Applied Ballistics Mobile
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I have been using AB mobile for the last several days in the dog town. Both .223AI with 80gr bergers and 6BR with 95VLD's have tracked precisely out to 760yds.
I've used the Shooter app on iphones for years, and aside from that app not computing for aerodynamic jump, it was quite good. However, aerodynamic jump is a big deal if you're really looking for those first round hits on small targets. I've always applied the correction myself, based entirely on experience and my instincts... but I really like to see the numbers.
I once tried AB mobile on iphone and it was terrible. Full of bugs and glitches. I tried it again roughly two years after release, and it was still broken to the point of being unusable on iphone, despite working fine on android devices.
I decided to give it another try here a few days ago and it seems to be straightened out finally. Many improvements in the last year and it appears to be fully functional now. The computed solutions were spot on, and if I were to give my gut feeling... they were likely more precise than what I've seen from Shooter. Definitely was able to trust the numbers displayed without having to rely so much on my own experience. This would be very beneficial for someone that doesn't shoot a lot in a great many different situations to build up an instinctive capability.
I'm very happy to see this app FINALLY work, as I felt it always had so much potential. I'm going to continue testing, but if the performance from the last several days and several hundred dead pdogs continues... it will replace Shooter as my recommended mobile app.
If you haven't used AB mobile for a while... give it a whirl. You might find you like it.
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Something that I can look forward to when I upgrade my phone.
My old BlackBerry Z10 is going to be obsolete soon when Verizon shuts off the CDMA Signals and goes completely GSM LTE.
Already getting some dead zones where the transfer has taken place.
What Kestrel would you pair with a new phone and the AB app?
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I have the kestrel elite with AB built in. Is it the same software?
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@hypo said in Applied Ballistics Mobile:
What Kestrel would you pair with a new phone and the AB app?
The 5700 Elite AB.
@dddoo7 said in Applied Ballistics Mobile:
I have the kestrel elite with AB built in. Is it the same software?
Yes, the core solver in all the applied ballistics stuff is pretty much the same. Minor differences between them. Obviously the interfaces vary greatly. ... but you can link the kestrel with an app on the phone to configure profiles faster and easier than punching it out on the little keypad on the kestrel. If you have the blutooth model that is.
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@hypo I'd like to expand on that answer a bit.
The 5700 AB link model (blutooth) will compute firing solutions on its own, without the need for a phone app.
The AB Mobile is a stand alone app which will compute solutions on your phone.
You do not need the kestrel with applied ballistics if you are going to use your phone exclusively. If I were going to choose a kestrel meter that did NOT have a ballistic solver, it would be the Kestrel 5000. Reason being, I think it's the lowest model that will produce density altitude numbers... if you're into that. However, if you're not, then all you need is a meter that will read wind, station pressure, temperature, and humidity at a distant third. ... and wind isn't a requisite if you already know how to read wind. However the wind meter is nice for learning the wind.
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I do very much wish the AB Mobile app had the quick slider in the hud like Shooter has. I grew very fond of flicking that thing to get my range quickly.
The little plus/minus buttons on the AB mobile are not nearly as intuitive.
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@orkan I’ve not used the AB mobile app, but the kestrel app that pairs up with the 5700 with AB does have the scroll feature. It’s not as intuitive as the shooter apps version, and is somewhat hidden. I wonder if it’s hidden in the mobile app as well
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It terms of ballistic software vs ballistic software, how does TRASOL stack up? Did DT abandon it?
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@alfmoonspace I find it clunky. I recently uninstalled it from my phone.
The software I have installed and play with is AB Mobile, Shooter, Lapua, and Hornady.
AB, Shooter, and hornady have some pretty good interfaces that are quite easy to use. Lapua comes in distant fourth, and due to the interface limitations, I have not used it much.
I've used the other three quite a bit and they are solid apps. Hornady and AB Mobile probably have the edge regarding firing solution accuracy. Shooter is just getting a bit dated, but still works very well if you are experienced enough to add in a bit of your own knowledge to the call.
AB Mobile apparently still has some bugs on iOS. Yesterday it changed my wind call to IPHY rather than mils... seemingly all by itself. I backed out of the firing solution hud and re-selected the firearm and ammo profile and it fixed itself. Other than that, I've been using it exclusively just to test it and it's been outstanding. My only gripe is that the HUD doesn't have scroll for distance. They could easily put that scroll function in the column where it says "clicks." If I know I need 3.6 mils, I sure as hell don't need the software to tell me I need 36 clicks.
@bull81 said in Applied Ballistics Mobile:
I wonder if it’s hidden in the mobile app as well
I've looked... but if you find it let me know!
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I used AB mobile on droids from 2014 through 2016, but last year switched to shooter because my shooting buddy couldn't get AB working on his iphone. For the rifle/ammo combinations we're tried ... if all the input data matches, we see a max of 0.1 mil difference in prediction for 220gr SMKs out to 1400yds from .300WM(24) ... inside 1000yds, they have matched up exactly. I still have AB on my phone so can use it for a double check during our preparation phase.
For some reason, shooter on his iphone won't display 5 yd increments on the "table" view. It does that fine on my droid.
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@kansas said in Applied Ballistics Mobile:
we see a max of 0.1 mil difference in prediction for 220gr SMKs out to 1400yds from .300WM(24) ... inside 1000yds, they have matched up exactly.
You guys must shoot in some pretty mild conditions.
Consider my 95VLD's at 2750. Even at a paltry 750yds, a 10mph 9:00 wind will require 5.8 mils of elevation, while a 3:00 of same will require 5.6 of elevation. In a 20mph wind those numbers jump to 6.0 and 5.5 mils. So unless you're computing for this variable, you simply will not be able to score hits on pdogs even at 400yds. ;)
AB solvers compute aerodynamic jump very well in my experience, and Shooter does not compute for it at all. Given the above numbers at 750yds, you can plainly see how important it is when the wind gets up. In a 10mph wind, a tenth of a mil might not cause a miss... but it surely can at that distance. Two and a half tenths on the other hand? Yeah, that's a wide miss. Your hit probability is shifted up or down over 2 tenths, and that will pull the wind call with it.
In a nutshell, I didn't keep trying AB Mobile over the years for no reason. Shooter is inferior. Plain and simple. The only way I was able to make it work so well was the simple fact that I can supplement its failings with experience. I recall shooting with Travis @tscustoms a few times and we compared his Kestrel 5700's numbers to what my Shooter app was producing, and the differences were certainly there.
However, if AB doesn't function on your device, then you should give Hornady's 4DOF, or Lapua's app a try. They both do aerodynamic jump as well and seem to produce more precise solutions than Shooter. I haven't run lapua's very much, but I've used hornady's a fair bit. Don't forget that there's always the possibility of buying an old android device for next to nothing and loading AB up on it. I was about to do that myself, but it seems to work OK on my iphone X.
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Yeah, not sure. My version of AB is probably 4+ years old. Maybe I need to upgrade it ?
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Was just out shooting pdogs. End of the town was 450yds away, and you could really tell the difference between shooter and AB on those 300yd+ pdogs. A tenth of a mil off equals a miss. When bouncing back and forth between AB and Shooter, it was clear which one would give you more hits if you just went by the numbers shown and didn't apply your own "correction."
