Applied Ballistics v Field Firing Solutions

[OzTRG]

Hi, simple question but expecting its not an easy answer - I shoot 300wm and 260 Rem out to 1100m for hunting and competition. I currently use an apple iphone 5 with AB and am getting good results. I have a windows mobile device (Motorola mc75a) capable of running FFS. Will I see $395 worth of advantage in purchasing FFS over updating the IOS version of AB with custom drag curves becoming available this summer?

thanks in advance for your responses

 

[ZiaHunter]

Based on the distances you are shooting and the fact that AB is providing good solutions would probably stay with it. Not a fan of phones for running ballistic software for a number of reasons but that is just a personal preference. Use both FFS and a Kestrel 4500AB and both have a place in my kit. FFS is my goto solver and is the one I use the most with the exception of hunting when I bring the 4500 due to its compact size. For ELR, FFS or Coldbore is the way to go in my IMHO.

 

[OzTRG]

Thanks heaps ZH,
i hadn't considered CB, which is cheaper than FFS. Was looking to move away from the phone and have a device dedicated to being a ballistics calculator. Might have to explore that.

 

[CoryT]

Sort of depends on whether the extra features in FFS have any value for you. If all you want is a direct solution for a known distance target, AB seems to be working finr for you.

 

[OzTRG]

Thanks guys, I am a bit of a nerd and curious about ffs and cb. I think I will stick with ab on the iPhone and see if the custom drag curves are any improvement and out of interest will download cb on the Motorola pda.

 

[cruze5]

i had no idea FFS was still used... i bought it a long time ago when it was available as a windows pc installer (vista) i think was the latest. right after i bought it they discontinued that version so i can't use it on any new versions of windows... so i am pretty upset about that.

ive moved on to much better solutions. shooter app. ballistic AE, Trasol. in the order of my use

 

[OzTRG]

Hey Cruze do you mind me asking why you say those apps are better than ffs?

 

[Clearlight]

There's often an expensive , and less expensive way to get things
done . FFS on a Trimble is very much the expensive way . If someone
else is paying , I'm fine with whatever , but on my dime AB works great .

At the distances you mentioned I'd see no need to upgrade , other than
running CDC's when availiable .

 

[Lowlight]

What people like is FFS uses a chip and ColdBore is installed and has to be registered to work

ColdBore is definitely the most robust of them all, and combined with a PDA and Desktop you have a very good solution to record, analyze and provide solutions with.

But if you have to re-install you have to go through the registration process all over again with CB 1.0 With FFS you just stick the chip in ..

 

[OzTRG]

Thanks lowlight and diver,

is there much much difference in the data produced by ffs and applied ballistics custom drag curves?

 

[Lowlight]

I agree,

Past normal distances, like beyond 1250, 1500, CD, FFS and then AB...

It's easier to tune and apply vs AB, plus I have found if you travel to a new location, that has a big enough swing you have to start over with AB. In several cases with AB we had to make separate tracks, a short range track long range track and then extra long range track to line it up. Getting it to work from 100 to 2000 is much more involved and doesn't always hold when the conditions change.

For the Money you can't beat Coldbore, but getting something like a smaller Trimble Juno and putting the FFS chip in is easy, and you can run CB 1.0 on it for an extra $150 or whatever it costs today. That CB program will link to a desktop via the MS One Drive, which is great cause you can keep tracks in the cloud and access them remotely.

 

[OzTRG]

Awesome thanks.

 

[OzTRG]

I really like the idea of trying out CB. I have a Motorola mc75a running windows 6.5. I will need to get a data transfer cable and work out how to transfer the program from a laptop running windows 10. Any tips on how to do that would be appreciated appreciated