.44 mag point of inpact question

roswellnative

June 09, 2011 14:22

While reading a national magazine about a S&W Performance Center .44 I was thrown off by a statement made: When zeroed in for 240 gr. the 300 gr printed high and the 180 gr printed low. Why is this? Wouldn't gravity have more effect on a larger bullet???

Or is there more inertia in a bigger bullet???

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  andrewsw16

  June 09, 2011 14:30

  One explanation is that with a slower heavier bullet, and the bullet staying in the barrel longer, the rifle has experienced more barrel rise prior to the bullet exiting the barrel that when a faster lighter bullet exits.

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  BUCKAWHO

  June 09, 2011 14:37

  That's it exactly....It's all about recoil. The lighter bullet exits the barrel sooner, and strikes the target lower, while the heavier bullet is in the barrel longer, and recoil forces the barrel up and the bullet strikes higher on the target. Much more noticeable with a pistol than a rifle. BT

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  wpage

  June 09, 2011 14:50

  Dependent on distance down range.

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  roswellnative

  June 09, 2011 15:16

  Thanks

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  tsr1965

  June 09, 2011 16:24

  Veiw the gun rags very objectively...add a little salt when needed. Numbers don't lie, but liars, make numbers. Very dependant on a LOT of variables.
  
  Best

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  armilite

  June 09, 2011 18:48

  The heavier bullet will have more arc in its flight. The lighter bullet with more velocity will shoot flatter.

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  roswellnative

  June 09, 2011 20:02

  This is very interesting indeed because I have shoot at deer at under 25 yds with a .44 and assumed that the bullet went too low but I really think that it went over the deer b/c I was using a heavy bullet out of a carbine... at shorter ranges a larger bullet can actually be higher is a phenom that I didnt account for. Until now.
  Maybe I shouldn't have sold that Ruger 96/44 so fast...
  I do understand that larger GR. falls faster at distance, I just didn't see the large GR staying in the gun longer and making the gun rise, but I do now.

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  Txs

  June 09, 2011 20:04

  quote:Originally posted by andrewsw16
  One explanation is that with a slower heavier bullet, and the bullet staying in the barrel longer, the rifle has experienced more barrel rise prior to the bullet exiting the barrel that when a faster lighter bullet exits.
  Correctomundo.
  
  It has nothing to do with bullet arc and is not really dependent upon distance. This condition can be observed after as little as 10 yds.

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  edharold

  June 11, 2011 16:25

  A heavy bullet is slower and has less distance but the laws of physics say that gravity will have the same pull on both a heavy and light bullet but the heavy bullet will make its trajectory in less distance so it will rise in shorter distance and fall in lesser distance but will hit the ground in the same amount of time. That is why for long distance shooting you need a fast bullet or a higher trajectory. Sorry sometimes I confuse myself!

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  Herschel

  June 11, 2011 17:55

  andrewsw16 got it right in the early part of the thread. Physics, gravity, etc. come into play in bullet range, trajectory, etc. but the reason the heavy slower bullet hit higher from a pistol is that the barrel is pointed higher when the heavy bullet exits the barrel. Some physics experts need to answer this but I believe if the pistol was fixed in a machine rest that made the recoil straight back, the higer velocity bullet would print higher on the target at 25 and 50 yards.

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