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Opinions on the Applied Ballistics app?
- Thread starter Slowbalt
- Start date
Game changing, as is 4DOF provided you are using the radar derived models each has in their libraries.
User interface is complete garbage.
Once you get your mind wrapped around the fact that it's designed by an masochistic engineer it does work.
I bought it.
I still use Strelok. Interface is so much more user friendly.
They claim Ivan stole all their info. So I bought it to feel better about using their stolen info.
Once you get your mind wrapped around the fact that it's designed by an masochistic engineer it does work.
I bought it.
I still use Strelok. Interface is so much more user friendly.
They claim Ivan stole all their info. So I bought it to feel better about using their stolen info.
90% of high level shooters are using it.
Kestrel with AB and custom curves almost makes doping a rifle pointless. I have yet to use a cc that was not spot on to transgenic. It's an excellent solver and once you learn some advanced features like target card and sectors, you can spit out solutions crazy fast.
There is a reason everyone has an ab kestrel and it's the gold standard.
Kestrel with AB and custom curves almost makes doping a rifle pointless. I have yet to use a cc that was not spot on to transgenic. It's an excellent solver and once you learn some advanced features like target card and sectors, you can spit out solutions crazy fast.
There is a reason everyone has an ab kestrel and it's the gold standard.
Its excellent.
Interface is not special. Its just
PARAMETER: *INPUT*
I've bought it three times switching from apple to android and back.
It has saved me more than a few hours of frustration and $$$ in ammo in my usage, so well worth the cost IMO
Interface is not special. Its just
PARAMETER: *INPUT*
I've bought it three times switching from apple to android and back.
It has saved me more than a few hours of frustration and $$$ in ammo in my usage, so well worth the cost IMO
Very good solver and excellent with the custom drag models. I find the interface to be intuitive and easy to use.
However in the grand scheme of things you’re probably better off to get the Kestrel elite with all the CDMs and save yourself a lot of time and effort.
However in the grand scheme of things you’re probably better off to get the Kestrel elite with all the CDMs and save yourself a lot of time and effort.
Is there any way to get "credits" for the CDMs? I feel like I've bought them about 4 times now. Fury 5000 AB, Sig Kilo10K, Kestrel 5700 Elite, AB app now want's me to pay $10 again for each caliber....
That’s the rub…. I would make sure you are backing up all your data to the same email address in case it transfers across devices but I don’t think that’s the case.
I use it with my Kestrel 5700 Elite. Works great. Honestly if you put your values in properly I haven't had a ballistics software fail to get pretty accurate dope out to at least 600 if you're putting your values in properly. AB and 4DOF seem to be the closest once you're really stretching things out.
AB in a Kestrel yes.
The App that OP aasked about, no.
The UI is brutal.
It will produce accurate firing solutions but it's an absolute pain to use and is missing many features that others have. There are also a couple things it does that you have to be aware of, the one that comes to mind if you back out to far it will wipe out the enviros. There is a way to turn this off.
4DOF UI is great, I hate their zero angle idea but you don't have to use that. I did have some issues when trying to use metric units (meters), it would either crash or give wrong data.
I eventually broke and bought a Kestrel, my new outlook is don't fight the inevitable just buy the damn thing.
Kestrel works. Their app is hot garbage.
Not that it's hard to use, it's just not intuitive and also has some weird quirks.
Full transparency I have an IPhone, I think the android app is a bit better.
Play with the 4DoF App for like 5 minutes and you'll see how much friendlier it is to use.
Yea 4dof is made for non tech savvy people like iphones. It's a good solver but there is nothing wrong with AB. It's simple to use I don't know why yall are having issues with it.
4dof has a few custom curves ( or whatever they call it) that ab doesn't so I use it from time to time to convert over the g7.
4dof has a few custom curves ( or whatever they call it) that ab doesn't so I use it from time to time to convert over the g7.
Interesting that some find the UI hard to use. Perhaps it’s just a matter of how the steps flow in one person’s mind compared to another. I find the app very intuitive to use (iPhone) but I also find the Hornady very intuitive. Now on the other hand I never liked the UI for Strelok but many says it’s very intuitive to them.
It's clear who never used FFS or other shitty solvers on a palm pilot. Or a mil dot master. Complaining about modern solvers that are 90000% easier to use is hilarious.
The more you use it and get familiar the easier it gets, again it’s not hard just clunky. So is a kestrel tho, takes me a couple mins to remember where everything is after the off season.
I started on Strelok and liked it.
I’d say any newb can be flying with 4DoF in minutes.
Admittedly I never messed with that and I am glad. Probably would have just used hard dope
The trick is to use Gravity Ballistics first, dope your rifle the absolute easiest way possible. Then take the Pre-Trued Gravity Ballistics data, and put it in AB or the Kestrel.
1000x easier to line 600 up with the muzzle velocity, it’s +/- 25fps per .1 mil. Then go look at 1000.
If the 1000 is off you adjust the middle number of the BC up or down .0x0 and presto you are finished. Rock on.
But gravity ballistics is super easy. 300 yard dope in meters or yards, Mils or MOA X 1.75 is a center hit at 400. Need dope for 500 multiply 400 by 1.45 and bang center hit at 500, need 600 X 1.4 = center strike at 600.
No inputs to mess up.
1000x easier to line 600 up with the muzzle velocity, it’s +/- 25fps per .1 mil. Then go look at 1000.
If the 1000 is off you adjust the middle number of the BC up or down .0x0 and presto you are finished. Rock on.
But gravity ballistics is super easy. 300 yard dope in meters or yards, Mils or MOA X 1.75 is a center hit at 400. Need dope for 500 multiply 400 by 1.45 and bang center hit at 500, need 600 X 1.4 = center strike at 600.
No inputs to mess up.
I have Strelok Pro, AB, and 4DOF. The easiest to use is Strelok Pro. 4DOF has great features and you can have more than one profile set up. It also has group analysis, similar to ballistic-x. And if you are using Hornady ammunition or their loading recipes, this will be valuable. They have all of their research and field data for their own stuff. However, you do need to check your own MV. Or true the MV by working backwards, which Strelok can do. Say the box said 3,000 fps and you had to dial more or less clicks than the solution. You can input that and find the muzzle velocity it apparently had and use it. Or, use a chrono and change it, which is what we are supposed to do.
AB is okay to use but I was trying to work up another profile for 7 mm PRC in the 160 gr CX and they don't have that grain weight but Strelok Pro and Hornady do.
Strelok Pro will true the reticle for you so that can see what hash marks or mil dots you have are actually ranged at, if using them for holdovers.
Or use Frank's weaponized math.
Which one have I used most often? Strelok Pro, followed by 4DOF. But yes, I did spend the $30 to get AB. It is a good system, if a bit clunky to use.
AB is okay to use but I was trying to work up another profile for 7 mm PRC in the 160 gr CX and they don't have that grain weight but Strelok Pro and Hornady do.
Strelok Pro will true the reticle for you so that can see what hash marks or mil dots you have are actually ranged at, if using them for holdovers.
Or use Frank's weaponized math.
Which one have I used most often? Strelok Pro, followed by 4DOF. But yes, I did spend the $30 to get AB. It is a good system, if a bit clunky to use.
It's easier and cheaper to only shoot bullets that have custom curves than to try and get a good g7 the old school way.
We still wateline to verify around transonic but have yet to find a berger that was not dead on the cdm.
It's why most comp shooters run them. Incredibly consistent bc translates to very good and predictable flight path.
I am a finance/numbers guy and the weaponozed math gives me a headache. We are in a world of cheap and accurate solvers and chronos. We don't need to guess anymore. Throw the shit in a kestrel and you are getting solutions inside a tenth out to transonic range. We really are spoiled.
We still wateline to verify around transonic but have yet to find a berger that was not dead on the cdm.
It's why most comp shooters run them. Incredibly consistent bc translates to very good and predictable flight path.
I am a finance/numbers guy and the weaponozed math gives me a headache. We are in a world of cheap and accurate solvers and chronos. We don't need to guess anymore. Throw the shit in a kestrel and you are getting solutions inside a tenth out to transonic range. We really are spoiled.
PDM/ CDM is the way for sure. I’ve had the same experience. If it’s not bang on there is other bad inputs.
I agree with you on the weaponized math. If you didn’t have access to a phone or kestrel it’s an easy way to get some rough numbers but short of that it doesn’t have a place for me.
Oh, I remember printing off charts from an MSDos based solver running on win 98.
I swear applied ballistics just has to hide everything where it makes no sense, and I can never remember where to go or how it is laid out.
Strelok you select a rifle and ammo. You go into sub menus to alter them. The front end is all simple range, wind, dope.
Running both on Android. iOS is also painfully frustrating to me with nothing making any sense as to the function.
Shit, I'm still using FFS on a Nomad. I'm still digging it.
I do as Lord Kestrel commands or suffer the consequences
I don't believe you can connect the Kestrel to the AB app. You have to connect it to the Kestrel app...
Yeah, if you have a AB kestrel. When all the other apps allow you to connect a weatherflow and or any kestrel with link it’s an extremely poor design on the AB app developers part. However, it’s just a way for them to try and keep folks using their ecosystem only.
It would be great if you could purchase one upgrade for the CDMs and have it across all devices connected to the account. Probably not as great in the mind of the seller though…
Thanks for this thread. Does Applied Ballistics or Gravity Ballistics have a web interface in addition to the app? I'm willing to figure out the UI of AB, especially if I can input and tweak info on my desktop (via the web or otherwise) and then sync the info from the web to the device. I have Hornady 4DOF and can't figure out if there is a web interface. I have Shooter, and while it has a web interface, it is pretty weak and seems to have bugs. I'd probably pay the $5 or $30 just for the ability to work online rather than pecking everything into the phone, especially to print stuff, etc.
Wow, was just at my cousin’s range that’s in meters to 500 and I put 4DOF into meter input mode and it worked perfectly.
Was your problem with the app or Kestrel 4DOF?
Replying to one's own post - lame.
I pulled the trigger on the AB app, and 2 CDMs. I think of myself as fairly tech savvy, but admit that the UI wasn't intuitive for me. The following could be user error, but here are the issues I encountered (FWIW - especially if others can point out where I've gone wrong):
- The only manual I could find online was dated - version 2.1 (2018) vs. the current app (2.4.26 for my iPhone).
- I only figured out how to edit an entry by trial and error - swipe left to delete and "edit" appears. Not what I expected. Also, "Preferences" are not accessed as per the v. 2.1 manual - you have to choose the icon that appears like an exit function.
- I could not get the app to web sync at first. I eventually got it to work, but I'm not sure if that's because I switched to a WiFi without a VPN, because I also downloaded AB Connect, or because there was a ghost in the machine that was temporary. It also seems unusual to me that the info is tied to your Google or Apple account, as opposed to a user-defined login (email, etc.)
- I can't seem to find anyway to see or edit my info that was synched to the web. Maybe the sync is just to backup, but not to view or edit? Yes, the 2.1 manual says "Web Sync (Future Addition) Currently Under Development – Not Completed For Public Release at This Time. The Backup Portion is Up and Running, WEB Login still in BETA" but that was ~6 years ago. The manual also says you need to have installed AB Connect to purchase CDMs, but that's no longer accurate.
- Maybe my Kestrel (5500FW) won't ever work, but the v.2.1 manual seems to suggest (at least to me) that I could connect if I was using an Android.
My problem was on the App, I haven't used it in over a year now so maybe they fixed it.
Just can't wait for the update. Don't really use the phone app, but use AB on my watch, and kestrel. Hope to really see a big difference in the app once the update is released.
Does anyone recommend the desktop AB modeler over the mobile app? Or should I just go straight with the Kestrel 5700 Elite w/ AB and Link? Would like to have access to the full bullet CDM library and be able to build profiles that are saved somewhere. I heard the mobile app will lose your settings randomly?
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