Question about bullet drop

[gdmoody]

While I was at the pistol range this morning another man came in and went to the rifle range. When I got through and and was ready to leave, I wandered over to the rifle range just to see what he was shooting.

He told me that he was getting ready for a 1000 yard match this coming weekend. He was shooting a Winchester bolt action .308 and told me that he was attempting to get the bullet to hit 40 1/2 high at 100 yards. He had two targets on a piece of cardboard and was aiming at the bottom one and said that his bullets should be hitting the top one (which I assumed was 40 1/2 inches higher than the bottom one).

I have never shot 1000 yards before and was wondering if this makes sense to anyone. Does the bullet drop that much at 1000 yards??

[chemfantry]

Actually, it drops more. Roughly, and depending on ammo, that would put him zeroed at 500 yards.

[chemfantry]

this should give you an idea........
http://www.rifleshootermag.com/balli...inchester.html

[cycloneman]

Originally Posted by chemfantry

Actually, it drops more. Roughly, and depending on ammo, that would put him zeroed at 500 yards.

roger that.

100 YRDS +1.4”
200 YRDS 0”
250 YRDS -3”
300 YRDS -6.3”
350 YRDS -12.3”
400 YRDS -18.4”
450 YRDS -27.8”
500 YRDS -37.3”
600 -64.2
650 -82.2
700 -100.5

this is with 165 gr sst hornady at 3069 fps

[gdmoody]

Thanks chemfantry, very interesting information. I put that website in my favorites just in case I decide to shoot some longer distances!!

I don't understand him specifically saying 40 1/2 inches, though these charts are even more than that at 500 yards!

[ysacres]

Drop: The effect of gravity on the projectile. The distance between the line of departure and the trajectory at a given distance.
Nosler Reloading guide # 4
.308 165 gr partition
Range 600 yds
Velocity 2208 (fps)
Energy 1786 (ft lbs)
zero @ 100 yds -51.8
zero @ 200 yds -46.9
zero @ 300yds -38.0
zero @ 400 yds -27.0
zero @ 500 yds -14.5

I duno

[chemfantry]

gd, it depends on the type of bullet, bullet weight, and velocity at muzzle. If you look at cyclone's numbers they are similar as well. He could have been shooting a "pet load". The numbers on that chart are not law. They just apply to those particular bullets at those particulat muzzle velocities.

[cycloneman]

Originally Posted by chemfantry

gd, it depends on the type of bullet, bullet weight, and velocity at muzzle. If you look at cyclone's numbers they are similar as well. He could have been shooting a "pet load". The numbers on that chart are not law. They just apply to those particular bullets at those particulat muzzle velocities.

Yes sir. You would be hard pressed to duplicate my bullet drop. This is with factory Light Magmun ammo that has not been avaliable in sst's in the last 8 years. Next time i buy a lot of light mag it will be with soft points (all that is avaliable now) that will not perform as well. But close.

[muddober]

Originally Posted by cycloneman

roger that.

100 YRDS +1.4”
200 YRDS 0”
250 YRDS -3”
300 YRDS -6.3”
350 YRDS -12.3”
400 YRDS -18.4”
450 YRDS -27.8”
500 YRDS -37.3”
600 -64.2
650 -82.2
700 -100.5

this is with 165 gr sst hornady at 3069 fps

I don't take issue with your chart with the exception that a 308 won't begin to drive a 165 grain bullet 3,000 feet per second. About the best a 308 will do with a 165 grain bullet is 2,700 fps, dropping 59" at 500 yards and will be going sub sonic at about a 1000 yards making it unstable and a very poor choice for 1000 yard matches.

[cycloneman]

Originally Posted by muddober

I don't take issue with your chart with the exception that a 308 won't begin to drive a 165 grain bullet 3,000 feet per second. About the best a 308 will do with a 165 grain bullet is 2,700 fps, dropping 59" at 500 yards and will be going sub sonic at about a 1000 yards making it unstable and a very poor choice for 1000 yard matches.

For 95% of the time i agree with you. But i didn't pull that 3069 fps out of my rump. like i said in an eariler post you would be hard pressed to duplicate this. A rifle with 20" of bbl will not do it, at least i dont think. I am not shooting 20" of bbl. And the ammo is not something that can be produced by handloading. That chart I posted is for a particular bullet in a particular rifle.

[308 at my gate]

I have shot 500 yards before with a 308. It was with a remington pss and I chronographed the rounds myself and loaded the bullets with sierra palma match. The bullet drop was not to far away from what cycloneman posted. I have a 6.5 X 20 leupold on it with 3/8 mil dots put in it from premier reticle. I looked the ballastics up in the back of the sierra reloading manual for the drop and held over on the correct mil dot. The very first shot at 500 yards I hit the steel ram and over it went.

[cycloneman]

Originally Posted by 308 at my gate

I have shot 500 yards before with a 308. It was with a remington pss and I chronographed the rounds myself and loaded the bullets with sierra palma match. The bullet drop was not to far away from what cycloneman posted. I have a 6.5 X 20 leupold on it with 3/8 mil dots put in it from premier reticle. I looked the ballastics up in the back of the sierra reloading manual for the drop and held over on the correct mil dot. The very first shot at 500 yards I hit the steel ram and over it went.

hay 308

if you dont mind and whenever you can could you give me your load. like i said when i am out of these rounds i have to go with something else. this is what i use for antelop and unless hornady decides to put these out again i am gonna have to develop something on my own. just to let everyone know it took me two years to get the right rifle, right rounds and right scope. i also have a mildot and do the same thing as you do.

[1shot1k]

Info posted so far is correct...manufacture /grain / muzzle vl ....jacket.....elevation/windage / mirage

if a consistent load was married to a particular rifle with expected results..would sure have to stay with it and successive ammo would have to be consistent.....

[308 at my gate]

Originally Posted by cycloneman

hay 308

if you dont mind and whenever you can could you give me your load. like i said when i am out of these rounds i have to go with something else. this is what i use for antelop and unless hornady decides to put these out again i am gonna have to develop something on my own. just to let everyone know it took me two years to get the right rifle, right rounds and right scope. i also have a mildot and do the same thing as you do.

I had to go back through my notes and what I was using was this.
Federal brass 100 rounds fired formed necked size only.
Federal 210M primers.
Sierra 155 gr Palma match bullets
Powder IMR 4064 47.6 gr.
Primer pocket de-burred.
I could not find my chronograph information for the velocity.
I remember having to pour the powder charge in two stages so that I could tamp down the powder to fit in the brass better. It is a charge that is pretty full.
One other thing my rifle is a 24 inch barrel.

[308 at my gate]

Originally Posted by cycloneman

roger that.

100 YRDS +1.4”
200 YRDS 0”
250 YRDS -3”
300 YRDS -6.3”
350 YRDS -12.3”
400 YRDS -18.4”
450 YRDS -27.8”
500 YRDS -37.3”
600 -64.2
650 -82.2
700 -100.5

this is with 165 gr sst hornady at 3069 fps

I remember reading an article when these first came out and if I remember right they were a special blend of powers with different burn rates that they produced to get those velocities with that bullet weight. That is why it is not reproduced by hand loading.

[cycloneman]

Originally Posted by 308 at my gate

I remember reading an article when these first came out and if I remember right they were a special blend of powers with different burn rates that they produced to get those velocities with that bullet weight. That is why it is not reproduced by hand loading.

thats correct. i wish i could reproduce it but i cant. I will tell you i took apart one of these rounds and the powder is jam ****ed in there. I talked to hornady and they said the powder is a special blend made for them exclusivly. The best i can get with standard loads is 2890 fps. My bbl is 26"
I also will tell you that the light mags are the cleanest burning i have ever seen. Hands down. After shooting a round the inside of the brass is clean like your ready to load it. I can put a patch in the barrel and i get nothing. Clean, clean, clean...

Hornady is making a light mag in a soft point 165gr but i am sure the ballistic coefficent is not going to be that of the SST's, which will equal a slight loss of downrange performance. Hornady is making a 150gr lt mag sst but i just dont know how that will perform in the field. The bullet takes on a sightly different shape i believe and i have allways stayed away form anything less than 165's for hunting.

[FJF0311]

As far as the .308 use as a 1000 yd cartridge, two point's.

1) What is the military 1000 yd sniper rd.?

2) What is the "Palma" cartridge?

[macgulley]

He was probably using Federal Gold Medal Match 168gr. I load 175s just a little hotter than FGMM and it takes around 36.5 minutes of elevation above my 1000 yard 0. That would translate to ~36.5 minutes high at 100 yards.

Yards Drop in MOA
100 0.00
200 1.78
300 4.38
400 7.43
500 10.89
600 14.79
700 19.20
800 24.19
900 29.86
1000 36.36