EricW Posted October 21, 2005 Share Posted October 21, 2005 JBM's Online Ballistics Program I've been using this to work up trajectory cards for my rifle - a looong overdue project. I did a sanity check against Sierra's published data and they're in pretty close agreement. The software was produced by Robert Mc Coy of the Army Ballistics Lab so at least that gives one some warm fuzzies. Super easy to use. And FAST! It's very easy to copy and paste into excel and get a nice result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted October 29, 2005 Author Share Posted October 29, 2005 (edited) OK, here's this evening's project: Trajectory Card in Excel (Right click on the link and select "save as" to download the file onto yer 'puter. I set up my Trajectory card so that I could do a copy and paste from the JBM site into four pages of an Excel spreadsheet. This automatically barfs out a traj. card with drop, windage, and leads in MOA and inches. You have to run 4 sets of calculations in JBM and copy and paste the entire page. The worksheet titles should make it obvious how it works. There's also a short table for slope angle correction with the traditional multipliers and my system of % subtraction. I find it easier to mentally subtract %s than long multiplication on a napkin. We'll see if I'm right out in the field. I'm hoping my Silva compass's clinometer will suffice for a field-expedient angle tool. I set my card up so that the ranges from 0 to 400 are in 25 yard increments for increased interpolation accuracy for precision events. After 400, I let it be in 50 yard increments. No clue if that's right or wrong, but that's what I'm doing. 25 yd increments for the whole thing just made it too hard to read. The back side of the card is going to have an image of my reticle with dimensions in MOA. I won't bother posting that since I'm probably one of six people on the planet my my brand of reticle. The goal is to end up with a little spiral book of trajectory cards that will sit on the rifle in a stock pack for each type of ammo I use. (The Hornady 168 gr. A-Max is looking interesting.) Maybe this will help someone else...maybe not. Will this do a damn thing for me at a match? Who knows.... Edited November 16, 2005 by EricW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBurkett Posted November 8, 2005 Share Posted November 8, 2005 Eric, You are going to want both a static or hardcopy for the local conditions and loads along with a palm proggie to take into account varying conditions - especially temp changes. Call me sometime and I will get you going in the right direction. Take care, Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paule Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 One reason I switched to a Treo650 phone was so that i could run my ATRAG2 chip on it. No more separate Palm Pilot for bal-comps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn jones Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 One reason I switched to a Treo650 phone was so that i could run my ATRAG2 chip on it. No more separate Palm Pilot for bal-comps. paul has all the best toys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGDM Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 Just what we need...another electronic gadget to drag to the battlefield. Oh, and batteries too. Get you a Mildot Master, a mildot scope, some bullet dope, and head to the range. It a'int rocket science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 Nobody mentioned a battlefield. The second post mentioned a match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outerlimits Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 Nobody mentioned a battlefield. The second post mentioned a match. +1 erik. when i got my M-16 during nam, they gave me a nail with it, and that's it. had to adjust that pathetic front sight. glad we had the option of the M-14 at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 when i got my M-16 during nam, they gave me a nail with it, and that's it Because they didn't trust you with the proper tool, a 5.56mm cartridge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGDM Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 Mr. Warren, There are a few of us that do compete in shooting events to keep the edge honed in preparation to conduct combat operations on the battlefield. We continue to develop our craft and gain the edge. Thank a Vet on the 11th hour of the 11th day on the 11th month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 Then there are those of us who like to keep our edge honed in case of Zombie attack. Everyone knows that precise upper A/B hits are best when dealing with the undead. This skill set requires mucho practice to maintain and even though it is past Halloween, I'm not lettin' up ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paule Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 A ballistic computer will not range for you, to be sure. But a mildot master won't tell you the exact dope for your rifle and load in changing conditions. I guess you could carry a notebook with reams of dope for every combination of altitude, temperature, pressure and humidity, but I prefer an electronic solution for that part. Like any calculation, the more data the better the answer. so I record data throughout the year(s) so I have various temps, altitudes, etc. stored for a given load/rifle. Makes it easy to get very accurate dope for a given set of conditions, once you know the range. When I spend thousands of dollars to get to a faraway place, then hike for days to get one shot at a (for me) trophy animal, I want that one shot to go where I intend. Shame on me if I don't do everything I can to ensure that outcome. Having the best tools I can get and learning how to use them works for me. I use 3-Gun as an opportunity to use all the tools I have to stay familiar with them. For example, on our last elk hunt we covered an area with over 4500 ft. of elevation change and encountered temperatures ranging from 8-68 degrees (Farenheit). I was lucky enough to get a shot that was only 225 yards. My partner killed a 6x7 bull at 660 yards. We were very comfortable with our calcs and took the shot. Would not have tried it without good data. Not saying this is for everyone, and Erik's plan for trajectory cards is a good one, especially when you can get a 10-day forecast from weather.com and predict range conditions for an upcoming match. I also have Ballisticards for most of my rifles (from Schwiebert Precision). In fact, what I recommend for a complete kit is: Ballisticards - scope dope Mildot Master - all purpose field ranging Slope Doper - up/downhill corrections or... Angle Cosine Indicator - (faster but pricey) Laser range finder - faster than mildot master for many situations ATRAG2 - current conditions scope dope Kestrel 4000 wind meter - all atmospheric conditions Necessary for many? Nope. But lots of good shooters in the Afghan mountains have been using all of this stuff since 2002, with good success. God bless them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outerlimits Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 when i got my M-16 during nam, they gave me a nail with it, and that's it Because they didn't trust you with the proper tool, a 5.56mm cartridge? no, erik. that 5.56 cartridge is to be used the conventional way-marines take care of their ammo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atek3 Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Then there are those of us who like to keep our edge honed in case of Zombie attack. Everyone knows that precise upper A/B hits are best when dealing with the undead. This skill set requires mucho practice to maintain and even though it is past Halloween, I'm not lettin' up ;-) Lol... What you said. Granted it's still good to know how to use the old fashioned stuff in case the go faster gadgets break. atek3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McNeil Posted December 28, 2006 Share Posted December 28, 2006 I purchases the Horus software and I have a Horus Reticle. The coolest thing is that the software will work in older palm Pilots that are available on Ebay for $15.00. Thats right, I got a new in box, old Palm m500 for 15.00 and the software comes on a card to go into the expansion slot. I can't even get a box of .308 heads anywhere for 15.00. -Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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