Scope not tracking or something else?

[huntoregon]

One other thing I should have added previously, I have always shot factory Hornady Eld-X ammo until recently I decided to try and reload. The factory ammo when used with the same rangefinder and Kestrel solutions shoots lights out. I used the same sight height I always have. This gun and scope have always worked great until I started reloading lol. I just have a hard time believing the BC or velocity are that far off.

You guys are coming up with 11.05 MOA I dialed 11.25. So not even 1/4 difference but I'm missing by 2.5-3 MOA.

 

[WA Coyote]

It would be interesting to see if it is indeed still sighted in exactly at 100 yards. The Wandering Leupold zero is also a real thing.

What was the dope at 625 for the factory ammo?

 

[huntoregon]

It would be interesting to see if it is indeed still sighted in exactly at 100 yards. The Wandering Leupold zero is also a real thing.

What was the dope at 625 for the factory ammo?

It's roughly .25 MOA more on the factory ammo

 

[Eagleman Long Range]

One other thing I should have added previously, I have always shot factory Hornady Eld-X ammo until recently I decided to try and reload. The factory ammo when used with the same rangefinder and Kestrel solutions shoots lights out. I used the same sight height I always have. This gun and scope have always worked great until I started reloading lol. I just have a hard time believing the BC or velocity are that far off.

You guys are coming up with 11.05 MOA I dialed 11.25. So not even 1/4 difference but I'm missing by 2.5-3 MOA.

Give me a call I can help you figure it out

 

[WA Coyote]

Velocity on the new hand loads is 2960, what is it on the factory loads (over the same chrony)?

 

[ShtrRdy]

Man, you're getting a lot of 'help' on this. If you don't mind another possibility. Is it possible the 6:00 wind could be causing an updraft in the path of the bullet? Is there a terrain feature in the landscape that could cause the wind to flow upward?

I assume you entered to uphill angle you are shooting?. If not that could cause a high impact.

 

[Rob01]

I'm using Applied Ballistics in the Kestrel? Not sure what you meant.

My second paragraph was to the guy thinking you can get dope on everything. You can't.

 

[LRNut]

Using all your inputs, I came up with just about the same numbers as Lance.

Interestingly enough, moving the wind from 9:00 to 6:00 reduced the necessary correction by .2-.3 MOA.

A change from my sight height from 1.6" to 1.9 " created another .2-.3 MOA delta.

Altitude and Pressure are not the same thing. The pressure can vary by a couple inHg at the same location. Tinkering with it based on altitude, there's about another .1-.2 MOA variance depending on station pressure.

Changing the BC by +/- .025 also has a .2-.3 MOA delta at 625 yards.

Little error in velocity
+
Little error in BC
+
Little error in pressure (inHg)
+
Little error in wind
+
Little error in shooting angle
+
Little error in sight height
=
Easy 2 MOA error in shooting solution.

That doesn't even account for the potential tracking issues with the Leupold.

Six errors of .2 MOA add up to 1.2, but the odds of all six resulting in the same vertical deviation is less than 2%.

Like others have said, try a different scope or run a tall target test.

 

[WA Coyote]

It was a generalization to show how quickly a couple of small errors can add up.

If you bothered to read the thread, I've been dubious of the Leupold from my original post. I'm also dubious of the info being fed into the ballistic ap… particularly since there were no issues with the previous load.

I get it though…. tough to figure all this stuff out from the couch.

 

[huntoregon]

Velocity on the new hand loads is 2960, what is it on the factory loads (over the same chrony)?

2908 but that was on Magneto Speed. New stuff is over Garmin

 

[LRNut]

It was a generalization to show how quickly a couple of small errors can add up.

If you bothered to read the thread, I've been dubious of the Leupold from my original post. I'm also dubious of the info being fed into the ballistic ap… particularly since there were no issues with the previous load.

I get it though…. tough to figure all this stuff out from the couch.

I assume this was directed at me. I have had read the entire thread, but only after I got back from some long range practice this morning.

 

[WA Coyote]

With only .25 MOA delta between the dope for the factory loads, and the predicted solution for the new load…. but a 2-3 MOA delta in reality…. my money is now on the scope.

I'd shoot the old load, with the old dope, and see if it still makes hits. If it does…. then IDKWTF.

If it too is running high, then your scope is probably tits-up. Seems like a simple test.

 

[Mike D Texas]

And it is far too much to require you to "true" the BC

I should have clarified; only mechanical.

 

[Teri Anne]

I'm not sure. I shot a PRS style match last year with a loaner rifle, I shot 10 rounds through it before the match started. With those 10 rounds I got an average velocity of the factory ammo I was using and I got it zeroed. I plugged in the data into my Kestrel, I used the AB Custom Curve. I was making first round impacts out to past 1000 yards. Applied Ballistics is a computer program, no doubt about that. It's also one of the most advanced ballistics programs, using data from tools that we just don't have access to. I put a new rifle together this spring, loaded some ammo, found a load that was shooting well. I had about 150 rounds down the barrel when I went to shoot in a match. I had a velocity. I'd shot out to 750 yards previously and was making impacts. At the match I was making hits past 1000 yards once again using the data from the Kestrel. It's clearly a very good program.

I didn't say it wasn't a good program, all I said is that if the performance isn't exactly what the Kestrel tells you it should be don't be upset and for sure don't go looking for ghosts that don't exist in your equipment. If you do, back in 1966 there was a song by Napoleon XIV titled, "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! (https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=song,+they+are+coming+to+take+me+away) that will describe your conundrum. Instead of a dog, it will be your rifle.

I'm not sure. I shot a PRS style match last year with a loaner rifle, I shot 10 rounds through it before the match started. With those 10 rounds I got an average velocity of the factory ammo I was using and I got it zeroed. I plugged in the data into my Kestrel, I used the AB Custom Curve. I was making first round impacts out to past 1000 yards. Applied Ballistics is a computer program, no doubt about that. It's also one of the most advanced ballistics programs, using data from tools that we just don't have access to. I put a new rifle together this spring, loaded some ammo, found a load that was shooting well. I had about 150 rounds down the barrel when I went to shoot in a match. I had a velocity. I'd shot out to 750 yards previously and was making impacts. At the match I was making hits past 1000 yards once again using the data from the Kestrel. It's clearly a very good program.

I never said that it wasn't a good program, just that it is not an absolute. No two rifles shoot the same, no two cartridges are the same. weather conditions are never the same and may vary during the course of a match. As mentioned I have shot 1000 yard matches where the winds are diametrically opposed as the bullet transverses from rifle to target. The point I was trying to make is that a Kestrel, or any other ballistic program is simply an approximation of what artificial intelligence says should happen, not what will actually happen. Don't try to figure out why your rifle and ammo is not exactly following the AI solution on any given day. If you try to make your firearm/ammo/equipment follow the Kestrel religiously then you are going to find yourself in a situation like in the song, "They Are Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa." [https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=song,+they+are+coming+to+take+me+away] sung by Napoleon XIV. It will be your rifle and artificial intelligence (key word here, "Artificial.) that will drive you crazy and need to have the men in white coats take you away.