Best ballistics program
- Thread starter SOTA
- Start date
If you want the best you have to pay for it, if you want a good substitute using your iphone most of them are pretty good.
Shooter, Bulletflight, Ballistics FTE, are all fine choices for the iPhone.
Shooter, Bulletflight, Ballistics FTE, are all fine choices for the iPhone.
For a PDA, Field Firing Solutions has a ton of features. For iOS, Ballistic is hard to beat as it also has a ton of features.
I have shooter on my droid and friend has it on his iphone. I also have EXBAL on tough pda. All work fine. I also use sierra and JBM at home which also does great. I can say shooter is worth the money. Good luck
Agreed if using PDA. I was saying shooter since phone was the carrier. FFS is a great tool if you can swing it.
I have Strelock standard and Shooter on my Android and prefer the simplicity of Strelok but Shooter has a good bullet library and lots of other features.
Lowlight it seems you tried them all. Which of the ones you mention do you like the most?
I don't mind paying for them.
That price includes the Trimble PDA which can be had for a lesser price on eBay. The software alone is $400.
This one seems to be the one... I love JBM calculator and this is from them...
If I download this app on my iphone can I also do it on the ipad or do I have to pay double?
Ballistic I think does the best job with the fewest hassles.Get the $10 version.
The App should appear on all IOS systems you have, phone, pad and computer(Itunes).
The App should appear on all IOS systems you have, phone, pad and computer(Itunes).
+ Whatever on Ballistic!! I do like the reticle chooser in strelok--it's pretty cool for reticles like the Nikon Predator, Leupold Varmint, etc. Customizes them to your loads.
Not to answer for Lowlight, but the two that are considered the best in the market are Loadbase and Field Firing Solutions. They are also very expensive. A lot of people are freaking out about the $30 price tag for Applied Ballistics on the Android. FFS is about $400. Patagonia is about $150. Both have very specific parameters for each projectile.
The main difference between the different solvers happens around the transonic region (about 20% above the speed of sound). A good solver will be able to predict well what happens in this region. Most solvers are within a tenth of a mil or so within each other until that point. The more expensive modelers each cope with that region in a different way, but each one will give a far better solution than the less expensive modelers in this region. I might be wrong, but I think that you really need for the writers of the software to have covered the projectile in question, so when new projectiles come out, you might not be able to use those solvers to full effect.
BTW... you need to run a Windows platform for both of the expensive solvers, so unless you have a Windows-based mobile phone, you will not be able to have the ballistics app and your software on the same device. So... unless you are maxing out your range a lot of the time (and be truthful to yourself), money aside, it might be more convenient to run an Android or iOS based app.
Hands down, the best ballistics software for accurate ELR predictions, features, GPS and Kestrel support is ColdBore 1.0 from Patagonia.
An important feature is its ability to sync data with the PC version.
I've had Bulletflight Military for a few years but only got Ballistic Advanced Edition a few months ago. I find Bulletflight M to have a more intuitive user interface, but Ballistic AE does some things that Bulletflight doesn't, like you can give it how many fps your estimated velocity changes with each degree of temperature change to compensate for temp sensitivity of your powder, Bulletflight doesn't have this feature. Since I've been using Bulletflight for far longer, I found that I needed to tweak to BC inputs to get an exact match to my real world data, but this is pretty easy to do. In the old SH online training videos, Lowlight did a review of apps and said the same thing about needing to tweak the input date in every app to get a match to real world data. Bulletflight has two trajectory modes, the first is you give it your exact range, wind, etc. and it gives a predicted solution. Te second mode is a range chart where it displays a chart in the yardage or meter increments that you choose. Ballistic AE only gives you a range chart. Right now I haven't decided which one I like better because I haven't had enough time to play with Ballistic AE.
IMHO i wouldn't recommend it unless you realise from the outset that when they release a new version you have to pay full price for an upgrade. I think their concept of customer support is simply....dated.
I run FFS/Nomad 900 and my Kestrel 4500NV and have excellent results. FFS is a great program IMO but as with ANY program like Lowlight states GIGO. I find it very user friendly and Blaine provides great support.
Sully
Sully
Not in my experience since I never paid for any update and got many. And what you say, is the usual arrangement in the software industry, I know because we pay to stay dated or not with Microsoft's products that we use a lot. It's called SA. Eternal free support or new prodcuts for free...that's not gonna happening.
I have used Strelock, Shooter and just started using Applied Ballistics about 3 weeks ago. Applied Ballistics has quite a few features that shooter does not have.
I am really happy with AB.
Brian Litz has provided a large custom library of bullets that you can purchase. There is a bullet library included with the program. The custom bullet library includes ballistics of bullets tested at long range for actual bullet conditions and velocity. I believe Brian conducted all these tests.
AB will also import data from a Kestrel w/blue tooth.
I do not believe you will be disappointed with Applied Ballistics. It is worth the $30.
I am really happy with AB.
Brian Litz has provided a large custom library of bullets that you can purchase. There is a bullet library included with the program. The custom bullet library includes ballistics of bullets tested at long range for actual bullet conditions and velocity. I believe Brian conducted all these tests.
AB will also import data from a Kestrel w/blue tooth.
I do not believe you will be disappointed with Applied Ballistics. It is worth the $30.
For my PDA I use Field Firing Solutions on Trimble Nomad and it is absolutely Awesome! I also have SHooter on my Android phone & it works great too! I just do not like using my phone in matches because of battery life & its lack of destruction.
I have used Strelok and Bulletflight. My biggest complaint with Bulletflight is that you can not copy a profile. For instance, if I have a complete profile made, and I want to make another one with all the same details except 50fps less velocity, for instance, you need to start a brand new one all over again. That's a PITA.
Do any of the calculators compensate for cant? For instance, can any solve for a shot through a barricade which requires a 45* rifle cant?
Scott
Do any of the calculators compensate for cant? For instance, can any solve for a shot through a barricade which requires a 45* rifle cant?
Scott
Not in my experience since I never paid for any update and got many. And what you say, is the usual arrangement in the software industry, I know because we pay to stay dated or not with Microsoft's products that we use a lot. It's called SA. Eternal free support or new prodcuts for free...that's not gonna happening.
I stopped using Patagonia when my pda broke. When I wanted to install the program on a new device Patagonia Ballistics refused to let me. I was told I would have to purchase the programs again. I didn't want or need eternal free support or free products. I just wanted to use the product I paid for.
Yes, ColdBore from Patagonia compensates for Canting. Indeed it features two modes, POI and Fire Solution. Use the FS mode if you need the final integrated sight adjustment.
Sota,
For ten bucks just get "shooter" ... or try it out.. A friend told me about it.. Once it's set up- it has been dead nuts for me.. impressed for 10 bucks
For ten bucks just get "shooter" ... or try it out.. A friend told me about it.. Once it's set up- it has been dead nuts for me.. impressed for 10 bucks
I've used shooter, Ballistics AE & Coldbore. For the price shooter would be my choice because of velocity calibration. Of course if price isn't a factor Colbore is better but most don't need those options. But any of the 3 are good.
Can shooter work in mil/mil? Just looking at screen shots, can't quite see, but it may just be something to set up/program???
Another vote for Shooter here. Have messed with a few others and Shooter is the most user friendly for the feature set you get IMHO.
Mike
Mike
Shooter all day long. I have had it on both the iPhone and the Android and they both run flawlessly and give the correct dope every single time. Best $10 you can spend.
I've now had 6 months to use Bulletflight, Shooter and Ballistic AE. I am now using Shooter exclusively. Shooter is more accurate in its ballistic predictions by a small margin. I really like the user interface which is not quite as intuitive than Bulletflight, but easier to use than Ballistic AE. Using my Magnetospeed chrono I have gotten velocity data from 40 to 85 degrees and input the measured velocity change per degree of temp change. I shot a match two weeks ago and the predicted elevation corrections were dead nuts on from 100 to the max distance we shot that day, 885 yds. Although I still have Bulletflight and Ballistic AE, I find no desire to use them now that I have Shooter.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
I use Ballistic AE. Last month at the local LR match (Pala Indian Reservation), I plugged in my data (METOC, MV, and Litz's G7 BC for teh 175 SMK) and on a cold bore shot at 625 I missed under the target. I added .2 mils up and punched the target (couldn't tell where on the target because the target was all tore up and needed fresh paint). Anyways, I used the MV corrector part of Ballistic AE and it dropped my MV from 2686 to 2639. From there on out for the rest of the day, 1st round hits at all ranges from 100-900 yards.
Since it has never failed me and has other useful tools, Ballistic AE is where it is at for me.
Shooter was pretty money as well, but ended up liking BAE the best.
Although, if I had a windows mobile device I would be using LoadBase 3.0 for sure.
Since it has never failed me and has other useful tools, Ballistic AE is where it is at for me.
Shooter was pretty money as well, but ended up liking BAE the best.
Although, if I had a windows mobile device I would be using LoadBase 3.0 for sure.
I have too many programs but I've found very little difference ( 0.25 MOA ) out to 1000 - 1200 yards , it's only then the difference seems to open up . Out of all the programs I find bullet flight the most user friendly and load base the least . I wish the Bal AE was quicker to load as again it's very consistent .
Update on an old thread... I have been using Shooter for a couple years, as of this second it does NOT work with iOS 8. Tried it on my iphone 6 as well as my ipad and both crash as soon as you try to add any bullets to the library. Im sure normal functions are fine, but im gonna have to try a couple others and hope they have more frequent updates than 2012 as Shooters website says.
Add/edit whatever you need to do here Shooter - Manage Profiles - Login until the update is out. Then sync to your phone.
Ballistic AE is updated CONSTATLY. I have never seen any app updated as much as this one. For that reason alone, I'd choose it if I didn't have the KestrelAB.
I don't think this question was fully addressed. Most, if not all solvers will take elevation/depression into account. Cant is another story. Solvers allow manual input for elevation/depression. I use FFS/Nomad 900/Vectronix PLRF 10C/Kestrel 4500. The 10C sends the elevation/depression information to FFS automatically. It's truly a "lase and blaze" setup, as we used to say back in the days of shooting 120mm projos on the M1A1. Now that had the world's best solver. It even took ammo temp, cant, and gun barrel droop from heat into account.
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