I'm curious why it's generally considered that larger caliber pellets are more accurate, especially in wind. If it's due to the inertia of a heavier pellet wouldn't a smaller but equally weighted pellet be better because of the reduced footprint (side and front) it would have in the wind?
Morning shower logic?
- Thread starter beeser
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The ballistic coefficient is tied to shape, cross sectional area, and mass. Where the shape is the same, the mass goes up by the cube while the cross section goes up by the square. When you, say, double the size the area goes up four times, while the mass goes up eight times. A larger pellet has more mass to keep pushing through the air, than the smaller one.
Now, you can balance all this out and keep things equal if you scale the distance to the target as well. That is, if you double the size of the pellet, you double the range.
Now, you can balance all this out and keep things equal if you scale the distance to the target as well. That is, if you double the size of the pellet, you double the range.
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G
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Good question!
Larger pellets aren't inherently more accurate. Bigger heavier pellets generally buck wind better but not always. Projectiles with higher ballistics coefficients (BCs) literally "penetrate" the air better. They "fly" better meaning they are not slowed down by the friction of the air as quickly. A smaller pellet of the same weight and design will have a higher BC because it has a higher cross sectional density. It will be slowed down less by the friction of the air. If both pellets are fired at the same velocity and range the smaller diameter one will get to the target first. With some caveats (which are discussed here: http://airgunguild.com/ask-bob/velocity-and-wind-drift/) that means it will have less wind drift and less drop than the larger diameter, same weight, same form factor pellet.
Moar reading: http://airgunguild.com/ask-bob/what-is-the-ballistics-coefficient/
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Don't forget Uranium - 19.1g/cm3, not very backyard friendly though!
Basically B.C. is stupidly good and useful tool when it comes to these questions.
What I did back then when I was between .22 and .25 was to check up the BCs of same pellets but in different diameters.
Between a comparison of many models and makes, it grows quite by the same amount by the diameter.
Basically B.C. is stupidly good and useful tool when it comes to these questions.
What I did back then when I was between .22 and .25 was to check up the BCs of same pellets but in different diameters.
Between a comparison of many models and makes, it grows quite by the same amount by the diameter.
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