XTR
F-TR obssessed shooting junkie
savageshooter86, I think you are missing the value of the bullets like the 185 or some of the heavier bullets that people shoot, but you are getting very close to understanding.
I plugged in your 2900 for the 168 and a reasonable value of 2780 for the 185 and I get a difference of .2MOA with a full value 10 MPH cross wind, but look at the other column, that is worth 2 ½ inches, that's half a ring. I think a more realistic value for many shooters though is the wind that is not a full value wind that is shifting variable in about a 5 MPH range (Raton excepted). So what we are talking about is about ½ inch. difference, and I don't know anyone who holds for ½ inch at 1000 yards.
These bullets do not make big differences in your score. You are not going from shooting low to mid 180s to low 190s just by switching bullets unless you were shooting something with a BC slightly higher than a marble. What the bullet buys you is maybe a beggar 10 on the line or an X that would have been a 10 once every match or two. What is that worth? Well, at the end of the day I won or lost at three if not 4 matches last yr on X count, if you take that to by one or two points then it's closer to six. That is one more point, or two more Xs over the course of 60 shots for record to win or lose the match.
If you are just starting just get out and shoot what you have. You can drive your self bats#!+ crazy chasing loads.
Shoot up your 168s if you have them, then think about what you want to shoot. The 185 is a great bullet, lots of people have used it to great effect in competition over the last few yrs.
Remember, if your rifle is not throated out with a freebore of about 150 or more (Dave Kiff's FTR reamer has a 168 freebore) you may have a problem getting the velocity numbers you are reading on the web out of your rifle w/o blowing your primer pockets in two or three shots.
I plugged in your 2900 for the 168 and a reasonable value of 2780 for the 185 and I get a difference of .2MOA with a full value 10 MPH cross wind, but look at the other column, that is worth 2 ½ inches, that's half a ring. I think a more realistic value for many shooters though is the wind that is not a full value wind that is shifting variable in about a 5 MPH range (Raton excepted). So what we are talking about is about ½ inch. difference, and I don't know anyone who holds for ½ inch at 1000 yards.
These bullets do not make big differences in your score. You are not going from shooting low to mid 180s to low 190s just by switching bullets unless you were shooting something with a BC slightly higher than a marble. What the bullet buys you is maybe a beggar 10 on the line or an X that would have been a 10 once every match or two. What is that worth? Well, at the end of the day I won or lost at three if not 4 matches last yr on X count, if you take that to by one or two points then it's closer to six. That is one more point, or two more Xs over the course of 60 shots for record to win or lose the match.
If you are just starting just get out and shoot what you have. You can drive your self bats#!+ crazy chasing loads.
Shoot up your 168s if you have them, then think about what you want to shoot. The 185 is a great bullet, lots of people have used it to great effect in competition over the last few yrs.
Remember, if your rifle is not throated out with a freebore of about 150 or more (Dave Kiff's FTR reamer has a 168 freebore) you may have a problem getting the velocity numbers you are reading on the web out of your rifle w/o blowing your primer pockets in two or three shots.
