External Ballistics

    External ballistics covers what happens to the ammunition during its flight. So, we will look at a few factors that effect the ammunition from when it leaves the barrel to the moment before it hits the target.
    For the most part, external ballistics is just simple physics, using kinematic and force equations for aiming and adjustments respectively to determine the range and the arc of the ammunition.


RangeFactors
From: https://archive.hnsa.org/doc/firecontrol/partc.htm


Air
                            Resistance
From: https://archive.hnsa.org/doc/firecontrol/partc.htm
Force Equations
Force Equasions

    In the above equations: v is velocity in m/s, v0 is initial velocity in m/s, a is acceleration in m/s2, t is time in s, Δx and Δy are the change in position in m, F is the force in J, m is the mass in g, g is the acceleration of gravity (9.8 m/s2), ρ is the fluid density in kh/m3, CD is the drag coefficient in N, and A is the cross sectional area in m3.

    The ballistic coefficient determines how well a projectile can overcome air resistance or drag. It is calculated as a ratio comparing the performance of the ammunition to a standard projectile. The higher the ballistic coefficient, the better that the ammunition is at resisting drag and wind deflection. Usually, the longer the bullets are, the higher the ballistic coefficient.

BC Equation
From: https://www.hornady.com/team-hornady/ballistic-calculators/ballistic-resources/external-ballistics


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