mortensen Posted January 1, 2013 Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 (edited) The range I belong to is only 100 yards. Will 100 yards give you an accurate assessment of the bullet being stabilized in flight? Most likely it could on caliber's up to .223 (5.56), but would also be dependent on other considerations such a bullet, powder, powder charge, twist rate, barrel length, etc. Larger calibers would require a minimum of 200 yards for bullet stabilization. Living in the Mojave Desert we have shooting recreational areas, so I usually go there and set targets up at 200 and 300 yards (600 to 1000 yards, if you wish to.) Most of us know that bullets don't fly in a straight line. However, they don't exactly fly in a symmetrical ark either. This video shows the direction that a bullet is pointing (yaw & pitch) as it flies down range. You can see how long it takes a bullet to stabilize in flight. As the bullet gets farther away, its flight settles down and the bullet path becomes more consistent. This explains how your rifle might well be able to shoot one MOA groups at 100 yards, and then shoot half MOA groups at 600 yards using the exact same ammunition. This is quite common, because bullet flight will usually stabilize at 200 yards or beyond. Anytime a bullet enters (or exits) the speed of sound, its path becomes unstable and accuracy will suffer. Bullet Flight, Video, Yaw vs Pitch. Made By Berger Bullets. Bullet Flight Path Hunting Rifle Accuracy: Enough is Enough! By Chuck Hawks Hunting Rifle Accuracy Edited January 1, 2013 by mortensen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 my groups with my 223 Rem Savage Model 12 improve quite a bit from 100 to 200 yards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mortensen Posted January 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 (edited) Thanks for your comments dbHunter. I have 2 Savage 10FP's, one for bench and one for varmint. I didn't notice any significant change from 100 to 200 yards with my bench as I'm reloading a 68 gr Hornady Match and H-335 minimum charge. I did notice a significant change in groupings with my Varmint 70 gr GameKing, maximum charge at 200 yards. It's just dependent on many considerations. However, I would tend to agree with you, the .223 will more likely stabilize at 200 yards, more times than not. Edited January 2, 2013 by mortensen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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