New to long range hunting/shooting questions

[Drummer1818]

Hey everyone I am extremely new to long range shooting/hunting. I just recently bought a savage .338 Lapua mag 110 BA stealth and I have a few questions. Some of these questions may seem really stupid but like I said I am brand new to to this, take it easy on me.

1: when I've done some research I have seen many ballistics charts for long range. In these charts I have seen numbers such as -1.2,-3.8,-6.1 etc. I do understand that these are the numbers I am indexing into my scope. ( I am using mrad) my question is the -(negative) part giving me the drop the bullet will experience or is it telling me I need to index down 1.2 mrad in my scope?

1a: so for longer ranges am I going up in my scope or am I going down?

2: what is the best belistics software for making these data tables?

3: What is the best wind and weather meter that is affordable?

4: what is the best all around bullet for deer at 300 meters or elk at 1000 meters

5: Is there anywhere to buy unused .338 lapua namebrand brass (all of my local stores and midwayusa are back ordered)

Thank you so much!

 

[Canhunter35]

Minus mrad means you're dropping that much. So you dial 'up' that much on your turret.

Jbm ballistics for free ballistic tables

Kestrel 4500 with applied ballistics or else the kestrel elite with applied ballistics

I like eldx/eldm bullets for long range but a lot ppl also use Berger bullets

No idea where to find brass

 

[Canhunter35]

Invest in a long range training DVD. I recommend accuracy 1st. It's money well spent

 

[ShtrRdy]

When i've seen negative nummbers it usually refers to the bullet drop in inches. Then there's a separate column for the adjustment to make in mils or moa.

I use a older Kestrel 4500 without a ballistic solver and then use a ballistic app on my phone. The app is called Shooter but there are several good ones available.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Buy a .260 or .308. Shoot...a lot. You can shoot almost 10x with these for the same cost as the .338LM.
Ask a lot of questions.
1. Dialing up means reticle goes down, meaning muzzle of rifle goes up, means aiming higher to compensate for drop of bullet.
2. I use Shooter on my phone. JBM ballistics on my computer to make printable drop charts. But when conditions like temp, elevation, barometric pressure, humidity, shooting angle up or down, etc. change, so do your drops.
3. I use a Kestral 4500 w. Applied Ballistics
4. I am a fan of 1 load for your rifle for all hunting uses. In .338LM, I think a Berger 300 Elite Hunter, Berger 300 OTM Tactical, Sierra 300 Match King would be what I would shoot.
5. No clue. Scour the web.

 

[Drummer1818]

Thanks for taking the time to help me out guys!

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Welcome to the addiction!

Steve

 

[Rich Coyle]

tag

 

[Prieto9000]

2: what is the best belistics software for making these data tables?

I use Ballistic: Advanced Edition on my iphone. Great app super user friendly but for some reason It´s presenting some bugs since apple changed to IOS 11 on my iPhone 6s. iPhone 5s works just fine.
I also downloaded Applied Ballistics Mobile App. It´s fine, but it´s more expensive and it lacks a couple nice features you find in the other one and doesn't really offer anything extra or more valuable for the extra money. The only thing I like better form this one is that you create Rifle profiles and then you create projectile profiles for that given rifle. It lets you organize better IMO. You can´t do that on Ballistic AE.

In the end I prefer to sacrifice nice organization but have awesome ballistic comparison charts and a faster HUD.You have super crappy ballistic graphs and the HUD is a PITA for the Applied ballistics Mobile App

3: What is the best wind and weather meter that is affordable?

I bought mine here. It´s a great wind meter if you are willing to run your ballistic calculations on a separate device. If you want a whole package you´ll need the kestrel.
https://www.longrangehunting.com/store/weatherhawk-sm-28-skymaster-weather-meter.html

4: what is the best all around bullet for deer at 300 meters or elk at 1000 meters

I use 300gr Bergers on my .338 EDGE which performs almost exactly as your Lapua with great success. Killed a lot of deer with it at different ranges.

 

[WildRose]

Buy a .260 or .308. Shoot...a lot. You can shoot almost 10x with these for the same cost as the .338LM.
Ask a lot of questions.
1. Dialing up means reticle goes down, meaning muzzle of rifle goes up, means aiming higher to compensate for drop of bullet.
2. I use Shooter on my phone. JBM ballistics on my computer to make printable drop charts. But when conditions like temp, elevation, barometric pressure, humidity, shooting angle up or down, etc. change, so do your drops.
3. I use a Kestral 4500 w. Applied Ballistics
4. I am a fan of 1 load for your rifle for all hunting uses. In .338LM, I think a Berger 300 Elite Hunter, Berger 300 OTM Tactical, Sierra 300 Match King would be what I would shoot.
5. No clue. Scour the web.

Great advice here.

 

[stwcattle]

Buy a .260 or .308. Shoot...a lot. You can shoot almost 10x with these for the same cost as the .338LM.

Agree. A RPR in 6.5 creed is a good starter rifle in long range shooting