Applied Ballistics Kestrel

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swissinn

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I don't usually post reviews on anything cuz no one on here really gives a schit but I am compelled to write about this little tool.
It was my first real chance to use it today and to say i was impressed is an understement. A second round hit at 1200m ( and then many, many sebsequent hits on a 15x15 piece of steel) is pretty good stuff. I hadn't done any load development whatsoever so I just threw something together that i thought might work. The rifle is my beloved 300 Lapua Magnum (or 30-338 Lapua ) if you like.
The load was Lapua Brass, 230 Berger hybrids, winchester magnum primers and 90 grains of VV N570.
I chronied them at 3060 fps at -11C. The ES was horrible at about 40fps but these were shoddily thrown together anyways. I grouped and zeroed at 200m suprisingly enough they were grouping around 1.0 to 1.3 inches at 200m. So armed with this MV data I put it all in the Applied Ballistics Kestrel. Wind was pretty much zero and the kestrel said i needed 3L(for spin drift) and 9.1 mils elevation. Dialed it on and held perfctly centered on the 15x15in square. First shot literally missed by an inch on the left edge of the tgt. ( I saw the snow fly off the tree branch ) Sent the second shot with a right edge hold and dinggggggggggg. Music to my ears. I took a rip down on the sled to fix the rope that broke and when i returned the conditions must have changed cuz now that lil kestrel was telling me to drop a click. Who am I to argue. I took the click off and fired dingggggggg. 2 inches away from the previous shot.
Having a tool that gives up to the second updates for long range shooting is invaluable in my opinion. Its very user friendly and battery life seems really good even in really cold weather. It costs a lot of money ($650) but if u really wanna nail those long range tgts without a spotter its your best chance!
 
I guess I should put mine to use. Bought it in January of last year and havn't even calibrated it Lol!

Glad to hear you're pleased with it, i'm going to go find mine right now.
 
curseyou said:
Seems like a nice piece of gadgetry, but what was your reasoning for getting it instead of using tables?
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Tables are valuable ofcourse for the data "after" you have fired your shots. To go back on for the next time. But in this day and age i don't feel its neccessary to dope out the guns from 100-1500m. Its hard on barrels and hard on the wallet! Its much easier to carry around that little weatherproof kestrel than it is to have all my different data tables from the last 3 years lol. Some of the old timers still do it though. I just really enjoy the fact that i can get the wind, density alt, temp and then it transfers straight to the ballistic app. Its really that simple. It also gives you corrections right up til the split second before you squeeze the shot off. U just need to make sure that you feed it proper data. The temp probe is so sensitive that on a cold day like today just touching it with your ungloved hand can raise the units temp several degrees, therefor it would give you a bad correction if you werent paying attention!
 
marcoman said:
I guess I should put mine to use. Bought it in January of last year and havn't even calibrated it Lol!

Glad to hear you're pleased with it, i'm going to go find mine right now.
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Yes you need to do that. Let me know how it works for u. It comes pre loaded with Litz data for his popular 338 and 308 projectiles.
 
Does pretty much the same thing as a 10$ ballistic calculator and the cheaper 3500 series (which I have). My buddy has the ballistic calculator version.

IMO, elevation settings are minor compared to wind. It's only a single source measure of wind unless you get the fancy remote reading stations which is just becoming ridiculous.

So with that said, I'm not too keen on Kestrels. They're a tool, but still far from making any shot. I think I have yet to make a hit using the information my Kestrel provides. Our wind is never laminar across the length of the shot, and often blowing in opposite directions. Being that we mostly shoot across valley's, you have no gauge of wind between you and the target. A Kestrel is only good for atmospheric settings and a gauge on wind speed if that's the case.

Spending 650$ on an item that doesn't provide a ton of use is up to the end user. You can get away with a much cheaper option that works just as well if you are willing to put a bit of effort imputing data and keeping current with conditions.
 
I picked up one when they came out last spring, first time I took it out I made a first round hit on a 10x10 plate at 800yds and the a first round hit on a 20x20 plate at 1050. I had no regrets dropping the cash for this unit. Like you I liked how it updates on the fly for conditions as they change.
 
I have the Horus edition. I was surprised that using only G1 bc's how accurate it is. I think they are a great tool and if your going to use one anyway to get your atmospheric conditions and the extra cash is not deal breaker for you then why not get the Horus or applied ballistic version. Cuts down on things to carry, they run on batteries and don't need to be plugged in to be recharged and are waterproof. I bought a little pelican case to keep mine in when it's in my bag.
 
Shibby! said:
Does pretty much the same thing as a 10$ ballistic calculator and the cheaper 3500 series (which I have). My buddy has the ballistic calculator version.

IMO, elevation settings are minor compared to wind. It's only a single source measure of wind unless you get the fancy remote reading stations which is just becoming ridiculous.

So with that said, I'm not too keen on Kestrels. They're a tool, but still far from making any shot. I think I have yet to make a hit using the information my Kestrel provides. Our wind is never laminar across the length of the shot, and often blowing in opposite directions. Being that we mostly shoot across valley's, you have no gauge of wind between you and the target. A Kestrel is only good for atmospheric settings and a gauge on wind speed if that's the case.

Spending 650$ on an item that doesn't provide a ton of use is up to the end user. You can get away with a much cheaper option that works just as well if you are willing to put a bit of effort imputing data and keeping current with conditions.
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Well there ya go! I made several hits today because of the kestrel! I had no data past 200m for these loads and dinged 1200 on the 2nd round. Didnt have to input anything other than MV and my $900 smartphone stayed in the house.
 
I just picked up one of these as well...albeit haven't been able to road test it yet.
For me it's also a useful learning/training tool...I can do my best to work everything out 'manually' and test my results against the Kestrel.
The bullet doesn't lie, so it's good for obtaining objective results.

I've been fortunate enough to see Swissinn shoot in the wind without it and it's like magic...looks like that .300 Lapua barrel just got some more life!
 
Avalonthas said:
I have been in debate between a lower end model and the Horus edition, havent pulled the trigger yet
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Pull the trigger. If you're into long bombing you will be impressed, just take the time to set them up and true your info. I've been within a few clicks with a .308 at 1112 yards on a 15x15 inch target.
 
swissinn said:
Well there ya go! I made several hits today because of the kestrel! I had no data past 200m for these loads and dinged 1200 on the 2nd round. Didnt have to input anything other than MV and my $900 smartphone stayed in the house.
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You said no wind. A ballistic calculator with accurate atmospheric conditions would do the same thing. Humidity isn't a big deal, so in your case all you benefited from was current pressure and temperature. For those who don't know, elevation doesn't matter with absolute pressure.

Nearly everybody carries a smart phone these days. Ballistic calculators (with the same Litz ratings) are 10$ These also let you add in for coriolis effect if you're going really long. I don't think the Kestrel can do this. (for most it won't matter much either)

Yes, it's convenient to have it all in one package. You don't have to constantly be adding the data, but at the same time there are issues with having no keyboard so what data you do enter is a pain. The numbers on the screen are also quite small.

As I mentioned. It's a nice tool, but those without deep pockets can get away with cheaper solutions and come to the same results. It'll only give you half the story reading wind. I know wind at shooting location is supposed to be most important, but wind down range plays a massive part. All Kestrels (and other makes) read wind speed.

Happy shooting.
 
I'll check the max range out tomorrow.

A buddy has a g7 rangefinder. Works great and ranges farther than my swarovski el range and in worse weather. It gives solutions out to 1400 but ranges much further. The only downside I see is that you have to range something to get a solution ie you can't sit on your couch and check different cartridges drops and drift like the kestrel will. I'm not 100% on this but I don't think it does mils - only Moa, kestrel does both. The applied ballistics version accepts g7 bc's and is newer than the Horus version. I haven't compared them side by side but if I was buying now I'd go with the applied ballistics.
 
Shibby! said:
You said no wind. A ballistic calculator with accurate atmospheric conditions would do the same thing. Humidity isn't a big deal, so in your case all you benefited from was pressure and temperature.

Nearly everybody carries a smart phone these days. Ballistic calculators (with the same Litz ratings) are 10$ These also let you add in for coriolis effect if you're going really long. I don't think the Kestrel can do this. (for most it won't matter much either)

Yes, it's convenient to have it all in one package. You don't have to constantly be adding the data, but at the same time there are issues with having no keyboard so what data you do enter is a pain.

As I mentioned. It's a nice tool, but those without deep pockets can get away with cheaper solutions and come to the same results. It'll only give you half the story reading wind. I know wind at shooting location is supposed to be most important, but wind down range plays a massive part. All Kestrels read wind speed.
Click to expand...

Not a big deal but they do account for coriolis.

My shooter ap (Bryan Litz) is usually within a click or two of my kestrel so you definitely can use a phone and a cheaper kestrel. It's nicer to just carry the Kestrel when hunting though. (Which in reality costs much less than a smart phone)I definitely don't bring my phone backpack hunting for sheep and also have no way to charge it.

Enter the anti long range hunting crowd........Sunray take it away
 
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