Good info Zack! 
- Thread starter aaronk
- Start date
jbailey - at 1185 I did not miss the target so what the splashes look like on the ground I can not tell you but my target is a 14" square hung to look like a diamond. by one strap in the middle. that being said when you hit it at distance a center impact on the plate kind of "shakes" a little when you hit it and hit it "off center" either right or left and it tips left or right. as far as marks on the plate it leaves a quarter sized black mark on a painted white surface that you can see. I use a burris xtr-II 4-20 and I can see the marks on the plate that it leaves at 1185 pretty clear. once you get a lot of them on there it can be difficult. you are left to watch how the plate reacts to the impact.
my next step is to get them out to 1 mile. maybe in a couple weeks I will be at a match that the long targets are in the 1200 to 1310 yard range. I may use these on that stage to get a base and confirm a 9.2 mil drop at 1310 guessing depending on wind maybe a 9.3 mil drop and then after the match (same location) get them on steel at a mile a projected 16.5 to 16.6 mil drop.
my next step is to get them out to 1 mile. maybe in a couple weeks I will be at a match that the long targets are in the 1200 to 1310 yard range. I may use these on that stage to get a base and confirm a 9.2 mil drop at 1310 guessing depending on wind maybe a 9.3 mil drop and then after the match (same location) get them on steel at a mile a projected 16.5 to 16.6 mil drop.
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6.5 Creedmoor
WTO Match Chamber
Proof CF 1-8 @ 22”
Flatline 121gr
Lapua SRP
FGMM Small Rifle Primer
Varget
BTO 2.134
.07 jump
OAL 2.830
40.2 2937 FPS SD 5.9 2.5 group
40.4 2951 FPS SD 6 1.9 group
40.6 2963 FPS SD 4 .513 group
42.4 3121 FPS SD 2.6 1.5 group
42.6 3134 FPS SD 4.1 2.0 group slight ejector swipe.
I think if your going to run these successful in a 6.5 Creedmoor your going to need a short freebore. Out of my gun the were really finicky, probably due to the long jump.
WTO Match Chamber
Proof CF 1-8 @ 22”
Flatline 121gr
Lapua SRP
FGMM Small Rifle Primer
Varget
BTO 2.134
.07 jump
OAL 2.830
40.2 2937 FPS SD 5.9 2.5 group
40.4 2951 FPS SD 6 1.9 group
40.6 2963 FPS SD 4 .513 group
42.4 3121 FPS SD 2.6 1.5 group
42.6 3134 FPS SD 4.1 2.0 group slight ejector swipe.
I think if your going to run these successful in a 6.5 Creedmoor your going to need a short freebore. Out of my gun the were really finicky, probably due to the long jump.
I've been intrigued by the flatlines and other solids since reading Frank's original article on them a couple of years ago.
After a bunch of deliberating and research, and even going as far as buying some .30 cal flatlines, cutting edge and Badlands projo's for my .300NM, I don't think solids make any sense for calibers less than .375, for the stuff that we do.
I'm not very surprised at the results here. There are a lot of downsides to running solids, especially in smaller calibers:
- Requires a short freebore, which essentially limits your barrel to only shooting the solids that it was chambered for. Better hope it shoots.
- Some solids, such as the flatlines are not designed to transition, and thus don't do it well. Better push it as hard as possible to extend the supersonic boundary. The projo's that are designed to transition, such as the cutting edge Lazers, have really low BC's compared to their jacketed counterpart in the smaller calibers (.30 call and less).
- Reduced splash signature. If you can't see where you are missing, good luck correcting and getting hits.
- Expensive.
So you get high BC bullets that either don't transition well, or transition well but have a lower BC than their jacketed counterpart. All things considered, you don't gain much, if anything ballistically over their jacketed counterparts. Add in the specialized chamberings, reduced splash signature, and high costs, I can't find a way to justify them. I can't even bring myself to load up my expensive .30 cal solids (though I still will), as I know the results will be underwhelming, all things considered.
To seal the deal for me on jacketed bullets for smaller calibers, was seeing how effective jacketed bullets were at extended ranges out of my 6.5 creedmoor at an ELR course I took a few years ago, coincidentally a few days after Frank's original article on the 121 flatlines through his creedmoor. With factory 140 AMAX ammo, I got numerous first and second round hits on targets to ~1900 yards. Even connected at 2,200 yards.
With that said, perhaps I'll get a short freebore 1:8-1:6.5 gain twist barrel to push the .30 cal flatlines out of my .300NM at stupid speeds, for "research" and fun.
After a bunch of deliberating and research, and even going as far as buying some .30 cal flatlines, cutting edge and Badlands projo's for my .300NM, I don't think solids make any sense for calibers less than .375, for the stuff that we do.
I'm not very surprised at the results here. There are a lot of downsides to running solids, especially in smaller calibers:
- Requires a short freebore, which essentially limits your barrel to only shooting the solids that it was chambered for. Better hope it shoots.
- Some solids, such as the flatlines are not designed to transition, and thus don't do it well. Better push it as hard as possible to extend the supersonic boundary. The projo's that are designed to transition, such as the cutting edge Lazers, have really low BC's compared to their jacketed counterpart in the smaller calibers (.30 call and less).
- Reduced splash signature. If you can't see where you are missing, good luck correcting and getting hits.
- Expensive.
So you get high BC bullets that either don't transition well, or transition well but have a lower BC than their jacketed counterpart. All things considered, you don't gain much, if anything ballistically over their jacketed counterparts. Add in the specialized chamberings, reduced splash signature, and high costs, I can't find a way to justify them. I can't even bring myself to load up my expensive .30 cal solids (though I still will), as I know the results will be underwhelming, all things considered.
To seal the deal for me on jacketed bullets for smaller calibers, was seeing how effective jacketed bullets were at extended ranges out of my 6.5 creedmoor at an ELR course I took a few years ago, coincidentally a few days after Frank's original article on the 121 flatlines through his creedmoor. With factory 140 AMAX ammo, I got numerous first and second round hits on targets to ~1900 yards. Even connected at 2,200 yards.
With that said, perhaps I'll get a short freebore 1:8-1:6.5 gain twist barrel to push the .30 cal flatlines out of my .300NM at stupid speeds, for "research" and fun.
I tried these a while back with my old .260 barrel, and got pretty much shotgun results. But that was an older factory barrel with a long throat, so I thought I would give it another try with a new barrel. This is a 1:8 twist, 26" Bartlien barrel.
The flatlines were loaded with ~.020 jump, OAL ~ 2.92. Basically sea level elevation, temp around 80F.
Charge FPS SD MOA
(H4350)
42.5 2908 ? .41
43 2950 3.7 1.92
43.3 2973 7.1 1.56
43.6 2970 2.6 1.44
The nice initial group made me think I was on to something, but the following groups were poor. Since I shoot 140ELD-Ms at .5MOA at 2850fps in the same barrel, getting a good group at 2900fps doesn't provide any value. And the ELD-Ms don't spread out nearly as much if the charge goes up or down. There might be a good node at a higher velocity, but without I'm not inclined to push the pressure to find it. It's too bad, because the flatlines are a pleasure to load, very consistent in every way - other than hitting the target.
(For comparison, I shot the usual .5MOA with 140 ELD-Ms in the same session, and did also load development for 2 different bullets in a 6 Creedmoor in the same session where the groups ranged from .41MOA to .83MOA.)
The flatlines were loaded with ~.020 jump, OAL ~ 2.92. Basically sea level elevation, temp around 80F.
Charge FPS SD MOA
(H4350)
42.5 2908 ? .41
43 2950 3.7 1.92
43.3 2973 7.1 1.56
43.6 2970 2.6 1.44
The nice initial group made me think I was on to something, but the following groups were poor. Since I shoot 140ELD-Ms at .5MOA at 2850fps in the same barrel, getting a good group at 2900fps doesn't provide any value. And the ELD-Ms don't spread out nearly as much if the charge goes up or down. There might be a good node at a higher velocity, but without I'm not inclined to push the pressure to find it. It's too bad, because the flatlines are a pleasure to load, very consistent in every way - other than hitting the target.
(For comparison, I shot the usual .5MOA with 140 ELD-Ms in the same session, and did also load development for 2 different bullets in a 6 Creedmoor in the same session where the groups ranged from .41MOA to .83MOA.)
