Trajectory Height

Trajectory Height

Trajectory height must not be confused with the drop of the bullet from the straight line in extension of the axis of the bore. For example, a certain rifle with a 2,500 foot muzzle velocity has an eight and a half inch trajectory at three hundred yards, but if we shoot at that three hundred yard target with the rifle sighted for one hundred yards the ball will strike twenty-seven inches below the center. Hence we see the importance of sighting a rifle for the longest distance at which it will not exceed a certain trajectory height, since after we pass the spot at which the sights are aligned the drop of the projectile is very rapid compared with its rise above the sighting line.

The range at which we can fix our arbitrary point-blank, or sight the rifle for hunting, is a matter for the exercise of good judgment. The first thing to be taken into consideration is the initial velocity of the rifle. The .280 Ross and other three thousand foot velocity rifles have trajectories as flat at three hundred yards as the .30-30 has at two hundred; then of course the Ross can be sighted for three hundred yards with no more mid-range error than the .30-30 has at two hundred.

Askins, Charles. Rifles and Rifle Shooting. New York: Outing, 1912. Print.

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