Airgun trajectory, how flat is flat?

 I can say that I "see" the difference in wind drift and trajectory with two guns I shoot slugs from. 

Both slugs have the same point. One is only 30.5gr. @ 872 FPS (51 FPE) and the other is 38.1gr. @ 940 FPS (75 FPE). 

Less than 70 FPS difference and less than 25% weight difference. A 50% power difference though. 

But the 38.1 isn't affected by wind and air drag anywhere near as much. HUGE deference.

No quantifiable numbers here, just an easy to see difference. Especially past 150 yards. 
 
Found the BC of a 28gn 0.22 slug (more common use)

https://www.krale.shop/en/airgun-slugs-nielsen-5-5-mm-28-grain.html

1557403571_12202338365cd417b3a1ae24.28463699_slug2.png

Looks to me like even with the high velocity, high power slugs, that anything in excess of about 125 yards is more like launching a mortar than a shooting a bullet... ;)
 
Well, this was a bench shooting (mine) on mid gusty winds (5-10mph) @150m / 165y with a.pellet liner (not even slug liner) shooting ... I´ll take it! (pellet won´t even hit the targets on that changing wind..)

30gn slugs

1557425442_21002705985cd46d22543617.30949111_20190413_133318.jpg


22.5gn slugs

1557425443_9259653815cd46d23a49643.93606643_20190413_131549.jpg


This weekend I will test shooting with the slugliner over the mk2, will see, probably will get a LOT better

Nothing special IMO (the shooting pics) but considering that is not even a liner made for slugs...is a good start 
 
Well, this was a bench shooting (mine) on mid gusty winds (5-10mph) @150m / 165y with a.pellet liner (not even slug liner) shooting ... I´ll take it! (pellet won´t even hit the targets on that changing wind..)

30gn slugs

1557425442_21002705985cd46d22543617.30949111_20190413_133318.jpg


22.5gn slugs

1557425443_9259653815cd46d23a49643.93606643_20190413_131549.jpg


This weekend I will test shooting with the slugliner over the mk2, will see, probably will get a LOT better

Nothing special IMO (the shooting pics) but considering that is not even a liner made for slugs...is a good start

Those look about like my 150y Leshiy groups with 18gr JSBs in similar wind. How flat were they shooting?
 
And don't forget that when you get out past 125 yards, you have to consider spindrift. Just like a curveball, spin (imparted by barrel twist) starts to have an effect on the pellet too.

If I'm going to shoot anything live with the intent to kill it, I keep it within 50 yards or so. That way, the shot is flat, and so is his heat. LOL

I consider anything after about 50 yards, the same as shooting baskets. Loft'em in.



Crusher


 
Has anyone else noticed that at 100 yards plus, when you see the pellet drop into the picture, it isn't necessarily straight down from the top of the crosshair? That just shows how much outside forces are effecting the pellet. Typically, if there is a little wind, I see the pellet drop into the picture about 2 o'clock. It hits right where I was aiming. Just weird to think about why it wouldn't come straight in.
 
Has anyone else noticed that at 100 yards plus, when you see the pellet drop into the picture, it isn't necessarily straight down from the top of the crosshair? That just shows how much outside forces are effecting the pellet. Typically, if there is a little wind, I see the pellet drop into the picture about 2 o'clock. It hits right where I was aiming. Just weird to think about why it wouldn't come straight in.

Probably an effect of parallax 
 
All mathematics aside. To me, in my usage, flat shooting only refers to my point blank range. Also known by other names. But it’s the distance between the arc of first 0 and second 0. Granted every gun, scope height, fps and ammo will change this distance. But it is really all I am concerned with. I have .223, .243, .257,..270 and so on. But still, to me it’s 0 to 0. In the real world it’s probably how ever far the bullet will travel till it hits ground.
 
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I realize I am late to the discussion here and a lot has already been mentioned. I see most people tying flat to BC and I couldn't disagree more. Yes BC will determine how quickly your projectile will slow down, but gravity is gravity and it is a constant downward acceleration of 9.8 meters per second per second. Your pellet is accelerating downwards the moment it leaves the barrel and gravity acts on it - so technically speaking there is no such thing as a flat trajectory, just varying tightness of a parabola based on how angled up your barrel is. So the speed of the projectile is the only thing which will determine how close to flat the parabola is. 

You can mess with BC to see that it's possible for a slug going slower than a pellet will have a flatter parabola, but that a comparison not an answer to Mike's question.

So how flat is flat? It isn't, there will always be a curve.
 
There’s a reason the 220 swift was known as a flat shooter. Incredible speeds.

Im all about the speed, but in setting up my two impacts for this coming ebr and RMAC, what I’ve never paid attention to till now is the jolt a high powered pcp gets. Subtle enough to cause a miss. Hunting accuracy is way different than target shooting benchrest accuracy, so I had to change my thought pattern on pcp tunes and slow them down to get rid of the jolt. 


but I’m with STOTI on this. The less time in the air the less the projectile gets affected. If I could keep shooting the 22 cal redesigns at the speed I had it up to at 1016 I would. But that small jolt throws the shot off at 50 yards. I bring it down to 945 and now I see the ribbon I have hanging out there (poor man’s wind flag)go from vertical at 6:00 out to horizontal 3:00, and it pushes that redesign 3/4 to 1” at 50 yards.
 
Whew....I am gettin a headache....way to much info....I wouldnt give up that much fun time trying to figure all that out!!! To each his own I guess, different interests for different folks....

Ha ha! I used to not pay much attention to this kind of stuff but I’m all ears now. I find all this stuff interesting. Must come with age, I guess. 


thanks for starting this thread, CC. 
 
There is nothing flat about any airguns trajectory. But I guess we could compare rainbows. When I saw what I was dealing with trajectory wise no matter how fast we made our guns or what projectile we shot, my focus was solely on the tightest consistent groups I can achieve at 80-100 yards. I would rather make elevation and windage adjustments for a slower consistent tack driver than a temperamental speedster. Now when we keep the distance considerably under 100 yards, yes we have some pretty flat shooting airguns. Compared to my Sheridan Blue Streak pumper.
 
There is nothing flat about any airguns trajectory. But I guess we could compare rainbows. When I saw what I was dealing with trajectory wise no matter how fast we made our guns or what projectile we shot, my focus was solely on the tightest consistent groups I can achieve at 80-100 yards. I would rather make elevation and windage adjustments for a slower consistent tack driver than a temperamental speedster. Now when we keep the distance considerably under 100 yards, yes we have some pretty flat shooting airguns. Compared to my Sheridan Blue Streak pumper.

+1, agree with the above. One thing (not in the above, but mentioned a few times on some entries in this post), is the misconception that the faster the projectile goes, the less it is affected by the wind. It does seem to make common sense, and I've been in quite a few online discussions regarding this, plus picked up a few trolls in the process. Safe to say that all you really need to do is plug into Strelok Pro or Shooter. 

A Pellet at 1050 FPS, same distance, and same side wind, and at 880 FPS (a common pellet speed), and see how the total wind drift compares. At 100 yards and 10 MPH wind, the SLOWER pellet (in this case, a .25 King Heavy) drifts about 7 inches, and the much FASTER pellet drifts about 8 inches. How can this be you ask? The faster one spent less time in the wind than the slower one... Hint: it is a function of the RATE at which the pellet slows down, not the gross speed.

For slugs, the difference isn't much, for the .25 NSA 38.9 grain at 965 FPS and the same slug at 1075 FPS in the same conditions, the faster one drifts about same as the slower one... So no benefit as far as wind drift for going much faster. Yes, of course the faster one will drop less and have a "flatter" trajectory... But lets take a look at that so called "flatter" trajectory from a practical standpoint, say 250 yards, on a gun with a 50 yard zero. So at 250 yards, lets look at how much (or not) the flatter trajectory benefits the shooter. 

Speed 245Y, 250Y, 255Y

1075 85 in 89 in 94 in

965 105 in 110 in 116 in

Wow, you might say, that's about 20 inches difference!!! But what does that do for you? What this tells me is that if I'm shooting at a ground squirrel with about a 2 to 3 inch KZ (maximum), in both cases if I'm off by 5 yards ranging I miss... And since the wind drift difference is negligible, is there really any benefit to jacking your speed up to over 1050 FPS, or even over 1000 FPS? To me its a no brainer and the speed that the gun is most accurate at and most easy to shoot accurately should be your choice.