Every gun has a preferred bullet weight. This isn't often evident in handguns, but certainly is with rifles. Each rifle will find a bullet type or weight or overall cartridge length it shoots better than most others. Finding those is a hobby for some, people who often reload or make their own ammunition.
I am one of those people. I like to tinker with cartridges, find those recipes that work better than others. A recent moment of reloading and shooting offered some results that were extra fun, so I figured I would share.
This target below is from a 44 magnum load which used a 300 grain lead bullet and was fired in a Henry lever action gun. Beautiful gun, but seems a little finicky when it comes to accuracy. And this load, it didn't like at all. It sprayed the bullets in a pattern rather than a group. Some bullets even went through the paper sideways!
That was at 25 yards! Obviously the rifling rate, or twist, wasn't enough to stabalize this bullet at the velocity it was loaded at. This load is not suitable for this rifle. It seemed to shoot fine out of my pistol at least.
Contrast that against a different load i was testing that day which used 200 grain bullets. Not amazing, but about what I get out of this rifle. Good enough for woods hunting, which is what this rifle is for.
Anyway, just wanted to share- it isn't every day I get bullets going sideways!