kestrel elite 5700 ab problems, what am i doing wrong

rockwind

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2014
Messages
199
Location
deserty portion of the SW portion of Merica
i have a kestrel 5700 elite ab, sn#2160498. i have down loaded the latest firmware. i have had it for years, i used to be really into the precision rifle stuff. i bought the weather vane for it, etc. but it has always given me problems. but i think i am onto something finally. i've been getting ready for an elk hunt so i've been playing with 5 guns, Defensive edge 338 ai terminater, a kirby allen 338 ai raptor, 2 different GAP built 6.5 saums, and a Coffin custom 7mm rem mag. all very nice guns. as i was getting re-aquainted with them and trying different ammo, i noticed a pattern that using the kestrel
they were all shooting low, .1-.2 mils in the 400-500 yd range, and also shooting low out to 900 yds. finally yesterday, a local dedicated shooter let me borrow his similiar kestrel at the range. i downloaded 3 of my profiles, 6.5 saum, 338 raptor, and 7mm onto his kestrel. i then compared them side by side with the exact same profile. ignoring the wind calls, ( i didn't make the wind the same, only the target distance and direction (395 yds, and 175 deg) as you can see from the pics, his kestrel always had about a .1 mil higher solution,, i also compared all the weather numbers. our weather numbers were kinda close but no where near exactly the same, there has to be some input that is acting on all my profiles to make them shoot low. the weather numbers didn't match but they were close,,, i don't know how important all the weather numbers need to be. pics to follow. mine is the tan one
it has always done this and i usually do a profile calibration with the mv, but i have a nice labradar so i know my ave mv. and it is decent ammo so pretty low es and sd

any thoughts? i am cross posting this
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Do you use any ballistic apps as well as the kestrel? Reason I'm asking as I use a Hornady ballistic app in conjunction with my 5700 elite, they both match up unless I input something wrong into one, the other will show me something is off. Case in point, at the range a few weeks ago I was shooting steel and had to put a 21 degree input into the Hornady, can't do that with the kestrel but never reset it back to 0 when done. A week later I went out to the desert to shoot out to 700 yards, I used the Hornady calculator first and didn't even hit the target. This rifle always makes that shot so I cross checked it with my kestrel, they didn't match up, it took a few moments but I finally figured out what was up and corrected the Hornady app, I was back in the black after that. Sooo, it doesn't take but a minor input error to make an electronic device spit out bad information, it helps to have another to cross check.
 
Do you use any ballistic apps as well as the kestrel? Reason I'm asking as I use a Hornady ballistic app in conjunction with my 5700 elite, they both match up unless I input something wrong into one, the other will show me something is off. Case in point, at the range a few weeks ago I was shooting steel and had to put a 21 degree input into the Hornady, can't do that with the kestrel but never reset it back to 0 when done. A week later I went out to the desert to shoot out to 700 yards, I used the Hornady calculator first and didn't even hit the target. This rifle always makes that shot so I cross checked it with my kestrel, they didn't match up, it took a few moments but I finally figured out what was up and corrected the Hornady app, I was back in the black after that. Sooo, it doesn't take but a minor input error to make an electronic device spit out bad information, it helps to have another to cross check.
You should be able to put angle into kestrel
 
I think you are simply not comparing apples to apples here. I see the two units have different wind directions. Yours is R-wind, his is L-Wind. The unit factors spin drift, Coriolis, Aero jump, etc. One can't simple apply a wind call value to both L and R because of these calculations. This can also effect the elevation call by about what you are displaying.

Ensure:
Wind direction (In degrees) is same the same. (You showed a 50 degree change in devices)
Station pressure values the same. This is a big one too. Play with station pressure and you will see the most correction changes over any other atmospheric variable. (SP and DA)
 
It's AJ. Turn it off

There's a a ghost wind too. That's spin drift. Turn that **** off too.

If you need to actually calculate spin drift, just add about 2.5% of your drop.
 
It's AJ. Turn it off

There's a a ghost wind too. That's spin drift. Turn that **** off too.

If you need to actually calculate spin drift, just add about 2.5% of your drop.
IMO that's bad advice. I vote for leave everything on and get the proper solution, ya it doesn't matter much at shorter distances but at 1000 it's enough to make a difference
 
IMO that's bad advice. I vote for leave everything on and get the proper solution, ya it doesn't matter much at shorter distances but at 1000 it's enough to make a difference
It's not bad advice.
It over compensates. It's a known problem in the professional world. Competitive too.

I believe doc calls it AJ zero bias.
 
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and I shoot 1 mile ELR off my Kestrel.
So have I.
If we are doing the one up game, then with a 20 inch barreled .308, sending that bullet in backwards at subsonic. Just for fun. So what?

If you zero your rifle outside, you zero in all things. Human error, atmospherics….wind…

If you didn't get a no wind zero, like a true, no wind zero, you zero'd in the yaw angle of that aerodynamic jump. That error is really small. However, at longer ranges when you input data, that data is absolute more or less.

Your kestrel thinks you have a total zero, and in reality you have elevation perhaps .1 mil.


If you don't believe me: there's a decades worth of information on all this.

 
So have I.
If we are doing the one up game, then with a 20 inch barreled .308, sending that bullet in backwards at subsonic. Just for fun. So what?

If you zero your rifle outside, you zero in all things. Human error, atmospherics….wind…

If you didn't get a no wind zero, like a true, no wind zero, you zero'd in the yaw angle of that aerodynamic jump. That error is really small. However, at longer ranges when you input data, that data is absolute more or less.

Your kestrel thinks you have a total zero, and in reality you have elevation perhaps .1 mil.


If you don't believe me: there's a decades worth of information on all this.

I read your first sentence about some one up game. If that's how you wanted to take my statement, then don't bother replying to me. The Internet forums are full of you.
 
I read your first sentence about some one up game. If that's how you wanted to take my statement, then don't bother replying to me. The Internet forums are full of you
How else was there to take your statement? There's no point in emphasizing the distance you shoot/shot/or whatever at. The issue of AJ is the same. Regardless if it's 300y or 2 miles…
 
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