consistency in connecting with targets at lengthy vary.
If it was purely about maximizing BC, then wouldn’t all these shooters be utilizing the Nosler 115 gr. RDF? It clearly has the very best BC of those 6mm bullets. The actual fact is, these guys are contemplating extra than simply BC – together with how the ammo teams and the way constant bullet drag is shot-to-shot. When all these issues are summed up, most experts land on the Berger 109 LRHT or Berger 105 Hybrid.
6mm Bullet Muzzle Velocity
Lastly, for context for muzzle velocities for these bullets, the desk beneath has the common muzzle velocity at which the preferred cartridges are launching these bullets. These are all the cartridge/bullet combos that had 5 or extra shooters who reported muzzle velocities on my survey.
Isn’t it loopy that the common velocity for a 6mm Dasher is +/- 4 from 2832 fps – whatever the bullet weight?! The bullets above range from 105-110 grains, however the common pace amongst this group is nearly similar for all of them from a Dasher.
Finest 25 cal Bullets
There’s a pattern of some shooters transferring over to 25-caliber bullets. A decade in the past, 6.5mm rifles have been hottest, after which 6mm cartridges grew to become very dominant. Immediately, 6mm cartridges are nonetheless the preferred (by a large margin) – however a number of the prime shooters try the 25 caliber to stability recoil with vitality on the right track. Heavier bullets make it simpler so that you can spot the precise location you missed and even the place you hit on a plate so you may right your subsequent shot to middle.
The charts beneath present how the 25 caliber mainly splits the 6mm and 6.5mm bullets by way of bullet diameter and weight. The 25 caliber is mainly 2 elements 6.5mm and 1 half 6mm – that means it’s a little nearer to six.5mm than 6mm.
Over the previous 2-3 years, just a few new excessive BC, match-grade bullets have been launched for the 25 caliber, which makes it fairly compelling. Listed below are the preferred 25-caliber bullets amongst this group of professional shooters:
The clear favourite is the Berger 135 gr. Lengthy-Vary Hybrid Goal bullet, representing 87% of these utilizing a 25 caliber. That included 2 of the shooters within the prime 10 (#3 Austin Buschman and #9 Chris Kutalek). The Berger 135 is a part of the identical Lengthy-Vary Hybrid Goal (LRHT) line of bullets, so all the similar options and particular manufacturing processes apply to it that I described for the Berger 6mm 109 LRHT earlier.
I’ll say that the Berger 135 LRHT bullet appears to be exceptionally onerous to search out in inventory. I suppose Berger might have underestimated the demand for this bullet as a result of it’s been onerous to search out for a number of months. Hopefully, they’ll produce a complete bunch extra of those as a result of I’d guess there could be extra shooters utilizing a 25 caliber if they may get their fingers on high-quality bullets for it.
There was additionally a shooter within the prime 10 utilizing the brand-new Hornady 138 gr. A-Tip bullet, which was Clay Blackketter. Hornady simply introduced the 25 caliber 138 A-Tip six weeks in the past, which is probably going a giant a part of why extra of those shooters weren’t utilizing it. Clay is a sponsored Hornady shooter and will need to have been a part of the early group to get their fingers on that bullet as a result of he was in a position to compete with it on the 2024 PRS Finale in early November. It nonetheless doesn’t appear to be out there to most of the people, so I’d anticipate extra shooters might have picked this Hornady 25-cal 138 gr A-Tip bullet with its loopy 0.350 G7 BC had it been available.
One shooter stated they have been utilizing the Blackjack 25 cal 131 gr. ACE Match Bullet, which is a bullet that was manufactured by Sierra for Blackjack Bullets. Blackjack was a pioneer in high-BC, match-grade 25-caliber bullets designed for competitors use. I bear in mind when that got here out years in the past, however I can’t bear in mind precisely when. What I discovered on-line appears to place that launch round 2018 – however it could have been earlier. The blokes at Blackjack collaborated with Sierra to design the 131 gr bullet, after which Sierra manufactured that for them. However, Blackjack Bullets ceased operations round 2021.
One other shooter stated they have been operating the model new Sierra .25 caliber 131-grain HPBT-CN MatchKing bullet, which was launched in mid-2024. It has an eerily related weight and design to the bullet Sierra produced for Blackjack. There may be a number of hypothesis in boards about whether or not it’s the similar because the Blackjack bullet or not, so I reached out to Sierra straight and requested. Right here is their response:
“The Sierra 25-caliber 131 grain MatchKing we’re presently producing is the Black Jack bullet with no adjustments made.” – Mitchell Demand, Ballistic Technician at Sierra Bullets
Should you have been a fan of the Blackjack 131, then excellent news – it’s again in manufacturing however merely has a brand new title. That’s the reason I mixed the outcomes below the Sierra .25 caliber 131-grain HPBT-CN MatchKing bullet in all of the charts and tables.
25 Caliber Bullet BC Comparability
*Utilized Ballistics doesn’t have a BC reported for the Hornady 138 gr. A-Tip but (because it was simply launched), so I merely used the producer’s BC. I in contrast Hornady’s marketed G7 BC to the Utilized Ballistics G7 BC for the opposite 5 A-Tip bullets in 6mm by way of 7mm, and the common distinction was lower than .001, so it’s in all probability not off by a lot, if any.
25 Caliber Bullet Muzzle Velocity
Lastly, listed below are the relative velocities that the favored 25 caliber cartridges are launching these bullets. There have been solely 5 or extra shooters utilizing the Berger 25 cal 135 Lengthy Vary Hybrid Goal bullet, so it’s the one bullet listed.
It’s attention-grabbing to see that guys are operating the Berger 135 on the similar speeds out of a 25 GT and a 25×47 Lapua – although the 25×47 has about 4% extra case capability than the 25 GT. I seen that Austin Orgain, a 2-time PRS Champion and perineal top-10 competitor, began competing with a 25×47 Lapua in 2023 after which switched to the 25 GT for a while, however then began competing with a 25×47 Lapua once more at some matches. I’m undecided the rationale, nevertheless it’s attention-grabbing to observe these guys pioneer the 25 caliber for competitors use and experiment with what case sizes are optimum to launch these 25 caliber bullets.
Finest 6.5 mm Bullet
The subsequent hottest caliber was the 6.5mm, so let’s take a look at what bullets these shooters have been operating:
The Berger 153.5 gr. Lengthy Vary Hybrid Goal bullet was the preferred 6.5mm bullet. Nonetheless, it’s attention-grabbing to see that not one of the prime 100 selected to run that bullet. Granted, there have been solely 3 shooters within the prime 100 who have been utilizing a 6.5mm cartridge.
The Hornady 153 gr. A-Tip bullet was one other in style selection, and that’s what Austin Orgain stated he was utilizing out of his 6.5 Creedmoor on the finish of the 2024 PRS Season to take seventh place general within the Open Division.
Daniel Bertocchini used the Berger 156 gr. EOL Elite Hunter bullet out of his 6.5 Creedmoor to take twenty third general on the season within the Open Division.
6.5mm Bullet BC Comparability
There are a ton of high-BC bullet choices in 6.5mm, which is why it’s one of the crucial in style calibers in rifles at this time. Here’s a comparability of the BC of all of the bullets these professionals have been operating:
6.5mm Bullet Muzzle Velocity
There really weren’t 5 shooters utilizing the identical bullet/cartridge combo for any 6.5mm bullet, so I included the velocities for 4 shooters beneath.
Different Caliber Bullets: 22 cal, 7mm & 30 cal
93% of these ranked within the prime 200 within the PRS Open Division have been utilizing a 6mm, 25 cal, or 6.5mm – however there have been additionally just a few shooters utilizing a 22 cal, 7mm, or 30 caliber. Lots of these guys have been competing within the Tactical Division, which has limits on cartridges and bullets. However I’ll begin by speaking in regards to the few that weren’t within the tactical division and nonetheless selected to run considered one of these caliber bullets.
One shooter was utilizing a 22 Dasher to compete within the Open Division, Garret Preece who completed #95 general on the season. Garret stated he was utilizing the Berger 22 cal 85.5 gr. Lengthy Vary Hybrid Goal (LRHT) bullet out of his 22 Dasher. He reported a velocity of three,080 fps. I’ve heard of different prime shooters utilizing a 22 Dasher in PRS matches earlier than, however Garret was the one one surveyed who stated he was operating that in matches this 12 months.
Two shooters have been operating a 7mm cartridge:
#76 Mike Burdis: 7mm SAW with Hornady 7mm 166 gr. A-Tip at 2800 fps
#195 Derek Webster: 7 SWC with Berger 7mm 180 gr. Hybrid at 2700 fps
Tactical Division Shooters
All the different shooters operating a 22 or 30 caliber have been competing within the tactical division. These competing within the tactical division should adhere to those restrictions:
.308 Winchester with max bullet weight of 178 grains and max muzzle velocity of two,800 fps
5.56 NATO/.223 Remington with max bullet weight of 77 grains and max muzzle velocity of three,000 fps
The rationale a number of the guys taking pictures within the Tactical Division have been included on this knowledge is as a result of in addition they positioned excessive sufficient to be within the prime 200 within the Open Division. For instance, Matt Stiner received 1st place within the Tactical Division, and he was additionally ranked seventy fifth within the Open Division. There have been 2 tactical division shooters who ended up within the prime 100 within the Open Division, Matt Stiner and Scott Peterson – which may be very spectacular!
There was just one shooter surveyed who was utilizing a 223 to compete within the Tactical Division and ended up ranked excessive sufficient to be within the prime 200 within the Open Division, and he stated he was utilizing the Berger 22 cal 75 gr. VLD Goal bullet.
There have been a complete of 10 shooters who have been utilizing a 308 Win to compete within the Tactical Division that ended up within the prime 200 within the Open Division. Listed below are the bullets they reported that they compete with:
Berger 168 gr. Hybrid (2 shooters utilizing this bullet)
Berger 175 gr. OTM Tactical
Hornady 174 gr. ELD-VT
Hornady 176 gr. A-Tip (2 shooters utilizing this bullet)
Hornady 178 gr. ELD-M
Sierra 169 gr. MatchKing
Sierra 175 gr. MatchKing
Sierra 177 gr. MatchKing
Matt Stiner, 1st place within the Tactical Division, was taking pictures a 308 Win and stated he used “175-178” grain Sierra bullets at 2760 fps.
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