100 yd Drop

[Frizzen]

Does anybody know how much a 32 caliber ".320" round ball which would be starting out at 1000 fps
drop at 100 yards. I'm going to shoot the 100 yd pistol match at Friendship next month and I was just
wondering. The gun shoots dead on at 25 and 50 yards now. Thanks and wish me luck.

[tddeangelo]

http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/rbballistics/web_apps/rb_ballistics.html

This is a great resource to bookmark.

Running the numbers you posted, you're looking at about 16" of drop.

[Daryl]

It certainly is a good resource to bookmark - thanks

[Standing Bear]

My first thought was to hold a ought half the front sight above the rear sight. But that is my hold at 200 w HS Trophy 7 1/4" bbl. Then saw the RB calculator link. Using 3/4" for ht of sight above C/L of bore predicts a 16" drop. You would only need the distance between the sights to calculate hold over or sight adjustment. .050"  should be close. A piece of tape on the front sight for reference and ease of movement till sighted in. Then engrave the sight an fill w your choice if paint or even gold as Elmer did on his .44.
TC

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I use the same method for adjusting front sight above the rear for targets past 50 yds.  For 100 yds., I file a 45 degree bevel on the rear of the blade of the front sight.  I fire some shots holding the beveled part above the notch, and if I am low, I increase the bevel until it puts me in the centre.  For my 50 cal rifles, half of the blade above the notch with 85 gr. FFg puts me in the middle.  With my .60 jager, I needed the whole front sight sitting on the rear notch to be bang on at 100.  For 200 yds, I found that there is a spot on the barrel where I can see the reflection of the front sight.  I placed that over the notch and found it was right on at 200 yds.  Your barrel length, how far apart your sights are, and their relative height over the barrel flat will make the mileage vary from mine.  I've heard it called "Kentucky windage" but it's elevation, not windage.

[tddeangelo]

I got lucky for 100. I found that the charge that brought my sights on the mark without filing or flexing the barrel gave me 2.5" high at 50 and an inch low at 100. This is with my 62 cal with a 46" barrel.

For hunting, I called it good. That required 120gr of 2f, but in that big rifle that's no issue.

[Daryl]

Elmer Keith's and Taylor's methods of holding sight (front sight over the rear notch) for longer range shooting is the best, most accurate method. Holding the gun over the target, aiming at something up on a tree or dirt bank, with the target disappearing underneath the gun is just poor aiming.  You should never shoot a rifle at something you cannot see.  Underhanded shots are for archer's only, but they can still see the target, under their hand due to the canted bow.

[Frizzen]

The pistol does have a adjustable rear sight "Bo-Mar".  I'm going down to the range Sunday tomorrow
and check it out. See if I can even hit the paper.

[Frizzen]

I went down to the range today and shot five times at 100 yds with my 32 pistol.  Drop was not really too
bad. The first shot I held at the top of the paper and that's where the shot went. The other 4 I tried to
hold more toward  the middle of the paper. I was pleased just how well the littlec32 shot.

[smylee grouch]

I wonder what the velocity of that little ball is at 100, it might be doing some knukle balling down at 100 yards.

[Frizzen]

I would say it's going a little faster than 700 fps.  It starts out at 1000  fps.

[Old Ford2]

Hi,
According to the round ball Ballistics chart, a ball starting at 1000fps, will be doing 629 fps, with a muzzle energy of 39 foot pounds, about the same as a .22 short.
Quite impressive, all things considered.
I wonder if a bullet would help the grouping

[Bob Roller]

Hi,
According to the round ball Ballistics chart, a ball starting at 1000fps, will be doing 629 fps, with a muzzle energy of 39 foot pounds, about the same as a .22 short.
Quite impressive, all things considered.
I wonder if a bullet would help the grouping

Maybe a bullet of one and one half calibers in length might work.
In 1979 I "made" a 25 caliber pistol barrel from a section of a
Douglas center fire barrel with bolster breech and muzzle turned
for a guide starter.I don't know what size buckshot would work for
a round ball load but thought a 25-20 cast bullet would work.
I look at it once in a while and wonder about it as a project if
I get time.

Bob Roller

[Dphariss]

This ALL depends on the height of the front sight and where the zero is. If the front sight is .75  over bore CL and the ball lands at the point the sight is on at 25 you get 28" +- drop at 100.  If the impact is 4" +- high at 25 yards then its on at 100.
See
http://www.hornady.com/ballistics-resource/ballistics-calculator
Dan

[Dphariss]

Also remember that most ballistics programs are not optimized for LV low BC projectiles, so the results may vary from program to program.
My cell phone program "Shooter" gives About 4" low at 100  if sighted 3" high at 25. Ball is about 4.125 high at 48 +- yards. 10 mph will give 10" of wind drift +-.
Remaining velocity is 711.  This is with a front sight .75 or  bore C/L.
 
Dan

[tddeangelo]

That's why I like the RB trajectory calculator. It's been designed/setup with RB ballistics in mind. Other external ballistics calculator require input of the BC for the projectile, and don't have an RB in mind in the least, as they're much more likely to be used by someone shooting pointy, jacketed projectiles.

The link I posted has matched up so far with my 62-cal. as I've messed with it and shot on paper, comparing what I see with what it's calculating and they match up fairly well thus far.

[Pete G.]

Just to throw a little more confusion into ballistics calculators: The ballistic coefficient of a projectile will change as the velocity, temperature, altitude and barometric pressure changes.

There is no replacement for range time.

[tddeangelo]

There is no replacement for range time.

100% agreement. That's why I like to check such data against range observations and when you roll it all up in a ball, you get a pretty clear picture of what to expect from a given load/rifle.

[Long John]

I plugged in the data for my rifle into that program and the calculator did NOT predict what I actually get!  I shot a 54 caliber rifle with a .520" ball weighing 212 gr.  I have chronographed the load at 1725 FPS.  (85 gr GOEX FFFg and .024 denim patch. 1 in 72" twist)  My sights are about .850" above the center-line of the bore.  I have sighted the rifle in at 75 yards.  I regularly get dead-on hits at 25 yards, 1.5 inches high at 50 yards, dead-on at 75 yards and 2.5 inches low at 100 yards.  The calculator does NOT agree.  So ----- use the calculator carefully.

As for longer range shooting, I have used the Elmer Keith/Daryl/Taylor method for years with very satisfactory effect.

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[Daryl]

John's right - theory is great - formulas are big on theory - what happens in your gun with your loads and your methods is what is important - for you.

I had a computer program some time ago that worked perfectly with a certain  high velocity gopher killing machine I was using, but it fell flat with any of my ML's, especially my .69 squirrel rifle.

[tddeangelo]

Which is why I always match computer data with range data. But, I will say that having both, I feel, gives a more complete picture than either in isolation.