Re: Horus-Kestrel Weather Tracker/Ballistic Clculator
Man, I hate getting to this thread so late, but, here goes...
To say the kestrel combo is not up to par as a ballistic device is laughable. I have had mine for about a year now and it is all I use. It was good for a top 15 place at the snipers hide cup, with a first round hit at the 1250 yd target. Forgetting to dial my scope twice cost me a top 10 in the match, but I am still very happy with its performance.
Batter life is good. I have replaced batteries once over this past year and that is only because it was down to 40% and I didnt want to chance it in a big match. I also keep a extra set of AAA in my pack. Easy peezy.
The small package, and the ability to have kestel/ballistics in one useable package is very nice. Yes the small screen seems a little cramping, it actually shows all that is necessary.
This thing has more functions than I ever use. You can capture wind, direction of wind, inclination and apply instantly to your hold, or just go with a std value. I leave mine set at full and half value wind 99% of the time. SO my main screen shows my elev, as well as both wind values. Just under that, I enter the yardage. On stages with up to 6 or so targets, I will just reenter yardages after each shot. On stages with more than that, I will just write my solutions down. If that is not fast enough for you, you can just go to the range card data page and get a quick easy reference page with increments in any amt you want from 10-100 yds. That is very useful...
Like a fellow mentioned earlier, I referenced Litz's book and enter the BC in steps. I then checked it with my pda using g7 and was within .1 mil all the way to 1500 yds. The furthest I have ever shot in a match is 1400 yards and my elev was right on. reading wind on the other had is another story...ha
I also like being able to have multiple rifles in the data memory. It comes with a std set of rifles from 223 up to 338, then you can add your own on top of that. I even added my colt 45 just for fun. very easy to switch between rifles as well.
and of course you get all the useful std features of the kestrel, but I think i only ever check DA and temp and wind speed.
if anyone tries to tell you this device is just OK for recreational shooting, has either never tried this decvice, or is selling you something else. And that something else prob cost over 3 times as much.
Regards,
DT