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9mm travel distance

sidmedjrsidmedjr Member Posts: 2 ✭✭
edited February 2010 in Perry Shooter Competition Shooting and Reloading Forum
aprox how far does a 115 gr winchester full metal travel if fired straight at 5 ft high?

Thanks,
Sid
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Comments

  • idahoduckeridahoducker Member Posts: 740 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Depending on velocity (and whether or not I did this right), 200 yards +/- before it hits the ground.
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  • babunbabun Member Posts: 11,038 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Thats pretty close. but I would think to say 275 yards to be safe.
    115 grains with a BC of .150 leaving at 1300fps should drop about 39 inches at 200 yards. It drops even faster after that. You started at
    plus 60 inches. Your actual mileage may vary..... bob
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  • AllenoAlleno Member Posts: 275 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The military teaches that the 9mm has a max range of 1800 meters. Of course that is at optimum angle etc.
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  • iwannausernameiwannausername Member Posts: 7,131
    edited November -1
    Assuming bore is parallel with gravity... 9.8 meters per second squared. Not just an idea, but the law.

    5 feet = 1.524 meters. Which means your bullet would be in flight for about .155 seconds. At 1300fps it comes out to 201.5 feet - thats with out slowing down due to friction, etc.

    quote:Originally posted by babun
    Thats pretty close. but I would think to say 275 yards to be safe.
    115 grains with a BC of .150 leaving at 1300fps should drop about 39 inches at 200 yards. It drops even faster after that. You started at
    plus 60 inches. Your actual mileage may vary..... bob
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  • onegreatshotonegreatshot Member Posts: 91 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Boy you guys are good
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  • babunbabun Member Posts: 11,038 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Bullet coefficient has a lot to do with the range. A 115 grain 6mm spire
    pointed bullet at 1300fps will pass right by the drop point of a 115 gr.
    round .45 lead ball doing the same starting 1300fps. More retained speed
    during the flight time till final impact with the ground. One of my ancestors, this guy named Galileo dropped two SAME shape but different weight spheres off the tower of Pisa. Both hit the ground at the same time, thus proving a law of gravity....but he never threw the spheres
    at right angle to the ground, nor used different shapes. Bob
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  • PEZHEAD265PEZHEAD265 Member Posts: 1,139 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by iwannausername
    Assuming bore is parallel with gravity... 9.8 meters per second squared. Not just an idea, but the law.

    5 feet = 1.524 meters. Which means your bullet would be in flight for about .155 seconds. At 1300fps it comes out to 201.5 feet - thats with out slowing down due to friction, etc.

    quote:Originally posted by babun
    Thats pretty close. but I would think to say 275 yards to be safe.
    115 grains with a BC of .150 leaving at 1300fps should drop about 39 inches at 200 yards. It drops even faster after that. You started at
    plus 60 inches. Your actual mileage may vary..... bob


    Your saying that at 67 yards I would have to lift the gun atleast 5 feet to hit a 6 foot man in the chest.That doesn't sound right.
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  • iwannausernameiwannausername Member Posts: 7,131
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by PEZHEAD265
    quote:Originally posted by iwannausername
    Assuming bore is parallel with gravity... 9.8 meters per second squared. Not just an idea, but the law.

    5 feet = 1.524 meters. Which means your bullet would be in flight for about .155 seconds. At 1300fps it comes out to 201.5 feet - thats with out slowing down due to friction, etc.

    quote:Originally posted by babun
    Thats pretty close. but I would think to say 275 yards to be safe.
    115 grains with a BC of .150 leaving at 1300fps should drop about 39 inches at 200 yards. It drops even faster after that. You started at
    plus 60 inches. Your actual mileage may vary..... bob


    Your saying that at 67 yards I would have to lift the gun atleast 5 feet to hit a 6 foot man in the chest.That doesn't sound right.


    No, I'm saying that you'd need to angle it up..

    If the bore is parallel with the ground/gravity, the bullet will start dropping below the bore as soon as it leaves. Just as if you were to hold a bullet in your hand 5 feet up and drop it - it will still take about .155 seconds to fall to the ground. Its forward velocity will determine how far it will travel before that happens.

    Now, in reality, the sights on a pistol or rifle get you to lift the muzzle end up, so the bullet starts below the point of aim, travels up in an arc crossing the point of aim, travels for a while above the point of aim, and then crosses it again coming back down.

    You can see this if you have a rifle with a barrel that has a single diameter for the length of it. Put it in a padded vise, set the sights so they are right on target at 100 yards. Put a level on it, you'll see the muzzle end is up. Adjust the rifle so the barrel is flat, check the sights, and you'll see that it is aimed quite a bit low.

    All simple high school physics.
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  • Riomouse911Riomouse911 Member Posts: 3,492 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Yup, that's why trajectory charts often show the "rainbow arc" that starts out with the "bullet trajectory" line below the sights, then it quickly rises over the "line of sight", then drops below it at whatever distance you're "sighted in" at. If your bore was truly level, it would start out below the sights, and drop from there instead of rising for a bit.

    I recall reading .22 lr boxes with a danger warning of 1 mile. Again, that's at an optimum angle at firing.
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  • jonkjonk Member Posts: 10,121
    edited November -1
    Vertical acceleration due to gravity is independent of horizontal flight. Whether the bullet is fired at 1 fps, 10,000 fps, or just dropped, if the barrel is parallel to the ground they will all hit at the same time. How far they go depends on initial velocity, ballistic coefficient, etc. Mind you this is nominal and for flight in a vacuum, which our atmosphere is not.

    The reason a 6mm fired at 1300 fps might go farther than a 9mm is due to air resistance and stabilization. In a vacuum they would go exactly the same distance. While they might leave the barrel at the same speed, the 9mm will decelerate much faster, due to a larger diameter and poorer ballistic coefficient. However, as iwannausername points out, both will hit the ground .155 seconds after leaving the barrel; just one will get farther due to its better flight characteristics in the non-vacuum of our atmosphere.

    So while the flight distance of bullets will vary, the flight time will remain the same.

    Fired at an optimal 45 degrees it should make it between 275 and 300 yards depending on wind, altitude, humidity, etc.

    http://www.jbmballistics.com/ Cool sight for this sort of thing, it allows you to plug in muzzle elevation among other things.
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  • wpagewpage Member Posts: 10,201 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Interesting data. Not certain anyone would take a long shot with a 9mm pistol. Good to know.
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  • FEENIXFEENIX Member Posts: 10,559 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by wpage
    Not certain anyone would take a long shot with a 9mm pistol.


    +1. I like the KISS method ... I keep them for hallway distance shots. [^][}:)][:p][;)]
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  • BGHillbillyBGHillbilly Member Posts: 1,927 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Playing around years back we popped a few at a 200 yd target we had set up for rifles. We initially over compensated for drop. I honestly think any competant shooter could get 90% plus on the paper of a full size sil target at 200yds without too much trouble.
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  • wtroperwtroper Member Posts: 736 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I agree. I have found it is surprisingly easy to hit metal targets at 100-200 yds with my 9mm Kimber. They do not drop nearly as much as I expected.
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