Episode 275 - Bullet Trajectory Around Barricades

[@Cooshball74]

Didn't put it into a nice spreadsheet, but I did work out the effects on my load. came up with similar numbers.

[@kosanderi]

Also one might want to consider the fact that when shooting around an obstacle the line of sight might be clear from the edge of the obstacle but the path of the bullet might not. Most common example of this is hitting the low frame of a window when trying to shoot through it. Same thing can happen sideways when tilting then gun around and shooting around a barricade. That being said I also tilt the gun a bit but I think this is something to consider too. Thanks for the video!

[@guillermohermosa8172]

Great job!

[@moveabledo]

There is one variable you should have thrown in that rifle shooters would have immediately recognized. Your trajectory cannot start at y-axis equals zero since the muzzle is below the sights. For most guns this distance is a bit less than an inch.

[@moveabledo]

And as you know, guns with red dot sights have an even more pronounced trajectory since the bullet must rise even higher to meet line-of-sight.

[@moveabledo]

Oops, talked about this, too. I really should watch the video before commenting.

[@L3001USPSA]

I appreciate your engagement though!

[@jamesmarquette4923]

Is there a way I can get a copy of that program?

[@captaindelishus]

If the pistol is upside down, and the sights are aligned, the bullet is going to leave the barrel on an upward trajectory, so how can the bullet "drop faster" (16:15)? I'll admit to being half-asleep by that point. ;^)

[@L3001USPSA]

When the pistol is upright as normal, the barrel is angled upward. When the pistol is upside down, the barrel is angled downward, so the bullet would leave the barrel at a downward angle and gravity would take it downward even faster.

[@captaindelishus]

When the gun is static, upright, the barrel is pointed down. 2%-3% in the case of a 1911. The effects of barrel/slide movement, while the bullet is in the barrel, bring it up. When I shoot around the right side of a barricade, holding the gun with the ejection port down (lefty gangsta), bullets miss wide LEFT.

[@L3001USPSA]

The barrel may be angled downward in relation to the axis of the slide, but in relation to the sight plane, it must be angled upward in order to hit a target at the same level as the sight plane. Can't break the laws of physics!

[@captaindelishus]

I still think it's the recoil dynamics that cause the bullet to rise; that's why a pistol doesn't shoot to the same POA for two people, as the recoil effects are different for the grip/strength of two different people holding the gun. If the gun is upside down, does it recoil up, or recoil down?

[@L3001USPSA]

Yes, you have pointed out a variable that cannot be accounted for. The math assumes the barrel is rigidly fixed and does not move before the bullet leaves the gun. Another point to consider is that heavier bullets supposedly impact higher than lighter bullets. Is it really the heavier bullet, or is it higher power factor loads that cause this?

[@MrCharley201]

Misleading when you say bullet rise. Yes the bullet will strike high between the muzzle and the zero point of aim. But the bullet didn't rise.

[@L3001USPSA]

The bullet does rise because you are firing it at a slightly upward angle when the gun is upright. Very slight.

[@MrCharley201]

Not. Bullets never cross the line of the bore.

[@moveabledo]

Of course the bullet actually rises. If not, a shooter would never be able to see bullet impacts. In fact, something that Larry never said, probably because he took it for granted, was that the barrel would change angle for different zero distances by changing the height of the front sight. A shorter front sight makes the barrel (with a correctly-aligned sight picture) angle more upward.

[@moveabledo]

+L3001USPSA Oops, not 10 more seconds into the video you mentioned sights. Teaches me to comment before finishing video.

[@L3001USPSA]

I mentioned changing the barrel angle by adjusting sights in the front end of the episode.