Well, I fat fingered something and lost the whole update. *Facepalm* Here we go again…
We will stay away from the election results. Though we do not expect that the ammo/component/firearm shortage will ease anytime soon. So that’s going to be fun for us.
Moving to Texas has been a change of scenery for myself. Utah is in the midst of a snow storm, and I can’t step outside without breaking a sweat. The humidity is a bit much for me in November. It scares me to think this is mild compared to what it can be. I’ll get used to it. We are working on settling in, part of that is going to be checking the sites on my rifle.
Changes in atmospheric conditions can have dramatic effects on downrange ballistics. Moving from an average elevation of 5500 feet to 350 feet is about as dramatic of a change as you can get. Air is more dense down here, which means drag is going to be higher. The bullet is going to lose more velocity at a given range, and the point of impact will be lower as a result. The effect will be more noticeable at range. Which is why I am a protenant of a 100 yard zero, but checking the rifle at range you actually expect to shoot at. The table below reinforces that point.
I know people who have spent serious $$$ on a limited hunt. They lived in Utah and planned on hunting somewhere close to sea level. They spent a ton of time working up a load, developing and checking a ballistics table, and then when they get their they check their rifle’s zero on a hundred yard target. Well, it should surprise no one that they felt their rifle was just fine.
As long as they were taking game at or under 400 yards, they are probably going to be ok. The difference is about an inch. At this distance, if you are shooting 1 MOA, which is the absolute best most experience shooters can hope to do in the field, you are noticing a 1 inch shift down in your point of aim/point of impact. given group sizes are going to be around 4in, this may not be immediately noticeable.
However this changes as you begin to past 500 yards, where this point of impact shift becomes 2 inches. At 600 yards it’s 4 inches, at 7 yards its 6 inches, and by the time you hit 8 yards it is more then 1 MOA difference (Mind you these are results from my 338LM, other calibers such as 45/70 could be more dramatic). It’s arguable that you shouldn’t be taking game past 500 yards anyways, but people do it, and if you are planning on it, you should know the variables which will affect shot placement.
Shooting competition is where these differences are really going to be noticeable. You cannot check the rifle at 100 yards an have any confidence that things are on. You must check at the ranges you will be shooting at. Notably if you are someone who likes to run heavy for caliber bullet weights. High elevations are more forgiving of bullets that are riding the edge of the stability envelope. You might get by running a 90gr 223 cal bullet in a 1:7 twist at 6000 feet. However you drop down to 300 feet above sea level and the bullet will start to key hole.
Running heavy for caliber bullets is a trick some competition shooter use, as bullets have slight imbalances that can cause groups to open up a bit the faster you spin them. If you spin them just enough to stabilize but not a revolution more, you can sometimes get slightly better groups. It might be enough to eek out a win over the competition, or so proponents say. However it will bite you, if you’re shooting at a range that’s at a different elevation. Sometimes all it takes is shooting a match during a cold morning to upset these loads.
There are other variables that can affect things. A notable one is the companies published B.C values. We all rely on them to generate that initial bullet drop chart. However the company doesn’t typically shoot them in all atmospheric conditions. For example Barnes Bullets shoots must of their data at a range in Price, Utah. How does the B.C compare to that of a bullet shot in Backwoods, Georgia? These are all variables that can only be taken into account by shooting and developing a table in the actual environment you intend to shoot in.
Lucky for me, I really only have one precision rifle I shoot. I’ll check and adjust the tables on my Barret MRAD, but the rest of my rifles have either iron sights or they are something I do not plan to shoot at distance with. The 30-06 I have, has only a 10x scope on it, and I would find it hard taking shots at more then 400 yards, so I’m not terribly worried about it. Perhaps when I have a developed pet load for the rifle I’ll develop a drop table for it.
In other news I have been busy with putting the drone together. We started this project about a year ago but ended up shelving it. Well now that I’m putting together a business that centers around drone surveying, it’s a good time to finish it. Kind of a key component of the whole operation.
Professional drones cost quite a bit of dough, and many of them use the same off the shelf components that I’ve ordered. For this reason I’m building my own. It will reduce maintenance costs, and operations costs as long as I am successful. Given this technology is mostly DYI, and there is plenty of information out there, I find it hard to believe I’m going to have substantial issues getting it in the air.
I plan on working on this over the next few weeks hopefully having a successful test flight sometimes next week and able to carry out surveys Thanksgiving weekend. Accompanying this has been the development of a website for the business showcasing some of the work I’ve done for other companies. If I can make enough money to support my family, I’ll call it a success. We will see.
Its all related to ballistics, even if it is a different field. Hopefully some people will enjoy seeing this project finished and flying, even if its a bit off the normal topic of the website.
As some have notices there is a concerted effort to move people from Facebook to Parlor. I have not decided whether or not I will make the change. There have been similar efforts in the not so distant past. They seem to be somewhat limited to the firearm’s community and has always been in response to Facebook’s crack downs on content. This time feels a bit different, there seems to be a larger movement, though it seems to be limited to those of a more conservative mindset. These campaigns do not typically work, as the reach on alternate platforms never comes close to what the reach on Facebook is. From a business aspect, if the people aren’t there, it doesn’t make sense to invest in it.
I am considering doing doing both a Parlor page and a Facebook page, I’ll provide and update next week on what we come up with. For now you can check us out on Facebook, Instagram or you can send us a email at jay@theballisticassistant.com. As always I welcome the feedback. If you have a new load to add to the database, you can do it here.
Stay Safe Out There!
The Ballistic Assistant