Sellier & Bellot's 156-grain SP is a hunting load with a plain soft point, a lead-core bullet with exposed lead at the nose. At 156 grains its bullet outweighs the 140- to 143-grain hunting loads it is compared with, and it starts slower: it is rated at a G1 BC of .456 and leaves the muzzle at 2,444 fps.

Compared with Sellier & Bellot's 140-grain soft point, the 156 starts 214 fps slower and kicks about 14 percent harder in the same rifle. The heavier bullet holds its own in wind: at 500 yards, a steady 10 mph wind blowing across the range pushes the 156 about 25 inches sideways and the 140 about 25 as well. It drops more, though. Zeroed at 100 yards, the 156 drops about 19 inches at 300 and the 140 about 16. Compared with Hornady's Precision Hunter 143, the gap is wide. The Precision Hunter starts 256 fps faster, the same wind pushes it about 15 inches at 500 yards, and from the same zero it drops about 14 inches at 300. The 156 kicks about 7 percent harder than the Precision Hunter.

Buy the 156 if you want a heavy plain soft point and your shots stay at moderate range, where its slower start matters least. Pick the Sellier & Bellot 140 if you want the same maker's soft point with a flatter path and less recoil. Pick the Precision Hunter 143 if you expect longer shots, where its polymer-tipped ELD-X drifts and drops far less.