Physics of Rifle Shooting Home Introduction Conservation of Momentum Conservation of Energy Bullet Drop Sighting in Bibliography Bullet Drop: Range of projectile    Like everything on the earth, force of gravity is constantly pulling the projectile. Once it leaves the barrel of the rifle, the bullet is no longer supported by the barrel and it accelerates downwards until it hits the ground or strikes an object. This gives the projectile a parabolic trajectory. In order to compensate for the falling of the projectile at long distances one must aim at a steeper angle. To find out how far the projectile will travel (neglecting air resistance), there are two steps. First, you need to find the time it takes for the projectile to hit the ground. Now you can multiply the time by the horizontal component of the velocity to find how far the projectile traveled.