Exterior Ballistics

Recent Articles
The Ballistic Coefficient by William T. McDonald & Ted C. Almgren (adobe acrobat .pdf)
Deflections and Drift of a Bullet in a Crosswind by William T. McDonald (adobe acrobat .pdf)
Inclined Fire by William T. McDonald

Table of Exterior Ballistic Coefficients (5th Edition Reloading Manual)
Rifle
Handgun
.22 Rimfire

Exterior Ballistic Tables (4th Edition Reloading Manual)
Rifle Tables – Select by Bullet
Handgun Tables – Select by Bullet
Silhouette Tables – Select by Bullet

About Exterior Ballistics From the Sierra Manuals:
About The Authors
5th Edition Manual Exterior Ballistics Section
Section 1.0 Introduction
Section 2-2.1 The Ballistic Coefficient Explained
Section 2.2 Bigger Is Not Always Better
Section 2.3 How the Ballistic Coefficient is Measured
Section 2.3.1.1 Measurement Procedure
Section 2.3.1.2 Important Precautions and Points to Consider
Section 2.3.2 Initial Velocity and Time of Flight Method
Section 2.3.3 Doppler Radar Method
Section 2.4 Lessons Learned from Ballistic Coefficient Testing
Section 2.5 Examples of Ballistic Coefficient Measurements
Section 3.0 Exterior Ballistic Effects on Bullet Flight
Section 3.1 Effects of Altitude and Atmospheric Conditions
Section 3.2 Effects of Wind
Section 3.3 Effects of Shooting Uphill or Downhill
Section 3.4-3.4.1 Trajectory Considerations for Sighting in a Gun
Section 3.4.2 Determining Zero Range from Firing Test Results
Section 3.4.3 Sighting in for a Change in Shooting Location
Section 3.5 Point Blank Range
Section 3.6 Maximum Horizontal Range of a Gun
Section 3.7 Maximum Height of Fire of a Gun
Section 4.0 Six Degree of Freedom Effects on Bullet Flight
Section 4.1 Basic Physical Concepts
Section 4.2 Yaw of Repose and Resulting Crossrange Deflection
Section 4.3 Turning of a Bullet to Follow a Crosswind and Resulting Deflections
Section 4.4 Turning of a Bullet to Follow a Vertical Wind and Resulting Deflections
Section 5.0 Trajectory Tables
Section 6.0 Sierra’s Infinity Exterior Ballistics Software

4th Edition Manual Exterior Ballistics Section
Section 2.0 Introduction
Section 3.0 Historical Summary
Section 4.0 The Ballistic Coefficient
Section 4.1 Basic Definitions
Section 4.2 Ballistic Coefficients Effects on Bullet Trajectories
Section 4.3 How the Ballistic Coefficient is Measured by Firing Tests
Section 4.4 Lessons Learned From Ballistic Coefficient Measurements
Section 4.5 Ballistic Coefficient Variations with Muzzle Velocity near the Speed of Sound
Section 4.6 Ballistic Coefficient Dependence on Coning Motion
Section 5.0 Exterior Ballistics Topics
Section 5.1 Effects of Altitude and Atmospheric Conditions
Section 5.2 Effectsof Altitude and Uphill/Downhill Shooting
Section 5.3 Wind Effects
Section 5.3.1 Headwinds and Tailwinds
Section 5.3.2 Crosswinds
Section 5.3.3 Winds from Any Direction
Section 5.4 Changing the Zero Range
Section 5.5 Point Blank Range
Section 5.6 Muzzle Velocity Dependence on Cartridge Temperature
Section 6.0 Equations of Bullet Flight
Section 6.1 Differential Equations of Bullet Motion
Section 6.2 Drag Force and the Drag Function
Section 6.3/Section 6.3.1 Siacci’s Method/The Change of Independent Variables
Section 6.3.2 The Assumption
Section 6.4 Mayevski’s Analytical Form of the Drag Model
Section 6.5 Closed-Form Solutions for Trajectory Parameters
Section 6.6 Other Useful Equations
Section 6.6.1 References