Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Guns N Gear Ballistics Dope Chart Help

Hey gun gurus I need some help. I understand there is no substitute for range time to build the correct dope chart but Im having trouble getting started. Here is where Im at.
Scope change on my .300wm that I usually only hunt out west with. Had a Nikon BDC scope and was hitting steel at 500yrds. Changed over to a Vortex Viper 6x24x50 in Mildot adjustments. I wanted to be able to dial in the turrets and not use the hold over method. I will get to hunt later in the year with a buddy and the 2 spots I usually hunt will have shot opportunity out to 500+yrds. I did mount the scope and zeroed it in at 100 yrds. I dont have a place to shoot long range past 190yrds at home. I also dont want to waste much ammo learning so here is my question.

Does anyone have a Dope chart or ballistics drop chart in Mils for a .300wm using 150gr winchester deer XP? I need something to get started and cant find anything online for 150gr. Side note: I switched to 150 gr because I couldnt find 180gr.
I dont plan to shoot at deer past 500 anyway but I would like to test it at longer ranges and have confidence to shoot at 500 if needed. With the other scope I had my yardages printed, laminated, and taped to the stock for quick reference.

I’m almost positive there is a chart online that you can punch in all your data and it will give you the drop out to 1000yds
This will let you know how to adjust accordingly
I will say nothing is going to beat range time and making your own chart

Try this. You’ll probably have to enter it as a hand load.

https://www.federalpremium.com/ballistics-calculator

I use Shooter(Ballistic Calculator) app and it works great.

I use the BulletDrop app. It's been very accurate in my experience

I use Strelok pro but I think it isn't available anymore but Bullet flight or shooter are both good ones. You will need to know your true velocity for it to be correct

Having your actual velocity(not necessarily what’s printed on a box) is very helpful. If you do not have a chronograph but do have a range with multiple distances, you can, for instance, shoot a group at 100 and another at 200 and note the drop. You can then back those results into an app to find your velocity and expand from there.

make sure u have a good zero and u can “true” your dope by your impact height comparing poa to poi at extended ranges. if it’s high, ur speed is higher than thought, low is slower the data i posted is off ballistic ae using the info off the info stored for that load in the program. its always very close to my kestrel data

Speaking in generalities, subtracting 2 from the first number in your yardage has been pretty close to my mils for my setups. Ie for 500 yards, 5-2=3. I would dial for 3 mils. For my 223 load, for instance, the actual dope would be 3.3 mils at 500 yards.

So I used this ballistics calculator with data as close as I can find to Deer XP ammo. It is a jacketed bullet as advertised. The only variable is the calculator automatically puts the Bullet at 3150fps for 150 gr. where Deer XP says its muzzle velocity is 3260fps. So the question is will the 110fps discrepancy really make much of a difference in my MIL adjustments past the 500yrd mark? Or will it make a big difference?
Keep in mind I'm not trying to win any competition but just be able to make an ethical and confident shot on a deer. Doubt I will ever shoot past 500yrds but I used a borrowed 28Nossler with a Swavorski DS scope my last trip to Montana and made a kill shot at 762yrds. I could not have done that with my setup at the time.
Also make sure Im understanding this correctly. The ballistic chart it provided me says at 700yrds my drop in inches is -112.8 and my mill drop is -5.1mils. So to make that shot I would need to adjust my turret which is in mils to 5.1 and I will be on target. Am I correct in this line of thinking? The Vortex scope has a Zero stop function which it is set on now for a 100yrd zero.

You will never be truly accurate enough for an ethical kill shot at long range without knowing the true muzzle velocity of your rifle. You can’t go by what’s listed on the box.

You MUST! have true muzzle velocity for a ballistic calculator to work, numbers off a box will not cut it. Even after you get true vel temp barometric pressure barrel twist rate sight above bore all are calculated into the drop chart one thing is wrong you will be off at distance. You need to find a chronograph get your velocity and go to the range to double check your calculations anything else besides this in not ethical for shooting deer at long range.

I think yall are missing my point. Im trying to use this data so that I can go to a long distance range and see if I can build my own dope chart. Im not going by these numbers to take a pop shot at a deer. I wont shoot over any distance I dont feel comfortable with. Right now with that gun its at about 350yrds. I changed the scope and was wanting a place to start so Im not wasting boxes of ammo. Im just hoping this will get me on target at the range. With my old scope I felt good about shooting out to 500 if the conditions were right. I had practiced at that distance and hit 8" steel consistently. Its not really relevant in hunting Alabama but out west a long shot is very possible. Thanks for the Chrono advice for true muzzle velocity. I need to find someone with one.

Labradar is $500.00 and worth it for shooting long. Gunsite has several precision rifle classes that are highly rated for training. Yes I'm spending your money but it'll be worth it in the long run.

zero at 100 and start shooting at farther targets. if it’s low, it’s slower than the number on the box, if it’s high, it’s faster. u can adjust as u go and “true” as u keep getting farther out. write down the dope and yardages and ALSO what u dialed to hit aka correction. u can back engineer so to speak to get ur velocity. they didn’t have apps and kestrels , pen and paper work!!! make ur own dope chart but please note that weather and altitude change impacts. cold air is more dense and it takes more arc to get there, hot air is thin, less arc. ballistic ae (applied ballistics) and hornadys 4-dof are two very popular apps that are great given that u put in the correct data

Are you shooting off of bags ? If so I imagine you are stable. A piece of plywood, target, a ruler and use hunterturfs method will work and you will not need a box of ammo.

If you have the manual from your old scope, it should have the moa or mil measurements for the BDC reticle. If it does you should be able to plug in your other data, sight height, barrel twist, bullet info and play with the velocity and see if you can get to closer to the actual velocity since you said you had confidence with that setup. Not the recommended way but may get you to a closer starting point. You can use the free version of GeoBallistics to setup one rifle on your phone.

With your setup and everything you've mentioned I would not attempt to shoot anything past 300 yards and that's if you have a 200 yard zero with a good shooting rifle sighted in well.

This is pretty much a disaster in the making... for whatever deer is about to get shot in the ass.