Originally Posted By: Buster Hindend
I always shoot to confirm any data I make anyway, so I would make your drop chart and shoot to confirm and call it a day
this is a very key statement regarding this issue here.
when using stuff like ballistic calculators - a small (several precent) error in the BC is likely going to be the least of your concerns at (relatively) close range.
accuracy on data like scope height over bore, the actual velocity from a chronograph (vs whats written on the box) and other mechanical measurements that we as folks who are entering that data into the calculator are likely to present more of an issue to your drop table than using the BC numbers published by the bullet mfg.
just like any computer program, the more accurate you can be with as much of the data as possible, the better your output is going to be. but especially in this case, taking the above advice and confirming your data by real world shooting is going to give you the best result.
once you have real world data, you can tweak your shooting calculator drop table data to match the results you're getting in real life, but again in my experience those kind of corrections are made in areas other than worrying about the BC and Sectional density data on the bullet.
just make sure if you're using that mfg data, you're not putting it into the G7 BC (or other non traditional BC data) area of the data entry (if the program you're using has that option - for example i know Strelok only takes the traditional G1 data) and keep that data in the data entry position where it belongs
