Tail wind or head wind affect on bullet

I would think that a head wind would slow the bullet down more and cause it to shoot lower. Not sure that the bullet's shape is similar to an airplane wing that creates lift. The bullet will slow down with a head wind and maybe even speed up a bit with a tail wind.

Remember that for long range shooting you are aiming the barrel up high to arc the bullet into the target. The faster the bullet gets to the target the less is drops due to gravity. Gravity is a constant and acts on any bullet once it's not supported by the metal barrel anymore. So as soon as the bullet leaves the barrel of the rifle it's being pulled down by gravity at 32 ft per second per second. It's an acceleration downward. So the faster the bullet goes and the less time it's in flight before hitting the target the less time gravity has to act upon the bullet.

In order to get life the upper part of the bullet would have to have a longer area for the air to travel over and the bottom of the bullet would be flat. But the bullet is spinning and there for it won't have a upper and lower part of the bullet. So there will not be lift like there is in a aircraft wing or a helicopter blade.
 
Last edited:
Baseballs are bigger than bullets and less dense and they have seams that catch the wind.

Remember that bullets are symmetrical and spin due to the barrel rifling.
 
Just a thought. I realize that bullets are pretty symmetrical, just thought that maybe the bullets being fired at an upward angle and a strong head wind may cause a tiny bit of lift. Still falling but maybe enough to slow it
 
I ran my 17 rem handload through the Hornady ballistics calculator, it showed 3/10 inch lower @ 500 yards into the wind(10 mph) compared to tailwind. I would rate a true head/tailwind as a very low factor in ballistic calculations for typical hunting distances.
 
I would go out and shoot and get it as tight as possible, then confirm it on a calmer day.
On that second time, really watch where your first cold bore shot goes, especially if it is different from your shots afterwards.
My guess would be is that this set-up isn't going to be used at great distances, so I doubt it will have much bearing at all.
Go have fun and go shoot!
Originally Posted By: timbIf I have to wait until the wind quits blowing here in Kansas to do some shooting, it might be Spring!

Just wondering how a direct tail wind or direct head wind would affect sighting in a rifle.

Would the bullet tend to hit lower in a head wind and higher in a tail wind?

Caliber is .223, and bullet weights will run from a 40 gr. VMax to a 60 gr. VMax.

Thanks!
Tim
 
Let's play math.

A 3000fps bullet is traveling at 2045.45454mph. An additional/lesser 30mph isn't going to affect it much. Benchrest, long range, maybe since you're chasing caliber sized groups and a fraction is a fraction. For most, I can't see it being noticeable.

Plug an additional 44fps into your ballistic calculator (30mph again) and see how much it affects your downrange performance.

Or I can do it for you using Norma's software. 44fps shows 0 affect on 0, velocity or energy at the .223's zero of 164 yards. That's one of the generic .223 loads at 2999fps (I couldn't hit exactly 3000.) The only change was depending on the angle, wind drift.

If there is a high/low to the downrange performance it would be from a different factor that just a change in speed unless you're in an OMG hurricane. And you probably shouldn't be target shooting in those conditions.

I can see a windy day having a noticeable affect on the shooter though, especially since a 30mph day isn't a steady 30mph. It will make you wiggle more than normal (technical term) and that will definitely show up on paper.

Just thinking out loud (keyboard is clicky today). Assuming a bullet leaves the barrel tilted slightly up and travels on a parabolic arc, once it crosses the high point, it's traveling slightly tip down. If a headwind/bullet angle combination provides lift with the bullet tipped up, it will also produce drop when the bullet tips down. Going off the fact that downrange the bullets velocity is lower, does the change in speed equate to more or less lift on the slower bullet thus resulting in more or less drop downrange than at the muzzle?

I don't honestly know if a bullet produces *any* lift regardless of speed but I'm 99% sure it doesn't. The wing shape comparison doesn't work as the bullets are symmetrical and wings aren't. Any 'lift' produced on the top of the spinning bullet would be directly and completely counteracted by the 'suck' on the bottom.

Getting rid of all that, the only factor I can think of would be drag and affecting time of flight depending on wind velocity. Then BC and muzzle velocity will come into play as a higher BC bullet will always be effected less by additional drag than a lower.
 
Here's a really fun one - as a person that lives in Kansas and would fall over if the wind ever quit blowing...

Go out in the middle of nowhere - and Russell isn't too far from it - shoot a group North into the wind at 500yrds. Put a target beside your chair, walk 500yrds north, then shoot a group back south at the target. Set another target where you're at now, walk 500yrds west, and shoot crosswind back to the East, flip flop that shooting range and shoot 500yrds to the west... So now you have into the wind rise or fall, with the wind rise/fall, and both directional crosswinds. That's only 4 groups, and I'm confident that most of the places that the wind blows in KS has plenty of room to make that happen safely.

End of story - no theory, no BS, no conjecture - actual in field results.
 
East west can vary slightly due to coriolis....don't know if I spelled that right. And as usual Ndindy, your common sense as put an end to my mindless wonderings
 
smile.gif
I was secretly geekily pleased with the mph results. I picked 3000fps on a whim and the repeating 4545454545 into infinity the calculator returned for some reason makes me smile. I'm a dork!

Personally it would take a pretty substantial wind/long range shot combination to make me adjust my poa. For big game 1" high or 1" low, still meat in the freezer. And Cheyenne is generally windy as all get out. If we were by the ocean, 3/4 of the year would be 'hurricane force winds'. Here it's just 'tuesday'.

Just thought of an interesting thought ref drag. How much faster would a 'dimpled' bullet be compared to a smooth bullet? I'm thinking along the lines of golf ball dimpled. I wonder if myth busters has done that one yet.
 
COrialus effect..
Indy you beat me to man..

This whole thing is stupid..

head and tail wind get no effect ratings. side winds get called, but until you get out there a ways it's not that great. few inches at best under a full value and more than 100yrds.

Even shooting PDs in a blower of a wind storm where tents and shade are being blown over, it's still a few inches.

First off, don't sight or shoot for groups in 10mph or greater wind. your just wasting your time.

stop and just think about a 3200fps higher BC bullet flying through the air.. It's not doing a burnout or standing up like a drag racer. it's flying flat(mostly) using the twist rate to stabilize it. gravity is doing it's thing, and ya, at distance it will create enough drag to impact but it's the same as if the bullet was going 25fps (depending on the conversion of MPH to FPS) faster or slower effect on a bullet. But the SD of that is minimal. after a coulpe hundred yards the corialis (curve and spin of the earth comes into effect)facing east your shots could be as much as 6" low and 3" high shooting west at 1000yrds. people forget the Earth is moving really fast.

If you wanna see a great explaination of it, look up Gun Werks youtube video on longrange shooting and look for the corialis effect. (I am sure i spelled that wrong)
 
Some of you will find this wind chart informative. This is for a right twist barrel. Get to the range at first light and get a good zero before the wind starts. Simple flagging will help you learn to dope the wind. Nobody has even talked about mirage or shooting in a boil. I see lots of ammo burned up, when conditions are horrible. They will ask me why I'm not shooting? Why their rifle is not shooting like it used to? The only way to learn what the wind and mirage does, is to shoot in it and learn. It's hard to hit a target that is not where it appears to be, and changes every few seconds.

[img:left]
Wind%20clock.jpg
[/img]
 
Originally Posted By: ninehorsesSome of you will find this wind chart informative. This is for a right twist barrel. Get to the range at first light and get a good zero before the wind starts. Simple flagging will help you learn to dope the wind. Nobody has even talked about mirage or shooting in a boil. I see lots of ammo burned up, when conditions are horrible. They will ask me why I'm not shooting? Why their rifle is not shooting like it used to? The only way to learn what the wind and mirage does, is to shoot in it and learn. It's hard to hit a target that is not where it appears to be, and changes every few seconds.

Good chart. Could be very useful. I guess it depends on what you are shooting at and how far as to opinions about wind and mirage.

[img:left]
Wind%20clock.jpg
[/img]
 
Just in case some of you guys did not understand the above shot placement with wind vector, here is another version:

some issues to consider for you guys, you can't change the laws of Physics!

Another issue, the above shot placements are with wind at the same velocity.

So, if you were to throw in a velocity change in the middle of a wind switching three different directions, you can easily understand when a guy without wind flags is shooting in the blind.

A small cheap wind flag can be worth more than the most expensive set of reloading dies with the very best benchrest bullets!!!

 
Originally Posted By: reaper4Hahahaha well that sounds like a great idea. I'll take a box of 53 grain titlest please

I heard the Snipers were getting some major backspin with these bullets. When they miss, the bullet spins back to the target!
w00t.gif
 
It makes sense. Golf balls apparently have this flight pattern.



So if you have a target hiding behind a wall, just go high and drop the round onto their head. Perfect solution!


I've learned more about golf in the last day than in the rest of my life combined
laugh.gif
 
Back
Top