.30 vs .357 trajectory and wind drift

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Zach

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Jul 18, 2022
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Mishawaka Indiana USA
I’m thinking of getting either a .30 or .357 for woodchucks and raccoon sizes game out to a 100 yards or so. I don’t have experience with either. I want something that the wind doesn’t push around as easy and still has decent energy at a 100 yards. I’d like some opinions at least on which would work better.
At this point I’m leaning towards a RAW although the Evol .30 looks nice.
 
.22 slugs and .25 slugs will do just fine at 100yds. 75 yds, reximex Throne .22 50fpe, groundhog dome pass through, but body shots are not a problem either.

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It is not just BC which determines wind drift. The main factor is what is known as the lag time, which is roughly the difference in time between the actual projectile flight time and the time given by the range divided by the muzzle velocity.

The best simple factor to give some idea of relative wind drift for comparison appears to be muzzle velocity multiplied by BC. Calibre does not directly affect the wind drift, except in usually affecting the BC, which is also affected by the projectile design.
 
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As far as the subject of down range energy goes, it is best to choose a caliber and projectile of sufficient weight and design that it maintains it's momentum and carries it all the way through the vitals of the more meatier, larger sized game animals at those longer distances. As the game animal get bigger and/or of a different density of frame, a proportionately heavier pellet or slug is needed to carry out the dissipation of energy throughout the whole body cavity and hopefully still get full pass through penetration in doing so.

At longer distances and on bigger animals projectile weight and it's momentum is your friend.


Don't' get lost in the hype of initial slug expansion because a projectile's subsequent travel upon initial dissipation of that energy may suck, likely tumbling off course. For example, the farm pesting guy's who shoot nuisance birds, ground squirrels and rats helped design the 22 caliber Varmint Knocker / FX Hybrid slug that expels most of it's energy into those small, soft fleshy types of animals at long distances and still manages a pass through most.of the time. But in carrying this slug's design forward to the bigger calibers, hybrid slug manufacturers have kept the weight relatively light (to still fit inside of their small magazines and keep speeds high) so this design doesn't necessarily lend itself well to full penetration as it is dissipating energy at longer distances on bigger game. Head shots are nice to quickly dispatch any sized game even with small calibers but are not always feasible, and with body shots two holes through the vitals and out the other side are better than one.

There's a lot of science behind ballistics and coefficients as far as wind drift goes that I am not able to articulate, and knowledgeable forum member's who are more versed hopefully are able to add to this part of the subject.
 
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Zach said:
I appreciate the info. I’m leaning towards the.30 for shot count and pellet costs. I have a good.22 so I’ll probably go to the .30
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If you are looking to shoot pellets, the 30 caliber Hades acts like a hollow point as far as wound channel characteristics go, but carries it's momentum into game as well as a domed pellet does.

You cannot hardly beat the Evol 30 for build quality, decent power, and air efficiency. You don't need to do anything to it but shoot it, or you can tinker with it's power and shot count. But what you do not have to do is buy a bunch of aftermarket parts for it to make it shoot better, more powerful, more robust, or even quieter (though some do like a big can). Granted there are other manufacturers with higher shot counts because of bigger carbon fiber bottles and bigger capacity magazines, but this is a top shelf, repeatably accurate and robust air rifle that you will take pride in owning. Because I am a tinkerer, this is has a custom folding stock and can shoot heavier pellets and slugs at decent speeds.

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Airgun-hobbyist said:
If you are looking to shoot pellets, the 30 caliber Hades acts like a hollow point as far as wound channel characteristics go, but carries it's momentum into game as well as a domed pellet does.

You cannot hardly beat the Evol 30 for build quality, decent power, and air efficiency. You don't need to do anything to it but shoot it, or you can tinker with it's power and shot count. But what you do not have to do is buy a bunch of aftermarket parts for it to make it shoot better, more powerful, more robust, or even quieter (though some do like a big can). Granted there are other manufacturers with higher shot counts because of bigger carbon fiber bottles and bigger capacity magazines, but this is a top shelf, repeatably accurate and robust air rifle that you will take pride in owning. Because I am a tinkerer, this is has a custom folding stock and can shoot heavier pellets and slugs at decent speeds.

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Oh man, for a sec I thought you had that 30 laying across a bear you killed! I was like GTFOH were shooting bears with 30s now?!
 
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Both calibers will get the job done, but I find my .30 cal rifles are a bit more accurate at long range than my .357 bulldog. Granted that is only with my experience since the only .357 I own is the bulldog, and at 100 yards it's not as accurate as my fx impact .30.

For sheer power though, you can't go wrong with .357. I ended up choosing both.
 
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