Ballistic calculator

Just curious. When you run your ballistics program, and you look at the table with drops, does it show at 100 yards that your drop is 0?

If you zeroed your rifle at 100, so its neither high or low at 100 and your ballistics run for 300 shows a certain holdover, it will be off if the 100 yard point is not showing zero too.

If 100 yds is not at zero something is wrong. Just another check you can make on your list.
Yes it does. I
Just curious. When you run your ballistics program, and you look at the table with drops, does it show at 100 yards that your drop is 0?

If you zeroed your rifle at 100, so its neither high or low at 100 and your ballistics run for 300 shows a certain holdover, it will be off if the 100 yard point is not showing zero too.

If 100 yds is not at zero something is wrong. Just another check you can make on your list.
Sorry. I got cut off. It shows zero for 100. I deleted the app, reinstalled it this evening, and input all of my info again. I checked everything twice to make sure it was correct, and this time it gove me 2.62 for 300, which is still too low. I give up. I'm just going to shoot drops at yardage, and print my own ballistic data. Thanks for all the help from everyone that tried, but not the a-hole that stuck his 2 cents in. He knows who he is.
Just curious. When you run your ballistics program, and you look at the table with drops, does it show at 100 yards that your drop is 0?

If you zeroed your rifle at 100, so its neither high or low at 100 and your ballistics run for 300 shows a certain holdover, it will be off if the 100 yard point is not showing zero too.

If 100 yds is not at zero something is wrong. Just another check you can make on your list.
 
Can anyone help me out on a ballistic calculator that works correctly. I've tried half a dozen different one's, including Strelok, and none of them are even close to being correct. I've tried everything I know to get them to match the ballistics of my firearms, and they aren't even close. As much as 8"off at 300 yrds. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I've used Ballistic AE sighted in at 100 yd, gotten 2 readings off my magnetospeed chronograph, gone to 600 yd and rearly been more than 6" high or low. Then insert the delta in to AE Calc., adjusted velocity, BINGO
 
I've compared Shooter to my kestrel and when all the information is the same the results are very very close. But but like any app based calculator it's only as good as the info you put in it. They're better than they used to be. But keep in mind if you use your phone to pull the weather data it could be pulling the weather info from a station a mile away or 20 miles away depending where you are.

Shooter doesn't compute for aerodynamic jump. AB on Kestrel does. That will produce couple tenths of a mil variance easily.
 
What I like to do on really hard shots, shooting from a mountain down into a valley or something like that is to use 3 different
calculators and look at all of them until I get them to agree pretty closely. You didn't say if you are shooting on flat ground, but I assume so. If you are shooting either up or down at an angle its big difference in ballistics. JBM is a good one, Gundata.org has a good one, and lately I like using Ballistics ARC cause you can pull in the weather with no more than 2 hrs. old, and even hook in your own kestrel for real time. Ballistics ARC uses JBM though. But getting 3 programs to agree is a little bit of a chore, but it works.

At the end of the day, none of the physics in these calculators is wrong. If you are off by 8 inches, there is an issue with your inputs, and you are just not seeing it. Get a buddy who is well versed in the ballistics calculators to go with you to the range, see what you are doing, look at your calcs, and see if another pair of good eyes who knows the programs the inputs can't help you resolve it.

Physics doesn't lie, especially on the vertical. It can be off in the horizontal a lot of times due to wind, wind tortuosity, and altitude/air density, and Barametric pressure. Make sure you are using "station pressure" if that's what your program asks for, not corrected Barametric Pressure at sea level which is what is commonly reported at airports and in weather reports. And a big no no is inputting barametric pressure that is in fact a station or local barametric pressure at your altitude and having the program correct it again because that is how the program inputs are set up. There is a whole thread here on the site you can read about the difference in Station Pressure and Weather channel Barametric Pressure. This is one of the most common traps of using ballistic calculators.

Same reason hunters that live at sea level sight in at 100 yards there and go hunt at 7000 feet in the mountains and wonder why their shots are going way over the backs of those Elk?

Good luck.
 
I use Darrell Holland's app on his website /. I used yesterday on my 7mm wsm and worked great. Especially when you true up your BC. The key is to get a perfect zero at 100 yards. I mean on the crosshairs at 100 yards - no up or down. Perfect. Then set up a target at 500 yards. Shoot at a spot on paper at yards at the same zero you used at 100 yards. Shoot 3 times. Measure the drop in inches. Use the true BC portion of his app. Make the adjustments. Then shoot at the same target w/the moa dialed in and bingo - you'll hit the target.
 
Its an Athlon Argos 6x24x50 MOA. It's definitely a 1/4 moa scope. I've tried these calculators with three different rifles, and they will not match up with any of them.

6.5 Grendel 20" proof research barrel
100gr. Lapua Scenar
Distance is 500 yrds
Altitude is 580
Pressure is 29.9
Temp is 79
Humidity is 52%
M.V. 2780
100 yrd zero
Athlon Argos 6x24x50 1/4"MOA
Scpoe height is 2.75
No wind, no angle
Shooting Nort/South
When I plug in your numbers I get 3.6 MOA at 300 yards. But when I plug in scope height as 2.75 cm instead of 2.75" I get 1.4 moa elevation at 300 yards.
 
When I plug in your numbers I get 3.6 MOA at 300 yards. But when I plug in scope height as 2.75 cm instead of 2.75" I get 1.4 moa elevation at 300 yards.
That's kinda what I'm running into. Different ballistic calculators are giving me completely different drops from each other, even though I'm inputting the same data .
 
Can't believe this has gone 9 pages.

If any app is saying 1.8 MOA drop from a 100 yard zero with a 6.5 Grendel you have an error in your inputs somewhere because you'd have to be shooting about 4000fps to get that.
 
Can't believe this has gone 9 pages.

If any app is saying 1.8 MOA drop from a 100 yard zero with a 6.5 Grendel you have an error in your inputs somewhere because you'd have to be shooting about 4000fps to get that.
I have checked and rechecked the data, and everything is correct. I'm at the range now. I deleted the strelok app and reinstalled it and tried again. I double checked all of the info, and it is still giving me the wrong ballistics. I know it's now the rifle because I just shot at 400, and I was half inch low, half inch left of a one inch bullseye. This is using my own ballistic data, and dialing for drop. I'm getting set up for 500 right now. At 400, strelok said 4.61, but was still low. I had to go to 5.65
Can't believe this has gone 9 pages.

If any app is saying 1.8 MOA drop from a 100 yard zero with a 6.5 Grendel you have an error in your inputs somewhere because you'd have to be shooting about 4000fps to get that.
 
I've input my information numerous times, and nothing works. I was shooting a 6.5 Grendel today, 100gr Lapua scenar, 2780mv, zeroed at 100 yrds, 6x24x50 moa scope. At 300 yrds strelok said to come up 1.8 moa, and it was 5.5 inches low.
Lapua has their own calculator. I haven't done any comparing when using their bullets. They have an app for phone and other mobile devices.
 
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