Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

So how many people here actually test their rifle and load at longer distances to determine the actual trajectory of their load in their gun?I find myself surprised to hear just how many people think that their gun shoots laser beams,and the bullet magically defies gravity.One of the most ridiculous statements that I have ever read on a forum was:

Anyone with any actual experience with the cartridge knows that even with a 300 yard zero,any 300 wby load is going to be far more than 8.5" low at 500 yards.In fact 20" low at 500 yards is a far more realistic figure.

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RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

I'm not an expert by any means but I do know close to what each rifle and round I shoot will do. I do not reload, so after I figure out what round I will be shooting,I stick with it. It's easy to start off with the ballistic charts of each round and then to check how close it is compared to your own gun. In almost all cases the ballistic information for the rounds I shoot are really close to the actual performance out of my own gun.

For example the ballistic chart for the round I shoot out of my 300 RUM says that if I'm zeroed at 250 yards I will have right under 3 inches of drop at 300 yards and right over 12 inches of drop at 400 yards. The chart nails the performance that I'm getting out of my gun to a tee. I've had this same set up for a while now and I will not change it because it works and I have become very effective with it.

I try and know all of my riflesas good as the 300and carry around my little chart notebook with me everywhere. I wishI was as good as some of the guys on here but I'm getting better. I don't think all of the dead animals I've killed can tell I'm just learning though!:D

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

24 clicks of up at 600 yards out of the Ackley...field tested...;)

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

Of course that changes a bit with different lot#s of powder,altitude,temperature,etc.;)

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

just started to get into the longer range game...

i was using an online computer to calculate the clicks i need for the 22-250...

i kept missing at 300 and 350...finally on a dry day when i could see my hits well, i was calling them all high...i was over clicking by nearly double what the computer said i should need to click with my setup.

either my load is shooting faster(could be im shooting a 26" barrel) or my scope clicks are a bit off, which isnt uncommon and i never got around to actually measuring it...mainly because i dont have a rest that will eliminate a large degree of the shooter error...

starting to learn....slowly...not enough time for me to get super serious right now...

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

Even withthe rifles actual load data inputed into a ballistic calculator it is only a starting point (close isn't good enough on a live target IMHO). Like you stated their is more to know then just numbers to the long range equation. For me the only true way is shoot and not just once either;)!

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

In some of my rifles I know it all too well. Some not so much but often this is of no concern as the distance I would shoot those is well within 'aiming on hair'.
My .204s I shoot thousands of times a year at multi-distant prairie dogs, yes I pretty much know how to compensate for those out to about 450 yds. or so, I tape that info to the scope. My .300 Win mag is my longdistance big game getter and out to 500 yd. I have it taped to the scope.

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

I dont know if point and shoot out to 375 is totally unrealistic. I have tried a 300 yd zero on my 270 and it was "good enough" to point and shoot to 350 yds without going more than 4" high or low the entire way. I didn't keep it like that because the vast majority of my shots are 200 or less, and I didn't like being 4" high from 100-200 yds. I was still amazed that it was possible to go that far without needing any holdover.

You are 100% right about the 500 yd shot, Im calling BS on that one.

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

One thing that seems to floor most people...

You drop a bullet and shoot one, both hit the ground at the same time!

Course that's if the ground was perfectly flat etc...but the physics are all there.

All bullets drop, and whether its a 300wby or a 375H&H, there isn't a huge difference, sure a .257wby vs. a 45-70 is quite different.

But dead on at 200yds, I find most bullets, drop close to 40" at 500yds, sure +/-, so whether its 45" or 38" or 50", it's never, 5" at 500yds vs 50".


I've never been too into that zero range of my bullet, I like to know where my bullet will be at a certain yardage.

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

I've found that the charts and ballistics tables are somewhat in the right area BUT there is nothing like letting them fly at known distances.. I've found that my rifles, about 10 of them fly a littler flatter than what the books say for the most part.. It's always best to check and make a listing of how they are flying...

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

AND if the bullet being fired has no degree of incline when it leaves the barrel.

I only worry about three rifles for longer range shots. AND to ME, long range is from about 300 to 450 yards, because I can't think of more than a few times that I have ever fired at something beyond 450 yards, and that would have involved prairie dogs, which you get mulitple trys at. Big game isn't a long range hunt, for me. Coyotes are also almost always with-in the 300 yard mark with an occasional longer shot, and prairie dogs will get shot at at longer distance from time to time.

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

Yep.....If you don't have access to a chronograph to check your fps, charts out of books are just about worthless. They're only a guide at best anyhow. Any responsible hunter/shooter will check their POI at known ranges with a specific gun/load combo.

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

LoL good post Stubble,

No doubt many have no clue about what the rifle's trajectory is actually doing. I hate to see the lack of knowledge people have going into the field using data from a book instead of practical knowledge from range time. I know exactly where my bullets are going to fall given reason but that can change with altitude or elements in a heart beat. I test up to 600yds but that's at 7500ft, now change that to 13000ft and make the same heart shot may not work out as well. It will hit a few inches higher depending on the set up.

Just wanted to point out. At no time during a bullets flight does it ever rise above the line bore. Gravity makes that so.

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

What Pawildman said!

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

Very true...I'm slowly getting it worked out pretty good...my biggest problem is the wind[:@]

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

I test loads to the .(piont)of grain of powderin trajetory and accuracy. And yes some powders are more subject to changes with temperaturechanges of extreme measures. As stated below shoot shoot and shoot again. It simply amazes me the people that will shoot one or two shotgun slugs or sabots at the 25 or 50 yard range and say their gun is dead on! The only dead on they have is
DEAD WRONG[:@][:o][&o]

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

I zero my No.1 hunting rifle , a Styer pro Hunter in 308 Win. 1" high at 100 yards. I shoot at 50-150-200-250-300, aimed dead on so that I get a good idea of the arc. I have never had a shot here in the south with this rifle farther than about 225, so managing arc has not been a problem. Heck, I'd bet 75% of my shots here have been well under 100 yards.

I have hunted in Eastern Montana where it is wide open ... I used a Rem. 700 in 300 Win. Mag. set dead on at 200 and checked in 50 yard increments from 50 to 500 yards. Because I so seldom shoot out to 300-400-500 yards, I took the step to record the "arc". I laminated the "cheat sheet" and have attached it to my rifle's stock.

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

There is a lot more to bullet trajectory than the effect of gravity as most long range shooters will attest. Temp, humidity, elevation etc.
But it is also true that groups of different chambering have very similar trajectories. That is why the bullet drop compensators work so well when used properly. I bought my first Burris scope with the Ballistic Plex a few years ago, mounted it on my 270, followed the instructions for sighting it in. I did a bit of tweaking with it out to 300 yds and tested it out to 500 yds. As stated in the charts, there was some minor plus or minus variation with the various reticles but it worked nicely. The practice with this scope/rifle gave me the confidence I needed to cleanly take an antelope and 4x5 mulie both at longer than I normally would have attempted.

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

I know it at home elevation (500ft) and also have a chart for my typical elk country (7000ft). I've shot at multiple ranges to about 860yds to verify, I don't ever plan on shooting an animal that far with that gun as my rangefinder is maxed out so I figure that's good.

Drop is easy. Wind is what separates the wannabe's from the real shooters.

RE: Do you really your rifles trajectory?
 

I'm always playing around shooting at various targets out a long ways. When I get a load developed for my rifles I set my range up and we start out by shooting 20 ounce pop bottles at 300 yards and move on up to 1 gallon jugs at 500+ yards.