Flattest Shooting Rifle Round

[Field Tester]

So what are some of the flattest shooting rifle cartridges? If range is a consideration lets say you make up your own distances. I just want to learn a bit more about the ballistics of the rounds themselves. I figure you guys can give me a good launching off point.

For the sake of this thread and what I am able to purchase, let's keep it .50 cal and under.

Am I correct in assuming something like the .22-250 is among the top of the list?

 

[rswartsell]

.220 Swift

 

[Bexar]

Long screaming velocity pointy hollow point boat-tail bullet. 140gr 264 Win mag for serious work. 17 Remington for just ripping over Real estate.

 

[js8588]

240 Weatherby

 

[stubbicatt]

The .17/50BMG?

 

[Reloadron]

The flattest shooting cartridge for what? Prairie Dogs or Elk at 400 yards? The 17 Remington is flat, the 220 Swift is flat and the 7mm Rem Mag is flat. There are also a dozen cartridges in between that are flat. So what do you want to shoot?

Ron

 

[nastynatesfish]

You'd need to look at bigger cartridges that have high coefficient bullets. 6, 6.5, 7mm. The flat 22s are nice inside 3-500 but will start to peter off. The 6mms do well with out a lot of drop same as the others when you get out to distance. It's kinda an open ended question.

 

[mudstud]

The new 26 Nosler certainly makes the list.

 

[1948CJ2A]

I think you should break it down by caliber and whether or not to include wildcats or just commercial offerings. For example, the 257 Weatherby Mag would be at or near the top of the quarter bores. For the 30 caliber, it would probably be the 30-378 Weatherby Mag with the 300 RUM a close 2nd.

 

[Art Eatman]

A handloader can play some games. Back when I was a kid and learning about reloading my own, I tried some 80-grain pistol bullets in my '06. Right at 4,000 ft/sec. Unkind to jackrabbits. They tailed off fairly quickly, so call it flat to 300 yards but not so much after that.

 

[Fredo0621]

6-.284, 6-06, .22-.243.....there are tons of barrel burners out there. All of them are fun as hell to shoot with no need to use a range finder lol.

 

[natman]

257 Weatherby certainly deserves a mention.

 

[Ar180shooter]

So what are some of the flattest shooting rifle cartridges? If range is a consideration lets say you make up your own distances. I just want to learn a bit more about the ballistics of the rounds themselves. I figure you guys can give me a good launching off point.

For the sake of this thread and what I am able to purchase, let's keep it .50 cal and under.

Am I correct in assuming something like the .22-250 is among the top of the list?

A .22-250 would only be on the list if you're talking out to medium ranges like 400 yards or so. Due to the light bullet required to reach the high velocities associated with the .22-250, it decelerates quickly because of a low BC. If you're looking at long range, many of the 6.5mm's would probably be way up there. Generally, they're not as flat shooting at closer ranges compared to many of the big .30 cal or 7mm magnums, but due to very high BC bullets, they maintain their velocity very well.

So to answer your question, there is no over all "flattest shooting round".

 

[dvdcrr]

The best thing to do is get a reloading manual from nosler etc. And study that.

 

[Armored farmer]

.204Ruger is fast and flat....but pretty light even for coyotes.

 

[WestKentucky]

eargesplitten loudenboomer
22-250
22swift
Basically anything where you go cross eyed when you see the listed velocity or a huge case with a wee little bullet.
.204 ruger

A lot of rifles can be made to scream, but when reloading you need to stick with posted loads. Usually when velocity crosses a certain limit which is different for each gun accuracy falls off quickly which I found loading 90gr .270win for coyotes. At 100 yards it was explosive, at 200 it was MIA. To get to this point though you have to break a few reloading rules about only using published data and stopping your ladder when things get nice and tight. Stick with the known screamers and you'll be fine. Small bore screamers are great for "medium and short" ranges (you define) and big heavy bores are good for longer shots. Luckily the majority of big-boy long range guns are 30cal or bigger, shorter range stuff 25 cal and smaller, but those rules are not set in stone. .243 does well at medium-long range while 300 blackout is not great beyond short range.

 

[FearNoWind]

6BR Norma

 

[Caliper_Mi]

Over what range? The fast small caliber cartridges are going to start dropping more at distance because the small light bullets have a poor BC.

For overall flattest shooting, find the highest BC bullet you can and then push it out of the biggest magnum cartridge for that caliber you can find.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

Super high velocity is flattest at first but crash at distance. High BC rounds like like 6.5mm in the 140 gr range from a .260, 6.5x66, or other med power cartridge may not be the flattest thing out there but they really hold their own to 1000+ yards.

Mike

 

[Buzsaw]

Small caliber screamers are fast and flat, but wind will push them around more. Flat isn't everything at long range

 

[Jim Watson]

If I were shooting medium game at extended ranges, I would be in with natman and look hard at a .257 Weatherby. No doubt it has some competition worth comparing.

If you are talking about true long range or Long Range shooting, "flat shooting" ceases to matter much. You must know the range with a considerable degree of precision to get a hit. We target shooters have yardage markers; long range varmint hunters have rangefinders, field shooters and real snipers have reticle features and a lot of practice.

What does it matter that my .308 needs 35 MOA to get from 100 to 1000 and my 40-65 needs that much elevation to get to 300? If I don't get it right, I miss. You have to know your trajectory and the range.

Velocity and ballistic coefficient buy you windage, not "flat shooting" when the ranges are long.

 

[bluetopper]

Out past 500yds aren't you basically launching bullets like artillery anyway, no matter the caliber? You just need to know the trajectory?

 

[RPRNY]

The .17/50BMG?

My favorite by far

For the purposes of your (the OP) investigation, Maximum Point Blank Range is probably a good indicator that balances the factors that define "flat"

This table from Chuck Hawks is not definitive but it is relative. A quick perusal of those cartridges in the table suggests the 300 Weatherby Magnum at MPBR of 343 yards is the winner by a few yards (credit to Weatherby b/c the next closest are several Weatherby rounds like the 257 Weatherby, 30-338 Weatherby etc, etc). As many have pointed out above, flat is somewhat relative and, for skilled shooters, not necessarily that important. But for less skilled shooters like myself, MPBR is a very good measure of relative flatness.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/rifle_trajectory_table.htm

 

[Gordon]

https://www.hornady.com/store/50-BMG-750-gr-A-MAX-Match/
I think with over 1.15 BC waaaay out there this one is pretty flat. I think the various .416 on .50 BMG can be flatter, maybe.
Certainly the .338 s on various big cases are very flat way out there. As are the .308 big case cartridges like .30-.378 ect with 250 grain torpedoes.
the .264-.300 Weatherby was quite the rage 20 years ago or more for 1000 yard shooting. I have found 140 grain .264 match bullets to go sub sonic around 1500 yards or less.
I have a quick quick twist .22-.250 AI which is pretty awesome to 600 yards plus with 77 grain Matchkings.
I used to have a 30 pound bench gun on the super quick twist .258 Super Condor, which was a .300 H&H full length improved slinging 200 grain .257 speghetti with a 30x Unertl. Made by a Hollister Doctor in the mid 50s! The ammo that came with it said 200 grain custom boattail spitzer at 2900 fps from it's 30" barrel, those loads were tamped let me tell ya!

 

[HexHead]

Pick a number and add "Weatherby Magnum" to it. As was mentioned above, .257 WBY is certainly a strong contender if not the flattest shooting caliber.