Impact .357 + High BC Slugs, --- Best Option ?

[Shooting Targets]

Does anybody have experience with a .357 Impact and shooting long distances with slugs?
Nielson has some 97grn slugs with a BC of .175 which is outstanding. My thoughts are the .357 impact gets you close to 40 shots in one fill yet can shoot a heavier slug with a better bc vs my .22 cals. Curious on your guys thoughts ? Does anybody have experience in shooting some form a high BC slug out of the impact? I understand the velocity will be slower henc the drop but at plinking at 200 and 300 yards the wind drift in steklock clearly has the .357 in favor.

examples 200 yards, 5 mi cross wind.

impact .22 slugger 31 grain (bc .101) at 1020--- 5 mi wind....... has a drop of 86 inches wind drift of 10.2 inches

impact .357 nielson 97 grain (BC .175) at 860 5mi wind has drop of 103 inches wind drift 5.1 inches

In theory if you can range your shot . the variance of wind drift is in favor of the .357 right ? Anybody with experience ?

 

[Centercut]

Yes, the higher BC with a known distance is easier to dope the wind. Is the .35 Impact as easy to shoot as the .22? Is it as accurate? I don't know, since I've never shot a .35 caliber Impact shooting 97 grain slugs at 860 FPS. I have shot my .357 Bulldog with 110 grain NSA at 900 FPS, and it requires a LOT of concentration to be accurate.
I was kinda surprised with all the press that the .35 Impact 800mm has been getting, that they didn't do that well at RMAC "Magnum Slug" challenge - commonly called Big Bore. I saw quite a few of them on the line, but I don't think any finished top ten.

 

[mtnGhost]

A .357 Impact slugger wouldn't be worth the aggravation for a 200y plinker. You'd probably blow >1/2 the ammo trying to tune it in each session with a broomstick barrel lol. It's just not worth chasing that little extra BC when there's smaller bore ammo out there with comparable and better ballistic profiles.

If you're set on using an Impact, then my advice would be to use a short barrel and invest in improved barrel support system. You can run smaller bore ammo that have adequate BCs, with the benefits of flatter trajectories at higher velocities than you'd get with .357. Regardless, it's difficult to find liners with "match grade" accuracy for shooting slugs (maybe 1 of 8 are keepers), but something like the 30gr Varmint Knockers are going to be much more forgiving and dead nuts accurate to 200-250y with less harmonic headache.

Now if you're set on .35, then Griffin makes some of the highest BC swaged airgun slugs that are commercially available. The 68gr .358's were 0.18 IIRC out of my Leshiy classic at 750fps. I have the most experience (and best results) with his 40gr RBTs in .22 with a BC of 0.163, they're most accurate for me at 1100 -1130fps with a 600mm FX slug A (adapted for my Taipan) and 975fps with the chokeless CZ (those 17.7" twist CZs love high BC 2-S nose ammo at 1100).

I also wouldn't bother with slugs that have long wadcutter-like cylindrical shanks when using choked liners, and stick with something comparable to those Griffins or RBTs.

Just my $0.02

 

[Nappyman]

Fx impact don’t put out enough energy to shoot at min 115g slug at 1000fps .357 is a Pistol round not really made for long range but with high power, well made gun you cans get great results out past 300+ yards. (SHORT) 30 cal slugs meaning .30 and .357 slugs/pellets have lost so much energy and speed @100 yards it’s a rainbow trajectory at 150-200 yards out

 

[qball]

Higher BC the better for longer range shots. However price of .357 slugs are good amount more than .22 slugs. Vertical drop or gravity is constant but wind is not.