Its something I've been wondering about for quite a while now, especially in todays PCP, with shooting faster and harder being all the rage. I've seen Impacts shooting 44.75 grain JSB Exacts at over 1000 FPS, Daystate Safaris shooting 34 grain MK2 Heavies at over 1050 FPS. Even the RMAC winner shot his Ernest Rowe tuned .30 Impact at very close to 1000 FPS, I think the number I heard was 990.
So, I've been tinkering around with this. Common sense would tell you that the faster the pellet flies, the less time in the wind, and therefore the less its flight path is affected. But, is this really true, or is it a myth? Obviously shooters that have spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars getting their guns to shoot faster will tell you without a moment's hesitation that faster is better... but is it?
There are two things that made me start questioning this, and thinking that perhaps it is a myth, an old wives' tale.
First, I was shooting Sunday, and had my .25 Vulcan Tactic shooting the Kings at 888 FPS. And next to it, I had my .25 Cricket, which normally shoots the Heavies at 905 FPS. I was shooting targets at 85 yards, in a fairly strong left to right breeze, probably 6 to 8 mph, and steady. I had shot a couple of magazines with the Vulcan, and the pellet was moving between 1.5 and 1.75 mils. I thought, lets try the Cricket, with the Kings, at about 1000 FPS. The pellets are flying much faster, so it should be less affected by the wind. Right? Well, not... With the much faster pellet speed, I was getting pretty much the same drift, maybe even slightly more (1/8 mil more on average). To say I was surprised would be an understatement...
Second, I decided to do some "what if" with Strelok Pro. So I looked at my standard setup for the Vulcan, and did the 5 mph wind at 100 yards from 90 degrees. It showed a 1.3 mil drift (.25 JSB King 25.4 gr, BC .042). Then I changed my pellet speed to 1000 FPS, and Strelok showed a drift of 1.4 mil. Huh? Every other variable the same, and it drifts more with higher speed...? Is Strelok broke, or perhaps the physics of a diabolo pellet in flight backed up what I experienced at the range... Perhaps it has to do with the BC going down dramatically as you enter the transonic region, and the BC starting high and remaining high at the lower (850 to 900 FPS) ranges. Not sure about that?
So, there's my two cents on the matter. I can understand the additional power for a slightly flatter (remember, no pellets really shoot "flat") trajectory and more energy downrange for hunting. But for target shooting, is jacking up your power to shoot in the wind really necessary?
Mod edit: moved to Pellets, Projectiles, Slugs, and Ammo forum
So, I've been tinkering around with this. Common sense would tell you that the faster the pellet flies, the less time in the wind, and therefore the less its flight path is affected. But, is this really true, or is it a myth? Obviously shooters that have spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars getting their guns to shoot faster will tell you without a moment's hesitation that faster is better... but is it?
There are two things that made me start questioning this, and thinking that perhaps it is a myth, an old wives' tale.
First, I was shooting Sunday, and had my .25 Vulcan Tactic shooting the Kings at 888 FPS. And next to it, I had my .25 Cricket, which normally shoots the Heavies at 905 FPS. I was shooting targets at 85 yards, in a fairly strong left to right breeze, probably 6 to 8 mph, and steady. I had shot a couple of magazines with the Vulcan, and the pellet was moving between 1.5 and 1.75 mils. I thought, lets try the Cricket, with the Kings, at about 1000 FPS. The pellets are flying much faster, so it should be less affected by the wind. Right? Well, not... With the much faster pellet speed, I was getting pretty much the same drift, maybe even slightly more (1/8 mil more on average). To say I was surprised would be an understatement...
Second, I decided to do some "what if" with Strelok Pro. So I looked at my standard setup for the Vulcan, and did the 5 mph wind at 100 yards from 90 degrees. It showed a 1.3 mil drift (.25 JSB King 25.4 gr, BC .042). Then I changed my pellet speed to 1000 FPS, and Strelok showed a drift of 1.4 mil. Huh? Every other variable the same, and it drifts more with higher speed...? Is Strelok broke, or perhaps the physics of a diabolo pellet in flight backed up what I experienced at the range... Perhaps it has to do with the BC going down dramatically as you enter the transonic region, and the BC starting high and remaining high at the lower (850 to 900 FPS) ranges. Not sure about that?
So, there's my two cents on the matter. I can understand the additional power for a slightly flatter (remember, no pellets really shoot "flat") trajectory and more energy downrange for hunting. But for target shooting, is jacking up your power to shoot in the wind really necessary?
Mod edit: moved to Pellets, Projectiles, Slugs, and Ammo forum
