Max range you would shoot at game?

[Joefrazell]

Also remember to practice away from the bench. Best thing a guy can do is get a 10" gong and go out in the area you'll be hunting and hang it up and shoot at it. Shoot prone but also try sitting or kneeling or any other real world way. Shoot in different directions and different angles. You'll get a really good idea of what your limits are. You can also do this with shooting rocks which is much easier and convenient but you need to be able to jundge the size of the rock with your reticle. Sometimes those rocks look a lot smaller then they are so make sure you are using your reticle to range them. Look for rocks in that 1-1.5 moa range to test your skills. That way you know if you make a hit it would result in a vital hit if shooting at most game animals. I usually will spend an afternoon on my deer hunts early in the trip and drive canyon roads and shoot rocks to really get myself and my rifle dialed in.

 

[snox801]

In that 147eldm out of a creedmoor what min velocity are you using and what muzzle velocity because that seems fairly low.

Here is my drop chart today.
Sea level and pretty cold dense air but that effects all bullets.
Keep in mind I try to be fair when comparing them. I could push both bullets a bit harder but I do the standard for me find pressure usually sticky bolt for my rifle. Then back off 1gr and shoot around that. Then go with the most accurate. I can get more speed out of the eld for sure but accuracy faded a bit and that's most important. The hammers for me shot best in the higher end of the ladder.
But keep in mind I'm just pointing out the fact some people get to focused on bc.
For these smaller caliber it's not as important.
Let's say even if the eld beats it by 100 yards.
So 700 instead of 600. Then it come down to if that person a can constantly hit vital size and b if most common shots are farther or close. For me the atip load I'm working on shows promise to get me a bit farther out but I personally don't feel as good shooting a thick skinned game at close range.
Again this is me. I've take game from close to far with hammers. And all kinds of game like oryx,audad, and pigs with thick skin.
I can say my experience the hammers just did better than the eld. That's not knocking the eld cause that's my second choice and I've done a lot with that also. Well maybe cutting edge would be second. Just don't have the same amount of game down with those as the other to to make a fair comparison.

 

[snox801]

As stated above make sure you practice. I do the same thing try shooting from field position.
For me if I'm just getting on target I assume I need to keep my max distance closer as it's hard to recreate the excitement I get hunting. So I know I may get a little off.

 

[Joefrazell]

Here is my drop chart today.
Sea level and pretty cold dense air but that effects all bullets.
Keep in mind I try to be fair when comparing them. I could push both bullets a bit harder but I do the standard for me find pressure usually sticky bolt for my rifle. Then back off 1gr and shoot around that. Then go with the most accurate. I can get more speed out of the eld for sure but accuracy faded a bit and that's most important. The hammers for me shot best in the higher end of the ladder.
But keep in mind I'm just pointing out the fact some people get to focused on bc.
For these smaller caliber it's not as important.
Let's say even if the eld beats it by 100 yards.
So 700 instead of 600. Then it come down to if that person a can constantly hit vital size and b if most common shots are farther or close. For me the atip load I'm working on shows promise to get me a bit farther out but I personally don't feel as good shooting a thick skinned game at close range.
Again this is me. I've take game from close to far with hammers. And all kinds of game like oryx,audad, and pigs with thick skin.
I can say my experience the hammers just did better than the eld. That's not knocking the eld cause that's my second choice and I've done a lot with that also. Well maybe cutting edge would be second. Just don't have the same amount of game down with those as the other to to make a fair comparison.

Wow! That's pretty crazy. I mean your only 50 fps behind my load. Sea level is making a lot of difference in max range capabilities with the little 6.5. Here's my chart for my load/ elevation. It's good that you noted that accuracy is king and a lot of times that will limit these smaller cartridges when it's not paired with higher velocity. I was able to get to 2800 before I hit pressure with h4350 in a 24" barrel and also look for accuracy and decent es more then just high velocity. We did kill a mule deer two years ago at 926 yards with this rifle and bullet. The load was rl16 at 2780fps but still. It was REALLY pressing the limits. The bullet broke a rib on entry and excited also breaking a rib. 4 point decent bodied buck. Exit was the size of a quarter. Deer was knocked over from the impact actually. He got up a ran 50 yards or so.

 

[snox801]

I was shocked the other day when shooting in negative temps. That's a good lesson on building your drops for elevation and temp you plan to hunt.

 

[vancewalker007]

I'm very new.

So new, that the longest range I have shot at a target is 425 yards.

I dialed in the elevation based on load data I plugged into an iPhone app called SBC, and "pinged" an eight inch piece of steel every time I pulled the trigger.

Therefore, "long range" to me right now is 425 yards.

I'm co Gide t I could kill game, first shot on a cold bore, at 425 yards.

If I can do the same at 600, that will be my new standard.

Beyond 600 yards, the cartridge I shoot 280 ai, and the bullet/load combo, I would loose confidence in. It's a 139 Barnes LRX. It's going really fast and accurate with my hand load, but it falls below 2,300 fps. My understanding is that 2,300 fps is the cutoff for reliable expansion with that bullet.

From the limited hunting I have done, a perfect broadside shoot is not always possible. So I chose Barnes bullets because they can penetrate extremely well, negating the need for a perfect shot.

I do not believe that Berger or Hornady bullets perform optimally if they have to penetrate through the shoulder of a big elk.

Am I thinking about this incorrectly?

What day you,

You are on the right trail worrying about expansion relative to velocity. I found some data from Barnes I got a while back as I was wanting to use the LRX in my 6.5 PRC. This was the data from the email on 7mm caliber bullets. So if you follow these numbers you can reach out a little farther than you were thinking. I think I'd feel better using 1800 fps personally. Of course this all depends on your rifle's accuracy, your shooting ability and your ability to call wind (the hardest thing in LR shooting). If you want your own data email Barnes.

.284 120 gr TTSX- 1700 fps
.284 139 gr. LRX- 1400 fps
.284 145 gr. LRX- 1500 fps