http://precisionrifleblog.com/tag/jlk-vld/

I don't have one 10th the experience that most folks on these boards have; that is why I ask so many questions.

In the last year I have read and watched some Bryan Litz stuff; that tall target test was a real revelation to me.

According to the link listed above Berger Bullets are pulling ahead in popularity in some circles. Anecdotal and limited sample I admit...

Seems like Sierra is trying to up the ante with the TMK's.

The more I read and study I am thinking that this Litz fellow is actually advancing the science; at the very least he is making folks get mo honest with B/C claims.

This is a good thing to my way of thinking.

He is quite the bright fellow and I'd say in context of the lay public he is in fact advancing the science. Perhaps the tech as well? Appears to be more framed by match shooting and understanding ballistic gak than more pedestrian pursuits such as chasing deers and other critters.

I hate to admit it since I am a confirmed non-bench-rest prone in the dirt guy...

But it seems that a rising Gak lifts all boats.

These new young fellows developed slide rule density altitude calculators after all the fuss over in the sand pit.

Along with match shooting and designing bullets for Berger, Bryan's also heavily involved in research to help military snipers. I think he does some hunting, but no, it's not his main focus. That's researching how bullets actually behave in long-distance flight, where his degree in aeronautical engineering helps considerably.

Brain has physics degree if memory serves and once or still does work for NASA. He is extremely bright. I have picked his brain a few times before he gained so much notoriety in the shooting world. One can bank his advice.

Even in competition he seems more inspired to help others do well then to show how good he is , and to prove he is good I believe he set some National record the first time he ever shot a F-TR match........

He posts over at the long range hunting forum quite a bit. Definitely a smart guy and a great asset to the shooting community.

That would be the bedrock of celestial mechanics. My late brother was an aerospace engineer. He talked funny sometimes.

Whenever ballistics questions pop up on the forums, I can't help but think to myself, "that's probably been studied before at Aberdeen, Picatinny or some other gov't supported lab". Problem is that too often the information never gets out into the lay public. Some of those that have spread the wealth include Bob McCoy, Bill Davis and now Brian Litz. I don't know if Mr Litz does any work for the government, but I'm thinking that "not" is probably a plus since I'd much rather know about the flight characteristics of the multitude of small caliber bullets he's testing than the flight characteristics of fin stabilized projectiles, or the latest iternation of M829 DU Kintetic Energy Penetrators.

Check here for one of Mr. Litz' more recent projects;
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/9398064/1 Hopefully one of you have a rifle that exhibits the desired behavior to help him document and study the "why's".

I think that's true. A lot of stuff that gets "discovered" in ballistics was known a long time ago to army ballisticians. It's pretty amazing some of the stuff they were doing even back in the late 1800's. It seems like a lot of it takes a long time to trickle out to the civilian world though.

Litz does refine a lot of previous work, but he's also found that many previous "truths" about rifle ballistics are wrong. Just as researchers in other fields have found previous conclusions were based on faulty data or misinterpreted data.

Faulty conclusions based upon best available, albeit faulty, data, is common throughout the sciences. Just look at the way some states set tag numbers, pure speculation... It's great when someone will come along with the foresight to correct legacy errors.

Bryan worked for the USAF as a ballistic missile engineer. He and his family have put in countless hours into assisting shooters become more proficient at their shooting game. He and his dad are a riot to shoot with at prone matches.

Does he still wear his train engineer's hat?

You mean a 7em em doesn't shoot flat for about 300 yards and then rise up a little?

Yup. Not that I'd refer to him as Choo Choo Charlie...

Lordy, there be a lot of truth in those words.

Not sure what this is all about but reminded me:

One modern marvel manufacturing facility I've had the pleasure of working in was going strong during WW1 and added on, various production lines mixed in, converted and convoluted in the extreme. The crew, having seen it all BTDT, had a saying, "We have great Engineers here," then they'd do the reaching up with the right arm airhorn honk style and say, "Choo Choo". (-:

Bryan wears an engineer's hat being that he is an engineer. The Choo Choo Charlie reference is from the old Good 'n Plenty candy commercials.

Silly boy. You're thinking of the B-29.

Anyone have a recommendation on ONE of the Litz books to try out?

I have all his books, but would start with the first one, APPLIED BALLISTICS FOR LONG-RANGE SHOOTING, both because it has so much good information, but because it provides a basis for reading all his later books.

Thanks!