projectile that you might crown that one King, especially since that 100-grain sounds a bit more reasonable for deer-sized game. RELATED: How the Brand-New 27 Nosler Revives the .277. Good video! 30-378 weatherby (214). You can't go wrong with a .308 for a 500 yard rifle. Great job. And while that pokey 300 grain 338 Lapua round drops quite a bit compared to the others in the list, its carrying a lot of energy: enough to take a deer at 1775 yards. The biggest deficit is the roughly 57 feet of drop at 1,000 yards. Oldmarine >>> GO I know you like your Bushnell scope but you should know that they make a lot of good scopes but the one that is favored by many Long Range shooters is the Elite Tactical XRS 4.5 . I would think this data is slightly skewed unless the bullets are shot out of the same length of barrels and the same practices of reloading. Choosing the proper ammunition and knowing your own capabilities at those distances is most important. It has the best BC and is hands down the flattest shooting of the AR15 calibers. Thanks, 26 Nosler 127 gr LRX 3602 Ft./Sec. Some Tips on Choosing the Best Varmint Caliber Top 6 Long-Range Competition Cartridges - Guns and Ammo Terry Cross. And they can change in your rifle and will change at different velocities. 270 and 30-06 carry enough power out to 700 yards, 7mm pulls a bit further, and 300 win mag pulls a bit further still. By the time the 6.5 Creedmoor started gaining popularity, interest in the .270 WSM was fading. And yes, the .223/5.56 even dominates that match. I understand this is an old thread, but want to reply anyway. Then look at the available options for reloaders, nearly endless, bullets for every application imaginable. Flat shooting, minimal recoil and low noise, the .17 HMR is one of the top performing cartridges for shooting ground squirrels out to 200 yards easily. Love it Jim ! . Well, theres really only one option in .22-caliber and thats the .224 Valkyrie. I\d be curious to know what the minimum cost is for just the rifle or a quality budget build. . Hey there from Melbourne, Australia. Obviously this list doesnt include every possible bullet/BC/MV combination, but it gives us a pretty good picture of the likely winners at three distances. Run those numbers on JBM. The 257 Weatherby Mag. Whether or not thats true, my own success rate at 1,000 yards informs me to always stalk closer if I can and to forego shots at any distance unless Im supremely confident I can make them. He has managed multiple gun ranges, and has hunted around the world. Most common calibers are just fine for regular range shots under 300 yards. Both are of course bolt-action rifle cartridges. Thanks Jim! The 10 Best Varmint Cartridges | Field & Stream That does not appeal to my simplified physics understanding of the subject. At 150 yards the target is a 6 inch hole and the gong is behind it. JavaScript is disabled. But to do this, it must launch a heavy bullet and that means recoil can be stiff; from an 8-pound rifle, it generates more than 33 foot-pounds of recoil, which is more than twice that of the 6.5 Creedmoor. flattest trajectory? | Sniper & Sharpshooter Forums So it Im guessing to summarise it doesnt really matter what you shoot as long as you know distance to target & your maths The Flattest-Shooting Rifle Cartridges: A handy table - Backfire Fantastic information. If youre after critters deer-size and up, the field is dominated by .30-caliber, 6.5mm, and 7mm cartridges, with the best long-range options remaining supersonic out to at least 1,400 yards. What bullet weight did you select for the .270 Winchester? Im going to include a few in here, and my basis for including them is going to be inclusion in Federals 2013 catalog, because thats what Im basing my numbers off. The best long-range cartridges are those that are flat shooting, feature aerodynamic projectiles and have enough power to go the distance. So lets roll with this! Now, you might think this cartridge is new and unproven. Please look into it. Beyond 1000 yards they use either the 338 Lapua or the 50 BMG. Kind of underwhelming, right? Just dont try to enumerate its downsides to anyone who knows anything, because there arent any that matter. Is flatest of all youve listed. Yes I know its a barrel burner but so is the 300RUM and others on the list. It's not until you get farther out that BC starts making a big difference. Feb 17, 2023. The 6.5300 Weatherby magnum, as its name suggests, is based on the 300 Weatherby mag and has a case capacity of 98 grains of water. The .277 bullet earns a lower B.C. Only a handful of .277-caliber cartridges are made today, but the .270 Winchester is still by far the most popular, given all the guns and loads out there for it. The .223 Remington will easily take care of any varmint out to around 500 yards, but at extreme distances loses its punch. Nosler Trophy Grade with a 150-grain Nosler AccuBond Long Range at 3300 fps. http://www.hornady.com/ballistics-resource/ballistics-calculator, 338 Lapua with a 300 grain projectile (you can run 250s in the Lapua as well, but most run a 300). Factory rifles and ammunition options are limited here, too, but based on the ballistic abilities of this cartridge, thats likely to change sooner rather than later. Commissions are earned for links to Brownell's, Amazon, MidwayUSA, GoHunt, OpticsPlanet, Sportsman's Warehouse, and other retailers. Well placed shots seem to work and poorly placed shots tend to fail. Those, then, are my conclusions. All in all, here are six bonus cartridge, all highly capable of reaching way out there. My father has been shooting a 6.5300 wby we had made for him in the early 80s and it was only limited by bullet construction. There's currently no better option for the AR-15 when the range extends much past 500 yards. Pronghorn hunters have driven the search for flatter shooting cartridges for a long time. Shot from SAAMI-mandated 1-8 twist barrels, the 6.5s long, slender bullets seem to almost defy wind and gravity and allow this cartridge to deliver clean kills at distance. With the exception of the 7mm Remington Magnum, cartridges of this diameter have never been as popular in America as they should bemaybe because this was the caliber of the Imperial German Army and the Nazis. Recoil statistics are offered for reference. I\m also a huge fan of Ron Spomer so well done for the recognition of his great work too. The Fastest .308 Win. on the Market? - The Shooter's Log At A Glance: Our Top 5 Picks For Long Range Calibers in 2022 Best for Beginners: 5.56mm/.223 Remington Minimal Recoil: 224 Valkyrie Best for Long Range: 243 Winchester Best for Seasoned Shooters: 6mm Creedmoor Best Value: 6.5mm Grendel The smaller calibers drop like a rock past 500 yards. Best Long Range Calibers in 2023 | Outdoor Life Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. I ran the numbers with the 180 grain Ballistic tip at 3420 fps. due to its larger diameter which increases drag. From an external ballistics standpoint, it cannot compete with any of the cartridges on this list, but in the field where it matters, it works wonders, and only the 6.5 Creedmoor has less recoil. But can it defend that title at 1,000 yards? I have a 27 3/4" barrel 264 Win mag that shoots 130 Accubonds 3350 fps with Retumbo. MPBR with a 150-grain spire point from a 308 Winchester might extend to 317 yards on an 8-inch target while a 300 RUM might push that same bullet to 373 yards. Granted I do live in New England, and we dont have that many long shot opportunities here, but you would think someone would want to have there firearms chambered in such a flat shooting cartridge. I'm trying to find the best round from the muzzle to 500yds as far as trajectory. When considering cartridges for their ability to shoot flat, overcoming drag is critical. Most service rifle matches include stages at 200, 300 and 600 yards, from various positions, some timed, while others are slow-fire. Good work mate. Flattest shooting round for an ar15 sized gun? Varmint gun? - AR15.COM From 600 to 1000 yards they use a 300 Winchester. I just want to quickly thank you for the great videos and for producing this table of bullet drop data. It really is the best all-around hunting rifle caliber. I have neither the scientific knowledge nor mathematical skills to figure out the perfect blend of factors that produces the flattest trajectory winner. The quicker it gets to 200 yards the less time gravity has been working on it and the less it will drop. Just curious if you included the 300 Norma or maybe I missed it. Wondering if anyone can find anything flatter within that range, suitable to kill a whitetail deer with? Hunters can take advantage of flat shooting rounds to extend maximum point blank range, the distance over which a center-of-target aim results in the bullet remaining within the kill zone, never climbing above it at mid-range and remaining in it until maximum point blank range is reached. Nonetheless, 7mm bullets can be extremely aerodynamic and, as legendary elephant hunter Karamojo Bell proved, effective on even the largest animals. But a reputation for burning out barrels ultimately doomed the cartridge. Obviously Weatherby and Nosler, but are there other manufacturers, vendors, builders to consider? Great information! But what are the flattest shooting rifle cartridges? 1.5" high at 100, would be dead-on at 250, and only drop 30" at 550. The 300 Win Mag is definitely on the list. Nor are we maintaining that the flattest shooting cartridge/bullet is the ultimate determinant of a good hunting round. Mag., according to Noslers Handloading Guide 9. So if you take flat shooting to mean aiming right at something far away and hitting it, theres not really enough difference between the main popular cartridges to get out of bed for. .25-06 AI with a Berger 115 VLD that's moving 3,600 fps That should be pretty close to flat. UPS has officially stopped shipping guns? Best Ive been able to do is run ballistic charts on many combinations, knowing that muzzle velocity is of major importance and bullet B.C. modifies results at some point. Required fields are marked *. Thus, the .50BMG drops less at 1,000 yards than the 6.5 Creedmoor. Mag. Now if you pulled all of your data from Nosler and they shot their bullets out of the same length of barrel then I would trust the ballistics youre speaking of. Nosler Trophy Grade Long Range, 150-grain AccuBond Long Range at 2,930 fps. Federals EDGE TLR .270 Winchester is another outstanding option. Shane Olson, nope, no sarcasm involved, simply pointing out a straight fact, which I stand by. Most of these are all-around cartridges intended for variety of CXP2 and CXP3 class game that offer an adequately flat trajectory for antelope hunting with appropriate loads (usually the lighter weight bullets . Drops just 11.6 inches. In 2019, Nosler submitted the cartridge to the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Institute (SAAMI) for approval, and in 2020, you can expect to see Nosler and other ammunition manufacturers offering factory loaded ammunition and even rifles for it. What about the guy who wants to go long with his AR-15? It is an ideal choice for deer-sized game in open country, and a fine choice for mountain game. . Always be open to new possibilities. I'm not a huge fan of basing my decisions on bullet energy. . during their trips downrange. 10 Best Long-Range Rifle Cartridges Ever Made - Game & Fish . Dear James So dont assume that youll be shooting the worlds flattest rifle cartridge and bullet until youve verified your MV and bullet B.C. . Barrel twist rates spin the bullet out of the muzzle in a spiral much akin to a quarterback throwing a football. Death in the Long Grass: A Big Game Hunter's Adventures in the African Bush .by Peter H. Capstick, Dino Paravano, Handbook for Shooters and Reloaders (Volume 1) Paperback, The Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering, and Cooking Wild Game: Volume 1: Big Game, Horn of the Hunter: The Story of an African Safari Kindle Edition, Use Enough Gun: On Hunting Big Game Hardcover, Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail: Upland Birds and Small Game from Field to Feast Hardcover March 1, 2018, The Easy Venison Cookbook: 60 Simple Recipes for Deer, Elk, and Moose Kindle Edition. I am impressed at all the data you went through to come up with the three chosen. With a growing choice of ammo from 90-130 grain projectiles and the benefit of a great ballistic coefficient with the 6.5mm bullet, 500+ yard shooting can be almost boring. It gives you an MPBR of 336 yards. The .277 is an oddball bullet diameter, in that it doesnt fall into the much more common 6.5mm, 7mm, or .30-caliber categories. Backfire LLC owns and operates this website. With the 6.5 PRC, Hornady has created a better version of the old barrel-burner. [wd_leadmagnet type="dressing"] .25-06 AI with a Berger 115 VLD that's moving 3,600 fps. 500-yard drop: 45 inches (based on a 100-yard zero). I also appreciate the realistic exposition of the relevant comparison between effects of flat-shooting cartridge vs judging cross-wind! Another one or two probably should have made the original list. This lead-free copper monolithic, fragmenting hollow-point Liberty Ammunition round is the next generation of one of the most popular hunting and long range rounds in existence. The 300 PRC will cruise above the speed of sound out to 1,650 yards. Before we check that out, let's give a nod to the 240 Wby. Since I have shot my .270 Winchester primarily with the Hornady 150gr spire point and I know at 500 yards it drops close to 50 inches. It started with the .30/30 and continued with the .30/06 and .308 and right up to todays .300 Blackout. These cartridges all drop less than 255 at 1,000 yards. bullet faster than did the larger volume 30-378 Wby. Our blog and video on the Flattest Shooting Cartridge Ever! He just never made it official. I've been looking at the .257 weatherby that drops about 34" with a 100gr bullet at 500 yards and the .22-250 is another at around 36" with a 50gr bullet. It nearly matches the ballistics of the Winchester Magnum, but does so in rifles with faster-twist barrels and modern powders that extend barrel life. Indeed, the .223 WSSM vies with the .220 Swift for the title of the centerfire rifle cartridge with the fastest bullet velocity. I know its a great round, but its by a long shot the best selling rifle chambering of the last several years. Take a look at the MPBR column and note how close they all are. The story of an old humpback Browning that's Sign up for the Field & Stream newsletter and get the latest intelligence straight to your inbox. As much talk as there is about the .270 Winchesters ability to shoot flatly, it does not compare with these three flat-shooting options. No exotics just yet, theyll come later. I truly don't believe a senseable person would use ANY .22 caliber rifle for deer hunting. It takes 200 rounds to fully break in a barrel, so theyd finish it off in just 2-3 competitions (where you fire 200 rounds in a weekend). The rifle has five caliber offerings . p.s. Richard Mann was born and raised in West Virginia and has hunted from the Montana mountains to the green hills of Africa. You are using an out of date browser. 7 Best Deer Caliber Under 300 Yards - eatingthewild.com Frequent question: What is the flattest shooting rifle? You can compare these numbers with your favorite cartridge using Backfires own table of flat shooting cartridges and you will see that the numbers indicated are in the absolute upper tiers. This means we can first determine the fastest cartridge in each caliber, then compare it against the fastest in others. . As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks Jim. Depending on the caliber you are using, a long-range shooting may be at 1,000 and more yards, but if you are committed to rimfires than 200-300 yards is very long-distance shooting. Was sad to not see the .300 H&H Magnum, though I doubt it would measure much different than the .300 Win Mag. Do you have any of the data on the weight of the bullets, the brand of the bullets, the BC, any of the information related to the data youre posting? Appropriate hunting bullets may not reach these levels of B.C. For some reason it pushed Noslers 125-gr. Its trajectory is awesome. Normas 180-grain BondStrike Extreme at 3,084 fps is new and very flat-shooting. Antelope Cartridges - CHUCKHAWKS.COM Based on the old .404 Jeffery case, its the same length as the .30/06, which means it works in standard-length actions. Hornady's ELD line of bullets is considered the most precisely made, and the flattest shooting for any specific caliber. REX'S INDOOR RANGE - 77 Upward Rd, East Flat Rock, NC - Yelp A 10 mph right angle wind at 500 yards can divert even a fast, high B.C. 4 Stunning Long-Range Rifles That Will Shoot Past 1,000 Yards I wonder if you could possibly make that load available to me, so I can compare which loads are the best? Bullets of this diameter are easily configured to have extremely high ballistic coefficients. All the following data was computer generated as if all loads were fired from a (simulated) dead flat (level) barrel, so these are pure drops. Here we go! The 50 BMG is still supersonic past 1200 yards. Now, the .280 AI is finally a SAAMI-approved cartridge, and while ammunition options are sparse, its performance is right there with the 7mm Remington Magnum. The Creedmoor carries more velocity and energy downrange with less recoil than any other factory cartridge. Somehow stumbled onto this article. Not sure if the OP is considering them or not. 17. Flattest Shooting Hunting Bullet 257 Weatherby Vanguard 26" pipe. Know your trajectory curve and nail the shot distance with a range finder and you can offset huge rates of drop. Both are 338-378 Wby. However, it proved to be mostly a flash in the pan. 243 and 25-06 had to be left out because it didnt have enough at 600 for even deer. Great chart, I appreciate all your work on this. 3. While that incredibly fast 6.5-300 Wby. Like the 6.5 Creedmoor, the .280 Ackley Improved can remain supersonic out to 1,400 yards. The result of this work was a flat shooting and hard hitting sniper cartridge with 200 to 400 yards of extended reach compared to the 7.62mm M118. The ballistics coefficient of the bullet (a formula which considers the mass, diameter, and aerodynamic drag of a bullet to understand its ability to fight wind and continue on its path) greatly impacts time of flight because it keeps the bullet from slowing down due to inefficiency of flight. wins again with just 218.5 inches of drop, the 27 Nosler moves into second place with its 150-grain bullet falling only 225.8 inches. Indeed, some deer also live in places where a 50-yard shot is much more likely than a 500-yard shot. Youre going to miss with any flat shooting cartridge out there and with a perfectly accurate rifle. What caliber rifle shoots the flattest? - Curvesandchaos.com The flattest shooting caliber and load I could find was the .300 RUM shooting a 150 grain bullet. Its really tough to spot impacts with that much recoil, and thats becoming increasingly important for shooters. Just want to extend my sincere gratitude to you for all of the hard work, time, and incredible effort that you put into this, and so many other endeavors that you have undertaken to give us so much useful information and education, and doing so in a carefully detailed and professional manner! J. What do you guys think the flattest shooting caliber would be for hunting I have heard 6.5x284 but the bullet CE appears better on a 270. That's pretty dang flat. Well, Im done Adulting for Today and Tomorrow. I took the shot prone and then stood up after the wildebeest tipped over after a perfect shot. And that light recoil not only makes you a better shot in the field; it also makes practicing more fun and productive. But as with the 6.5 PRC, there are not a lot of factory-ammo options to choose from. Lets start by acknowledging we can minimize our search by ignoring all cartridges within each caliber that dont produce maximum velocity in that caliber. And for all of you whove just learned your flat shooting champion really isnt, sorry. 1.5" high at 100, would be dead-on at 250, and only drop 30" at 550. The Best Long Range Caliber For Any Situation in 2022 No, its not a 6.5 Creedmoor, but few things are. We like the 257 STW we're loading 115 gr bullets around 3600fps with 1/2" groups.We can run it hotter and a Berger vld would be pretty flat. With the 30-06, we can only overcome 12 yards of ranging error at the same range before we miss the 6 of vitals. The .25-06 is the flattest shooting, hardest hitting, lowest recoiling cartridge available. Precision, varmint, big-game, and dirt cheap NATO surplus ammo for plenty of cheap shooting. In ballistic terms, a 235-grain .375 bullet at 3,000 fps exits the muzzle with lots of energy: 4,695 ft-lbs. Top Five Long Range Cartridges - The Best of the Best Flattest at 500 yards Weatherbys wildly overbore 6.5-300 wins again! Been there done that, so Im not playing holier-than-thou. Just $1 per month , These rounds have the reach and the power to put down big-game animals way out there, By I see lots of Wildcats mentioned here. The 26 and 28 Nosler as well as the 6.5300 Weatherby Magnum all utilize heavy for caliber bullets with high ballistic coefficients that are stabilized by barrels with fast twist rates. Weatherbys The advent of precision rifle competitions and the laser rangefinder has increased the publics desire to go long. But truth be told, every Weatherby cartridge is a long-range cartridge. Though that shot didn't take advantage of the 7mm Mag's flat trajectory, it convinced me of the cartridge's superior qualities. The .308 Winchester round shoots pretty flat out to 200 yards when it starts to drop. Prairie dogs?). The 10 Best Long-Range Hunting Cartridges - MSN The way in which cartridge manufacturers develop rounds to overcome these forces is the twist rates of the barrels in the rifles the cartridges are chambered in, developing longer, more aerodynamic bullets with narrower ogives and case capacity. Gravity impacts all objects the same. (not the bullet Id choose for this beast, just puts it nicely in line with the others), What does that do for you at regular ranges? always means more wind deflection. I am curious to see how it does for a 22 that can push any bullet weight made for it. After Weatherbys 6.5-300 Magnum did not win as many hearts and minds as theyd hoped, Weatherby rethought the 6.5mm cartridge and developed the 6.5 RPM (Rebated Precision Magnum). None of them will turn you into a trained sniper, but if youve put in the range time and have the skills to stretch it out, these 10 cartridges have the reach and the thump to put game on the ground from the next canyon over. Trust but verify. The .22-250 is accurate, fast and delivers devastating performance at long ranges. At 500 yards, the 27 Nosler drops almost a foot less than Jack OConnors sacred cartridge. This is one of the flattest shooting bullets available on the market, with a plethora of different size bullets available that range from 75 grains for small game, all the way up to 120 grains for deer. The flattest-shooting popular rifle cartridge at 1,000 yards is the 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum, followed by the .26 Nosler, the .28 Nosler, the .22 Creedmoor, and the 6.5 Weatherby RPM. But, as an extreme range competition shooter recently told me, the number of cold barrel, first round hits he sees at 1,000 yards in competition is well below 50%. But can it defend that title at 1,000 yards? Faster velocities mean flatter trajectories. Different shooters will all have different calibers that are better suited for their specific goal or mission. Mag. What do you guys think . With the ability to handle more aerodynamic bullets than the .270 Winchester or the .270 WSM, the 6.8 Western and its 1-in-8 twist rate allows this cartridge to outperform both at distance. Thank you for the time it took to work all this data up in an easy to absorb article, where are you getting your information for the bullet drop? (For anyone who gets worked up about the fact that the .30/06 isnt on this list, feel free to swap it with this one, as long as you dont mind the extra kick. These are all under my extreme heading, because theyre all brutal on cost and recoil. Don't get me wrong, but 45-70 are very accurate and can travel quite well buckin' the wind, great to see bullet drops and equate them in inches of drop brings home the reality of how much impact good old gravity has on ballistics.even with the flattest cartridges still aiming the height of a house above the target @1000 yds Based on the antique .404 Jeffery cartridge case, the 27 Nosler is the first new .277-caliber rifle cartridge since the .270 Winchester Short Magnum, which was introduced almost 20 years ago. Flattest-Shooting Cartridges Ever - YouTube Choosing the flattest shooting rifle cartridge in each caliber category seems fair, fun, and revealing, so well do that before identifying the all time top dog. The 7mag is one of the calibers he mentioned for the original 7 in the test. When a bullet is fired, many forces are immediately working against it: gravity, wind, and atmospheric drag. The rifle would be used for game to 600 yards (self imposed limit) up to the occasional Elk. I was surprised the 308 warbird was not included with the 208gr or 212gr bullet. Why? All three cartridges also offer ample case capacity, allowing enough powder to send bullets at drag-defying velocities. The newest addition to the Nosler line of proprietary cartridges is the 27 Nosler. It has flipped positions with the 6.5, losing by a mere 1.4-inches. Our margin for distancing error at 700 yards just went from 12 yards with the 30-06 to 25 yards with the 30-378. With the highest BC bullets, the 26 Nosler remains supersonic beyond 1,750 yards. 5 Cartridges to Consider for Hunting Mule Deer - Exo Mtn Gear My name is Steve and I have just viewed your video on the Flattest Shooting Cartridges. Twenty years ago, Winchester introduced the .270 WSM (Winchester Short Magnum). http://www.hornady.com/ballistics-resource/ballistics-calculator. Most fall close to the .22 caliber bullet range, and can dip down to .17 caliber and up to .264 (6.5 mm). Time of flight impacts bullet drop more than anything else. Manners thumbhole stock, trigger tech trigger at around a pound. bullet. Hornady Precision Hunter 143-grain ELDX at 2,960 fps.