Blog — Ballistic Data, Examined Honestly

A scoped bolt-action rifle in silhouette on a weathered wooden shooting bench at dawn, mist lying over the open field behind it and a band of amber light along the horizon under cool grey cloud
Cartridges9 min read

6.5 Creedmoor +Peak vs .30-06: The One-Gun Rifle Bet You Don't Have to Make

The .30-06 has been the one-gun answer for a century. I ran Federal's 80,000-psi 6.5 Creedmoor +Peak against it without looking at a single number first — and the result changed which rifle I'm buying this fall, though not for the reason I expected.

Steve Sansford·
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Ballistics Board's ballistics calculator summary banner for a 145-grain .270 Winchester load, its four cards reading a 253-yard zero, a 298-yard maximum point-blank range, a 1,300-yard transonic distance and 1,000 ft-lbs retained to 775 yards, above a trajectory table showing the bullet 2.6 inches high at 100 yards
Ballistics6 min read

Maximum Point-Blank Range, Explained — Your Vital Zone Matters More Than Your Cartridge

Maximum point-blank range is the longest distance you can hold dead-on and still hit the vitals. We ran all 64 .270 Winchester factory loads through our ballistics calculator: the entire field spans 62 yards, while changing the vital-zone assumption on a single load swings it 109. The number you invent moves the answer more than the ammunition you buy.

Ballistics Board Staff·
Layered mountain ridgelines fading from dark foreground to pale distance in thin cold air, with a faint arcing line of light tracing across them
Ballistics9 min read

Altitude and Temperature Don't Move Your Zero — Unless You Zeroed Far Out

Everyone says to re-zero when you get to the mountains. We ran a 6.5 Creedmoor from sea level to 10,000 feet and from 0°F to 100°F, and a 100-yard zero never moved — 0.04 inch across the entire envelope. What moves is everything past it: 33 inches at 1,000 yards. Unless your zero itself is distant, in which case all of this inverts.

Ballistics Board Staff·
Two rifle cartridges lit from behind in a split of warm and cold light — one bathed in old-brass amber, the other in cold steel-blue — the same silhouette rendered in two eras of material, no legible headstamps
Cartridges7 min read

7mm Backcountry vs .280 Ackley Improved: Does the Ackley Still Make Sense?

The .280 Ackley Improved was my answer for a do-it-all 7mm — then Federal's steel-cased, 80,000-psi 7mm Backcountry showed up doing the same job from a shorter barrel. On coolness, ballistics, and availability, does the Ackley still hold up? I ran the numbers.

Steve Sansford·
A lone bull elk in silhouette on a high ridgeline at first light, backlit by a low amber sun, the valley below dissolving into cold blue haze — no gear visible, just distance and the animal
Cartridges6 min read

Best 7mm Cartridges for Elk: 7mm PRC, 7mm Rem Mag, and .280 AI

Don't shop the headstamp — shop the job. We set two rules an elk load has to clear at 500 yards, then ran the numbers on every 7mm hunting load in the database to see which cartridges actually make the cut.

Ballistics Board Staff·
A single orange range wind flag standing straight out in a stiff crosswind, sharp in the foreground with a berm and a distant target frame dissolving into haze behind it, low warm sunlight raking across an empty range
Ballistics5 min read

Wind Drift: Why Ballistic Coefficient Beats Velocity at Distance

Everyone reaches for the fastest load to fight the wind. It's exactly backwards. We ran the numbers on five popular .308 loads from the manufacturers' published data — and the slowest bullet drifts the least, while two loads of the same weight come out 25 inches apart.

Ballistics Board Staff·
A single rifle cartridge standing on a weathered shooting bench in the mid-distance at golden hour, softened by drifting smoke, an open field rifle range and a faint distant target behind it
Cartridges6 min read

6.5 Creedmoor vs .260 Remington: Splitting Hairs Over a Rifle I Didn't Even Buy

I set out to buy an East Coast whitetail rifle and talked myself into the esoteric .260 Remington over the 6.5 Creedmoor. Then I ran the numbers — and learned more about how we really pick a cartridge than about ballistics.

Steve Sansford·
Two glowing trajectory arcs tracing almost exactly the same path over open country at dusk — one a warm amber, one a cool steel-blue — overlapping so closely they read as a single line
Cartridges5 min read

6mm Creedmoor vs .243 Winchester: Why Does the Newer Cartridge Exist?

The 6mm Creedmoor and the .243 Winchester shoot the same bullets from nearly the same case. So why did one take over precision rifle while the other sat it out? We ran the numbers — and the answer isn't ballistics.

Ballistics Board Staff·
Two glowing trajectory arcs — one steel-blue, one amber — arcing over golden high-plains grassland at golden hour, the blue arc reaching farther than the amber one
Cartridges4 min read

6.5 Creedmoor vs .308 Winchester: Is One Really Ballistically Superior?

Is the 6.5 Creedmoor actually superior to the .308 Winchester? We ran matched factory loads through our ballistics calculator — velocity, energy, wind, drop, and recoil — and the honest answer comes with a catch.

Ballistics Board Staff·
A .280 Ackley Improved cartridge standing beside a 7mm PRC on a weathered wooden bench
Cartridges6 min read

The .280 Ackley Improved, the 7mm PRC, and the Idea for Ballistics Board

I set out to pick one do-it-all 7mm hunting rifle and comparing factory loads by hand got so tedious I built a new tool to help me do it. This is that story — and the data behind it.

Steve Sansford·