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. Its biggest disadvantage, in some people's opinion, is .25 caliber bullets have low BCs. Although its going to be easier to estimate drop for a 700 yard shot with a 30-378, compared to a 30-06, you still need to range your animal within +/-25 yards using the 30-378 to hit vitals. And for all of you whove just learned your flat shooting champion really isnt, sorry. The flattest shooting caliber and load I could find was the .300 RUM shooting a 150 grain bullet. YMMV Best .270 Rounds While there are not a lot of ammunition choices for the 6.8 Western, there are some good ones. Do we compare the fastest factory loads or top end handloads from select handloading manuals? Thursday nights they do IDPA. The 147-grain ELD-M bullet has a sectional density of .301 and a G1 Ballistic Coefficient of .697, which is arguably the highest ballistic coefficient of any 6.5 Creedmoor bullet. 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. If youre planning on buying a gun to shoot long range shots this is recommended reading. Why? So what if we shoot further than 300? The company set out to push the limits with this thing, designing it as a flat-shooting 6.5mm cartridge with performance capable of taking full advantage of the newest long-range shooting reticles used in today's scopes. 4/1/2016. I've heard that too! I stopped there because few hunters are going to tolerate the recoil or rifle weight needed to operate a flat shooter above 338-caliber. Also look at Federal Premiums 180-grain Nosler AccuBond offering at 2,960 fps. It is flat shooting, powerful, has a manageable amount of recoil, and there are dozens of great hunting rifles chambered in this outstanding cartridge. At 500 yards even the flattest shooting rounds are going to be dropping somewhere around 30". 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.. 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 . . Now I have some facts for my creedmoor pal to chew on. Thats true, but the bullets have been vetted. I appreciate the kind comment. 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. Federals EDGE TLR .270 Winchester is another outstanding option. So, Winchester slightly modified the .270 WSM case so it was a bit shorter and then specified barrels with a faster twist. Just saying, excellent job to tell the nature of all calibers for hunting from 100 to 700 yards for medium game. 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 was also a resounding success and has remained popular with hunters looking to stretch their effective range. Brownings 175-grain Sierra Tipped GameKing load has an advertised muzzle velocity of 2835 fps and a very high ballistic coefficient. For deer and lesser critters, its a solid 500-yard cartridge. These are all under my extreme heading, because theyre all brutal on cost and recoil. In any caliber the cartridge that attains the highest muzzle velocity wins the flat shooter award, so theres no sense arguing that the 6.5 Grendel might shoot as flat as the 27 Nosler. Yeah, yeah, I know theyre cartridges and not calibers, but lots of people call them calibers so I thought Id roll with it. 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. You still need excellent range finding equipment and preferably have tested drops in your rifle in case your bullets have exaggerated BC claims. Thoughts on this? bullet 12 inches at 500 yards, a low B.C. numbers which are not quite as accurate as G7 numbers in predicting trajectories of todays wildly long, sleek bullets. Don't want it too heavy. Well, Im done Adulting for Today and Tomorrow. rating, that 100-grain bullet is hanging in there. Its very clear that you went through a huge amount of work to pull all of this info together. Still, if youre goal is to push heavy projectiles to the outer reaches, Noslers 28 may be the best 7mm option out there. cleric; Jan 28, 2023; Bolt Action Rifles ; Replies 13 Views 475. 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. 264 Winmag At 300 yards it has dropped around 13 inches, and at 500 yards it's just under 60 inches (5 feet). Nosler Trophy Grade with a 130-grain Nosler AccuBond at 2900 fps. plays a major roll in trajectory, but is second in significance to muzzle velocity. throwing a 55-gr. . For 500 yards just raise the cross hair up to the top of the back but stay in the hair and have a sharp knife ready. At 500 yards . First, some boundaries. If I am mistaken, I am sure someone will chime in and let us both know. For example, the .50BMG and the 6.5 Creedmoor both launch bullets at approximately the same muzzle velocity of 2,700fps. I noticed the WSSM family was not on your list I assume because of the higher velocities they would be higher than the standard calibers. In general, lightweight bullets driven very fast shoot flatter than heavier bullets with better aerodynamics (high B.C. 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. Wondering if anyone can find anything flatter within that range, suitable to kill a whitetail deer with? If you use a very good long range 6mm bullet like the 115 DTAC with a BC of .585 and a velocity of 2950fps, which is easy to get, it wipes the floor with the .308 with a 175 at 2700fps. Appropriate hunting bullets may not reach these levels of B.C. If you had to choose one cartridge to hunt with for the rest of your life, you could do a whole lot worse than the .30-06 Springfield. Federal Premium, 130-grain Terminal Ascent, .308 Winchester will win no ballistic awards. 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 Outstanding job!! Normas 180-grain BondStrike Extreme at 3,084 fps is new and very flat-shooting. Copyright Ron Spomer Outdoors document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) Want to run your own ballistics numbers? . Thanks Jim! Well, theres really only one option in .22-caliber and thats the .224 Valkyrie. 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. To even things out, Ive zerod all cartridges at 100, drops are listed in feet and cartridges that fell below 1000 ft-lbs didnt get past the next 100 yard clip. The advent of precision rifle competitions and the laser rangefinder has increased the publics desire to go long. That's impressive but misleading. At 300 yards, the hold over (assuming a 250 yard zero) is only 2.6 inches. Forums. p.s. again. It's still possible to get factory ammo for the cartridge, but current production .223 WSSM ammo normally uses heavier 50 or 55 grain bullets at . That's pretty dang flat. But it's still a better distance choice than the .270 Winchester past 400 yards (a great caliber as well). As for targeting game at extreme distances, yes, I realize there are thousands of dedicated, well-trained long range shooters who are as good at 1,000 yards as many of us are at 500 yards and some of us at 200 yards. Take another look. 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. This is not just a product of the .27 caliber bullet and its ballistic coefficient numbers. In fact, we may say that its the only thing that matters; however, factors that lead to time of flight changes are important to consider. When you havent time to engage a laser rangefinder, knowing you can reach the kill zone with a dead-center hold at any distance out to 373 yards is pretty comforting. 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. The 26 Nosler cartridge was designed with the high ballistic coefficient (B.C.) Preferred Caliber For 500 To 1,000 Yards And Beyond: 6.5 Creedmoor Preferred Rifle And Optic: A Rainier Arms precision rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor and enhanced by H&H Precision with an Orias chassis from Killer Innovations. The .25-06 is fast, shoots flat at 200 yards, and has just a 6.5-inch drop at 300 yards. The 50 BMG is still supersonic past 1200 yards. i've heard the .17 hmr are real flat shooting. You can argue that you can get the 243 WSSM shooting flatter, but that cartridge is already considered obsolete. Its just physics. Mag. Hornady Precision Hunter 143-grain ELDX at 2,960 fps. Not only are new loads being offered, new ARs and even bolt action rifles for the Grendel are being introduced. 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. RELATED: How the Brand-New 27 Nosler Revives the .277. I\d be curious to know what the minimum cost is for just the rifle or a quality budget build. Know your trajectory curve and nail the shot distance with a range finder and you can offset huge rates of drop. A 3 mph breeze at the shooter can become a 20 mph roar in the canyon halfway to the target. This is the allure and benefit of a flat shooting bullet. .468 BC, 1. Mag. Thanks, 26 Nosler 127 gr LRX 3602 Ft./Sec. 6.5mm and 7mm projectiles offer very high ballistic coefficients, meaning they offer excellent ability to overcome drag and wind deflection over longer distances. The rifle has five caliber offerings . I have neither the scientific knowledge nor mathematical skills to figure out the perfect blend of factors that produces the flattest trajectory winner. I blog often and I truly appreciate your content. Light bullets driven fast shoot flatter over shorter distances. 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. Not to mention the different variations in grains in each individual caliber,Ogive and BC. I understand this is an old thread, but want to reply anyway. Its trajectory is awesome. 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. This is an example of how different loads in different rifles can produce different results. Modern high-ballistic-coefficient bullets is where the .375 H&H really steps out of its traditional box. The 300WM with the 210 VLDs at 2950fps is pretty good also. Always be open to new possibilities. The Chey-Tac M200 Intervention is the bolt-action rifle built to handle this round, and shooters have been documented firing a group of 3 shots within 16 inches at 2,321 yards. The reason why 6.5mm cartridges are exploding in popularity is because they are ultra-efficient. I took multiple loads from each, but identical sources. Zeroing for 100 yards or farther will change drop significantly. With their Vanguard line you can do it for less than $900. I still shoot a .270 caliber cartridge and the same 150gr bullet, but with a 3gr powder charge boost. Bullets of this diameter are easily configured to have extremely high ballistic coefficients. As with Hornadys two recent 6.5 caliber introductions, it has found favor with long-range competitors, but also with hunters who like to hit at distance with heavy bullets. On the other hand, wind speed and direction are inconsistent. Its also based on the 220 Russian/7.62x39mm Russian cartridge, but unlike the Valkyriewhich uses a 0.223-caliber bulletthe Grendel is yet another 6.5.