If I fire my 30.06 rifle with 150 grain bullets straight up, how far will the bullet travel before it begins to descend?

What-A-Mess

Need to know the rifling, length of barrel, the load and the atmospheric pressure and weather conditions to give an "exact" answer. (not that I could) Mar 14 07, 3:09 PM

toughynutter

also very inportant is the baslitic coeffient for the actual bullet use. It is bassically how aerodynamic the projectile is. Many manufactures will supply this info. A boattail is more eficient that a straight sides, Spear point is more eficient than a round point that is in turn more efficient than a hollow point or flat nose. the link bellow has a link to a baslistic calculator than can get you close to the answer. http://www.stevespages.com/page8b.htm Mar 14 07, 4:04 PM

toughynutter

"Ballistic Coefficient (BC) is basically a measure of how streamlined a bullet is; that is, how well it cuts through the air. Mathematically, it is the ratio of a bullet's sectional density to its coefficient of form. Ballistic Coefficient is essentially a measure of air drag. The higher the number the less drag, and the more efficiently the bullet cuts through the air. So for purposes of flying through the air efficiently, the bigger the BC number the better. For example, a Hornady 100 grain round nose 6mm bullet has a BC of .216; a Hornady 100 grain spire point 6mm bullet has a BC of .357, and a Hornady 100 grain boat tail spire point 6mm bullet has a BC of .400. All three of these bullets have a sectional density (which is the ratio of a bullet's diameter to its weight) of .242, because they are all .243" in diameter and weigh 100 grains. But the more streamlined bullets have a higher ballistic coefficient. They are the ones to choose for long range shooting where a flatter trajectory is important. ... There is a pretty big difference in trajectory between the round nose bullet and the two pointed bullets, making it obvious why it is folly to choose a round nose bullet for long range shooting with a high velocity rifle like a 6mm Remington or .243 Winchester. Also notice the big difference in BC between the round nose bullet (.216) and the spire point bullet (.357)." Mar 14 07, 4:08 PM