Any handgun load data show bullet drop?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Keith G

Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2018
Messages
318
68B108E2-96C5-4743-AE5A-7A414C0B511E.jpeg Got to thinking while shooting my revolver with a new load this morning about load data. Was shooting my steel target with a 7” highlighted target area at a touch over 50 yards with a new load out of my SA revolver. It’s a mid range TB load, and it seemed to drop about 6” (circled the first shots, painted over them, then started making adjustments to POA). Easy to adjust for, but got me to thinking if there’s any handgun bullet drop data like you can find on some rifle data. I know barrel lengths/bullet weight etc. play into it, but it seems like it would be interesting to see the data for those that like to stretch it out a bit.
 
just put your info into a jbm ballistics calculator and check out the drop figures. you will be amazed at the amount of drop adjustment needed at extended ranges (100 yards and farther).

not much drop at fifty yards, though. most of the vertical differences related to load changes is due to differences in muzzle rise (caused by muzzle velocity differences), imo.

0101192025.jpg

luck,

murf

p.s. just noticed the velocity figure for the 44 special load is cut off; it is 1,000 fps.
 
Last edited:
Good lord, that’s detailed! I had to do some googling to figure some stuff out. Thanks, it’s a great sight. Anything out there on a bit more elementary level?
 
Velocity information alone will get you almost all the way there for handgunable ranges. All bullets drop at precisely the same rate - 32 feet per second per second. Because gravity. Time of flight is what governs how much drop the bullet experiences on the way to the target. The only reason you need more variables than velocity is because they influence velocity decay (some bullets slow down more than others), but that's not a huge factor for most handgun distances.

You are much better off with your actual, chronographed velo and a basic calculator than you are with published data and a fancier calculator.
 
https://www.federalpremium.com/ballistics-calculator
http://gundata.org/ballistic-coefficient-calculator/

These calculators make it simple. The only data that needs to be precise is your velocity.
With The B.C. calculator you can interpolate between RN and HP results if you are using a SWC bullet.
(e.g. - .429", 240 grain, For HP = .185 B.C. / For RN = .304 / For SWC might = .250)
If you experiment with the calculator at ranges under 100 yards and with handgun velocities you will find that the B.C. won't make that much difference, so close is good enough.
Your sight height is around .75" and the wind speed and temperature won't matter much at all at 100 yards as long as it's not extreme.
 
Thanks Old Stumpy!

Regarding the temp. being extreme, I live in Texas. If I try shooting much farther than 100 yards in the summer, I risk lead bullets melting before impact.
 
Was shooting my steel target with a 7” highlighted target area at a touch over 50 yards with a new load out of my SA revolver. It’s a mid range TB load, and it seemed to drop about 6”
That seems like a lot of drop for such a short distance...unless you're shooting a very heavy bullet, very slowly.

As an example, a .357" 170gr RN bullet moving at a bit under 650fps doesn't require any holdover at 50 yards to strike within a 4" circle...granted this was shooting a DA revolver, in DA,
 
Thanks Old Stumpy!

Regarding the temp. being extreme, I live in Texas. If I try shooting much farther than 100 yards in the summer, I risk lead bullets melting before impact.

Where I live out here in the west it gets so cold in winter that bullets often freeze and stop in midair before they reach 100 yards.
We then just ski out to the bullet and measure its distance from the ground to figure out its drop. :)
 
Heavy bullets don't drop any faster than light bullets if they are going the same speed.
► The constant pull of gravity means a bullet shot from a horizontal barrel hits the flat range at the exact same time as a bullet dropped to the floor from the height of the gun's chamber. Myth Busters did a video of this.

► Galileo proved about the year 1590 that objects of the same material fall at the same rate, regardless of weight. Higher muzzle velocity from a horizontal barrel simply means a bullet lands further away from the shooter when it hits the flat shooting range.

As shooters, we vary bullet weight and velocity to deliver different energies to the target. Don't confuse transmitted energy with bullet drop. That's a common Taliban mistake.
 
► The constant pull of gravity means a bullet shot from a horizontal barrel hits the flat range at the exact same time as a bullet dropped to the floor from the height of the gun's chamber. Myth Busters did a video of this.

Yep. The only reason velocity relates to drop is because the sooner the bullet reaches the target, the sooner it stops dropping. The gravity vector is constant, all you can do is give it less or more (flight) time to work. When faster bullets drop "less" that is relative to their distance traveled, not relative to time.
 
Heavy bullets don't drop any faster than light bullets if they are going the same speed.



Yes. Play around with the ballistics calculators and it becomes clear that trajectory comes down to velocity and ballistics coefficient basically.
Caliber and weight can differ, but as long as the B.C. and muzzle velocity are the same then the trajectory is basically the same.
 
That seems like a lot of drop for such a short distance...unless you're shooting a very heavy bullet, very slowly.

As an example, a .357" 170gr RN bullet moving at a bit under 650fps doesn't require any holdover at 50 yards to strike within a 4" circle...granted this was shooting a DA revolver, in DA,
would depend on the bullet trajectory/line of sight relationship (sight in distance). if the max ordinate is between the two distances shot, the "drop" of the two can actually be the same. if the ordinate is closer, the bullet drop between the two distances can be quite a bit.

murf
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top