bullet will withstand use in hotter chamberings) and still see sufficient terminal performance when handloaders use the bullet in more mundane applications. Where, formerly, every to offer two otherwise identical bullets, differing only in jacket thickness, in each varminting design, one significantly superior design now suffices.

Modern Limitations to Ideal Varminting
The classic example is the Nosler 22-caliber Ballistic Tip line. The 55-grain BT and the 40-grain BT have essentially identical nose profiles with sufficiently similar base profiles so that relative BC is almost exactly a mirror of relative mass. As demonstrated in an earlier VH article, when we load each of these bullets in any size case using best propellant and equal peak pressures, the lighter of these two bullets has a significant trajectory edge across the feasible range where explosive expansion is likely to occur, rendering ranging errors less critical; it also generates significantly less recoil, so that we can see impacts on the occasional close-range target. However, the lighter bullet does exhibit about 10% greater wind drift, so it might not be quite as useful for long shots on a gusty day. Generally, I have concluded, as have the folks at Nosler and many, many shooters that the lighter bullet is king in this game.

Now, consider how we can improve upon performance of this bullet. With conventional materials, it is infeasible to reduce mass or improve BC by much, compared to what is already offered (particularly in the solid-based Nosler varminting bullet line) so all that we have left to consider is increasing muzzle velocity. However, keeping all other factors similar (gun weight,