Any ballistic apps that really work out there?

I’ve been getting some of my clients started with BallisticsGL found in the App Store IOS platform for the time being. It’s free and one does not have to make a Shzt tonne of Inputs. Hey, it’s free and I’m a pensioner of a fixed income. :cool:

It’s good enough to get one started into this game and it does not need an Engineering PhD to employ properly.

The rest of you experts out there keep using what works for you. It has to work for you, your budget, your familiarity, your comfort level , your shoe size (if you wanna give it the boot) , and finally your cool factor.

Me if I ever get the courage to employ my Undergrad science major I am gonna go with Applied Ballistics and a new Kestrel 5700. Go big , eh?

Cheers, Barney
:wave:
 
I wrote a program some 25 years ago for personal use that I still use today. You can have a copy if you want.

It works like some of you mentioned above where you enter the drop at two distances and it calculates the trajectory path. It doesn't care about temperature altitude or BC, just the path you know the bullet to fly.

The cool part is that it does not tell you the drop at predetermined distance increments that do not align with your scope clicks...

Instead it tells you what distance matches each scope click in 1/4 MOA increments from 100 yards to your max value.

Output is something like this...

1.25 MOA = 221 yards
1.50 MOA = 243 yards
1.75 MOA = 277 yards

If any of you are interested, PM me your email address and I will email you a copy. Feel free to share it with anyone, I don't mind.

Don't worry there are no viruses or spyware attached.
 
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I've used several ballistics calculators, some proprietary, some like JMB that are not. So far, those I've tried have one major drawback - they require entry of data online to obtain a firing solution. My prime long range shooting sites are way beyond cell coverage. Nearest wi-fi well, forget it. You get the idea. I need software - hopefully free - that I can upload onto an Android or other mobile device and put to use without an Internet connection.

Any suggestions?
 
My suggestion would be print several data cards.
I have 5 cards, all in different inHG, as in 28.5,29.0,29.5,30.0,30.5
Then on each card, i have data for 10-40-70-100F at 100M range increments.
Plastified and velcro backed, i stick the appropriate card depending on atmospheric pressure.

As i had spent over 50$ on both strelok pro and ballistics AE, none give me as accurate results as the real JBM on the computer.
I also carry my chrono in many different temperatures to know my bullet speed sensitivity.
Further testing required for JBM ballistics, but so far it’s the only one that matches real life 600-700-800M data precisely, never tried longer ranges though.
 
Before I got a Kestrel 5700 AB I used Ballistic AE on my iPhone (generally on airplane while in the States) and it gave me dope that was bang on (never more than 0.1 mil off my Kestrel's dope) out to 1200+ yards with a .308. I've used the dope from my Kestrel out to 1500 with a .308 and 1600 with a 6mm Creedmoor and it was spot on.

Mad-Dog said:
I've used several ballistics calculators, some proprietary, some like JMB that are not. So far, those I've tried have one major drawback - they require entry of data online to obtain a firing solution. My prime long range shooting sites are way beyond cell coverage. Nearest wi-fi well, forget it. You get the idea. I need software - hopefully free - that I can upload onto an Android or other mobile device and put to use without an Internet connection.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
 
TacticalTeacher said:
I’ve been getting some of my clients started with BallisticsGL found in the App Store IOS platform for the time being. It’s free and one does not have to make a Shzt tonne of Inputs. Hey, it’s free and I’m a pensioner of a fixed income. :cool:

It’s good enough to get one started into this game and it does not need an Engineering PhD to employ properly.

The rest of you experts out there keep using what works for you. It has to work for you, your budget, your familiarity, your comfort level , your shoe size (if you wanna give it the boot) , and finally your cool factor.

Me if I ever get the courage to employ my Undergrad science major I am gonna go with Applied Ballistics and a new Kestrel 5700. Go big , eh?

Cheers, Barney
:wave:
Click to expand...

You don't need an undergrad science major to use a Kestrel with AB. Takes a little bit of familiarity to get really competent with it, but anybody can learn it. I have the contact to the Canadian AB trainer if anyone wants to PM me to get any training or help with AB software and Kestrel stuff.

The Kestrel 5700 with AB is a great unit. Once you figure it out, it is deadly precise. I took a new 6.5 creedmoor load for a newish barrel to Utah for the Quiet Riot PRS match this year, one which I hadn't shot past 100 yards - confirmed dope at 1,000 yards (bang on with Kestrel), and made a first round hit at 1,400 yards in the competition. It was dead on all weekend. No need for truing MV or BC.

A kestrel with AB is one of the best shooting tools you can have in your toolbox. Its MUCH more versatile and capable than just an app on a phone. I have a lot of confidence in my Kestrel and it's ballistic solutions - it's great to not have to worry about whether my ballistics are correct or not. It's also great to get the exact environmentals at your location, dynamic wind reading (at shooters position), a device that's sealed from poor elements, and not have to worry about a phone dying (Kestrel has much longer battery life than a phone).
 
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I am tempted to go the Kestrel 5700AB route.
I'll just have to wait and see what 2019 season has got in store for me.
If I still don't get access to a cool piece of land, shooting a target at 900M maximum with 100M increments will have it's predictability sooner or later, will be fighting the wind more than drops.
 
I have been following this thread with interest although most of you are way more serious about the science of ballistics then I am.

I happen to have a BCL 102 (.302) to which I mounted Bushnell Elite Tactical LRS 5-15x40mm scope. Hey everyone needs to start somewhere.
I also download the Bushnell Ballistics App for my iPhone, and I like it. It is free (and yes you get what you pay for) and it only works with Bushnell Scopes, but it could be worth considering for someone just starting out.

 
I am using data cards now, making last minute adjustments for environmental conditions as needed. Since posting, I received word from AB that none of their products require an internet connection to work. This info may be useful to others.
 
Well guys... I'm old school for sure and have always worked off ballistic ap software values that are generated to match my actuals.

From there I grab my nutz and make my best guess regarding offsetting for current weather conditions for drop and wind.

That has always worked very well in F Class where you just need to get close on your first shot then walk them in from there.

In PRS shooting you don't have the luxury of walking them in and often times (at Meaford) I could not spot my misses and that made it hard for me to learn the conditions.

Case in point... A young kid, the son of a friend who owns a farm where I practice came in like 34th place at Meaford a couple weeks ago. He was sharing his fathers rifle and shot maybe 50 rounds in practice this summer. Even his father is new to long distance shooting and all they had was a Kestrel to generate windage and elevation... just a Kestrel and no fricken concept of any of the technicals.

So this green as grasss kid came in 34th out of 125 competitors using nothing but a $1000 Kestrel for values.... yet... he zeroed out on his first few stages out of nervousness.

That told me something that will cost $1000 is missing in my kit for PRS.

I think it kida sucks though when technology comes along that punks out a seasoned shooter (AKA myself), but also 90 other guys in a PRS match.

If you cant beat em… join em.
 
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As Todd Hodnett says,, the Kestral with AB is the "easy button".
Maybe too easy, and getting easier by the year.


6MT said:
^this exactly! Why would anyone want to choose an app\tool that does not read the environmental's in real time? I've used my 5700AB with pin point success out to 2600 yards. Yes, that's a mile and a half.

With all calibres that I use (.223rem, 6.5x47L, 6.5CM, .308win, .338LM, and the BMG), it gives extremely accurate drop info. (I usually manually hold-over for windage adjustments.) It is very easy to use. I have 7 different firearms loaded into it with all of my pertinent load information. And while I don't shoot timed events, because it's so easy to use, I can find a solution very quickly for really any distance. The battery life with the lithium AA cell (for me) has been over a year. Show me a phone with that kind of battery life.

I used to use stand alone ballistic apps (Lapua, iSnipe, and even AB). But I was always entering the environmental's manually. That's the easiest way to introduce errors that really show up after about 300 metres. I just got tired of it. Also having to rely on a network connection to some far off weather station that gives data that's old and not location specific, just introduces errors. So when the 5700AB came out....I thought, what a perfect solution: a stand alone portable weather station in combination with Litz's AB software.

Arguing about which app is better than another is really moot. Until you can reliably manually enter all of the environmental variables for every shot and in every circumstance, you really are just guessing at a shooting solution. And let's face it, those of you who use "drop" charts on your rifles, these don't mean much from one day to the next. Or one elevation location. Or one barometric pressure. Or one temperature. ....Can you see where I'm going with this?
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Marty,
I was with you that evening, and I'm not a smart phone guy.
I use both apps and printed cards. Use JBM to get your card info. Like Boomer says, have the data for every 50 meters is a good medium.
Most shoots will have someone with a good kestrel that you can get a good DA read from.

At NSCC this year, there was a couple of teams on the mound with the Kestral 5700/AB linked to a smart phone. The kestrel was up on a tripod, being spun by the wind with a weather vane. The spotter rarely if ever watched the wind conditions, he just had his head down and was chanting off the current wind hold in mils that the Kestral/AB on the tripod was generating and showing him on his iphone. Take that away, could they even come close to the scores they got? Can they even read wind, in what used to be a wind reading game?
Maybe this is for another thread.
 
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The kestrel only tells you the wind at the shooters position. If you are just relying on that and not wind reading skills, then you are leaving a lot on the table.

Wind at shooters position is one data point, but needs to be used in conjunction with wind reading skills to be a truly effective tool and shooter. What the wind is doing down range, and at the projectiles maximum ordnance is much different than what it is doing at the shooters position.

By no means should anyone think that they can take a kestrel, capture the wind at the shooters position, plug it in and be an effective shooter.
 
Shelldrake said:
As Todd Hodnett says,, the Kestral with AB is the "easy button".
Maybe too easy, and getting easier by the year.




Marty,
I was with you that evening, and I'm not a smart phone guy.
I use both apps and printed cards. Use JBM to get your card info. Like Boomer says, have the data for every 50 meters is a good medium.
Most shoots will have someone with a good kestrel that you can get a good DA read from.

At NSCC this year, there was a couple of teams on the mound with the Kestral 5700/AB linked to a smart phone. The kestrel was up on a tripod, being spun by the wind with a weather vane. The spotter rarely if ever watched the wind conditions, he just had his head down and was chanting off the current wind hold in mils that the Kestral/AB on the tripod was generating and showing him on his iphone. Take that away, could they even come close to the scores they got? Can they even read wind, in what used to be a wind reading game?
Maybe this is for another thread.
Click to expand...

Hi, yes this was quite the evening at Connaught, our common friend has initiated me that evening and i was instantly hooked!
At least I have found what I wish to do with this rifle, i have joined the week after and am now a member, even if only doing 300M until the spring, and sometimes right in winter i have heard, it suits me fine.
Who knows, now that i'm a member, i may just have to build on that stripped 556 lower i got and attend even more calendar events!
By the way we're you the guy i spent a good portion with patching targets in the butts?

To get back to topic, yes that evening bringing my rifle out further than 500M was eye opening in relation to iPhone apps.
I even had the Labradar out to confirm my drops on the spot.
It seems that my drops we're in sync with the ihphone app from 100-400M, at 500M it was shooting too low, and 600M and up i needed you guys help as the app was off by more than a mil, which meant missing the figure 11 entirely at that range.
I kept all my actual drops and conditions from that evening, and the 2 iPhone paid apps (strelok pro and ballistic AE), cannot even get to 0.3-0.4 mil close even with truing.
At least, with JBM ballistics, when replicating exact conditions, i got exact same results.
Did cards for different inHG conditions and we'll see where it brings me in 2019.

That kestrel 5700AB is tempting, but money being limited, i got to chose where to spend it.
My wife had got me the kestrel 5000 with link a few months ago, at least i can get a good portion of atmospheric conditions.
Just don't have wind direction and intergrated ballistics.
 
kthomas said:
The kestrel only tells you the wind at the shooters position. If you are just relying on that and not wind reading skills, then you are leaving a lot on the table.

Wind at shooters position is one data point, but needs to be used in conjunction with wind reading skills to be a truly effective tool and shooter. What the wind is doing down range, and at the projectiles maximum ordnance is much different than what it is doing at the shooters position.


By no means should anyone think that they can take a kestrel, capture the wind at the shooters position, plug it in and be an effective shooter.
Click to expand...

This^

I can't think of how many times I've been shooting a match and the wind has been doing the opposite down at the target as it was doing at the shooter's location. Kestrels are an awesome tool but I don't agree that they are "the easy button". I've got no better dope from my Kestrel than from Ballistic AE when I used a Kestrel 4000NV to get the environmentals and input them correctly. When you learn to use it properly, the Kestrel 5700AB has many features that make it better than an app and a cheap Kestrel for environmentals, imo, such as direction of fire for multiple targets, an integrated, weatherproof package, etc.
 
Maple57 said:
Well guys... I'm old school for sure and have always worked off ballistic ap software values that are generated to match my actuals.

From there I grab my nutz and make my best guess regarding offsetting for current weather conditions for drop and wind.

That has always worked very well in F Class where you just need to get close on your first shot then walk them in from there.

In PRS shooting you don't have the luxury of walking them in and often times (at Meaford) I could not spot my misses and that made it hard for me to learn the conditions.

Case in point... A young kid, the son of a friend who owns a farm where I practice came in like 34th place at Meaford a couple weeks ago. He was sharing his fathers rifle and shot maybe 50 rounds in practice this summer. Even his father is new to long distance shooting and all they had was a Kestrel to generate windage and elevation... just a Kestrel and no fricken concept of any of the technicals.

So this green as grasss kid came in 34th out of 125 competitors using nothing but a $1000 Kestrel for values.... yet... he zeroed out on his first few stages out of nervousness.

That told me something that will cost $1000 is missing in my kit for PRS.

I think it kida sucks though when technology comes along that punks out a seasoned shooter (AKA myself), but also 90 other guys in a PRS match.

If you cant beat em… join em.
Click to expand...

So this young fellow beat 90 other competitors including yourself because he and his pa had technology that you and the 90 didn’t ?

I suspect he had more of “a fricken concept of any of the technicals” than you give credit for.
 
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