Leatherwood Hi-Lux

The primer is the little swab of explosive material that sets off the rest of the propellant. To be more specific - in a centerfire cartridge, the primer is a small metal cap with a tiny amount of explosive compound inside, set into the primer pocket at the base of the case (the case head).

Here are common classifications of bullets and what they may be used for. This is a list of some of the more common terms you may come across, though more seem to appear every day. Some bullets are differentiated by shape, some by material.

One term you’ll hear thrown around quite often is BC. BC is the Ballistic Coefficient, a rather important number in the world of bullet flight efficiency. A higher BC means a bullet will retain velocity better - have less negative acceleration, less drag from the air resistance - in similar conditions to a low BC bullet.

Most bullets are made almost entirely of lead. Lead has been the top choice in bullets for hundreds of years now, and it’s all due to a few simple reasons - it’s very dense, it’s easy to cast, and it’s fairly malleable. 

The bullet is the chunk of metal that actually exits the rifle’s muzzle, provided everything works the way it should. Ideally, it’ll be going at a tremendous speed with a good amount of spin. Think of the bullet as a high-speed football. 

The rim protrudes around the circumference of the head of the case, and is not technically a separate component of the case. I list it separately here because of the unique functions it provides. It is where the rifle’s extractor grabs the spent case to pull it from the chamber.

Cases come in many sizes, but only two general shapes: bottlenecked and straight walled.

The case is the part of the cartridge that holds all the other components together. Before we talk about all the things that will be stuffed into it, it’s a good idea to know where the stuffing happens! The case is also known as the brass.

The science of ballistics is a multidisciplinary field that combines physics, engineering, and metallurgy to understand the behavior of bullets and their interactions with external phenomena.

To put a bullet through the target at the spot the crosshairs are covering, you'll need to zero your scope. At farther and farther distances, any small errors will compound until you're not even on paper anymore. Before we try to reach out that far for a zero, let's make sure the bullet is on the right path.

To find out the easy way to zero - the 25 Yard Zero - we’re going to have to take a look at some numbers. And some pictures. Then we'll shoot some rounds, of course.

The quickest way to get on paper - 1. Unload your rifle, 2. Remove the bolt, 3. Look down the barrel, line up with target, 4. Dial scope to line up with target, 5. Replace bolt and fire.