Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Why do we ignore the horizontal?

SUMMARY.... For the reader who doesn't want to wade through all the discussion here is a summary of what a tuner can do to correct for small variations in muzzle velocity from round to round. The Muzzle Projection Curve shows where the muzzle is pointing at a 100 yard target while the rifle is being fired. The most important aspect is the curve is where the muzzle is pointing at the time the bullet exits the muzzle.

LADDER TEST.... It appears that the "Muzzle Projection Curve" (MPC) plus the Muzzle's Vertical Velocity that is imposed on the bullet at muzzle exit time tends to shed some light on what is going on in the Ladder or "Audette" test. The Ladder Test uses loading to generate a series of loads with increasing velocity shot at the same target to see if some of the rounds print at the same POI even with different velocities. If a convergence is found, then loading in that range of velocity should shoot tight groups even with slight velocity variations. The following calculations were done to find the Point of Impact (POI) at a 100 yard virtual target. In the field, it is typical to shoot the Ladder Test at long range. One thing the 300 yd Ladder Test does it that it amplifies the bullet drop more than where the muzzle is pointing. The muzzle pointing is line-of-sight and therefore linear but the bullet drop during the Time Of Flight (TOF) is not linear with distance. With the calculation it is possible to calculate the POI even if they are close to each other, so 100 yards was used.