Rem,
Don;t get to hung up on bullet drop. It is an important area to look at but only one. More importantly to me is wind drift. IF you look at that area, the 350 handily beats the 300 gr SMK past 1500 yards. My purpose for this rifle will be shooting from 1500 to possibly as far as 2 miles so the advantage just continues to grow for the 350 gr ULD RBBT at longer ranges.
For ranges under 1500 yards, there really is no benefit to the 350 gr bullet as far as drop and drift are concerned, but again there are other areas of performance that need to be considered. Momentum, energy, penetration, all of these are factors we need to figure with these bullets.
Remember what the SMK is, a match bullet. Yes it performs well on big game simply from shear bullet weight and high SD but it is what it is, a relatively thin jacketed match bullet. Drive it to 3500 fps and hit a bull elk in the shoulder at 500 yards if the chance arose and there may be issues.
Hammer that same elk with a 350 gr ULD RBBT Wildcat Bullet at even 50 yards and you will not have a problem at its 3200 fps. Its a stout bullet in comparision so there are advantages for both designs. The good news is that the 338 AM and 338 Sniper Tac, when fitted with the proper twist barrel will work great with both bullets offering even more range of performance.
As far as predicting BC. I generally just use the G1 factor to get an estimated drop chart and then hit the range and see what really happens when bullets get in the air over real distances. Then tweak the ballistic chart to match actual bullet flight.
Just a couple other numbers that may be of interest here comparing a 300 gr SMK at 3500 fps to a 350 gr ULD RBBT at 3200 fps.
At 2000 yards
retained velocity
1410 fps vs. 1434 fps
Inspite of the 300 fps advantage at the muzzle, the pokie 350 gr pill is actually faster. Now with that in mind, remember its 50 grains heavier in bullet weight.....
2000 yard energy numbers
1324 ft/lbs vs. 1598 ft/lbs
May not seem like alot but remember that velocity and energy are the two factors that work together to make a bullet perform on target. They do not determine killing power on game but they do effect how a bullet performs terminally.
Also lets look at teh Taylor KO value for each.
2000 yards TKO value:
20.4 vs. 24.2
Thats nearly 25% more for the 350 gr pill.
Simply put, the farther you shoot, the better the 350 gr ULD RBBT will perform compared to the 300 gr SMK. I think we can all say they are both extremely potent at all ranges.
To be fair also, we have just started testing the 350 gr ULD RBBT at these velocities. We may very well be able to get more FPS out of this bullet yet. IF we can get 3300 fps that really starts to change things in this comparision.
For example, if we are looking at 2 mile shooting, thats 3520 yards, that extra 100 fps is huge with this bullet if we can get it. You hear all the time that 100 fps will not make any difference, well look at these numbers. All for the 350 gr ULD RBBT, one at 3200 fps and the other at 3300 fps.
Velocity and energy really do not change much, in that regards the comments are correct but lets look at Time Of Flight at 3520 yards:
6.976 sec vs. 6.774 sec
Again, does not seem like alot but it is espeically when you consider the 300
gr@3500 fps has a TOF of 7.04 at that same range!!!
Even more dramatic is bullet drop at 2 miles:
-6500" vs. -6105"
Thats 400" less drop, over 33 FEET less drop at this range by simply adding 100 fps to the muzzle velocity.
Also, wind drift drops
647" vs 629"
Only 18" and many would say that is insignificant at that range but when your pushing the envelope that hard, every inch counts.
We will simply have to see how these bullets drop out of super sonic velocity to see if they will be consistant enough at these ranges. Time will tell.
Good Shooting!!
Kirby Allen(50)
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