Changelog
New features and fixes, makers and loads added to the catalogue, and new articles.
Corrections to individual figures are listed on the load or bullet page they apply to, so they reach the people who use that number. How corrections work.
July 2026
- Article
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.
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June 2026
- Article
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 every .270 Winchester factory load in our database through our ballistics calculator: the entire field spans 65 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 one of the slowest bullets drifts the least, while two loads of the same weight come out 29.5 inches apart.
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May 2026
- Article
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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