Know your weapon’s trajectory: new on AllOutdoor

I think this is one of my most informative articles.
This entry was posted in ammunition, rifle, training and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

9 Responses to Know your weapon’s trajectory: new on AllOutdoor

  1. Lyle says:

    Any reticle feature can be used for either ranging or holdover once you know its angular size. Even the angular width of a front sight post can be determined by comparing it to known dimensions at known distances, as you indicated, and then used accordingly for range estimation or windage hold-off.

    Good one, Oleg.

  2. Lyle says:

    It’s not bullet weight per se, but bullet BC. Different designs of the same weight can in some cases have very different BCs; a round nose hunting rifle bullet verses a VLD bullet for example.

    Whole books have been written on this stuff of course.

    • Oleg Volk says:

      I was comparing defensive JHPs across the board. They seem to perform better than ball even when too slow to expand.

  3. Ray says:

    JHP “self defense rounds” are no more deadly than lead round nose bullets. All defensive shooting is about shot placement and energy transfer. A 185Gr. JHP that fails to expand has exactly the same effect as a 185gr. FMJ. Dead is dead; and an 1873 .45LC is just as deadly now as it ever was. 99% of all new weapons and ammo “improvements” are about getting “gunnies” to buy new things at inflated prices. The period between 1830 and 1930 saw us go from flintlocks to semi and fully auto. But from 1930 till 2014 all the changes have been cosmetic. Your AKM , AR-15 your “defensive carbine” are all little changed from the M-1 carbine , M-1 Garand and M-14. Your Remington 700 is a (slightly) modified P-1914 Enfield .You can double that for ammo ,which has seen no real change since smokeless powder was developed. The way they(weapons/ammo) are made has changed slightly . New materials are used (sometimes) but the basic weapons and ammo haven’t changed in almost 100 years. It really is all about getting you to spend money on “new” stuff.

    • Oleg Volk says:

      I disagree. My testing showed HP ammo to do better on targets like gelatin and pumpkins than ball — but so did semi-wadcutters.

  4. j.r. guerra in s. tx. says:

    Cool – its good information to know.

    Many years ago, I experimented with my Norinco 1911 .45 and discovered that if I elevated the front sight blade the entire height into rear blade (i.e. slide top appears in rear sight top), the bullets could be ‘lobbed out’ to hit at 120 yards. Standard military surplus 230 grain ball. Hope that wasn’t worded too awkwardly, but you get the idea.

    Knowing this may be useful information for some. If nothing else, you discover hitting targets beyond ‘combat range’ can be done. And its fun.

  5. Ray says:

    Yes bullet shape has some effect in Jello. But after 40 years hunting with everything from spears to rifles ,I’ll maintain that the bullet shape (and to a lesser degree mass) is of FAR less importance in killing than where you place the shot. I have had one shot hog kills with an 1873 Colt .45 revolver with RNFPL bullet to the brain, and I have had to track a coyote hit with a 30.06 180 JSP. I have seen my brother get one shot kills with a 6.5X55 Swedish at 500 yards using 13o something SMK . and I have a cousin who once shot a deer with a 9MM berretta 92 loaded with “black talon” type ammo. He hit(badly -as in no vitals) it six times and tracked it all day. I’m not trying to put down any ones weapon, ammo OR sights . I’m saying that when it comes to killing (which is what guns are for after all) where you put that first shot and any that come after mean more than everything else.

    • Oleg Volk says:

      With that I would agree. Hence the article trying to explain how to place shots more accurately.

  6. LarryArnold says:

    I think that both bullet type and placement are important. In self-defense if I shoot center of the chest cavity and sever the spine the assailant will stop attacking. Likewise if I sever the aorta he will stop almost as quickly. In those cases bullet type is moot.

    However, if I hit an inch to the side of the spine or aorta an expanding JHP 9mm will be far more likely to stop him quickly than a 9mm FMJ. Lead round nose or flat point will be somewhere in between, depending on how hard the bullet is.

Comments are closed.