Understanding your Ballistics Calculator Atmospherics

[Lowlight]

Understanding what your Ballistic Program is doing.

We all have our favorite ballistic program we prefer to run.  Whether it’s on our phone, watch, Kestrel or other dedicated device, the program is with us every time we are shooting.  Each range trip we get the device out, update the environment, input our target distance, dial our scope, shoot the target and if done correctly, we hit the target. We hit targets at incredible distances in different weather conditions or physical locations because our ballistic program tells us what to do.  Have you ever wondered what that magic little program in the box is actually doing? Most shooters, especially new shooters, read the shooting solution from the ballistic program and blindly use it yet never truly understanding what changes that data and when the inputs really matter.



Before we begin



First, we must...

Continue reading...

 

[Baron23]

Continue reading...

Than you, Frank. Good read.

I’m pretty new at this and have been using online calculators like Hornday 4DOF.

Where do you get your density altitude figures from? Enter absolute pressure and temp and calc gives you DA or??

Back when I was in USAF (we were still flying biplanes) we used circular slide rules or just paper charts and entered w pressure and temp. But it’s been so long now that I may well be delusional.

 

[ACard]

Thanks for the knowledge dump Frank, this is certainly s week spot in my abilities, oh and dude... the Crayon box tops it off

Semper Fi!

 

[pmclaine]

Ohhhhhh! Bed time reading.

Im going to light some candles, make a hot chamomile tea, and wear something comfortable to read this.

Turn off wind 1, don't put in latitude, shitcan spindrift it's all so sadistic and misunderstood by me....

Im rubbing my nipples.

 

[Lowlight]

@Jack Master did the article I just posted it

This is his work, so credit where credit is due

 

[Lowlight]

They actually changed it, turning off Wind 1 does nothing anymore they are sync'd

 

[pmclaine]

They actually changed it, turning off Wind 1 does nothing anymore they are sync'd

Sweet.

Haven't even read Mr Masters article and I am already learning.

Are Mr Masters parents aware........never mind.

 

[isofahunter]

Ohhhhhh! Bed time reading.

Im going to light some candles, make a hot chamomile tea, and wear something comfortable to read this.

Turn off wind 1, don't put in latitude, shitcan spindrift it's all so sadistic and misunderstood by me....

Im rubbing my nipples.

You don't get out much do you? Probably best for the rest of us.

 

[Jack Master]

Than you, Frank. Good read.

I’m pretty new at this and have been using online calculators like Hornday 4DOF.

Where do you get your density altitude figures from? Enter absolute pressure and temp and calc gives you DA or??

Back when I was in USAF (we were still flying biplanes) we used circular slide rules or just paper charts and entered w pressure and temp. But it’s been so long now that I may well be delusional.

I don't have a fancy kestrel so When I can, this is the website I use to calculate DA.
https://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_hp.htm

otherwise I calculate DA with a chart.

 

[Baron23]

I don't have a fancy kestrel so When I can, this is the website I use to calculate DA.
https://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_hp.htm

otherwise I calculate DA with a chart.
View attachment 7426435

Thanks! And yeah, that figure to the left is the kind of stuff I vaguely remember from aviation.

I really used to be a whiz at this stuff but at 68 I’m just grateful to take a whiz! Haha

Thanks again, Jack.

 

[pmclaine]

Good read.

My after consumption summary is that in a typical shooting session things will likely not change so much during the day that you need worry about confirming data for each shot or stage.

As a new Kestrel owner what Im finding useful is I now have real weather data not just "Feels like 65".

Im also finding I likely overestimated wind, If i felt moving air and saw the flag moving Id assume "Probably 8 mph or 10" but Im seeing now its 2-3 mph.

I kind of discount wind at my shooting position a bit.

My local range it seems to never be lateral to me its either at my back or in my face so little effect. At other places I frequent it will be a bowling alley with an opening to a lake on one side or the other, perhaps some other wind effecting feature and what I get at the shoot position matters but what I see down range kind of makes it matter less so and I have to still account for shit my tools cant help me with.

I have to get mine better trued up but if I do so, me being a plinker, I might be shooting 175s one day, maybe Ill come across a Deal on 168s later - will the device store truing when using varying ammo in the same rifle? Do I want to go through that?

Ive only had limited chance to play with these tools - an upgraded Kestrel Sportsman paired with a Bushnell Conx. My ranging ability and weather data have been enhanced greatly but Im still hitting targets with my guns just as I did before.

Still finding my data book is my most important aid and really this tools exist to improve what gets recorded in there.

You big sky country, prairie shooters, likely to have a more "consistent" wind might put more emphasis on your at shooter wind data. That wind at shooter is probably going to have a constant and consistent effect on flight as opposed to my typical bullet flight of "Wind from behind, oh oh lake - wind from the right, hey a hill that swirls the wind from right to left, power lines - wind from the right again"

 

[jaybic]

anyone know where one might find blank charts like this to fill out for their own use?

 

[Jack Master]

anyone know where one might find blank charts like this to fill out for their own use?

Try these. They are the same as the ones in the article. PDF attached to download and print.

 

[SoundChase]

Thank you so much for the pdf’s.

 

[Originalist Trigger]

Good read.

My after consumption summary is that in a typical shooting session things will likely not change so much during the day that you need worry about confirming data for each shot or stage.

As a new Kestrel owner what Im finding useful is I now have real weather data not just "Feels like 65".

Im also finding I likely overestimated wind, If i felt moving air and saw the flag moving Id assume "Probably 8 mph or 10" but Im seeing now its 2-3 mph.

I kind of discount wind at my shooting position a bit.

My local range it seems to never be lateral to me its either at my back or in my face so little effect. At other places I frequent it will be a bowling alley with an opening to a lake on one side or the other, perhaps some other wind effecting feature and what I get at the shoot position matters but what I see down range kind of makes it matter less so and I have to still account for shit my tools cant help me with.

I have to get mine better trued up but if I do so, me being a plinker, I might be shooting 175s one day, maybe Ill come across a Deal on 168s later - will the device store truing when using varying ammo in the same rifle? Do I want to go through that?

Ive only had limited chance to play with these tools - an upgraded Kestrel Sportsman paired with a Bushnell Conx. My ranging ability and weather data have been enhanced greatly but Im still hitting targets with my guns just as I did before.

Still finding my data book is my most important aid and really this tools exist to improve what gets recorded in there.

You big sky country, prairie shooters, likely to have a more "consistent" wind might put more emphasis on your at shooter wind data. That wind at shooter is probably going to have a constant and consistent effect on flight as opposed to my typical bullet flight of "Wind from behind, oh oh lake - wind from the right, hey a hill that swirls the wind from right to left, power lines - wind from the right again"

Relative to the question about a device "storing truing" when using varying ammunition in the same rifle, every rifle/ammunition combination is different, even different lots of the same ammunition can have differences that are significant enough to throw the "truing" off, so for the best results with ballistics calculations (especially at longer distances beyond 1000 yards), it's absolutely essential to have as much consistency and precision in both your rifle (barrel cleanliness, barrel temperature, contact points, contact pressure, and even shooting surface from a jump angle perspective) as well as your ammunition (bullet type, grains, muzzle velocity, seating depth, powder lot, primers, brass, etc...). Variances in your rifle or ammunition will throw your DOPE off, and significant variances such as different ammunition can shift your POI by several feet at longer distances.

 

[Baron23]

Try these. They are the same as the ones in the article. PDF attached to download and print.

View attachment 7429051

Hi Ted - wouldn't happen to have an editable version of those comparison pdfs, would you????

 

[Jack Master]

Hi Ted - wouldn't happen to have an editable version of those comparison pdfs, would you????

No. Sorry. I figured most people would print it and write it out.

 

[6.5SH]

Hi Ted - wouldn't happen to have an editable version of those comparison pdfs, would you????

Simply print that JPG to a PDF file, then you can use Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to fill it out.

EDIT:
Will just attach a converted one.

Edit 2: and missed Jack already had, just use Reader DC and you can fill them out on your computer.

 

[Baron23]

Simply print that JPG to a PDF file, then you can use Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to fill it out.

EDIT:
Will just attach a converted one.

Edit 2: and missed Jack already had, just use Reader DC and you can fill them out on your computer.

Thanks...got it going now.

The files I downloaded from Jack's post were indeed a pdf but I had a bit of trouble figuring out how to edit. Adobe kept trying to sell me full Acrobat.

But I have found that if I hit the "Fill & Sign" button on the left, it indeed let's me add text.

Thanks for the reply.