When ballistics and moa don’t match

[jpc01101]

The only Hornady product that doesn’t suck is a vacuum cleaner.

They make a vacuum cleaner?

Seriously though, I love their ballistics app and their ammo. Guess everyone has different experiences.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I try a pretty large variety of variables to see if I’m missing anything. In this example, I’m shooting 160 accubond(bc of .531) at an average of 2890 fps with a sight in of 0-.5” high at 100 yards. Everything I check for different variables puts me at around 4” low at 200 and around 12” low at 300. I’m right at 1.75 low at 200 and 9” low at 300. As I mentioned, it’s an easy enough adjustment, and maybe my scope just isn’t exact on the 1/4” per click at 100 yards etc.

Your actual drops sound about right. I'm not sure what the deal is with the app. Either you're putting bad data in or the app is effed. Hornady app seems to get fooky at times.

You didn't enter your zero offset (0.5") as your scope height above bore did you? That would skew things off in the direction of the errors you shared.

At 300 yards you shouldn't be thinking about BC at all with drops and atmospheric changes are going to be a very small component. If you have significant diversion at 300 yards from what a ballistic calc says with reliable chronoed velocity it's almost always bad data in, faulty calculator, faulty scope, or shooter ability/group size is insufficient to confirm actual drops.

 

[huntin24/7]

Your actual drops sound about right. I'm not sure what the deal is with the app. Either you're putting bad data in or the app is effed. Hornady app seems to get fooky at times.

You didn't enter your zero offset (0.5") as your scope height above bore did you? That would skew things off in the direction of the errors you shared.

At 300 yards you shouldn't be thinking about BC at all with drops and atmospheric changes are going to be a very small component. If you have significant diversion at 300 yards from what a ballistic calc says with reliable chronoed velocity it's almost always bad data in, faulty calculator, faulty scope, or shooter ability/group size is insufficient to confirm actual drops.

I have been putting the height above zero I was hitting for sight height this whole time. . What a dork. lol. That puts my numbers within .25 moa of what I’m seeing.

 

[Fire_9]

I have been putting the height above zero I was hitting for sight height this whole time. . What a dork. lol. That puts my numbers within .25 moa of what I’m seeing.

That'll happen. Most of these calculators are pretty spot in when they're given good info. Garbage in = garbage out

 

[brockel]

Anyone had a rifle/scope setup that’s ballistics never match drop/moa? I have a 7mm with a vx 3 or 4 scope)can’t remember exactly which. I’ve shot 168 Bergers and now 160 accubonds. It’s always hit 1-2 moa higher than ballistics calculators say it should, especially from 300+ yards, with its speed, ballistic coefficient, etc. I verify it at all distances anyways so not that big of a deal. Just wondering if that happens very often for others. Ive never had a custom cds dial so it makes me kind of question how accurate they actually are.

Have you sighted in at 100 yards and then dialed for a certain distance and then shot it at 100 yards again to see if the bullet is hitting the height it is suppose to for that distance you dialed? Wouldn’t be the first Leupold that adjusts more than it should

 

[huntin24/7]

Have you sighted in at 100 yards and then dialed for a certain distance and then shot it at 100 yards again to see if the bullet is hitting the height it is suppose to for that distance you dialed? Wouldn’t be the first Leupold that adjusts more than it should

I was going to check that the next time I get out. Traditionally it has tracked pretty well for a leupold. I wish my budget could afford a step up.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I have been putting the height above zero I was hitting for sight height this whole time. . What a dork. lol. That puts my numbers within .25 moa of what I’m seeing.

Glad ya got it squared away.

The one thing i've seen the hornady app get wonky with is aerodynamic jump (AJ -wind direction impacting elevation dope). AJ is a real thing but some calculators way over represent it. Turn wind to zero to get true drop data without AJ tweaking it.

For illustration - switch wind direction between 3 0 clock and 9 o clock and watch the elevation correction output change.