Ballistic energy references and cartridge comparisons
Compare documented factory loads
The new free Energy Charts library has 50 documented factory loads across 39 cartridges, from Hornady, Sellier & Bellot and Federal Premium sources. These include .303 British, 6.5×55 Swedish, .375 H&H, 6mm ARC, .280 Ackley Improved and an identified Federal 7mm Backcountry load. Compare up to three specific loads, including two loads of the same cartridge. See modelled retained energy, velocity and energy retention to 400 m in metric or imperial units. Inspect the sources and assumptions, copy a comparison link or print A4 reference cards. Catalogue entries without approved data show no placeholder curves.
Compare estimated free recoil only when you supply powder mass for an explicitly labelled scenario. Factory charges are unpublished, so factory recoil remains unavailable. Rifle mass is adjustable. Energy and recoil do not establish ethical range or shooter capability; the existing models and records are unchanged.
In My Practice, open Record more evidence, then Shot placement, and choose Measure from a photo. Mark the corners of a printed square or rectangle of known size, your aim point and the centre of each hole. Within Range fills in each shot position, the group width and height, and the extreme spread for you to check against the target before saving. A photo taken at an angle is corrected using the four corners, and you are told when the photo is too coarse or the group is far from the reference rectangle.
The photo is opened only in this browser. It is not uploaded or saved, and it is discarded when you finish. Only the measurements you choose to use are kept with the practice record. The calculator uses group width and height exactly as before; it does not use extreme spread yet.
Every page now shares the same header, panels and controls. Choose Light, Forest Dark or Graphite from the Theme menu in the header, and switch on Outdoor contrast for bright light. Your choice is remembered in this browser.
The calculator now moves through Your setup, Your shooting and Today’s conditions in turn. Use Back or the step links to return to a section, or choose Show all sections to see the full form. Your inputs, validation, wind acknowledgement and the expanded assumptions are unchanged.
My Practice now has separate views for Sessions, Rifle setups, Progress, Guided drills, Custom loads and Backup & restore, with counts of what you have saved. After you save a rifle setup or create a drill, the group form opens ready to record. Your records still stay in this browser unless you export them.
Learn now starts with a short guide to where to begin. Longer pages such as Methodology include an On this page list, and wide tables scroll sideways on small screens instead of being cut off. The guided example has fresh screenshots of the new calculator.
This update changes layout and navigation only. The ballistic calculations, datasets, evidence labels, saved practice records and Ballistics 101 purchases are unchanged. A modelled placement percentage is not a guarantee of a humane outcome.
Clearer calculator inputs and easier access to practice evidence
Examples stay separate from your inputs
Editing the worked example now keeps it labelled as illustrative. Choose “Use my own inputs” to restore your previous setup and discard example edits. This fixes a transition that could previously leave example values in an unlabelled result.
Wind speed now starts blank. Enter the wind you expect, including a deliberate 0 for a no-wind scenario, and acknowledge the displayed assumptions before calculating. Blank wind uncertainty still uses half the entered wind speed. Results clearly state when they assume no wind or no wind-call error.
These changes improve input handling and explanation. The calculation model, confidence thresholds, projectile eligibility checks and practice evidence labels are unchanged. A modelled placement percentage is not a guarantee of a humane outcome.
The calculator’s guide description now reflects the released 69-page illustrated PDF and separate four-page fillable record pack. The calculator and practice tools remain free.
Distance being considered is now beside your load and species, rather than inside Refine. Leave it blank for the confidence boundary, or enter a distance to see the placement estimate there. It does not change the boundary or establish a humane shot.
Use matching Capability evidence in the calculator
Eligible current-load evidence cards now link to the calculator using the same conservative group equivalent. The link is offered only when the calculator can use exactly the same group set, and is checked again when opened. Older loads or differing evidence groupings remain available for review in My Practice.
When you have a saved rifle setup, the group form now appears before load management and history. First-time setup stays first when needed. Optional evidence fields, saved records and their classification are unchanged.
When this browser’s offline copy is confirmed ready and you are online, the status folds into a short summary. Expand it for the saved date, checks and help. Offline, incomplete and failed checks stay expanded. Supporting calculator links also sit in a Getting started and model limits disclosure.
The Resources page now links to a UK deer field-outcome study, Canadian vital-area education from the Yukon Government and Alaskan shot-placement guidance. These sources offer background learning; they do not establish measured NZ vital-zone sizes or validate this calculator.
The methodology now explains how overseas hunting outcomes differ from the calculator’s circular placement estimate, and why sparse long-range observations cannot justify extending your confidence boundary. Calculator values and results are unchanged.
Ballistics 101: a new illustrated edition and readable sample
Understand the numbers and keep a useful record
Ballistics 101 now includes a 69-page illustrated guide with 27 vector figures, annotated app screens and a continuous fictional worked case, plus a separate four-page fillable record pack. Earlier purchasers can download the new edition through their existing verified purchase link.
The free sample includes flight reference lines, wind uncertainty and the full notebook case. Read it on a phone or download the ten-page sample PDF. The calculator and practice tools remain free.
Clearer calculator cards, results and practice evidence
A clearer calculator layout
Your setup, Your shooting and Today’s conditions now have their own cards, with a short summary of your selections below each one. The calculator, practice pages and guided example share a consistent layout in light, dark and outdoor modes.
Enter a distance under Refine to see the estimated placement percentage as a number and horizontal indicator. Separate cards explain your selected target and show that terminal performance is not assessed. The percentage is a model estimate under the displayed assumptions, not a guarantee of a humane outcome.
Saved practice cards now show the recorded load, distance, group, shot count and position more clearly. In My Capability, Limited uses copper, Developing uses slate and Stronger uses sage. The words and group counts remain visible: these labels describe the amount of comparable evidence, not how well you shoot.
The walkthrough now includes fresh screenshots of the calculator cards, result and expanded assumptions, plus clearer instructions for finding practice evidence on a phone.
After calculating with your own inputs, you can now find an optional link to Ballistics 101 below the result and its explanation. The guide explains the underlying ballistics in plain English, and purchases help cover the running costs of Within Range. The calculator and practice tools remain free.
Practice can now keep optional detail with a group: where each shot landed, your first shot, your wind call next to a measured reference, the range session it belongs to, and temperature and pressure. Quick entry with just width and height still works. Groups you recorded before this update are unchanged, and nothing is filled in for them.
A new page shows what your recorded practice covers for each rifle setup, load and shooting position, at the exact distances you practised, and where the evidence runs out. It stays in this browser. It is not a skill rating and does not calculate a maximum range.
Each new group saves the load details at the time you shot it. If you later edit a custom load, groups shot with the earlier version stay separate from groups shot with the new one, in Practice, My Capability and the calculator.
When you send a practice group or summary to the calculator, it now shows which rifle setup, distance, shot count and load version the value came from. It also says plainly that the calculator applies that group as the same angle at every distance, which is a modelling assumption rather than capability shown at other ranges. If you change the group size, load, shot count or position, the Practice label is removed.
My Practice, My Capability, methodology and the other guides now open offline, not just the calculator. Load the site once while connected and it will say when it is ready offline.
If My Practice is open in two tabs, a tab that is out of date now refuses to save and asks you to reload, instead of overwriting records saved in the other tab. Anything you had typed stays in the form. It is still best to edit in one tab at a time.
Not sure what to enter yet? Load the worked example from the methodology page and see a full result. It is clearly labelled as an example until you change a value.
Two new species, a range for single groups, and a stronger methodology
White-tailed deer and sambar
Ten species are now supported. White-tailed deer (Stewart Island/Rakiura and Lake Wakatipu) and sambar (Manawatū/Whanganui and Bay of Plenty) each have sourced vital-zone, weight and habitat data, with every source shown in the assumptions panel.
When you enter a single group, the chart now shades the range of results that group is consistent with, and says where the confidence boundary could fall across that range. One 3-shot group is a small sample: the true spread could plausibly be 0.6 to 2.3 times the estimate. Your headline result is unchanged.
The methodology page now includes a worked example calculated by the engine itself, the equations, a table of how closely the trajectory matches manufacturers' published data, and a change log.
The guide now runs to 45 pages. New charts are drawn from the calculator's own drag tables and solver, and there are new pages on reticle styles, reading a hold, first and second focal plane scopes, and uphill and downhill shots. A quick-reference page and several corrections are included. If you already bought the guide, download it again from your original link to get the new edition.
Four more species: rusa deer, feral goat, feral pig and wapiti
Eight species now supported
Rusa deer, feral goat, feral pig and wapiti join red deer, sika, fallow deer and chamois. Each has real sourced vital-zone, weight and impact-energy data, with every source shown in the assumptions panel.
A visual calculator walkthrough, more cartridges and an expanded guide
Guided example with real calculator screenshots
The guided example now shows the actual calculator, from setup and shooting inputs through to the result, chart and assumptions. Follow one clearly labelled fictional example, enlarge the screenshots, and jump straight to the matching calculator sections. Example values are not copied into your calculator.
The calculator now includes .300 PRC, .300 WSM and 7mm-08 Remington, each a sourced Hornady Precision Hunter ELD-X load alongside the existing calibres.
Within Range now has a small store for optional digital resources. The first is Ballistics 101 (NZ$7.99): a plain-English introduction to internal, external and terminal ballistics, with worked examples and diagrams. The calculator, practice tools and resources stay free; buying the guide just helps cover running costs.
Nearby conditions, when you choose to share your location
Improved custom load access
Shooters who know their own ballistic data can now create or select a custom profile directly from first-time setup and the calculator, without going through My Practice first.
In Today’s conditions, tap Use my location for conditions to fill an altitude estimate and nearby forecast temperature. The browser asks permission first, and you can edit either value. Forecast wind appears only as a reference; enter the wind you observe yourself. Manual entry still works offline.
My Practice now offers a quiet backup reminder after three saved sessions, with a direct export button and a one-week snooze. It waits for three new sessions after an export request or backup import before reminding you again.
The new offline status checks the saved pages and app files before showing Ready offline, with the date this browser saved its copy. Test in flight mode before relying on it.
A clearly labelled fictional reading guide explains inputs, the result, assumptions and practice evidence without filling in your calculator or saving example records.
Group size on the calculator now accepts either MOA or MRAD, whichever your scope uses. The choice is remembered and Practice shows group sizes in the same unit.
The site now caches pages for use without a signal after an online visit. Load the tools you need before heading out and check them in flight mode. Saved practice records stay in this browser.
