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. Nosler Trophy Grade with a 130-grain Nosler AccuBond at 2900 fps. I suspect Weatherby got wind of Noslers work on its superb 26 Nosler, so they released Roys old wildcat to steel some of Noslers thunder. 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. Also, same bullet, but a .257 Wby Mag will also work if you hit the same velocities. For deer and lesser critters, its a solid 500-yard cartridge. Even at 500 yards the Hornady 225 SST is traveling over 2,000 fps and carrying over 2,000 ft/lbs of energy. Shooters have no real idea how much drop a bullet has at long ranges like 1500 yards. Twenty years ago, Winchester introduced the .270 WSM (Winchester Short Magnum). But you did such an awesome job with this data. Mag. All three cartridges also offer ample case capacity, allowing enough powder to send bullets at drag-defying velocities. It makes for easy reading in an \all in one place\ comparison, rather than spending time trying to find this data all over the internet. unfair comparison, Hornady makes a 139 grain BTSP for the 7mm mag very flat shooter, Great info, thanks for your difficult work. Yet it has proven again and again that it will deliver at distance. With a flatter trajectory and less wind drift the .300 Win Mag offers a useful step up in performance in a similar size rifle. With todays ammunition, its even better. For example, A 7 SAUM, 280 AI and 7 Rem Mag. I was once hunting plains game in Africa when my PH told me, holding a rangefinder, that the wildebeest was 155 yards away. However, the .50BMG bullet will reach the target with 143 less drop than the 6.5 Creedmoor, because it has more mass which leads to a higher BC, and that higher BC given the same velocity, makes it slow down less during flight. It combined flat-shooting ballistics with hard-hitting bullets in a package with lighter recoil than the .300 Weatherby Magnum, which debuted in 1944. Its muzzle velocity is 1880 fps, and muzzle energy is 2355 ft. lbs. The best varmint rifles are capable of accurate, repeated medium to long range shots from a fixed position, and are usually found in light, fast calibers that have a flat trajectory. Check out ShootersCalculator.com. Based on the 7.6239/220 Russian cartridge case, the Valkyrie changes the personality of the AR-15. Up until that time, there had only really been two .277-caliber hunting cartridgesthe .270 Winchester and the .270 Weatherbyso the .270 WSM was almost immediately popular. By the time the 6.5 Creedmoor started gaining popularity, interest in the .270 WSM was fading. projectile that you might crown that one King, especially since that 100-grain sounds a bit more reasonable for deer-sized game. Commissions are earned for links to Brownell's, Amazon, MidwayUSA, GoHunt, OpticsPlanet, Sportsman's Warehouse, and other retailers. They have 1 particular cartridge thats something of a hot-shot for flat shooting, long distance devastation; the Weatherby .30-378. Thanks Jim. For example , the chart I used showed about 67-70 drop for .270 at 600 yd.. 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. I took multiple loads from each, but identical sources. Please, keep up the great work! 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. Heres a chart from my Popular Hunting Cartridges Compared article. The 257 Weatherby Mag. Why? 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? 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. Flattest Shooting Hunting Bullet 257 Weatherby Vanguard 26" pipe. 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. My name is Steve and I have just viewed your video on the Flattest Shooting Cartridges. More hunters should get to know this fantastic round. 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! Nosler is loading the 27 with their famous AccuBond, which is one of the best big-game bullets ever crafted. But lets have a round of applause for our antiquated 220 Swift, just 0.2-inch off the record! 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. With the popularity of this cartridge due to America's favorite rifle, the AR15, more and more people are stretching the . Wondering if anyone can find anything flatter within that range, suitable to kill a whitetail deer with? 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. cleric; Jan 28, 2023; Bolt Action Rifles ; Replies 13 Views 475. Awesome indoor range. . From 600 to 1000 yards they use a 300 Winchester. 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. Its not all hype. While heavier bullets at low speed dont shoot as flat, they do carry energy further generally. Thanks, 26 Nosler 127 gr LRX 3602 Ft./Sec. A 30-06 will take any game on the NA Continent. I would like to see a chart on down range energy. He just never made it official. Love it Jim ! Do we compare the fastest factory loads or top end handloads from select handloading manuals? Save big on firearms, accessories, tactical gear, clothing, and ammunition from now until March 29. In other words, the 223 Remington throws the same bullets as the 220 Swift, but cant approach its maximum velocity, so theres no chance it can shoot as flat. Thanks again. 2023 Backfire LLC, a limited liability company headquartered in Utah, USA. 6.5-300 WBY (-204) But as with the 6.5 PRC, there are not a lot of factory-ammo options to choose from. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. I have used it also in a Ruger #1 with a 26 barrel and thoroughly enjoyed the distance it affords me. Like the 26 Nosler, the 28 is based on the 404 Jeffery case and will remain supersonic out past 1,750 yards. Flattest-Shooting Cartridges Ever Backfire 641K subscribers Subscribe 4.2K 173K views 1 year ago The flattest shooting rifle cartridges are listed in this video to help shooters determine. 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. The .308 Winchester round shoots pretty flat out to 200 yards when it starts to drop. The advent of precision rifle competitions and the laser rangefinder has increased the publics desire to go long. Nope, pretty much matches a 308Win to 500 yards. My third point is to remind you that this is not a scientific, Newtonian examination of all possible permutations of cartridges, bullets, muzzle velocities, and Ballistic Coefficients that determine bullet drop over all distances. The wise longer range shooter errs on the side of a higher B.C. I too share your endorsement of Ron, his videos are a treat each week. The round is on the cusp of energy at 300 yards, but it is a favorite among short to mid-distance deer hunters. The 27 Nosler bests the .270 Winchester by about 400 fps with 150-grain bullets. The .270 Winchester stays supersonic out to 1,400 yards, which is more than what 99 percent of hunters will ever need. Just wondering where the 300 win mag ends up? As much talk as there is about the .270 Winchesters ability to shoot flatly, it does not compare with these three flat-shooting options. Thanks for your hard work and entertaining videos, your passion shines through! Danny. 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. Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. A benefit of that, you can fing .308 ammo off-the-shelf for any practical application. I have a 27 3/4" barrel 264 Win mag that shoots 130 Accubonds 3350 fps with Retumbo. The best long-range cartridges are those that are flat shooting, feature aerodynamic projectiles and have enough power to go the distance. 1 Normal load using the most popular factory ammo, one heavy load for each, one light load. View Quote. Thanks for your video and the information on your website. A .270 caliber rifle loaded with a 130 or a 140 grain bullets will drop respectively 33 and 35 inches with each bullet have over 1400 lbs. 264 Winmag I'm not a huge fan of basing my decisions on bullet energy. Pretty impressive for a low B.C., 55-grain bullet. A 3 mph breeze at the shooter can become a 20 mph roar in the canyon halfway to the target. Thanks Will! The 6.5 PRC can remain supersonic out beyond 1,600 yards or so, but ammunition options are limited. But the 7mm Remington Magnum will remain supersonic out to 1,400 yards or a bit more, making a good choice for cross-canyon hunting. The Creedmoor carries more velocity and energy downrange with less recoil than any other factory cartridge. 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. 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. What I have come up with is the .270 Weatherby Magnum with a 135gr Sierra Matchking and 7828. always means more wind deflection. 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. Also, I used something called G1 B.C. Nor are we maintaining that the flattest shooting cartridge/bullet is the ultimate determinant of a good hunting round. A 10 mph right angle wind at 500 yards can divert even a fast, high B.C. Please look into it. Swifts 150-grain Scirocco at 3,036 fps delivers outstanding terminal performance. Could you add a little explanation of why/how twist/spin rate make any given bullet/velocity shoot flatter? 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 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. This should be recommended reading for all shooters learning to shoot long range shots. 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. 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. 1.5" high at 100, would be dead-on at 250, and only drop 30" at 550. I am impressed at all the data you went through to come up with the three chosen. Misjudging a 5mph crosswind as 8mph will make a 5.3 difference at 500yd with my favorite varmint load (BC0.400/MV3,400). Great job. What caliber rifle shoots the farthest? I also appreciate the realistic exposition of the relevant comparison between effects of flat-shooting cartridge vs judging cross-wind! Appropriate hunting bullets may not reach these levels of B.C. Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. Best .270 Rounds This is the allure and benefit of a flat shooting bullet. plays a major roll in trajectory, but is second in significance to muzzle velocity. No, this is merely a fun exercise in ferreting out the cartridge/bullet combination that shoots the flattest at reasonable hunting distance with a bit of extreme range (1,000 yards) thrown in for spice. RELATED: How the Brand-New 27 Nosler Revives the .277. etc. RELATED: The 10 Best Rifle Bullets for Long-Range Shooting. Zeroing for 100 yards or farther will change drop significantly. UPS has officially stopped shipping guns? Since this article originally went live, several excellent long-range big-game cartridges have it the market. I have not identified bullet make and type because that doesnt change impact drop. 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 . . Great information! 30-378 weatherby (214). 26 Nosler. Great work here. The Liberty Ammunition .308 Win. 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. Notice that it is only 3 grains lighter than the 150-grain .264 atop that Weatherby. (Essentially, you don't have to arc the 300 Win Mag's bullet trajectory in order to strike a target up . and MV do. I see lots of Wildcats mentioned here. So, if you want to go long, there are some clear choices here. Besides recoil, the downside is the limited availability of factory ammunition and rifles. That's why the three best rifles we have sorted have a 500-yard impact range below 40''. This cartridge is the .270 GIBBS and is based on the 30.06 case with the shoulder moved forward and at a 35 degree angle. Just curious have you ever looked at the 284 Winchester for flat shooting. Hornady Precision Hunter 212-grain ELD-X at 2,860 fps. The rifle has five caliber offerings . Normas 180-grain BondStrike Extreme at 3,084 fps is new and very flat-shooting. Barrel twist rates spin the bullet out of the muzzle in a spiral much akin to a quarterback throwing a football. I still shoot a .270 caliber cartridge and the same 150gr bullet, but with a 3gr powder charge boost. Thats true, but the bullets have been vetted. lotsa guys on the internet claim 500 yards is no problem . 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. However, the lead that the 25-06 has is pretty small. 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. The first category will include cartridges with a +/- 3" maximum point blank range (MPBR) of greater than 270 but less than 300 yards. numbers which are not quite as accurate as G7 numbers in predicting trajectories of todays wildly long, sleek bullets. Only B.C. And they can change in your rifle and will change at different velocities. http://www.hornady.com/ballistics-resource/ballistics-calculator. Its like a shorter, beltless version of the .300 Winchester Magnum. That does not appeal to my simplified physics understanding of the subject. Copyright Ron Spomer Outdoors document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) And it isn't just the 308 that the 25-06 can best at long range, I compared many other leading types of competition or "flat-shooting" rounds, such as .243, .243 WSSM, 6mm Rem, 6.5 Grendel, .270 Win, .260 Rem, 6.5 x 55 Swede. Great info but my 7mm rem mag with Nosler 120 grain BT (.417bc) @ 3600fps has anything on this chart beat pretty soundly. MY 45 cal ball travels at 1633fps with a standard charge, and 74-5gr for a full charge (2040fps). I normally go for high BC and heavy for cal but one place I do run light is I'll shoot a Barnes 110 TTSX 3600 fps in my 270 WSM, for light game and coyotes it's very effective! This old timer remains a phenomenon, flat-shooting and effective. Good work mate. throwing a 55-gr. 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 . Your email address will not be published. Bullets of this diameter are easily configured to have extremely high ballistic coefficients. With those thoughts in mind, it is easy to see why the 26 Nosler, 28 Nosler and the 6.5300 Weatherby Magnums are the best flat-shooting cartridges offered to rifle shooters today. The rifle snobs might whine. Want to run your own ballistics numbers? It's muzzle v. 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. Wind also affects bullets differently, and a cartridges ability to overcome these three forces makes it better or worse for shooting flat and far. Its drop at 1,000 yards is 330.30 and at 500 yards its drop is 50.00. Before we check that out, let's give a nod to the 240 Wby. THANK God for analysts like you Jim your passion for statistics really help us guys with our difficult choices and how we spend our hard earned money.. Im definitely sold on the 6.5-300 wby mag its definitely the new Era 270 in my books. I blog often and I truly appreciate your content. If you dont have good range finding equipment, youre hooped either way; humans will have extreme difficulty judging 700 from 725 without physical land markers or other range finding signs. Again, I, as well as so very many other folks Im certain, am very grateful! I ran the numbers with the 180 grain Ballistic tip at 3420 fps. 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. I wonder if you could possibly make that load available to me, so I can compare which loads are the best? 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. 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. Backfire LLC owns and operates this website. inspired a lot of comments, dissent, and different candidates for the title, so lets take a more detailed look at the flattest of the flat. The article has really peaked my interest. No exotics just yet, theyll come later. Ive included different bullet weights/BCs for most rounds to illustrate how BC changes drop at longer ranges. That kind of long-range accuracy comes at a hefty price with this model starting at $11,700 from the manufacturer. However, I have a question to ask you. If the hunter is looking for a flat shooting caliber with good energy and speed of distances around 400-yards, then the .270 would be the obvious choice. Its clear that flat shooting is directly proportional to overbore. Perhaps you, dear reader, can provide the formula! Thank you for the great content you provide. Velocity, drop, energy and the use of bullets with their own factors which create their ballistic coefficients all should be considered. Its trajectory is awesome. . Want to run your own ballistics numbers? 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. The 243 Winchester and 6mm Remington have reputations for shooting flat, but the lesser known 240 Weatherby magnum fires the same bullets at higher velocities, so its the flattest of the 24-calibers. The vast offerings of ammo and rifles on the market today is why the 338 Winchester Magnum is probably one of the best elk cartridges a hunter can carry. 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. If not. These are all under my extreme heading, because theyre all brutal on cost and recoil. But there is a big contender missing I think. I asked around a few years ago and found 6.5-300 Weatherby Magnum as the most overbore commercial cartridge. Indeed, some deer also live in places where a 50-yard shot is much more likely than a 500-yard shot. Now, one manufacturer specializes in fast, powerful, ridiculous cartridges, and thats Weatherby.