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Opening A Can Of Worms, But - How Far Will A Pellet Travel?


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I have searched for this info on this and many other forums and website, but can't seem to find a definitive answer.

 

Basically, I was wondering about shooting into trees on my permission, if I miss the quarry how far will my pellet continue to travel before coming back to earth?

 

I know exact results it will depend on angle, power, air conditions, wind, pellet, etc etc etc...... but does anyone know how far a 11ft/lb air rifle will send a .22 14.5 gr pellet given the optimum conditions?

 

This website - http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmdist-5.1.cgi seems to suggest it would travel for 1943.3 yards :icon_eek::icon_eek: and take 19.2s seconds to do so. Interestingly it also suggests that it has a power retention of 4.3 ft/lb at the other end, so if you can hit a rabbit in the head at that distance it will still kill it!! However I find it hard to believe that my air rifle will send a pellet well over a mile and have any energy left at all other than gravity.

 

This IS NOT a thread about maximum hunting ranges/ what you can kill safely at what range/ how far can you shoot accurately etc... we have enough of those threads.

 

This is how far will a missed shot continue to travel if you've shot it up at an angle??

 

many thanks,

 

Jim

 

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Not sure to be honest but I know after last weekends experience on my permission that shot gun ammo travels approximately 70 acres when fired at a 45 degree angle and doesn't penetrate your clothing w

I understand your dilemma Jim, but its back to basics i'm afraid...........If you cant guarantee a safe shot........don't take it...........

haha you should of returned fire!

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Not sure to be honest but I know after last weekends experience on my permission that shot gun ammo travels approximately 70 acres when fired at a 45 degree angle and doesn't penetrate your clothing when it hits you!!!!!

 

Thankyou farmers son who decided to fire lead shot in my direction even though you knew I was on the permission!

 

It was at that point I decided to count my blessings and go home early!

 

Mawders

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my mate got 'shot' in the finger by a shotgun at like 200-300 yds when they were shooting clays. could hear the shot landing in the trees around us and one bit hit his finger.

 

now he thinks hes on the same level as 50 cent getting shot and surviving... muppet lol

 

but yeah, i wondered about missing a tree shot how far the pellet would go aswell.. would be nice to know as my permission is quite close to public- housing estate and a school aswell so im always really careful. standard.

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Hi Jim....... It depends on a number of factors, mass, shape of projectile, velocity, angle, wind etc. Also, when do you consider the pellet finished. When it lands? or when it hasn’t enough kinetic energy to travel?

I have done some calculations to work out when a pellet would no longer be dangerous to an (a) Adult, and then, (b)Small Rabbit. I have assumed an eye shot is practically impossible given a stray shot.

Using the book “Firearms, the Law, and Forensic Ballistics”, Chapter 7, “Terminal/Wound Ballistics and Distance of Firing” you get data on a handful of common pellets and their threshold velocities for breaking the skin. Here are two:

(a) Adult 18-90 years:JSB Diablo , 8.44gn, 358fps +-39fps ~ 2.45ft/lbs +-0.5
(B) Small Rabbit 1 years :JSB Diablo , 8.44gn, 272fps +-36fps ~ 1.41ft/lbs +-0.5

Now you have the dangerous kinetic energy threshold for a Diablo pellet you can push those numbers through a ballistics calculator. A free program that does this for you, including wind and elevation, is the GNU Ballistics calculator (GEBC): http://sourceforge.net/projects/balcomp/

For example: A .177 Barracuda 10.6gn Pellet fired at 900 ft/s is dangerous out to the following distances. You need to angle the shot to accommodate the flight time before hitting your target. I calculated these for a 0 degree incline for a worst case number. An angled shot will have a shorter “ground distance” depending on the incline.

(a) Adult 18-90 years: 210 yards +/- 20 yards. Flight 1.31s
(b)Small Rabbit 1 years : 280 yards +/- 50 yards. Flight 2.23s

Assumes a steady 10mph crosswind (90 degrees) you have wind drift of 9 feet at 210 yards and 19 feet at 280 yards.

 

Hope this makes some sense..................... :icon_redface:

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so if your 40 yards away from the base of a tree, at ground level, aiming 30 feet up the tree (dont know the angle) shooting a .177 8.44grn jsb exact diabolo pellet at 770 fps, with no wind ... how far does the pellet travel untill it hits the floor,???

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so if your 40 feet away from the base of a tree, at ground level, aiming 60 feet up the tree (dont know the angle) shooting a .177 8.44grn jsb exact diabolo pellet at 770 fps, with no wind ... how far does the pellet travel untill it hits the floor,???

Unless he's a crap shot I would say the pellet wont hit the floor........ he's going to hit the tree.................... :laugh:

 

Ps..........The angle would be 56.31 degrees.......... :thumbs:

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Archie, my thinking was 'till it hits the floor'. As mentioned it's not a question of hunting ranges, I'm more bothered about keeping all my pellets within the boundaries of my permission as is required by law.

There are houses on the edges of parts of the perm so I don't want to be even getting close to having pellets land over my hedges. Even if a pellet landed with the softest of delicate feather-like brushes onto the kevlar clad hand of one of the residents, you can bet the police will be called and I'll be buggered.

 

Jim

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it's a good point Archie. Which why I asked the question I suppose. I'm trying to find out if it is a safe shot or not. I.e. if I know that I have 700 yards in front of me and my pellet will only go for 500, It's still a safe shot even if I miss. Until I find out, the pigeons are safe in their trees!

 

Thanks for the techie stuff, it makes for very interesting reading for a geek like me :thumbs:

 

Jim

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wont chairgun answer the question? ive never used it, but i thought it was a case of putting your chosen pellet and the power of your gun into it and it spat out the results. i'd be interested to know.

i havent been on chairgun for ages, cant remember if theres a box for 'angle' if there is i suppose it would tell you

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