What the ____ am I doing wrong???

[shortpants]

Going transonic is very important for long shots on non game targets, but at what speed does the bullet energy drop below the recommended level for the size of the game and the limits of the bullet
performance.

I 100% agree that any Good data can always help for more accurate shot placement but the type of target dictates the distance as far as I am concerned.

There are so many variables at Long distance and the father out you go , the more things start to degrade and sometimes you have to except the limits of your rifle and components.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

I agree with everything your saying. I understand the limitations of my rifle and the bullets I'm using. I'd just like to keep this thread on topic. As I stated before I believe the rifle and ammo are plenty capable of hitting rocks or paper that are 3moa tall at 1548. The point of this thread is to determine how my first shot could have been off by 3.25 MOA? By backtracking I've discovered mistakes I made inputting data into my ballistic calculator. I have gone back and corrected my mistakes and now have a come-up that is 2 MOA higher than what I had at the time of the shot in question. I went out Friday and re zeroed my rifle and did Litz's tall target test. The results of that test proved to me that my scope is tracking true all the way up to 60moa which is as far as I would ever dare sending a round at a non-game target. I plan to head back out and try the exact same shot at 1548 again to verify the real world drop. If it indeed strikes 1moa low then I will make an adjustment to my MV. I will then shoot 3 different distances noting the drops and use the ballistic calibration feature on my Applied Ballistic app to see if it's calculated MV matches what I come up with. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
JE there's no need for us to have a debate over bullet performance on game or ethics because we already agree. The farthest shot I've ever taken on game was 540 and it was a bang flop! I do appreciate you and every contributor to this topic and this website. Keep the feedback coming!

 

[Clever]

I had the same problem with my Remington 700 300Win Mag. The scope base windage screws had loosened up a bit and I could not hold the same MOA. I torqued them down back to 65 in pounds. Any vibration as you know will cause accuracy problems. You have already made shots at that distance with the same rifle and ammo. I'm sure your reloading skills are above average and all your fundamentals are on point. The only thing that could change is stability caused from any part of the rifle to loosen up just a bit. This is common with Magnum Calibers. I check my Rifles once in awhile the 300 Win Mag is solid now as LOckTite did the trick. But my Sako TRG 338 Lapua Magnum was notorious for loosening up the scope rings after all the LockTite, Torquing, Testing. An older buddy of mine mentioned adding extra scope rings, so I did and finally she stabilized. It is a very rare problem but never the less it does happen and some scope mounts and or rings can't handle MASSIVE VIBRATION. Good Luck hope it helps
Here are some Pic's.

Remington 700 300 Win Mag

Rifle: Custom Remington 700 300 Win Mag
Krieger Light Varmint Contour 27 inch 1:10 Twist
JP Enterprises Bennie Cooley Muzzle Brake
Scope: Nightforce NXS 5.5X22X56 NPR 2
Badger 20 MOA Base
Badger Max 50 Standard Scope Rings
Badger Bolt Knob
Tubbs Firing Pin
Timney Trigger 3.0 Lbs
Stock: AICS 1.5 Long action Fully Adjustable Aluminum Bedded OD Green
AICS Long Action 5 Round Magazine
Harris Bi Pod

Sako TRG 42 338 Lapua Magnum before adding the rings

Rifle: Sako TRG 42 338 Lapua Magnum 10 twist Sako accessories
Scope: Nightforce NXS 5.5X22X56 NPR 2

The Fix: Needed to add 2 more rings to stabalize

 

[shortpants]

That's a great point Clever. I'll double check those again!

 

[BergerBoy]

I shoot my 300wm out to a mile and now I'm trying to shoot farther. I have a 1-9 twist I didn't see what round you shot and what your twist was.

What I have seen is that at that range even 1 degree of cant, which is easy to be off that little even with a buble level. Accuracy 1st makes a great bubble cant.

Also, you probably have at least one more cross wind that you do not see or account for. When I shoot that far I encounter several other cross winds that are hard to see. Try to read the terrain for wind funneling.

Remember the upper transonic starts at 1339 fps.

Good luck.

 

[Punisher]

I don't go transonic till almost 2100 yards with a 215 berger in my 300 Win 26 in barrel@ 2950, my 308 does not transition till over 1500 yards.

You are off on this by quite a bit. I ran two different calculations with different programs and got 1250-1400 yards with accounting for very large temperature variations and elevations, I could give you 1500 yards with the Win Mag. You may just need to use a different calculator.

Most logical reason is that you are skirting the stability threshold. I think you saw the distance where your bullet de-stabilizes during its transition to subsonic coupled with an already de-stabilized flight from twist/ bullet speed combo.

 

[Canadian Bushman]

You are off on this by quite a bit. I ran two different calculations with different programs and got 1250-1400 yards with accounting for very large temperature variations and elevations, I could give you 1500 yards with the Win Mag. You may just need to use a different calculator.

Most logical reason is that you are skirting the stability threshold. I think you saw the distance where your bullet de-stabilizes during its transition to subsonic coupled with an already de-stabilized flight from twist/ bullet speed combo.

Might wanna double check those numbers.
I dont go sub sonic with the 215 till 1400-1500 range and im launching it at 2600 at sea level

2950 @ bigngreens elevation, i dont doubt his numbers at all.

 

[gilmillan1]

I am surprise no one has talked about your load. It seems to me you are having vertical problems. What scale are you using to weight your powder?

 

[Punisher]

Might wanna double check those numbers.
I dont go sub sonic with the 215 till 1400-1500 range and im launching it at 2600 at sea level

2950 @ bigngreens elevation, i dont doubt his numbers at all.

I used shooter and strelok. I think my average was somewhere around 1400 yards. I believe the OP is getting approx 2000 yards for this value. I would give him the benefit of a doubt to 1500. I didn't see anything close to 2000 yards unless I went WAY beyond 3000 fps mc. once your bullet is in the 1300 fps range, the transition through the bubble can theoretically start affecting its flight. I think he altered his BC to give him closer results to what he saw in the field. I had this problem once, but to remedy it, I had to create 2 BC values and two loads in my program. One is for 0-1000 yards, the other is 1000 and beyond. I even have two different MV values. They are about 20 fps different, but that is something to start with. I couldn't make one curve to match my profile. I switched bullets and didn't see that anymore though. The twin profiles was for a bullet at the very capacity of my twist rate.

 

[Broz]

My 300 win sends the 215 Berger at about 3035 fps. @ 4100' ASL they go transonic (1100 fps) at 2005 yards on a 40 degree F day. At a mile / 1760 the 215 is still 1275 fps.

This is using G7 BC right off the box.

Punisher check your inputs, you have something wrong.

Jeff

 

[bigngreen]

You are off on this by quite a bit. I ran two different calculations with different programs and got 1250-1400 yards with accounting for very large temperature variations and elevations, I could give you 1500 yards with the Win Mag. You may just need to use a different calculator.

Most logical reason is that you are skirting the stability threshold. I think you saw the distance where your bullet de-stabilizes during its transition to subsonic coupled with an already de-stabilized flight from twist/ bullet speed combo.

Nope, dead nuts according to rounds on target! My 308 Win launches a 215 Berger at 2432 fps, with a station pressure of 24.45 and temp of 60 F the bullet will not go sonic till 1580 yards, I shoot a lot out to 1535 yards with it and I don't have to fudge numbers and that should put me into transonic a bit.
I've dialed in more than a couple 300 wins with 215 Bergers, if I was hitting sonic in the 1400 range my dope would not track with the optics, as it is I dial what Loadbase, Shooter, Strelok or Applied ballistics tells me I'm going to be right there!!