Ballistics, yet another 204 ?

thePiedPiper

thePiedPiper

New member
To all you who enjoy ballistics, and figuring stuff out, and who have a program to do it. I will be shooting a 22" bbl Handi, with 32gr hornady v-max factory ammo. where should I site the gun in at? I was thinking a zero at 250 yards would be nice, but I want to here your expert opinions on this. Thanks, Dan

Oh yeah, here is the ballistics info for the load form hornady's page.

204 RUGER 32 GR V-MAX 83204

Velocity (fps) / Energy (ft-lbs)
Muzzle 100 yd 200 yd 300 yd 400 yd 500 yd
4225/1268 3645/944 3137/699 2683/512 2272/367 1899/256

Trajectory (inches)
Muzzle 100 yd 200 yd 300 yd 400 yd 500 yd
-1.5 0.6 0.00 -4.1 -13.1 -29.0
thanks, DAN
 
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Dan I know a couple of guys that have .204's they fall short of those advertised velocities using 26" bbls. I know your not going to see them shooting a 22" bbl. But it should be a fun rifle enjoy.
 
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I'd sight it in for a max. ordinate of no higher than about 1.5" above line of sight. Then u can calculate the point blank range, and apply trajectory compensation beyond.
 
204 ruger barrel length speed test. Jay, thanks for your opinion, but their still shooting over 4000 ft, even at the 22" mark. in fact, citing the link, anything over or under the 23" mark loses velocity. That info by no means eliminated the .204 as a very accurate, reliable coyote killer, even at longer distances. Almost all of the people I have talked to who own this gun, rave about it. and at $197, it is hard to beat, especially when you consider that I will camo the gun as soon as I get it.

sscoyote, could you explain this better? How do I do that?thanks.

Anybody else have an idea about where bst to sight in at 100 yards? thanks, Dan
 
JBM Trajectory
Input Data
Muzzle Velocity: 4000.0 ft/s Chronograph Distance: 10.00 ft
Ballistic Coefficient: 0.210 G1 Bullet Weight: 32.00 gr
Sight Height: 1.50 in Sight Offset: 0.00 in
Zero Height: 0.00 in Zero Offset: 0.00 in
Wind Speed: 10.0 mph Wind Angle: 90.0 deg
Target Speed: 10.0 mph Target Angle: 90.0 deg
Line of Sight Angle: 0.0 deg Cant Angle: 0.0 deg
Temperature: 59.0 °F Pressure: 29.92 in Hg
Relative Humidity: 0.0 % Altitude: 1500.0 ft
Vital Zone Radius: 5.0 in
Calculated Parameters
Elevation: 3.23 MOA Azimuth: 0.00 MOA
Atmospheric Density: 0.07242 lbs/ft³ Speed of Sound: 1116.5 ft/s
Maximum PBR: 405 yds Maximum PBR Zero: 350 yds
Range at Max Height: 202 yds

Calculated Table
Range Drop Drop Windage Windage Velocity Mach Energy Time Lead Lead
(yds) (in) (MOA) (in) (MOA) (ft/s) (none) (ft-lbs) (s) (in) (MOA)
0.0 -1.5 *** 0.0 *** 4019.0 3.600 1147.5 0.000 0.0 ***
100.0 0.7 0.7 1.0 0.9 3484.1 3.121 862.4 0.080 14.1 13.5
200.0 -0.0 -0.0 4.2 2.0 3011.0 2.697 644.1 0.173 30.4 14.5
300.0 -4.6 -1.5 9.9 3.2 2585.4 2.316 474.9 0.280 49.4 15.7
400.0 -14.4 -3.4 19.0 4.5 2197.5 1.968 343.1 0.406 71.5 17.1
500.0 -31.5 -6.0 32.1 6.1 1844.9 1.652 241.8 0.555 97.7 18.7
600.0 -58.9 -9.4 50.3 8.0 1533.7 1.374 167.1 0.734 129.2 20.6
700.0 -101.2 -13.8 75.0 10.2 1277.7 1.144 116.0 0.949 167.0 22.8
800.0 -165.0 -19.7 106.7 12.7 1096.5 0.982 85.4 1.203 211.8 25.3
900.0 -257.6 -27.3 144.6 15.3 985.2 0.882 69.0 1.493 262.8 27.9
1000.0 -386.0 -36.9 187.4 17.9 908.5 0.814 58.6 1.811 318.8 30.4

Created at 29 Dec 2005 15:59:27 using PMLib from JBM
 
thanks for the link, got that one listed above. Thanks for the help.

Crow sniper, wow! looks good. Am I interpreting it right? At 100 yards sight my gun it at .7 inches high? then, at 400 hold a foot over their back? neat stuff.

I have been a traditional bow hunting fantatic for my whole life. I have killed a bunch of coyotes with a 30-06. and a hundred yotes or so with a shotgun, but I usually have let my partners shoot the longer dogs. Well, my partners have been coming up empty lately, and the hired gun is moving. So, time to get my own coyote gun. I really like the .204. I only tell you all this to let you know this to say that I am still learning all the technical jibber jabber, though I would consider myself alot less ignorant then most guys in the woods when it comes to firearms. that being said, What would happen, using the above data, if I sighted in at 1 inch high, at 100 yards. Or oif the temp was zero, as is usually the case? thanks for all the help guys, Dan
 
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According to Sniper's data it looks like u're probably gonna be about 1.2" high or so around the 150 yd. mark if u sight in for a 200 yd. zero. It also means u'll be about 1.5" low about 250 yds. or so. This is a conservative maximum point blank range, which means that if a standing coyote is within that range all u need to do is aim dead center in his chest, and the bullet will hit him out to 250 most if not all of the time, assuming a coyotes vital chest area measures about 5" or so.

That cartridge/load probably has 400 yd. potential when the wind's not blowing hard. Now at 400 his data says u're 14.4" low from line of sight. The question is how would u reference that in the scope?? There r several ways to do that. U can use the height of the dog's broadside chest (this time back-brisket) for a reference which is going to be somewhere between 10-12" or so. If u aim 1X the width of the dogs back u'll probably kill him, assuming u know he's 400 +/- away.

You can also use the crosshair or reticle for reference as well. That's the system i use for longer range shooting with ballistic reticles-- even simple plex reticle works well in this regard sometimes. If the plex post tip measures 14.4" low @ 400 yds. then it makes a great reference for those longer shots. Since most scope data is published in inches per hundred yards the 14.4 @ 400 yds. is 14.4/4= 3.6" per hundred yards (IPHY). Referencing my Leupold catalog, i see that the 6.5-20X VX-III Wide Duplex reticle measures 3.5 IPHY down to the lower post tip @ 20X. So when the coyote is out there at what u think is 400 yds. (lasers help a lot here of course) then crank the scope up to 20, aim at the lower post and u've got him. Now suppose he's 350 yds. away (u know this because you've lasered him) just standing there. But he's a very unlucky dog today because u're after him and u already know that the bullet drop is about 1/2 way beweeen 300 and 400 yds. @ 1.9 IPHY or so. Now 1.9 IPHY relates to 3.5 IPHY like this-- 1.9/3.5 = .5 Now crank the scope to 20X and aim .5 of the distance to the lower post tip, and u've got that 1 too. This is kind of a quick tactical lesson for long-range shooting that'll increase your percentage of 1st shot connections downrange immensely when time allows it to be applied. There r a number of systems, of which this is only one-- but i say why not put that cartridge's nice flat trajectory to work for u.?

I did just this last week on a coyote i called in to 250 yds, missed him with my XP-100 .17 Mach IV. He started loping away, and i went prone with the rig/bipod, and cranked the 4-12X Burris Compcat to 12X, and followed him. When he got to what i figured was 350 yds. i ki yi'd him to a stop, and put the lower post tip of the scope's plex reticle on his chect, and killed him. The lower post tip matches the trajectory of my load right at 350 yds. which is the limit of that cartridge's effectiveness on a coyote.
 
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Every other yr. down here in Pueblo, we put on a seminar called SHOTS (Specialty Handgun Outdoorsman's Tactical Seminar) at which we teach tactical scope applications for long-range shooting that includes downrange zeroing for horizontal as well as vertical trajectory, and reticle ranging systems that are all detailed in this on-line article, titled, "Tactical Ballistic and Ranging Reticle Analysis" right here, if u really wanna get into it--

www.ottllc.com/specialtypistols/sp20.pdf

The ballistics program that i apply most is Perry-Systems Exbal since it is the best practical program i've ever seen. Take a look at his Trajectory Validation Option he has there, that allows the user to recalculate trajectories based on actual drop at several ranges. THAT IS ONE OF THE MOST PRACTICAL SYSTEMS I'VE EVER SEEN FOR ZEROING BALLISTIC AND RANGING RETICLES THAT ARE APPLIED FOR TRAJECTORY COMPENSATION. BEST OUT THERE IMO, with the added benefit of being PDA downloadable. Right here--

www.perry-systems.com
 


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