5 Cartridges to Consider for Hunting Mule Deer - Exo Mtn Gear cleric; Jan 28, 2023; Bolt Action Rifles ; Replies 13 Views 475. The reason why 6.5mm cartridges are exploding in popularity is because they are ultra-efficient. Omg I wish I seen this alot earlier than I did.. Ive literally spent hours on hours on ballistics calculators trying to figure out which new cartridge was the flattest shooting but also had enough energy for an ethical kill at long range and it took me countless hours to basically come up with what your chart told me in seconds grrr.. But what are the flattest shooting rifle cartridges? 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. 6.5-300 WBY (-204) This is not just a product of the .27 caliber bullet and its ballistic coefficient numbers. Another issue is recoil. It's wide-open so anyone from beginners to pros, 25 caliber pocket guns through to race guns. And yes, the .223/5.56 even dominates that match. (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. Bullet B.C. 26 Nosler. Good video! Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. Federal Premium, 130-grain Terminal Ascent, .308 Winchester will win no ballistic awards. [wd_leadmagnet type="dressing"] That kind of long-range accuracy comes at a hefty price with this model starting at $11,700 from the manufacturer. I was once hunting plains game in Africa when my PH told me, holding a rangefinder, that the wildebeest was 155 yards away. Many people found it informative, but some of the hunters wanted to know if you have any statistics available on the calibers as listed above. RELATED: 6.5 Creedmoor: The New King of Cartridges? Always be open to new possibilities. (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? Ive updated the chart description so its more clear that it isnt in inches. What is the flattest shooting cartridge for 200 yards? - Quora via the Davenport formula. What a gentleman. Deer rifle for up to 300 yards? | Firearms Talk It takes a lot of practice to learn the aim point to bring the rifle on target. What are the best long-range cartridges: .22-250 Remington .308 Winchester .300 Winchester Magnum .338 Lapua Magnum .300 Weatherby Magnum 6.5 Creedmoor 6.5-284 Norma 26 Nosler Trust but verify. Generally, a 300 Win Mag's 150 grain bullet delivers a 3,260 fps muzzle velocity, while its 180 grain bullet achieves approximately 3,000 fps. When the .264 Winchester Magnum was introduced about 60 years ago, it became a sensation with shooters looking to extend their reach in the field. Always amazing to me its not even on those lists. I took multiple loads from each, but identical sources. The .17 HMR is based upon the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire casing, necked down to .17 Caliber. Feb 17, 2023. Frequent question: What is the flattest shooting rifle? 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 . Also, same bullet, but a .257 Wby Mag will also work if you hit the same velocities. 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. Commissions are earned for links to Brownell's, Amazon, MidwayUSA, GoHunt, OpticsPlanet, Sportsman's Warehouse, and other retailers. In 2022, he was named as the brands Shooting Editor. Mag. You still need excellent range finding equipment and preferably have tested drops in your rifle in case your bullets have exaggerated BC claims. It is a flat shooting cartridge, able to hit a target at 300 yards with negligible hold over. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Nosler Trophy Grade with a 150-grain Nosler AccuBond Long Range at 3300 fps. For example, A 7 SAUM, 280 AI and 7 Rem Mag. Low B.C. But a reputation for burning out barrels ultimately doomed the cartridge. .25-06 AI with a Berger 115 VLD that's moving 3,600 fps That should be pretty close to flat. The 300WM with the 210 VLDs at 2950fps is pretty good also. I love that you have gone above and beyond here and I see tremendous value in this knowledge. Most of the calculators out there show larger drop rates then your table. A 25 yard miscalculation at that distance will vary your hit by half a foot and outside our 6 imaginary circle of vitals. But there is a big contender missing I think. Most common calibers are just fine for regular range shots under 300 yards. I hope this report clears up some trajectory confusion and perhaps settles some old arguments. But as with the 6.5 PRC, there are not a lot of factory-ammo options to choose from. On the other hand, wind speed and direction are inconsistent. A popular western big-game cartridge, the 7mm Magnum doubles as an excellent tool for long-range target shooting. The goal with the 6 mm ARC was to provide the flattest-shooting cartridge compatible with an AR-15. 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. Thanks Jim. It would help one decide on if a cartilage was up to a specific task and if one would be willing to take the kick. I love your work and what you share with us. I have a 27 3/4" barrel 264 Win mag that shoots 130 Accubonds 3350 fps with Retumbo. A big 7mm like the 7rum can put a 140 with nearly a .500 bc downrange at over 3500 fps or a 120 with about a .400 bc in the 3600+ fps range. 1.5" high at 100, would be dead-on at 250, and only drop 30" at 550. and .30 caliber bore . All are welcome. Enforcermj, Im not sure if your comment is sarcastic or not. during their trips downrange. Im going to set a restrictive definition on common and only include cartridges that can be found chambered in most any rifle. The biggest deficit is the roughly 57 feet of drop at 1,000 yards. UPS has officially stopped shipping guns? Developed form the military, Winchester . I ran the numbers with the 180 grain Ballistic tip at 3420 fps. As you can see, one of our gold standard flat-shooting cartridges (.270 Winchester) does not compare favorably with either of the Noslers or the Weatherby Magnum. However, the lead that the 25-06 has is pretty small. Be aware that many of these bullets could have been target bullets. What are some of the most flat shooting calibers at 500 yards? I believe the 6.8 SPC is that alternative. Check out ShootersCalculator.com By Adriel 10 Best Calibers for Deer Hunting - Gun News Daily Modern high-ballistic-coefficient bullets is where the .375 H&H really steps out of its traditional box. 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. But lets take a quick look at a historically popular flat-shooting cartridge, the .270 Winchester. Swifts 150-grain Scirocco at 3,036 fps delivers outstanding terminal performance. Recoil is stiff and some find it hard to master. While at the High Bar Homestead with PSA, I was able to stretch their 6.5 Grendel out to 1,000 yards with Federal Premium 130 grain Bergers. Awesome indoor range. . Thanks. I see there are some others like 300Win mag as well and thats a very popular cartage so it should be there as well I would think. Also look at Federal Premiums 180-grain Nosler AccuBond offering at 2,960 fps. 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. At 500 yards even the flattest shooting rounds are going to be dropping somewhere around 30". rating) driven more slowly. Danny. Now I have some facts for my creedmoor pal to chew on. A 10 mph right angle wind at 500 yards can divert even a fast, high B.C. Those, then, are my conclusions. No exotics just yet, theyll come later. A 100-grain .243 bullet with a G1 ballistic coefficient around .400 at a muzzle velocity of 2,960 carries just over 800 foot-pounds of energy at 500 yards. Get The Most From Your .375 H&H - Shooting Times I already have a Swarovski Z6 3-18 bt. 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. 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. Top The rifle snobs might whine. 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). Our blog and video on the Flattest Shooting Cartridge Ever! Forums. How about our drops on the cartridges that made it? I have neither the scientific knowledge nor mathematical skills to figure out the perfect blend of factors that produces the flattest trajectory winner. 264 Winmag 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. Fast and flat shooting b#%ds. Flattest at 500 yards Weatherby's wildly overbore 6.5-300 wins again! Thats true, but the bullets have been vetted. My name is Steve and I have just viewed your video on the Flattest Shooting Cartridges. And is it fair to include Risky Ralphs overstuffed, compressed-powder loads that exceed the highest handloading guides top loads by 400 fps and leave primers looking as if theyd been squashed on a train track? I am curious to see how it does for a 22 that can push any bullet weight made for it. We are not going to include here the esoteric military sniping rounds engineered for 1,000 yards, 2,000 yards, even 3,000 yards. A relatively flat-shooting cartridge, hunters with skill regular make shots out to 400 and 500 yards with the cartridge on small gamesome hunters even farther. The .308 Winchester will win no ballistic awards; its simply a shorter version of the time-tested and beloved .30/06. Therefore the .17 Remington is the round for you. Underwood Ammos 110-grain Lehigh Controlled Chaos bullet at 2800 fps is another great option. Dear Adriel, please be so kind to provide statistics on the following calibers as well: So, if you want to go long, there are some clear choices here. What caliber is the flattest shooting? - The Muzzleloading Forum Flattest shooting to 500 yds. | Long Range Hunting Forum To be fair to the 30-378, itmurders everything else for flatness way out there, staying feet above most other cartridges and carrying enough energy to take a deer at just over 1000 yards. Please look into it. 260 Rem Sign up for Field & Streams newsletter to receive the latest and greatest gear reviews and expert hunting and fishing advice. At a 100 yard zero sight in the 500 yard drop is 37. Might be of interest and I have used the cartridge in a Ruger M77 with a 22 barrel. lotsa guys on the internet claim 500 yards is no problem . bullets at faster speeds allows the projectile to get to the target sooner, minimizing the amount of time all three forces have to affect the bullets trajectory. Even the heaviest Weatherby factory load (120-grain Partition) leaves the muzzle at 3,305 feet per second and retains 1,221 foot-pounds of energy at 500 yards. A highly accurate, easy to shoot rifle with a flat trajectory will make for confident hunting. Top 10 Low-Recoil Hunting Cartridges - SkyAboveUs But lets have a round of applause for our antiquated 220 Swift, just 0.2-inch off the record!