I have been around guns most of my adult life, but I've never asked this question...what does the "grain" of a bullet actually mean? Is it the weight of the bullet, the type of powder or the amount of powder in a cartridge? I know it's weird that I don't know this...I was in the Army and I've had guns since I was a teenager. This question just never came up.
2006-08-19 14:50:36 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Sports ➔ Outdoor Recreation ➔ Other - Outdoor Recreation
Gun powder
2006-08-19 14:57:47 · answer #1 · answered by Agentj100 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Sarge, the short answer is that when it is specifically aplied to the bullet, it is the weight of the bullet. The amount of powder in a shell is also expressed in grains. A person may say that he is loading a .308 caliber round and using a 165 grain bullet. that is the actual weight of the bullet expressed in grains. The loader may go on to say that he is loading 29.5 grains of 4831 powder. In this case, he is refering to the actual weight of the powder that he is putting into the shell. In days of old when we were still using only black powder, cartridges were named by the bullet diameter and the weight of the powder in the shell. that is how we ended up with such designations as the .45-70, the .45-120 and the venerable .30-30. Nowadays a totally different system is used and it is not standardized. For instance the .30-06 is so called because it is a .30 caliber which was patented in 1906. Then there is the .22-250. It is a cartridge which was made by necking down the .250-3000 shell to .22 caliber but the .250-3000 was so named because it was the first .25 caliber cartridge to have a muzzle velocity of 3000 ft. per second. Pretty darned confusing, huh.
Don't feel bad about not know what the grain weight of a bullet meant. When I was in the service we just shot what ever ammo was provided and never thought to ask what the bullet weight was or what the muzzle velocity was, etc. I just took what they gave me, stuffed it into my M1 and pulled the trigger. Who cared what the grain weight of the bullet was?
Thanks for serving! It's people like you who serve in the military and put their butts on the line who make this the country we have today. Well done, Sarge!
2006-08-21 14:05:08 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As far as I know, it has to do with weight. About 15-1/2 grains to a gram. If that's the same as the "grain" of a bullet, not sure, and where the name came for the unit of measurement I don't know. But now I'm curious....
2006-08-19 15:18:29 · answer #3 · answered by Bruyere 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
GRAIN, gr, is a unit of mass. I think it came from the weight of a single grain of wheat hundreds of years ago. I know in medicine, some drugs are still weighed in grains, such as aspirin. I ususally see grain used to measure the weight of a bullet and powder, especially when using a reloader.
2006-08-19 15:02:03 · answer #4 · answered by DR_NC 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I thought it was the amount of powder in a cartridge. But apparently it is the weight of the bullet.
2006-08-19 14:59:04 · answer #5 · answered by wolfman21629 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A grain"is a unit of measurement of the weight of the bullet.
2006-08-19 14:58:00 · answer #6 · answered by Bopeep 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answer is BOTH or ALL ...Bullet weight is given in grains..and so is weight of the gunpowder which propels the bullet, and gunpowder can have different grain...I'm sure you're familiar with the M-16(5.56MM rounds) and the terms "stick" and "Ball" powder etc..
2006-08-20 01:40:38 · answer #7 · answered by jack 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The "grain" of a bullet is it's weight.
Here an interesting link that will leave you sure of my answer without any doubt.
http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles/bullets_ballastics/bullet_weights.htm
2006-08-20 17:19:18 · answer #8 · answered by Lancer 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this refers to the weight of the bullet, I shoot a 260 grain bullet most of the time.
2006-08-19 18:41:41 · answer #9 · answered by SCOTT H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Grain is the weight of the projectile. I'm an old army sargent too, and I didn't learn this until I started shooting a muzzle loader.
2006-08-19 15:00:29 · answer #10 · answered by stephenl1950 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bullet weight. A grain is equal to 0.065 grams.
2006-08-19 14:57:07 · answer #11 · answered by The Nerd 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋