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Without exception,Barnes and virtually every other bullet manufacturer overstate ballistic coefficients.In fact, the ONLY way to know the real BC is to fire a round over two chronos and measure the time of flight.

Rick Jamison popularized this approach in numerous articles.He found that most BCs were way overstated...sometimes by up to 40%.Barnes was one of the worst offenders.

I asked Randy Barnes about this at SCI once.He smiled and said" well, we have to stay competitive!"

Additionally, true BC will vary based on MV (it's not a constant factor at all speeds)...altitude...and atmospheric conditions.Those factors alone could easily cause a miss at 500 yards on anything smaller than a Jumbo.

Bottom line:If you can get a perfect zero at 200...if your group size is small enough to not cause major fluctuations in mid point trajectory...and if you can find a measured 500 yard shooting area, you will know the drop of that particular load and bullet.

From there, you can go to established drop tables and interpolate the approximate BC.I'll eat one of the 350Xs without ketchup if it even approximates .531.

Message Thread:

• need a bullet drop for this load...! BRWNBR Apr 26 2006
  • more trajectories George Apr 30 2006
  • BC optimism vs reality Rick Smith Apr 27 2006
  • drop at 500 George Apr 27 2006
    • 500 yard drop 7STW Apr 27 2006
    • 500 yard drop 7STW Apr 27 2006