Slugs and LabRadar data

I have .30 RAW tuned around 70fpe for 44.75 JSBs.

Out of general ignorance and the long habit in airgunning of buying ammo just to see how it shoots, I ended up here with these various slugs. In terms of pure precision, the JSB 44.75 is still winning. But I borrowed a Labradar to collect some velocity and BC data to better inform myself on just how good the ballistics might be with the "right" slug.

Test method: Labradar, 100y range, 56F, breezy, rainy. Airgun / microphone trigger for the Labradar, velocities reporting at 10, 20, 30, 60, and 80y. (Yes, those uneven distances bother me too but I didn't notice until later). 5-10 shots per projectile.
Nielson 47, 51, 55gr. These are from 2019 so I don't know if they match the .300 or .303 they're making now. They mic .300 though.
JSB Hades and Exact 44.75.
FX Hybrid 44.5.
AVS .3013 Cup base, 51, 55.

BC was calculated in Chairgun using initial velocity and adjusting BC until velocity at distance agreed with my measurements. Velocity is an average of 5-20 shots, with a few measurements omitted due to obvious bad results. These occurred primarily at the longer ranges and I'm not sure if it's from the projectile tumbling or from the Labradar losing the projectile among the raindrops. I will make sure it's not raining if I run these tests again.

Observations:
- JSB Exact shot better than published BC. JSB Hades doesn't have a published BC but it's significantly lower than the Exact.
- The JSB Exacts were washed and sorted (44.70 to 44.79gr). All other projectiles were straight from the tin.
- Slug BCs are well below published values. My RAW is not particularly a slug gun so may be everything. But it highlights the value of testing BC's for yourself.
- Time of flight for the pellets is very close to time of flight for slugs of similar weight. But BC is drastically different. (This begs the question of whether wind drift is more directly affected by BC or by time of flight.)
- From what I've read, 70fpe is below the optimal velocity range for slugs.
- Not clear if the NSA slugs have changed in 3 years, but I pulled the nearest BC data from their site today.
- It occurs to me I've never cleaned this barrel. It doesn't have many shots through it, but that may not matter.
- I was mostly unable to see the accuracy of these shots owing to the conditions and me using an 8.5x11 target at 100y on a well-shot backer board. The AVS though seemed to shoot well and so I got extra shots at the 50y target with them. Accuracy is not one ragged hole like the Exact, but close enough to hold promise.

.30 Airgun Projectile Testing.gif
 
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"Ballistic Coefficient (BC) values can, and usually do change in value with changes in velocity. Most bullets exhibit a lowering BC as velocity slows. The extent of how much a BC will change depends on each unique bullet shape.
Hornady.com
I did collect BC vs. distance but it was pretty flat and did not explain why my BC's are so much lower than published values. I calculated the BC for muzzle-distance at 10, 20, 30, 60, and 80 yards. Pink data was culled by me based on "sound engineering judgment", lol. Here is the full sausage for two of the projectiles:

.30 FX Hybrid Projectile Testing.gif


.30 JSB Exact Projectile Testing.gif
 
Love the data!

Finally someone that HAS a labradar and actually posts their results! 👏🏼

Thank you!! 😊

Matthias
I have the great fortune of a friend nearby who has a rarely-used LabRadar and is always looking to offer me a favor. I've had it for a few weeks now as I'm testing my new Bulletseeker Mach4. There are enough subtleties to operating both that it's been a month and I still have more exploring to do with each.

The bummer is the bulletseeker does not provide velocity at distance, which the Labradar (usually) does with ease. Also the Bulletseeker is quite expensive. But the Labradar is bulky, has flaky bluetooth, and has been out of stock for most of two years now. That comparison is for a future thread.
 
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I wonder how close the published BC would be to your tested, actual BC of...say, the FX Hybrid if you managed a muzzle velocity of 1000 fps, rather than 812 fps.
Your tests pique my interest. I intend to do similar tests with my Labrador on Wednesday at the range. Only problem I usually encounter is my unit picking up the sounds of firerarms going off near me.😁
 
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🔹 From what I understand...— BC measurements and calculations are pretty sensitive to the atmospheric conditions, especially the local air pressure.

Both ChairGun (Windows only) and GPC Ballistics Applications* (iPhone, Android, Windows, Linux) allow for non-standard atmospheric data.

Maybe this is where some of the results got skewed? (Or maybe, the manufacturers tried all kinds of combinations until they had the perfect gun/barre/velocity combination to get the highest possible BC.... 😉)

I'm glad you have access to a Labradar. I have finally bought a second Caldwell chrono to do BC testing, hopefully starting this month — the Labradar is still out of range....

Matthias


*Link: https://GPC.fotosoft.co.uk
 
I wonder how close the published BC would be to your tested, actual BC of...say, the FX Hybrid if you managed a muzzle velocity of 1000 fps, rather than 812 fps.
Your tests pique my interest. I intend to do similar tests with my Labrador on Wednesday at the range. Only problem I usually encounter is my unit picking up the sounds of firerarms going off near me.😁
Yeah I had a guy mag dumping nearby and I’d just wait him out. Also set the arm time to 5 seconds since I was only pointing and not aiming.

I agree the velocity is the biggest question. All of the slugs may have been marginally stable to unstable at these speeds. If you would have told me a few years ago that my .30 RAW would have lacked the power to drive the latest projectiles, I would have laughed. But here we are. 1000fps with a 44.5gr slug is 99fpe. Oof.
 
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🔹 From what I understand...— BC measurements and calculations are pretty sensitive to the atmospheric conditions, especially the local air pressure.

Both ChairGun (Windows only) and GPC Ballistics Applications* (iPhone, Android, Windows, Linux) allow for non-standard atmospheric data.

Maybe this is where some of the results got skewed? (Or maybe, the manufacturers tried all kinds of combinations until they had the perfect gun/barre/velocity combination to get the highest possible BC.... 😉)
I am relatively close to sea level, and humidity was high and temps were cool. Hotter, humid air could increase bc by 10% alone.

I suppose if I was trying to sell slugs, I would test in hot humid air, using the perfect barrel at maximum power also. Because you want your customers to see the potential above all.
 
Update: I’m a bit dense - I was using ChairGun, which uses BC per the GA model, not G1. That explains why the BC numbers track very well with distance and why the absolute values don’t agree with published G1 values.

The Ga model is really good - I used it this weekend for extreme field target and it worked well from 15 to 105 yards.
 
I was using ChairGun, which uses BC per the GA model, not G1. That explains why the BC numbers track very well with distance and why the absolute values don’t agree with published G1 values.


Most ballistic calculators, including ChairGun and GBC Ballistics mentioned above, offer you several drag functions to use: G1, GA, RA4, G7, etc. etc.

Matthias
 
Most ballistic calculators, including ChairGun and GBC Ballistics mentioned above, offer you several drag functions to use: G1, GA, RA4, G7, etc. etc.

Matthias
I found it: in ChairGun, there is a button that says “drag law”. Right under my nose.

One of my older calculation tabs was in G1. Most of them were automatically changed to Ga.

David
 
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The reason slug BC values climb at high speeds is because the G1 law is not the right shape for the common slug design with a relatively large meplat. Studies of wind tunnel data have shown that the drag rise is delayed compared to the G1 drag law, which gives artificially high BC values as speeds exceed 1000 ft/sec. This is all very good for a manufacturer looking to claim high BC values, but not much use to anyone else.
The GPC software has a new drag law specifically aimed at airgun slugs, which tries to eliminate the BC rise at high speeds. It is doubtful if many manufacturers will adopt it though, for obvious reasons.
At the speeds you are working with, then almost any drag law will do.
BC does not change with atmospheric conditions. If the correct method has been used to calculate the BC along with the atmospheric conditions at the time of the test, then the BC should have been calculated based on a standard atmosphere.
 
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