A highly accurate, easy to shoot rifle with a flat trajectory will make for confident hunting. Not many of us can afford the ammo, let alone the rifles and scopes that chamber it, in such calibers as 375 CheyTac, 408 CheyTac, or 416 Barrett. RifleShooter Magazine editor Scott Rupp breaks down all the features of the Mossberg Patriot Predator rifle chambered in 6.5 PRC. .223 Remington/5.56 NATO - Old Faithful. ammunition in an AR-15 chambered for the 5.56 NATO. 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. Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. However, the lead that the 25-06 has is pretty small. . Utilizing the heavier, slender and more aerodynamic bullets than the .223 Rem, the Valkyrie best performs outside 500 yards. Normas 180-grain BondStrike Extreme at 3,084 fps is new and very flat-shooting. These numbers indicate that one of the flattest shooting commercial cartridge at sensible hunting ranges is the 220 Swift. As the old system for measuring BC, the G1 model is based on a short, flat-bottomed bullet, while the G7 model is based around longer, boat-tailed bullets. Only B.C. Required fields are marked *. J. Scott Rupp takes a first look at the Springfield M1A Loaded rifle chambered in the popular 6.5 Creedmoor. With a recent elevated popularity, due in no small part to the rise of the six-fives, the Grendel is now getting the attention it deserves. That makes this a potent elk and moose cartridge. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets. Ron Spomer Daily Bulletin I hope this report clears up some trajectory confusion and perhaps settles some old arguments. The drops are listed in feet for the really long range shots, so theyre pretty close to your numbers. The Berger VLD Target Rifle Bullet is one of the flattest shooting Rifle Bullets on the market today. He is a well-known entrepreneur, having started many successful online brands, and lives in St George, Utah. Still, if youre goal is to push heavy projectiles to the outer reaches, Noslers 28 may be the best 7mm option out there. The .308 Winchester is a very popular caliber and is . The .45 Colt possesses almost the same ballistics as the .45 ACP. Some rely on characteristics that helped make the Creedmoor popular, but other popular new rounds strayed from the Creedmoors recipe and still managed to carve out a niche in the rifle market. The new Federal Premium, 130-grain Terminal Ascent load with a muzzle velocity of 2825 fps shoots flat and the bullet is tough enough to handle up close impacts while still delivering good expansion at distance. Its no accident this round became so popular. We are not going to include here the esoteric military sniping rounds engineered for 1,000 yards, 2,000 yards, even 3,000 yards. 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. Besides recoil, the downside is the limited availability of factory ammunition and rifles. The Remington Model Seven is ready, willing and able to handle just about any task. At greater distances the variation in wind drift is even more pronounced. Great work here. You may be an outstanding expert rifleman using a match grade ammo. 2023 Backfire LLC, a limited liability company headquartered in Utah, USA. Generally, traditional Weatherby Magnum cartridges perform slightly better than their Winchester or Remington magnum counterparts. Fun? Ive updated the chart description so its more clear that it isnt in inches. Nor could most of us scrape up a good excuse for owning one. Weatherby currently offers six loads for the 6.5-300 ranging from 127 to 156 grains. BadAssOptic.com is a participant in the Amazon.com Services LLC Associates, AvantLink, Impact Radius & ShareASale Affiliate Programs, affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees. 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. The result is that the 6.5 PRC drives those same bullets about 250 feet-per-second faster than the Creedmoor, and that equates to more energy and a flatter trajectory. numbers are accurate. That means that its very close to the .243 Winchester in terms of performance on game at most ranges. 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. Accordingly, the Weatherby .338-378 can launch any given projectiles weight out the muzzle faster than any other .33-caliber cartridge. Flattest Shooting Cartridges by Caliber - YouTube However, I fully admit that that a flat shooting cartridge is not nearly as important as a cartridge which is resistant to wind deflection. However, it was somewhat a bad timing, since the frenzy for long-range shooting and everything in 6.5mm exploded a couple of years later. . To make the .224 Valkyrie compatible with the AR-15 platform, Federal based it on the 6.8 SPC case, which is necked down to accept .224-caliber bullet. 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. When it came out in 1925, 300 yards was considered about the max distance for shots on game, and the .270 Winchester was quickly recognized as one of, if not the, best commercial option for that. Right now, shooters are obsessed with flat-shooting rifle cartridges. This excellent .25-caliber round was the first wildcat to have been based on the .30-06 Springfield cartridge preceding the development of much more popular the .270 Win round. 7 Best Long-Range Cartridges: Hit Stuff Really Far Away Noslers 175-grain AccuBond LR ammunition at a muzzle velocity of 3,125 fps carries 3,794 foot-pounds of muzzle energy and retains more than 2,000 foot-pounds of energy at 600 yards. Its well-suited for long-range target shooting, especially since there are numerous 140+ grain bullet options and plenty of factory rifles available. The .338-378 Weatherby Magnum or in metric description 8.6 x 74mm is in the same performance league as the .338 Lapua (8.6 x 70mm). Thank you. With their Vanguard line you can do it for less than $900. Considered by many to be the optimum long-range, large-game cartridge, the .300 Winchester Magnum has proven itself worldwide. The 6.5 Creedmoor will remain supersonic out to 1,400 yards and is quickly becoming the most popular long-range, big-game cartridge in the world. And once they started shooting, squirrels . Based on the now almost-forgotten .284 Winchester, the 6.5-284 Norma was originally a wildcat cartridge and a very popular one, especially in bench-rest competitions. Even an average shooter can reliably hit a target from hundreds of yards away using this caliber, and the flat-shooting ability of the cartridge makes it a fan-favorite amongst hunters of varying experience levels. Ive included different bullet weights/BCs for most rounds to illustrate how BC changes drop at longer ranges. Berger today made the best long-range bullets enabling .300 Norma Mag to stay supersonic out to 1,640 yards. This means we can first determine the fastest cartridge in each caliber, then compare it against the fastest in others. http://www.hornady.com/ballistics-resource/ballistics-calculator. It's clearly the best varmint cartridge of the new millennium. The wildly overbore 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum wins or places near the top of the flat-shooter podium at most ranges to at least 1,000 yards. And it gets there with a lot less powder the either of the two Weatherbys. The Complete Guide to AR-15 Cartridges - Shooting Illustrated It will push a 90-grain Fusion bullet to 500 yardswhich is probably the limit for big game with this cartridgewhile still retaining enough velocity to initiate expansion. I subscribed to your Feed as well. bullet 12 inches at 500 yards, a low B.C. Accordingly, the higher ballistic coefficient is better than lower, meaning the bigger the ballistic coefficient number, the better. Despite its relatively low B.C. Id consider a base of: Among these cartridges, the 25-06 offers the highest MPBR (Mean Point Blank Range) or the max distance that you can adjust a scope to and be +-3 with the most common bullet weights per caliber. | There are lots of .30-caliber rounds on the market, and some are faster than the .300 PRC. Like the 6.5 Creedmoor, the .280 Ackley Improved can remain supersonic out to 1,400 yards. 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. Lots of hunters consider the .270 Winchester one of the best all-purpose, short- and long-range cartridges of all time. A good ballistic coefficient depends on many variables such as bullet type and shape, weight, or muzzle velocity. Originally billed as the world's fastest 30-caliber cartridge, the .30/378 will push a 165-grain bullet close to 3,500 fps. This poorly promoted and greatly underutilized chambering is recognized for its strengths as an intermediate shooter round. If you think that's the product of the latest technology, know that Winchester introduced this cartridge in 1935! accepts 30 caliber (actually 0.309 inches) bullets weigh from 110 to 220 grains and the muzzle velocities range from 2,680 to 3,600fps. Weatherby. also reigns as one of the fastest commercial cartridges around, breaking 4,300 fps with 20-grain bullets and 4,100 fps with 25-grain pills. (Curiosity? If looking to acquire an automated powder-charge dispensing unit to speed up precision reloading, don't judge the RCBS ChargeMaster Lite powder scale and dispenser by its name; the Little Green machine packs a heavy-weight punch with speed and accuracy. But a reputation for burning out barrels ultimately doomed the cartridge. There are several Nosler cartridges now ranging from .22 to .33 caliber, but the .28 has been a standout in terms of popularity. Accommodating long, heavy, high ballistic coefficient (BC) bullets, the 6.5 Creedmoor resists wind drift exceptionally well and enables doubled hit probability at 1,000 meters, compared to .308 Win. Yes, the article most definitely included the 7mm Mag, but the specific cartridge mentioned by Nick is what the original article would have included as an exotic version, NOT something found chambered in most any rifle. Yeah, 6.5s are all the rage, and their blinding popularity has taken some shine off the old .270, but the latter is still one of the very best long-range hunting cartridges. Mag. 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. Todays top seven long-range cartridges get the job done on big game and targets at great distances. But the PRC also competes well against older .30 caliber rounds, too. and MV do. When youre shooting a .260 Rem loaded with the ultra-streamlined VLD (Very Low Drag) bullets weighing from a 105- to 110-grain, you can quickly gain velocities around 3,000 to 3,100 fps. The .264 (6.5 mm) caliber bullets are known as extremely long and sleek projectiles featuring remarkable ballistic coefficients. It will push a 55-grain E-Tip bullet to 3,300 fps, which is more than sufficient for deer hunting. The Remington's belted, bottleneck 7mm magnum cartridge is known as "one of the great all-around rifle rounds" due to the vast selection of genuinely outstanding bullets, in weights from 100 to 180+ grains. First, some boundaries. But you wouldnt want to hunt with it. I have not identified bullet make and type because that doesnt change impact drop. Best Long-Range Hunting Cartridges of 2023 | Field & Stream If you want to shoot targets out to 1,000 yards or more the Nosler has the goods to get you there. Hornadys 147-grain 6.5 Creedmoor Match load shoots flatter that their .308 168-grain Match load and carries more energy at long range. This newer Weatherby 6.5 combines plenty of gas with manageable recoil. Ballistically, the cartridge is very similar to the 6.5 PRC, but unlike the PRC it uses a standard 0.473 rim diameter like the .308 Winchester. Advertisement. Originally developed as a black-powder revolver cartridge, the .45 Long Colt (LC) functioned as the official US military handgun from 1873 to 1887. The bullet has a BC of .648, and when sighted in 1.2-inches high at 100 yards its dead-on at 200 yards and strikes just 5.6 inches low at 300 yards. Zeroing for 100 yards or farther will change drop significantly. Anyway, it was not created as a replacement for the .223 Rem., but the Valkyrie is designed as a specialized cartridge for people who want to shoot an AR-15 at targets beyond 500 yards. My take away on all this number crunching? Love it or hate it, the 6.5 Creedmoor was a game-changer. 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. Actually, the 26 Nosler is developed primarily for long-range hunting in mountainous terrain. 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. Backfire LLC owns and operates this website. The .338-378 Weatherby Magnum is one of the flattest shooting and hardest-hitting calibers, most useful for long-range shooting and transferring energy into targets. Case capacity is literally and figuratively the driving force here: Both Nosler offerings are based on the 300 Remington Ultra Magnum and both boast case capacities of 93.5 grains of water. Dear Adriel, please be so kind to provide statistics on the following calibers as well: The ideal coyote hunting cartridge is flat shooting, highly accurate, and won't ruin pelts. The Amazing 22 Creedmoor: A Wildcat Worth a Hard Look - GunsAmerica Digest Excellent work!! And they can change in your rifle and will change at different velocities. 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). Ditto the 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5-300 Wby. Heres a look at the top seven long-range cartridges to arrive since 2007. Flatest shooting caliber in short action - Sniper & Sharpshooter Forums Also know that not all manufacturer-claimed B.C. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. Most of the calculators out there show larger drop rates then your table. As for the wind drift, at 200 yards, the .17 WSM has almost reduced in half wind drift compared to the popular .17HMR. No exotics just yet, theyll come later. Trust but verify. Federal Premium, 130-grain Terminal Ascent, .308 Winchester will win no ballistic awards. Yet it has proven again and again that it will deliver at distance. These cartridges all drop less than 255 at 1,000 yards. Also look at Federal Premiums 180-grain Nosler AccuBond offering at 2,960 fps. Copyright Ron Spomer Outdoors document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) Kind regards. projectile that you might crown that one King, especially since that 100-grain sounds a bit more reasonable for deer-sized game. The 6.5 PRC can remain supersonic out beyond 1,600 yards or so, but ammunition options are limited. I was surprised at the distance, so I asked my PH Thats just 155 yards? He got a stunned look on his face and said, No, TWO hundred fifty-five yards! Our miscommunication during the shot sequence didnt matter a bit, because I was shooting a .28 Nosler, which put the shot only 2.8 low at that distance. Compared to .223 Remington, at the 1,000-yard target, it duplicates the amount of energy of the standard .223 bullet. Advanced Search Cancel . numbers which are not quite as accurate as G7 numbers in predicting trajectories of todays wildly long, sleek bullets. Mag. While there are not a lot of ammunition choices for the 6.8 Western, there are some good ones. It seems a bit odd to consider a .22-caliber cartridge of any design suitable for long . Give a Gift Just dont try to enumerate its downsides to anyone who knows anything, because there arent any that matter. Still, while the rimless .338 Lapua was made as sniper rifle cartridge with semiautomatic firearms in mind, the 338-378 Weatherby Magnum was developed as hunting style ammo and the biggest .33-caliber long-range commercial cartridge. There is a lot more to it than inital velocity. (This is essentially what Hornady did to the .260 Remington to make the 6.5 Creedmoor.) spitting a 100-gr. A relatively large case capacity enabled the 6.5 Creedmoor to use very long, high BC bullets, without projectiles base intrusion into powder capacity. 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. As we all know, the long-range accuracy is a combination of the rifle, the ammunition, and the shooter. But again, that just my opinion. I mean, its the flattest shooting cartridge around, but you took a huge bump in recoil over the 300 win mag or even 270 WSM for 41 more usable yards of MPBR. Dear Ron: What's the flattest shooting rifle? It outperforms the .280 Remington (also known as the 7mm-06 and the 7mm Express), and for years wildcatters and handloaders have been singing its praises. If youre after deeper penetration, look at the 139-grain Barnes VOR-TX Long Range load. Below is the information Ive gleaned from 17-caliber through 338. At 500 yards most Weatherby factory loads carry roughly 1,500 to 2,000 foot-pounds of energy, which is slightly less than most .300 Win. But if it isnt, go read the article again. 243 and 25-06 had to be left out because it didnt have enough at 600 for even deer. Hornadys Precision Hunter 145-grain ELD-X at 2,950 fps is the flattest-shooting .270 Winchester load. Appropriate hunting bullets may not reach these levels of B.C. (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? Those features are granted to the high velocity of 3,000 fps and 230gr Berger Hybrid bullet with an incredible 0.743 Ballistic Coefficient (BC). Also, I used something called G1 B.C. Using the larger .378 Weatherby case, the .338-378 get a 20-percent more case capacity than .338 Lapua and thus gained higher muzzle velocity. However, it proved to be mostly a flash in the pan. Should you have other helpful info, please send it to me by email: [emailprotected]. So dont assume that youll be shooting the worlds flattest rifle cartridge and bullet until youve verified your MV and bullet B.C. Hornady offers it with 190-grain CX bullets, 212-grain ELD-X bullets, and 225-grain ELD Match bullets. Since this article originally went live, several excellent long-range big-game cartridges have it the market. The .270 Winchester stays supersonic out to 1,400 yards, which is more than what 99 percent of hunters will ever need. Still, by using G1 across the board, we are on a level playing field. Remington officially introduced a .260 Remington in 1997, but we can trace its roots in the wildcat 6.5-08, well-known cartridge in competition circles. Wind also affects bullets differently, and a cartridges ability to overcome these three forces makes it better or worse for shooting flat and far. Time of flight impacts bullet drop more than anything else. This is the darling diameter for American big-game hunters. The final two cartridges above are mislabeled. So, if you want to go long, there are some clear choices here. 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. For example, the .50BMG and the 6.5 Creedmoor both launch bullets at approximately the same muzzle velocity of 2,700fps. With a history that dates back to almost 100 years ago from today, the .270 Winchester is still used. Emulated by all others, the VLD Target Rifle Bullet incoporates a secant ogive design which allows the Rifle Bullet to experience less drag as it travels to the target. The 22 Nosler (the 224V's big bother) will get you ostracized A 20 inch barrel, handloads, and 60/62 grain bullets in the correct twist will also do the job. Roy Weatherby was one of the pioneering cartridge designers of the 20th century, and his line of ultra-fast cartridges have been popular with long-range hunters for decades. Twenty years ago, Winchester introduced the .270 WSM (Winchester Short Magnum). Like the 26 Nosler, the 28 is based on the 404 Jeffery case and will remain supersonic out past 1,750 yards. 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. Both are of course bolt-action rifle cartridges. But dont waste your time trying to convince us a slower cartridge in any caliber can shooter flatter than the ones weve identified as category leaders. So lets roll with this! 264 Winmag If you are using a custom rifle and handloaded ammunition, then the .260 Rem projectiles will remain supersonic all the way out to 1,400 yards. Below is a chart indicating the three best flat-shooting cartridges and their muzzle velocity, drop, energy levels, and felt recoil. Both cartridges have been designed as the long-range busters. With todays ammunition, its even better. That makes the 6.8 Western a legitimate elk and moose cartridge and also makes it suitable for hunting sheep at long range without being so abusive that its overkill for whitetails and antelope. Most shots are taken at short range, but some experienced marksmen with good rifles, known distances, and good conditions may need to make connections at longer distances. And for all of you whove just learned your flat shooting champion really isnt, sorry. The 220 Swift would be my pick for coyotes, rodents, and probably pronghorn if it werent for the wind deflection issue. Bullet B.C. But lets take a quick look at a historically popular flat-shooting cartridge, the .270 Winchester. Have fun hunting! Clear enough? Weatherbys If the 300 RUM surprises you, know that it surprised me, too. Using .30-caliber bullets known for a wide variety and stability, the .300 Norma Magnum shoots flatter than the .338 Lapua with considerably less recoil. The .17 WSM delivers the accuracy and flat trajectory necessary for reliably varmint hunting at ranges beyond 200 yards with very low recoil and minimal noise.
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