Range Report Comparable Trajectories Question.

[HappyLizard]

I'm new to shooting much beyond 100 yards (yes, I'm one of those unfortunate bastards who doesn't have a range nearby... nor one that doesn't charge a thousand a year to shoot past 100 yards), but now that I've had the opportunity, I'm hooked.

I'm curious about a few questions. First, when comparing bullets to see if they will have similar trajectories in different calibers (like the .243 compared to the .300 Win Mag), do I need to take much into account aside from ballistic coefficient?

I'm interested in eventually moving up to shooting .300WM, but am not really keen on having to replace the barrels of a .243 every 1500-2000 rounds. I know that GAP has apparently had luck on extending .243 barrel life to around 3k rounds with slow burning powders... but am curious if there is an easier way to achieve my goal. I understand I can shoot .22LR at 200 yards to simulate .308 thousand yard shots. This is convenient because it's cheap and I doubt I'll ever erode or shoot out a .22 barrel.

I'm most interested in something akin to a .243 instead of a .270 because the extremely light recoil could help me concentrate more on my marksmanship without risking developing a flinch, as well as being slighter cheaper to handload, and having the connotations of being more accurate due to projectile selection.

 

[Rafael]

Re: Comparable Trajectories Question.

BC, weight, and velocity are all you need to know to compare them against each other.

To get velocities, try reloading manuals.
One good source is the Hodgdon Annual Manual, and annual magazine-form guide put out by Hodgdon.
If you have the funds, by a copy of Quickload from NECO.
This program will allow you to run what-if calculations on just about any bullet/chambering combination and comes with Quicktarget which is thier exterior ballistics program.