I'm going to be hunting in very different conditions than I will be developing my loads and practicing. How much do these variables matter at max range?
TLDR - Not much.
The load will be 6.5 Creedmoor - N555 powder and 143 gr ELD-X bullets
In the picture you see a measured plot of the impacts if I use the dope for my home conditions (Labeled as A) in different conditions out at 400 yards (a long shot in the field). I wanted to see how much each variable changed my point of impact (POI). The circle is 4" (just under a minute at 400 yards) and represents the best case scenario for my precision in perfect conditions. This means anything inside the circle is a smaller variable than I am.
My next study will be on how these changes impact wind calls.
Below are the conditions each letter represents and an explanation of why I chose them.
A – 2550 FPS; 59 F; 300’
This is fairly representative of my load development and practice environment.
B – 2550 FPS; 59F; 3750’
This is roughly the elevation I will be hunting at. It will probably be substantially colder when I hunt there but I'm testing extremes.
C – 2550 FPS; 10F; 3750’
This is both the elevation and the coldest it will likely get on my hunt. Interestingly, the cold cuts the error from the elevation change in half.
D – 2450 FPS; 10F; 3750’
Then I wondered how different the drop would be if the cold took a lot of steam out of my muzzle velocity so I dropped the MV by 100 FPS and this didn't even drop my POI 4 inches at 400 yards!
I'm using N555 powder which is supposed to be very temperature stable so I think this is much more than I should expect. Let me know if you have any firsthand knowledge (or second or thirdhand for that matter) about this.
#creedmoor #hunting #handloading #reloading #loaddevelopment #loaddev
#grownostr #plebchain
