Kestrel 2700 Ballistic Review

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Like most of us here I have been pretty bored, so to kill time I figure I would buy a Kestrel 2700 ballistic and do a table top review, I hope this is interesting and helpful for some of you.

I have been using Kestrels for about 7 years. I have also used numerous other types of ballistic software on my laptop and smart phone. My first introduction to a ballistic kestrel was in the summer of 2013 and that was the Kestrel 4500 horus. Shortly there after I graduated to the 4500AB and finally to the 5700 Elite. At SHOT 2019 I stopped by the Kestrel booth to see that a new product was being released for the more budget minded shooter (250$ CDN, Amazon), the kestrel 2700 Ballistic. I was intrigued as to how well this device would perform compared to its big brother the 5700 Elite. So during this covid 19 pandemic I decided to take chance and purchase a 2700 ballistic to review and compare to the 5700 elite. Currently Kestrel offers a number of ballistic models, the 5700 elite (900$CAD), 5700 ballistic (560$CAD), 5700 ruger (560$CAD), 5700 Hornady 9(700$CAD), and the 2700 ballistic (250$CAD). For this review I will focus on the elite and 2700 ballistic, and will mention the 5700 ballistic as it is the middle ground between the elite and 2700. So how does the 2700 compare to the 5700 elite? Well here are the straight goods.
First impression of the 2700 was standard kestrel, good quality, robust, and well built, same attention to detail and quality as the 5700 elite. The first noticeable difference was the 2700 Ballistic's physical size, it is smaller and thinner than an 5700, it also has a plastic hard case that slides over the body of the kestrel itself which i kind of like, this is different from the 4500/5700 cloth bag that I am use to. The next observation is that the 2700 only has 3 buttons as opposed to the 10 buttons on the 5700, and the 2700 uses a CR2032 battery as apposed to AA's like the 5700. The 2700 also has link like the 5700 that allows you to take advantage of the kestrel ballistic link app and everything good that comes with that, well all almost everything. If you go to the kestrel website you can compare features of all the ballistic series kestrels side by side if you like, and I would recommend this to help you decide how much coin you need to spend for your ballistic solver needs. First of all the 2700 HAS to be used with the Kestrel Link Ballistic App (which is free). Initial setup requires you to calibrate the 2700's internal compass followed by downloading the app on you phone and pairing the 2 devices. In the app you will build a gun profile to match your gun and bullet setup. You will name you gun and then input you bullet diameter, bullet weight, ballistic coefficient, muzzle velocity, zero range (yds/meters), and your scope units (mil/tmoa/smoa). To help simplify this process you do have access to kestrels extensive G1/G7 bullet library with bullet size/weight/BC/MV from most of the popular manufactures in the event that you don't have this info. You are able to select one of these bullets and still input your actual MV in the event you have real time chronograph data for your rifle. The 2700 does not have a range card screen like the 5700 Elite so you will scroll through the range setting on the device and it will give you your correct elevation and wind down to the meter. A point to note is that the 2700 only gives data out to a MAX of 800m. When the gun is built, save it to the app, and via link(bluetooth) load the gun profile into the 2700. You can build multiple gun profiles in the app and store them there but you can only have one profile at a time actually loaded on the 2700 at a time. Once at the range it is normal kestrel stuff, turn the Kestrel on an let the temperature update, when this is complete you will then update you direction of fire and update wind speed/direction. When all this is complete move to the target range screen, scroll to the range you want to shoot and the solution will pop up on the screen about a second after you stop scrolling. With the 2700/kestrel ballistic app you can do a muzzle velocity calibration (MV Cal) also known as truing the rifle. You will use the app to do this. Go to muzzle velocity calibration tab and open it. It will give you a range need to effectively true your rifle, so for my 700 sps tactical 308 with 175gr SMK's it said use a range not less than 600m and not more than 700m. I currently have this rifle setup in my 5700 elite, and due to the current lock down and ranges being close I used the known elevation settings to help setup the 2700 so that I could at least do a tabletop review of the 2700 ballistic prior to the range time, and just compare the solutions from the 2700 vs 5700 elite. The elevation given for the MV Cal for my rifle after initial setup was 7.5 mils, but I know my correct data is 8.14 for that range based off of my 5700 elite and a good true. After selecting the MV Cal tab on the app it brings you to a simple screen with your true range, and the correct elevation setting and the MV. Knowing my actual data I manually changed the elevation from 7.5 to 8.1 and saved the MC Cal. Here is a data comparison between the 2700 and 5700 from 200m to 800m

2700 ballistic
200m = 0.8mil
300m = 1.8mil
400m = 3.1mil
500m = 4.5mil
600m = 6.2mil
700m = 8.1mil
800m = 10.4mil

5700 elite
200m = 0.71mil
300m = 1.73mil
400m = 2.97mil
500m = 4.44mil
600m = 6.15mil
700m = 8.14mil
800m = 10.47mil

So What are a few things that the 2700 doesn't offer that the 5700 elite does.

1. It only comes in 1 colour Tan.
2. no target range estimator. (which I rarely use anyway)
3. no night vision back light.
4. not Applied Ballistics Litz Custom Drag Models (CDM) compatible. (neither is the non elite 5700)
5. no spin drift
6. no Coriolis
7. no muzzle velocity temp corrections (MV temp table)
8. no zero height/offset. (neither is the non elite 5700)
9. no aerodynamic jump correction. (AJ)
10. no drop scale factor correction. (CAL DSF)
11. only holds one gun profile at a time. ( the elite holds 30, and non elite hold 3)
12. no range or target card. (neither is the non elite 5700)
13. No heat index, dew point, relative humidity or density altitude.

This review is in no way saying the 2700 can replace or is better than the 5700 elite, but it is certainly a solid/capable piece of equipment, just understand its limitations. Remember this is just a table top review so far, but so far I am pretty impressed with the 2700 ballistic given its price tag and and the data it is giving me compared to the 5700 elite. I think that for the average person just getting into long range shooting this could be a useful and affordable tool for those not wanting to drop 1k on the elite. This would also be a good practical tool for hunters as well.

Part 2 will be on the range after the lockdown, where I will see how it does in the field!

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask or PM and I will do my best to answer if you think I have failed to mention something in this review.

MTF
 
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Thanks for the write up.

I'm in the market for a kestrel. I like the price of the 2700 but I have been thinking the 5700(non elite) would allow me to grow into it. I'm not sure if that's true, but it seems for the $560 you have alot more flexibility in the 5700.

Anyone running the plain 5700 ballistic kestrel?
 
laker415 said:
Thanks for the write up.

I'm in the market for a kestrel. I like the price of the 2700 but I have been thinking the 5700(non elite) would allow me to grow into it. I'm not sure if that's true, but it seems for the $560 you have alot more flexibility in the 5700.

Anyone running the plain 5700 ballistic kestrel?
Click to expand...

I have an elite and a basic 5700 Ballistic as a backup. It does 95% of what an elite will do, and really the DSF scaling that the elite has does not come into play until you are near sub-sonic.

The Custom Drag Models available in the elite give better turn-key dope than using the G7 BC in the Ballistic, but really you need to true your dope at range anyway.

For $399 at Bullseye London they are a steal, and you can upgrade the software to the Elite down the road if you want.
 
rgv said:
I have an elite and a basic 5700 Ballistic as a backup. It does 95% of what an elite will do, and really the DSF scaling that the elite has does not come into play until you are near sub-sonic.

The Custom Drag Models available in the elite give better turn-key dope than using the G7 BC in the Ballistic, but really you need to true your dope at range anyway.

For $399 at Bullseye London they are a steal, and you can upgrade the software to the Elite down the road if you want.
Click to expand...

That model you mention at Bullseye is the 4500 model. A good deal but still limited to shots under 800 yards. So for a bit more the non elite 5700 provides alot more it seems
 
laker415 said:
That model you mention at Bullseye is the 4500 model. A good deal but still limited to shots under 800 yards. So for a bit more the non elite 5700 provides alot more it seems
Click to expand...

http://www.bullseyelondon.com/kestr...h-applied-ballistics-link-and-vane-mount.html

http://www.bullseyelondon.com/kestrel-sportsman-weather-meter-with-applied-ballistics-link-and-vane-mount.html

It’s technically a 5700 Sportman, as soon as you link it to the Kestrel app, it updates to the 5700 Ballistics (non-elite) for free. The AB solver is identical to what an elite will generate using G7 BC
 
I have a Garmin Fortex 701 and my buddy has the Kestrel with AB.

I have had a Kestrel for maybe 30 years for wind speed and temperature so I figured the Garmin made more sense for me than the redundancy of another wind meter. Besides, after all this time I can usually guess the wind about as well as I need to most of the time.

After about 3 years of comparing ballistic data between them I realize the Kestrel with AB was actually the better choice.

I've found the shortcoming of the Garmin 701 to be an inability to correctly compensate for current temperature. I have the Tempe sensor and frequently gets readings that are wrong by 30 degrees. That error really adds up as we get out past 500 yards. It's not easy to set the temperature to what I want it even without the Tempe sensor.. so that's the deal breaker.

Both units have a shortcoming with regard to a range of targets in different directions. Neither consider wind from a compass bearing, instead they use a clock system for wind direction. This is a gross error when they provide a target list in compass bearing directions where the ballistic solver considers wind from 3 o'clock for example. It will be 3 o'clock for a target at 90 degrees, 180 degrees and 270 degrees. One target at a time it's fine, but it drops the ball when multiple targets are listed.

You basically cant just use the number as presented without doing some brain work in between... This is a significant failing in software design given the field use intent of such devices.
 
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Maple57 said:
I have a Garmin Fortex 701 and my buddy has the Kestrel with AB.

I have had a Kestrel for maybe 30 years for wind speed and temperature so I figured the Garmin made more sense for me than the redundancy of another wind meter. Besides, after all this time I can usually guess the wind about as well as I need to most of the time.

After about 3 years of comparing ballistic data between them I realize the Kestrel with AB was actually the better choice.

I've found the shortcoming of the Garmin 701 to be an inability to correctly compensate for current temperature. I have the Tempe sensor and frequently gets readings that are wrong by 30 degrees. That error really adds up as we get out past 500 yards. It's not easy to set the temperature to what I want it even without the Tempe sensor.. so that's the deal breaker.

Both units have a shortcoming with regard to a range of targets in different directions. Neither consider wind from a compass bearing, instead they use a clock system for wind direction. This is a gross error when they provide a target list in compass bearing directions where the ballistic solver considers wind from 3 o'clock for example. It will be 3 o'clock for a target at 90 degrees, 180 degrees and 270 degrees. One target at a time it's fine, but it drops the ball when multiple targets are listed.

You basically cant just use the number as presented without doing some brain work in between... This is a significant failing in software design given the field use intent of such devices.
Click to expand...

I always kinda wondered how that Foretrex would work. Do you have the Tempe set up somewhere away from your body? Does it give the right reading if you give it the old "Kestrel twirl"?

I also agree with you with regards to setting wind in the Kestrel. It would be a great feature to be able to manually (or via "capture" function) put in an over-riding wind direction and strength and then have the Kestrel apply that relative to the DOF of the various targets (instead of carry over the same clock direction). It would be particularly nice when the Kestrel is paired to a rangefinder that also gives Azimuth.
 
Maple57 said:
Both units have a shortcoming with regard to a range of targets in different directions. Neither consider wind from a compass bearing, instead they use a clock system for wind direction. This is a gross error when they provide a target list in compass bearing directions where the ballistic solver considers wind from 3 o'clock for example. It will be 3 o'clock for a target at 90 degrees, 180 degrees and 270 degrees. One target at a time it's fine, but it drops the ball when multiple targets are listed.

You basically cant just use the number as presented without doing some brain work in between... This is a significant failing in software design given the field use intent of such devices.
Click to expand...


edit: wrong info, the elite does allow you to enter individual DoF but you still have to capture the wind vector for each DoF
 
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rugbydave said:
I always kinda wondered how that Foretrex would work. Do you have the Tempe set up somewhere away from your body? Does it give the right reading if you give it the old "Kestrel twirl"?

I also agree with you with regards to setting wind in the Kestrel. It would be a great feature to be able to manually (or via "capture" function) put in an over-riding wind direction and strength and then have the Kestrel apply that relative to the DOF of the various targets (instead of carry over the same clock direction). It would be particularly nice when the Kestrel is paired to a rangefinder that also gives Azimuth.
Click to expand...

It seems the nature of a design that you wear on your arm is half the problem because of the possibility of body heat, but also sunlight. I've heard maybe leave the Tempe in a back pack out of the sun, might be more consistent that way.

I hope to verify a functional work around some day.
 
Maple57 said:
It seems the nature of a design that you wear on your arm is half the problem because of the possibility of body heat, but also sunlight. I've heard maybe leave the Tempe in a back pack out of the sun, might be more consistent that way.

I hope to verify a functional work around some day.
Click to expand...

You could probably just hang it off a belt loop on a lanyard. Kestrels have the same issue in that they heat up (in a pouch, in your pocket, in the sun, etc). That's why most people will twirl them around every hour or so to get a good read of the ambient conditions then lock those settings in. I'm not sure if you can lock the ambient setting with the Foretrex?
 
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