seeing my shots in flight

22lr

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Hello gang

I was shooting coupe days ago and was able to see every bullet on its way to 100yds target. It was so clear that I could reasonably predict the impact point (hard to see holes within bull's eye without spotting scope). I could also see the trajectory, bullet climbing and then dropping to the target.

I wonder if those were actually bullets or maybe fog trails - there was a lot of moisture in the air. I never saw bullets in flight before, except maybe those slowest CB longs or whatever they are called.
 
Under certain air conditions, bullet wake, turblence, whatever? is very visable. Check out the clips in "dogbegone" website.

22 rimfire and big black powder type bullets are visible, especially if they are infront of white paper or reflecting sunlight.
 
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Yeah, my buddy was shooting at grouse in the trees at the top of a ridge last year and I was above him and could see the bullets flying across the valley.
 
its the coolest thing (well, maybe not, but pretty cool) seeing your bullets in flight.
first time i saw it, i wasnt quite sure what it was, but i had heard of seeing bullets in flight before, so i figured thats what it was.
it was just after it snowed, so it was pretty easy.

Joe
 
With good optics, proper lighting and a light colored background it is very common to see a 22 rimfire or a slower centerfire (44-40, 38-40, 25-20, 32-20, 38-55)in flight. It is quite intriguing to watch. AS was mentioned, you can accurately predict their position on the target by the way they fly. In a wind, you can see the drift as well. Regards, Eagleye.
 
Well it sure is nice to see that others can also see there bullets in flight. I have my best luck just like the boys have stated. White background, sun at my back and a very slow target round like Lapua standard club.
I have mentioned it to a couple of fellas out at the club when I have been shooting and just gotten back blank stares and confused looks.
Now I know I am not crazy, that is unless maybe the rest of you are....
 
I could never see bullets in flight.

I could hear the gong (separate sound from the muzzle noise) on 11mm Mauser and such.
I could see the rimfire bullets bounce of the steel target at distances of up to 150m, if the light conditions were right.
But never bullets (except tracers or incendiary in the army).


However, I could see artilery projectiles, mostly fired from howitzers or mortars, usualy over 150mm, if sitting as close as possible to the breech. Dark spots getting small in an incredible short amount of time.
The most spectacular were the tracer rounds fired from (fairly fast) cannons.
Sometimes, even when the projectile penetrates a hard target (armoured vehicle), the luminous charge can bounce up to 2-300 meters from the point of impact.
 
Yup, if the sun's behind you, .22 bullets are easy to spot. I have an autoloader pellet rifle that if you dump the whole clip, the pellets actually heat up and glow like tracers!:D Another guy I know who shoots BPCS rifles, fires a 45-70 at a 1000 yard target. Put's the gun down and looks through his spotting scope. He says you can watch the shot raining down and splashing.:D
 
I had a .25ACP Guiseppe Armi Tanfoglio pocket pistol that you could see the rounds going down range. The scary thing was the curvature of the trajectory. It wasn't so much up and down it was left and right! It was a used Italian Police backup pistol that on the outside looked OK. Inspection of the target showed keyholing and this probably explained the odd buzzing noise that the rounds gave off when fired.
 
Watched an elk hunt this morning , fella was up high shooting across and down into a canyon, You could see the vapor trail all the way to the elk, perfect shot. Was using a T/C 7 mil mag. Cool to watch. Shot was 375 yds. Must have been aloth a moisture hanging in the bottom.
 
Have a farmer friend in Montana, at night he'll bring out the million candle power spot light and aim it at targets out to 300 yds. We shoot .357 mag along the light beam, those jacketed slugs really reflect the light and fly so much flatter from a handgun than I would have thought possible. Lotsa fun.
 
bisonhd said:
Under certain air conditions, bullet wake, turblence, whatever? is very visable. Check out the clips in "dogbegone" website.
Do one better, buy the video @ Midsouthshooterssupply... just don't bother with the second edition. It blew.
 
...I can definitely believe it's possible. When shooting my .22 out to about 250 yds. I count almost 2 seconds before I either see the hit thru my scope or hear it hit a solid object.
 
Seeing bullets in flight.

22lr said:
Hello gang

I was shooting coupe days ago and was able to see every bullet on its way to 100yds target. It was so clear that I could reasonably predict the impact point (hard to see holes within bull's eye without spotting scope). I could also see the trajectory, bullet climbing and then dropping to the target.

I wonder if those were actually bullets or maybe fog trails - there was a lot of moisture in the air. I never saw bullets in flight before, except maybe those slowest CB longs or whatever they are called.


A very common occurance. Take a .22 Short Rapid Fire pistol (Walther OSP, Pardini, Unique) what have you. In the PM, with the sun behind you, you will be able to see every bullet arching down to the 25m target. The RF target has a big black bulls-eye, so you see the shiny ends of the bullets clearly. You won't be able to hit much(you are supposed to watch the front sight) , but it is fun, if that's what you are after. Too bad the short round is no longer allowed in international competetion.
 
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