#4DOF

Picking up where we left off from the factory tour at Leupold we would then spend the next three hours driving southeast to the Leupold shooting range at the Leupold Optics Academy in the town of Madras Oregon. 

There are tons of ballistic solvers out on the market.  A quick glance at the app store will bombard a shooter with choices.  I recommend my students go with the one that is the most user-friendly for them and has the features they need.  For me, this has been Applied Ballistics, because it is easy to set up and use and has a comprehensive bullet library. It is also the same solver I have been using in my kestrel NV 4500 since 2014 so I am familiar with it. If a shooter is looking for a free solver, however, I steer them towards Hornaday’s 4DOF program.  It has been yielding very solid results and has BC ( ballistic coefficient) data gathered via doppler by Hornady themselves.

While ballistic calculators have largely removed much of the math skills that were required to shoot long range, they have become quite the handy tool making long-range shooting accessible (and enjoyable) for those not steeped in ballistic mysticisms. Stepping up to take more mystery out of long-range shooting is Hornady, with the latest update to their ballistic calculator program dubbed “4DOF” for “Four Degrees of Freedom.”