Cdaddy

It matters not whether you are shooting steep uphill or steep downhill - either one you have to compensate up.... Took me along time to justify that in my mind... but some marine sargent told me to quit thinking and follow his direction - he knew how to shoot, after all he was a Marine- I was just a Navy swab trying to pass a course...

Oh by the way i spelled collage correctly in that post I was not spelling college - gee whiz i went to calledge...

SL,
I agree, it doesn't matter if you are shooting uphill or downhill, the effect is the same. But, I don't agree with compensating up.

I was sighted in about 3" high with that load at 100. Since I was shooting downhill, the bullet does not drop as much as it would if I were shooting on flat ground. So, I aimed low. Problem was, I aimed to far low. Are you saying the same thing, or do we have an arguement???

Cdaddy

Yep, I think we have a real live discussion... gravity is gravity... and steep angles are steep whether they are uphill or downhill - get your range finder out - if it has a ballistic scale it will show you what I am talking about. It will read one range for a flat range and it will read another range at steep angles whether they are up or down...

1. How many of you shoot magnum powder charges for hunting?
2. What rifle(s) do you shoot these magnum powder charges out of? ie; brand, model, barrel length
3. What projectile are you shooting when using magnum charges?
4. What ignition system are you shooting?
5. Is this a scoped rifle?
6. What animal are you hunting?
7. Do you feel this is a benifit with the magnum loads or is this the powder charge that gives you the best accuracy?
8. What do you feel is the max range you would be willing to shoot, if all things were perfect in relation to the shot?
9. Have you ever taken game with this load?
10. Have you ever missed with this load on game?
11. If you do not shoot MAGNUM CHARGES, what is the average non magnum powder charges, you do shoot in your rifles?

Answers:
1. I normally shoot 150 grains of Pyrodex or 777 pellets.

2. I have a T/C Encore with a laminated thumbhole stock with 28” SS barrel.

3. So far I have used the 250 grains T/C Shockwave and the Barnes Expander MZ hollow point.

4. I currently use the Variflame with a small rifle primer.

5. Yes, I have the Nikon Omega BDC scope.

6. Elk

7. I truly feel that I get greater accuracy using the scope and of course the combination of powder, bullet and primer have the greatest contribution overall.

8. Currently I’m averaging 1 ¼ inches at 100 yards and have not yet shot any farther than that, but I will be working that out in the next few weeks.

9. No

10. I will find out in October.

11. If I’m not shooting 150 grains then I go to 100 grains since I’m only shooting pellets at this time. I will be expanding my horizons with different powders in the next few weeks.

T/C Hawkins 50 cal with peep site shoots best with 75 to 85 grains of PB or T7 useing a prb or a mmp sabot and Hornaday HP XTP. The above is good to 100 yards if need be.

T/C Plains Rifle 50 cal 4x weaver k4 scope shoots best with 80 & 85grains of BP or T7 prb & again the MMP sabots and HP XTP's. Again good for 100 yards and maybe a bit more Limiting factor is me.

Remington 700 50 cal #11 caps,scoped with Bushnell 2.5 to 7 shoots its best with 80 gr. T7 MMP sabot and about any thing up put in it. Not afraid to take a shot up to 200 yards with this combo.

Remington 700 54 cal 209 converted,scoped with Bushnell 3 to 9 shoots about any thing you stuff down the barrel with a mear 100 gr. T7. Favorite load is 100 gr. T7 MMP purple 54 cal sabot 300 gr. 50 cal Speer Gold Dot. Not afraid to take a 250yard shot with this combo at any game legal in Michigan.

All above powder charges are loose. I have never tried a pellet after watching my brother shoot the old clear shoot pellets out of his black diamond and watching them smoke as they rolled down range, plus I am a squeeky thight sob.

Al

You aim lower.

http://www.exteriorballistics.com/ebexplained/article1.html

A simple illustration:


Pardon the poor graphics. If a gun is sightedfor 100 yards on level ground when aiming at a target on an incline 100 yards away by LOS (rangefinder) then the bullet will drop as if you were shooting at the distance on the horrizontal line. Obviously the steeper the angle the greater the difference. Without a specific angle and elevation I can only guess at the proper distance for my drawing. It's mainly meant to illustrate the point.

A compensating rangefinder will show the true horizontal distance.

I have a old CVA sidehammer with a 1:66 twist that will about throw an overcharged load behind you. It only wants about 80 grains of FF max. I have taken a couple of does with it but I was real picky about the shots,fifty yards or less and one was a head shot. I hunted for several years with a sidehammer Traditions dearhunter in .54. Now that is a gun that wants a load in it. It shoots roundball just fine at about 90 grains but wont straighten out a conical unless the ante is upped about 20 more. I have used both Great PLains and TC conicals to devastating effect. It's a 1:48 twist. My sweetheart though is my .58 zouave. It has taken a couple of nice bucks and several does with little fuss and muss. My hunting load is pretty simple, 90 grains of ff goex and a patched round ball. It is deadly accurate and impressive terminally.That being said Istill wont shoot at anything much over 75 to 100 yards away.It doesnt like minnies much no matter what amount of powder you stuff down it. Most of my neighbors around here use inline, pellet guns and overdo the pellets. They shoot them about three times a year and declare themselves 200 yard "blackpowder" hunters. Mostly I think they are just overloading their guns no matter what the twist is and I also think that most of them have no business shooting at anything like that range. My twenty three year old neighbor came over to my range with his Omega and set about the business of bragging. When he saw what a target looked like at an honest 200 yards he shut up quickly. But, to be honest, after some tinkering it was putting them into some respectable groups at that distance. His rifle sure didnt like an overload though, and off the bench the recoil was brutal. As I recall we were only putting 100 grains to it for best results.

See, you don't have to shoot and inline stuffed to the max.

Thanks Wolfhound. I can't see your illistration on this computer. Some things get blocked. [:@] But, I think sabotloader has fallen off of his 4-wheelerand hit in the head with a fryingpan too many times and forgot what the marine told him.

SL, take that new fancy Leupold rangefinder you got and turn on the incline compensator thingy-ma-bobber. Get up on top of one of the skyscrapers over there in Moscow and rangefind the ground straight down. What does it say? Should be ZERO or close to it. Yes, gravity is gravity, but in this case it would be pulling the bullet STRAIGHT down directly in the path of the bullet, therefore, no drop in the trajectory.

You would have to aim lower than you would if you were on flat ground. You are right though, same effect if you were shooting straight up.