Shooting into water?

[bladeracer]

I'm not going to bother trying to do ballistic calcs on a phone, but I just told it to zero at 4000m, and it said the maximum theoretical range is 3358m.

But I don't know which bullet you're using or your velocity. I just put in generic hunting load numbers, not ELD numbers.

[bladeracer]

For shooting straight up, Edwin Sarkissian enjoys shooting vertically to see how long it takes to come back.
https://youtu.be/5XPZ95wTBLk
.50BMG was about fifty seconds from memory, but I don't know how to calculate altitude from that as it goes up fast, slows to nothing, then falls back at terminal velocity.
I doubt it's much more than 2000m or so.

[bladeracer]

A very quick Google (so I haven't checked the math) says a .30-06 bullet can manage around 3000m and comes back to earth in 58 seconds. A 9mm bullet around 1200m and 37 seconds.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wired. ... let-go/amp

[duncan61]

I am now into this as well.There is a very high probability the guys were shooting at 30-45 degrees at crows in trees with a 22/250.I will try to get some ballistics as well.

[bladeracer]

I am now into this as well.There is a very high probability the guys were shooting at 30-45 degrees at crows in trees with a 22/250.I will try to get some ballistics as well.

.22-250 has significantly less potential range due to the very light, high-drag bullets.

[bladeracer]

I am now into this as well.There is a very high probability the guys were shooting at 30-45 degrees at crows in trees with a 22/250.I will try to get some ballistics as well.

With the calculator keep increasing the zero distance until it tells you it won't go any further. The maximum potential will be something less than that.
Every force that changes the bullet's direction is robbing it of energy to make that change, all wind gusts affecting the bullet throughout its flight are burning energy, reducing velocity, and range. If the calculator says your bullet at that velocity can achieve 3350m, when you get out in the world and take the shot, you will likely find the furthest you can actually toss that bullet is somewhat less, although a strong tailwind might even increase it a little.

In theory, if you shoot due west, your bullet should go a little further than if you shoot due east. During the bullet's flight the earth will have rotated slightly away from you before the bullet makes contact again. At the equator the earth is moving at around 1500fps. It's not much of a difference, but at very long ranges it is measurable.

[bladeracer]

I am now into this as well.There is a very high probability the guys were shooting at 30-45 degrees at crows in trees with a 22/250.I will try to get some ballistics as well.

I shot lots, and lots...and lots of crows out of trees when I was a kid with the .222Rem. I took one that was vertically above me once. I walked the fence line appearing oblivious to him sitting in his tree, until I put the tree trunk between us. Then I leaped the fence and sprinted toward him. I got up against the tree, then edged myself around until I was directly below the branch he was on, his tail was sticking out one side. I put my bullet right through the branch at a range of maybe 20ft, and shredded him with shrapnel from the branch.

Generally though, I was taking them between 200m and 300m. A 200m shot at a crow even 10m high in a tree, is only a 2.8-degree angle. A target 5m above ground is only 1.4-degrees above horizontal, or 85-minutes.

[duncan61]

I shot a crow with .22LR.I was under the tree stalking rabbits and it landed above me.Feels good.I am satisfied with the outcome of this discussion.Unlike the alarmists who claim humans are warming the planet then go looking for evidence I have the evidence and am looking for the reason.

[bladeracer]

I shot a crow with .22LR.I was under the tree stalking rabbits and it landed above me.Feels good.I am satisfied with the outcome of this discussion.Unlike the alarmists who claim humans are warming the planet then go looking for evidence I have the evidence and am looking for the reason.

I have taken crows with .22LR, WMR, .222Rem, .243, 6.5x55mm, 12ga, and probably some other things, but they were my preferred firearms when I was a kid (I went back to WA when I was 19).
I found .22LR and 12ga (#4 shot) to be barely adequate for crows except at very close ranges, which was difficult as I'd hammered them extremely hard for a while. The .222 was the number-one choice as it was fairly quiet, incredibly accurate, and if I missed, the bullet wouldn't travel further than I could see (flat sheep country so very long lines of sight).

Even with a .223, shooting a crow 5m high in a tree at 300m, the bullet is going to hit the ground around 1000m to 1500m away if you miss, depending on your bullet and velocity.

[bladeracer]

I just ran some numbers based on the 50gn HP I used to use. I never owned a chrono but I didn't load hot, so was probably pushing them at 3000fps max.
Across flat terrain, shooting prone, at 200m (closer shots became rarer over time) a crow 6m up a tree (I thought maybe 10m, but I don't recall the trees around there being 30ft high, 20ft is more realistic I think, though it doesn't matter much).
So, shooting upwards 6m over 200m is 103MoA elevation (1.7-degrees).
Zeroing at 1100m puts the bullet about 102-minutes high at 200m, so a miss will result in a splash of dust 1100m away - assuming the same elevation you're firing from.

[bladeracer]

Oh, and shooting a crow out of a tree six-meters high at thirty-degrees, means they were shooting from about 10m away.

[bladeracer]

I'm working on loads in 6.5mm pushing the 147gn ELDM at around 2650fps.
Its very high BC of .697 gives it a theoretical maximum possible range around 3900m, so probably around 3500m realistically.

I have some 197gn SMK's and 180gn ELDM's, BC's of .780 and .796, but my 7mm's won't move them anywhere near as fast as your RemMag, assuming it has the 8"-twist-rate for them. You should be able to launch the 180gn up around 2900fps, if you have a long throat to maximize boiler room. That should give it a theoretical maximum potential range of around 4500m, realistically, something over 4000m. But that is an ELDM, not something you're likely to be accidentally shooting into the sky