Suprised & puzzled over .223 test

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fingers284

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Finaly have some bales put up out in the field to use as backstops so I set up a couple of targets, one at 200 yds, one at 300yds. I wanted to verify the info from my Hornady Ballistics book as well as see how my Axis would perform at longer ranges.

My ammo was handloaded 40 gr Barnes Varminator at a chrono'd 3100 fps (4 rnds, highest 3123, lowest 3102. Day was sunny & 25 deg.

The Axis performed very well, just slightly less than 1" group at 200 and right on 2" at 300.

The puzzling thing was the bullet drop. The rifle is balls-on at 100 yds. The book says drop for a 40 gr bullet doing 3100 should be 3.6" at 200 yds, my group was 4.8 low, not a big difference but still out 30% or so.
At 300 yds is where it realy gets strange. The book says drop should be 14.4, my test group was a full 24 " low, almost double the pulished amount.

The Varminator is a HP and the book bullet is a spire point (V-max). Wouldn't have thought that there would be that much difference between them, I can't find any charts on the Barnes bullets.
A good lesson to verify what is written.
 
For what its worth I ran your data through a ballistics program and the Barnes 40 gr with a .153 BC @3100 is predicted to drop 4.3" @ 100 yds and 18.3 @ 300. If your range is in metres then assuming a 100m zero then there would be 5.9" drop at 200m and 25" at 300m
 
"...book says..." Likely using factory ammo. Mind you, just the change in bullet will change the ballistics. Barnes bullets are animals with their own world too. Solid copper etc doesn't fly like a lead core bullet. That's why you have to use Barnes data for 'em.
"...through a ballistics program..." Far too many variables for any computer program to be close to accurate. Not many programmers shoot either. All of 'em would be blaming the rifle (aka the hardware) for anything that goes wrong too.
 
Different bc at work there. I use Isnipe and if I do that data entry right its within a click or 2 for elevation. Use the actual bc for your bullet not one that is close and make your own ballistic table. You can build a custom table on the g7 website of you dont have isnipe
 
fingers284 said:
I wanted to verify the info from my Hornady Ballistics book as well as see how my Axis would perform at longer ranges. My ammo was handloaded 40 gr Barnes Varminator at a chrono'd 3100 fps (4 rnds, highest 3123, lowest 3102. Day was sunny & 25 deg.
Click to expand...

You will always have to do your own ballistics table, always. You have a Chrony, so that's great. If you are doing windage also, get a Kestrel wind meter and make your own windage results measurements. "Longer than average" shooting, of which can be dependant on who you talk to (for me that's over 300m, or 100 yards for my friend), is an awesome hobby but also requires getting fairly intimate with your firearm and reloads. The best can usually set their scope clicks from memory based on a random distance and wind measurement.

When using one bullet manufacturer and another's loading book (or a generic) you will get varied results: I never reload a maximum load unless I am using the exact items listed in that manufacturer's book (Barnes book, Barnes tips and the powder/primers/cases listed) and check for pressure signs on every round. That "intimacy" I noted will tell you a lot.

There are a lot of ballistics calculators out there: don't trust them. Better to be "that anal guy" and know your reloads better than the back of your own hand, then want to take that 300/400/500+meter shot and not only miss, but never understand why you missed (which is the worst thing, in my opinion). The calculators are a great start and will tell you the basics, but your own eye observations and trigger time is better, and more satisfying.

Once you get your table made, you should have also got lots of trigger practice, and that combination will make you happier with your skills. :cool:
 
another good program for this scenario is horus. if you shoot it at three hundred yards and your drop is 24" you can enter that data into the program and it will alter your drop table to what the bullet is actually doing and will give you very accurate table for the rest of the distances you want.
 
I have bad news, your barrel must be bent downward or the air is thicker in Canada. :evil:





I would buy the green tipped Zmax bullets in case Zombies start migrating north, just do me a small favor and let the Zombies bite sunray "first" before you start shooting any Zombies.



Below is your 100 yard practice target. ;)

 
This is the truth......

At castbullets there is someone I know handing out information in postings.

The bad part is this person doesn't cast bullets and he doesn't even have a reloading press, he simply reads other peoples posting and passes this information off as his own.

I really feel sorry for new reloaders having to wade through so much crap, myth, and rumors to get to the correct information.

Now be careful out there, I read the book "World War Z" and keep looking around for weird people wanting to bite me. Can you imagine a world with a sunray zombie in it and him talking you to death before biting you :rolleyes:
 
bigedp51 said:
I have bad news, your barrel must be bent downward or the air is thicker in Canada. :evil:





I would buy the green tipped Zmax bullets in case Zombies start migrating north, just do me a small favor and let the Zombies bite sunray "first" before you start shooting any Zombies.



Below is your 100 yard practice target. ;)

Click to expand...

Thank you for the charts. If the Barnes is supposed to be basically equal to the V-Max on a computerized ballistic chart, then my test proves the computerized charts are useless past 200yds.
 
I hate to say it but most shooters are out to lunch when calculating ballistics due to their inability or unwillingness to plug in environmental conditions.

I shoot at a shooting range that happens to be 3 miles away from a drag strip I frequent.
When I'm at the drag strip I look for 4 things altitude, ambient temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure.

Those 4 things are used to calculate density altitude or DA.

Environmentals also play a major part in ballistics so using actual environmental data both when sighting in and shooting are important.
 
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