How do bullets fly?
Presented by Tuffsteel.com

• Hunters and sportsmen, having an interest in exterior ballistics,
• Firearm and CCW instructors
• Shooting competitors
• Forensic firearm examiners, especially "newcomers" in the field.

• Introduction
• Flying bullets on a microscopic scale
• Forces and moments affecting flying bullets
• Bullet stability
• Bullets at short ranges
• Bullets at long ranges
• Anomalies of bullet flight
• Summary, Acknowledgments, References
• FAQs
• Download this document

• Shadowgraph photography - experimental set-up
• Shadowgraph of a .308 Win. bullet at supersonic flight
• Shadowgraph of a 9mm Luger FMJ bullet at supersonic flight
• Shadowgraph of a .32 ACP bullet at subsonic flight

• The wind force
• Adding two forces to the wind force
• The overturning moment
• The gyroscopic effect
• The Magnus effect
• The Magnus force
• The Magnus moment
• Static stability factor (example)
• Over-stabilized bullet on a high-angle trajectory
• The yaw of repose
• The yaw of repose for a 7.62 x 51 NATO FMJ bullet fired at 32°
• Long range Doppler radar velocity measurement of a 7.62 x 51 NATO bullet
• Coning motion of destabilized NATO bullet
• Doppler radar velocity measurement of coning bullet

• Two arms model of yawing motion
• Yawing motion in general
• Experimental set-up to investigate yawing motion
• Yawing motion of M193 bullet cal. 5.56 x 45
• Yawing motion of an armor-piercing bullet, cal. 5.56 x 45
• Yawing motion of M74 bullet, cal. 5.45 x 39
• Yawing motion of an armor-piercing bullet, cal. 7.62 x 51 NATO
• Yawing motion of M80 bullet, cal. 7.62 x 51 NATO
• Yawing motion of KTW bullet, cal. .357 magnum
• Yawing motion of 9mm Luger FMJ RN bullet
• Yawing motion of a wadcutter bullet, cal. .38 special
• Yawing motion of .32 ACP FMJ RN bullet

• The force of gravity
• The centrifugal force
• The Coriolis force
• The drag force
• The drag coefficient
• The ballistic coefficient (bc)
• The lift force
• The spin damping moment
• The Magnus force
• The overturning moment
• The Magnus moment
• The gyroscopic stability condition
• The dynamic stability condition
• The stability triangle
• The tractability condition
• The yaw of repose

This document has been continuously improved by the input of readers! Many thanks to all of them!
Further suggestions are welcome! Before posing a question, please read the FAQ chapter!

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