xDom wrote:Would you say my 1:12 .223 Tikka, shooting a 55gr would be far behind these? In the spectrum of rifles, would it be towards the flat shooting end?
Hmmm...not really, but the range of cartridges is massive, so it's a lot flatter shooting than most others by far. Within the spectrum of medium-range varminting cartridges I wouldn't consider it to be particularly flat-shooting.
I've just done some _really_ basic calculations.
I went to Hornady and grabbed some bullet specs for long-range, high-BC bullets in 6.5mm (147gn ELDM), 7mm (180gn ELDM), .308" (230gn ATip)and .338" (285gn ELDM). I'm sure other manufacturers have bullets that would improve on these figures. I hit ADI and determined the most capable standard cartridges for each - .264 WinMag, 7mm RUM, .30-378 Weatherby, and .338-378 Weatherby Mag.
6.5mm 147gn ELDM .697. 264WinMag 3000fps
140mm high at 160m, 300m zero, 300mm low at 400m, 750mm low at 500m, 1400mm low at 600m, 6.75m low at 1000m, 22.35m low at 1500m, 55.5m low at 2000m (wind 8.6m)
7mm 180gn ELDM .796 7mmRUM 3000fps
140mm high at 160m, 300m zero, 280mm low at 400m, 740mm low at 500m, 1380mm low at 600m, 6.3m low at 1000m, 20m low at 1500m, 47.8m low at 2000m (wind 7.2m)
.308" 230gn ATip .823 .30-378 Weatherby 3080fps
125mm high at 160m, 300m zero, 265mm low at 400m, 680mm low at 500m, 1300mm low at 600m, 5.9m low at 1000m, 18.4m low at 1500m, 43.5m low at 2000m (wind 6.6m)
.338" 285gn ELDM .829 .338-378 Weatherby Magnum 2850fps
150mm high at 160m, 300m zero, 315mm low at 400m, 815mm low at 500m, 1525mm low at 600m, 6.9m low at 1000m, 21.85m low at 1500m, 51.7m low at 2000m (wind 7.2m)
For comparison:
.224" 55gn VMax .255 .223Rem 3200fps
170mm high at 160m, 300m zero, 410mm low at 400m, 1190mm low at 500m, 2.5m low at 600m, 16.8m low at 1000m, 60.9m low at 1500m, 190m low at 2000m (wind 24.5m)
Based on that I'd say that .30-378 Weatherby Magnum has to be right near the top of the flattest shooting commercial cartridges.
For some further comparison:
.204" 40gn VMax .275 .204Ruger 3750fps
120mm high at 160m, 300m zero, 270mm low at 400m, 760mm low at 500m, 1550mm low at 600m, 5.9m low at 1000m, 18.4m low at 1500m, 43.5m low at 2000m (wind 6.6m)
.172" 20gn VMax .185 .17Rem 4400fps
100mm high at 160m, 300m zero, 270mm low at 400m, 820mm low at 500m, 1800mm low at 600m, 10.5m low at 1000m, 48.6m low at 1500m, 139m low at 2000m (wind 21.2m)