BC - If the Same for Different Cartridge= Minimal Zero Change?

[Kabulpostie]

Hi There,
My question is related to changing from one cartridge to another. My situation is that I will be attending a multiple day shooting course and the very next day going on a bear hunt. For the course I am using Federal GM HPBT168 Gr. .308. If I can find a hunting cartridge that has the same BC and similar weight can I expect to have minimal change in zero? The furthest shot would be 450 yds if I am comfortable with that. I know the ideal answer would be to shoot both, but I don't want to run through $50-$70 boxes of hunting ammo.
Thank you for any info or even hunting ammo recommendations.

Cameron

 

[Partsunavailable]

Change in zero or change in dope at distance? I'd verify my zero at 100 with the hunting ammo. It only takes one round. And if you shoot another round at 400, you could verify the difference in drop at distance. You don't have to take the whole class with the hunting ammo, but you can't blindly switch to different ammo and expect the results to be the same. However, my guess is that with similar weight, muzzle velocity, and bc, your results will be close enough at that distance.

 

[Steel head]

Matching BC’s will not ensure similarly zeros, that’s mostly luck.
If you have a ballistic solver like a kestrel just use offsets for the second load.

 

[lash]

If you can’t spare 1-3 rounds to check zero with your expensive hunting rounds, then you need to rethink something.

 

[Kabulpostie]

Thanks for the responses. I guess didn't think this through fully. Even I matched BC and weight different powder loads would make a difference. So I guess, I'll get a good quality hunting round and at the end of class take some shots and plug into strelock and make adjustments.

 

[ma smith]

IIRC the 100yd zero can still be impacted by velocity and bbl harmonics.

 

[Lunar95]

Your zero could potentially change, dope at range would definitely change, BC, while a main factor, is not the only in ballistic calculation. Things that could potentialy change with a new bullet like grain, and muzzel velocity will also have a large impact. Other minor factors like size and company acceptable variances' could also have an affect.