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Ballistics... turning into an obsession

Water Monkey

Water Monkey

The man, the myth, the monkey
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So I've ventured my way into a budget mid range precision rifle:

1) Mossberg MVP 18.5" medium bull barrel fluted
2) Nikon 3-9x 40 P223 BDC 600 scope
3) Harris bipod swivel
4) OC Tactical comb raiser/stock pouch

Total spent is around $700 with points used on my credit card

Last weekend I was able to achieve sub MOA at 200 yards with the Hornady 55gr Vmax bullet. Trajectory out to 200, 100, and 50 yards has been verified and so far has been meeting BDC specs (I will verify 300 yards in a couple of weeks).

So then I created a ballistic table reference chart for bullet drop from the Nikon Spot On program. So far this program has predicted the drops accurately... it helps that I am using their scope so it mates well.

BUT... all of my conditions have been in very favorable conditions 0-5mph wind, 80*F, 50-60% humidity to verify 100 yard zeroes. This in turn was the same condition to hit 200 yard bullseye 3/5 times with the BDC.

Got me thinking... my luck with great weather is going to run out and I'm curious as to how the wind will effect my bullet trajectory... got me some reading up on how to judge wind, half values, full values, 3/4 values of adjustment, actual adjustments at varying distances with varying degrees of wind speeds....

So I just spent most of today knocking out a quick reference chart which I miniaturized and will be placing it on the back of my BDC reference guide on wind drift....

Now I can't wait to test out the matrix in some wind... ha!

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Really like the wind reference notes. I'd seen some of them, but thats the most descriptive ive seen. Wish I could save that pic to my phone. I've been loading lots of info into Strelok ballistic calculator that I installed again.
 
Nice WM. I have not been bit by that bug but it interests me. Shooting is a lot like many hobbies...it's doesn't have to be rocket science unless you want it to be. Keep up the progress reports and I'm sure at some point the NE weather will come up with some wind or other difficulties.
 
Very good. I'm glad that people are learning how to use their scopes and adjustments.

Since most of my shooting is well below the distance where I would need anything other than a little KY Windage (and elevation of course), I did see a little round chart glued to the inside of a rear flip cap once that I thought was a very good idea to have there.
 
knowing how far it drifts is one thing, the hard part is judging the wind. I have done it for years in my line of work, tough to master. Takes years to get good for sharp minded folks. We run all over with Kestrals as well and its always a challenge to all of us to get as close to the Kestral as you can. Then throw in judging what the wind is actually doing between you and what your looking at, updrafts from heating air or cooling air descending on top of wind......throw in gusts.
Where I was on the last incident we had 30 mph gusts with sustained 18 and it was taking peoples hard hats right off their heads lol, thankfully the fire was mostly out.
Its a good reason to pursue a heavy bullet with good ballistic coefficient , don't forget to try something with Hornady 75 HPBT Match bullets, your barrel might like them......hell if I had a bolt in 223 I would keep going up in grains till I saw keyholes, you might be surprised
 
Very nice! Have you checked out the Wind Drift Values in Spot On ? You can change direction's and add temp,elev., humidity. Pretty cool.
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CarbineMike - I'm having fun with this so the math and spreadsheets is easy and fun for me... being an accountant and all. Heck my wife has a masters in Mathematics so I may get her to create bullet drop charts and wind drift graphs to keep her skills up lol.

Diesel - if you want a copy pm me your email address.

Oli - yes I'm sure judging wind is and will be very difficult. Since I've never done this I'm sure I'll be way off big time but I created a matrix to at least give me a starting point and to tweak as I go along. I have a brunton mini weather station I've had when I was doing my winter hammock hiking to see how cold I've been hanging and it has a wing gauge on it... how accurate well we will see.

John - I'm trying to see what this rifle can really do once dialed in. So far I'm impressed already! Plus it exposes me to another facet to firearms... the technical side.

As far a the 70+ grain ammo I am actively looking at local gun shops... but bear in mind where I live (NY). Ammo is spotty as to selection, gunsmiths don't exist (I'm more qualified than some of these guys), and ordering online has to go through FFL dealers now so I bear additional costs. I created a matrix for the Hornady 75gr Superformance BTHP ammo once I get my hands on it. BC is 55% higher than the Vmax 55gr so it was interesting to get the numbers sorted out. Just need to get my hands on some to play with.

Thanks Bobster.

Bman - wow totally overlooked that feature in the spot on program... hmmm upon quick glance seems to have a difference in MOA adjustments (12-15% variance)... I'm going to compare this to some other programs and see what the average MOA adjustments are to be sure my table is close. Thanks!..... update..... I dropped in some info on the Hornady ballistic's calculator and it seems the spot on program is low balling the MOA adjustments for wind drift. The web based program I used is almost exact with Hornady's and only has a 5% variance (acceptable) as the wind increases. I'm sticking with my calcs for now.
 
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I have only used the wind app at the range one time, a measured 23 MPH sustained cold ass wind. The program seemed to work very well. Hunting I always try to keep the wind in my face, especailly coyote hunting with light bullets. You should see what a little wind does to my .204 Ruger bullets.
 
bman940 said:
I have only used the wind app at the range one time, a measured 23 MPH sustained cold ass wind. The program seemed to work very well. Hunting I always try to keep the wind in my face, especailly coyote hunting with light bullets. You should see what a little wind does to my .204 Ruger bullets.
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What distance were you shooting?

Seems my calcs and Spot On's calc are within reason out to 250-300 yards but that 12% variance becomes noticeable the higher the wind and the longer the distance.
 
This is rough;y what we were looking at condition's wise. We were shooting at 500 yards. There were four 12 inch plates in a line. We would aim at the right plate and the bullet would curve to get a hit on the far left plate 7 feet away. We didn't dial in an adjustment for the wind since it was sustained all day. Started in in S. Ok at 66 deg. and a hour later we were in the 30's with a wicked N. wind.
This is what the shooting dope would have looked like from Spot On that day.

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Thanks that helps... I did some more research and it seems the program I was using didn't allow for elevation and when I compared to Hornady I forgot to put elevation. It's much closer to the SPOT ON program.... I'll adjust. Thanks!!!
 
the Strelok ballistics app also has wind compensation. and the free version has the P-223 reticle. very similar to the features of the Nikon Spot-On but with the ability to enter various rifles, and various loads. not trying to push a product here or anything. just a heads up to whats available.
 
Water Monkey said:
Oli - yes I'm sure judging wind is and will be very difficult. Since I've never done this I'm sure I'll be way off big time but I created a matrix to at least give me a starting point and to tweak as I go along. I have a brunton mini weather station I've had when I was doing my winter hammock hiking to see how cold I've been hanging and it has a wing gauge on it... how accurate well we will see.
.
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I think the biggest tip I can give is not over thinking it....it hurts me but I tend to overthink most things......ocd

Wind is the enemy




Water Monkey said:
being an accountant and all.
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Wow, All this time I thought your were a cage fighter


oh and if you can get your hands on a spotting scope you or a buddy can judge the mirage a lot easier, sometimes when your lucky you can see the trail the bullet leaves behind, I use a 60x and sometimes the mirage is so bad its hard to see through it , but only on a good hot day
 
yeah, getting kicked in the face is hard on the neck. Did you wrestle in school ?
 
dieselmudder said:
the Strelok ballistics app also has wind compensation. and the free version has the P-223 reticle. very similar to the features of the Nikon Spot-On but with the ability to enter various rifles, and various loads. not trying to push a product here or anything. just a heads up to whats available.
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I've used Strelok as well. As long as you enter the info correctly it seems pretty good. At most of the yardages I shoot, wind is not that big of a factor for me. I don't have a good place to stretch it out.
 
Water Monkey said:
Yes 112 lbs. damn hard weight class.
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yeah....My partner at work is a two time state champ at 57 or 67 cant remember but he one is the toughest bastards I ever met, started it in grade school and he coaches now in winter....I love it when one of the young guys at work feel like a friendly grapple , he has a way of making people look real bad , ears all closed off chewed up lol.....people like that are why other people invented guns
 
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