Ever seen a bullet in flight?

Gun Smith · Post by **Gun Smith** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:38 am

After reading the post about bullets and sound, this question came to mind. A friend of mine and I used to shoot at a private range. We normally shot at 50 to 100 yards. But the owner also had a steel plow disc hanging from an oak tree between 250 and 300 yards up on a hillside. Just for fun we used to lob rounds at it.
The target and the line of flight had a dark, solid pine tree forest for a background. In the mornings when we used the range the sun shines across the line of fire into the trees. One day when my buddy was shooting at the disc with my 32/20, as I listened for the bullet strike, I realized I could see the bullet in the air as the sun reflected off of it. We were amazed that that was possible. We were able to repeat the sightings almost every time. You had to look out at least 175 yards to do it.
Was this a fluke of conditions or a common thing.? We thought it was really neat!
The reloads we were using were mild ones as I don't like to push the old Winchester steel.

morgan in nm · Post by **morgan in nm** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:45 am

I've seen it with 45 colt factory several years ago when it was loaded very mild.

Terry Murbach · Post by **Terry Murbach** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:46 am

ACTUALLY THIS IS PRETTY COMMON, NOT RARE ATALL. MOST FOLKS NEVER GIVE IT A THOUGHT AS THEY NEVER THOUGHT IT POSSIBLE. ONCE THEY SEE THE FIRST ONE THEY REALIZE SOON THEY CAN SEE LOTS OF 'EM IN FLIGHT. CAST FLATBASE BULLETS SEEM TO BE THE EASIEST TO SEE IN FLIGHT AS THEY REFLECT LIGHT OFF A SHINY SURFACE VERY WELL INDEED. SHINY RIFLE BULLETS REFLECT LIGHT VERY WELL TOO AND WATCHING 30-06 BULLETS IN FLIGHT NEGATES THE NEED TO USE THE SIGHTS WAY OUT YONDER WHILE ROCK BUSTING UP IN THE MOUNTAINS.

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:53 am

Yes....especially cool, is on a damp humid day seeing a vapor trail behind the bullet all the way down.....

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:03 pm

Yes I have, many times.
A friend and I used to shoot at night in the AZ desert. It's cooler then. We'd use the off road lights on our vehicles to light up our shooting area. The reflections off the bullets bases made them look almost like tracers. Really fun.

Joe

mescalero1 · Post by **mescalero1** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:06 pm

Common for silhouette shooters.

66GTO · Post by **66GTO** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:15 pm

I recently put a 32X scope on my Savage .22 bolt action and I swear I can see subsonic rounds through the scope. The bullet arcs in flight and drops to the crosshairs at point of impact. With my old eyes it may be an optical illusion though

!

Cimarron Red · Post by **Cimarron Red** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:26 pm

As mescalero1 says, this is common for silhouette shooters -- at least for BPCR silhouette shooters, in my case. When spotting for a fellow shooter, I can usually see the big, heavy bullets even as they leave the firing line. At the turkey and the ram, it's quite a kick to see the bullet leave the firing line, climb out of the spotting scope's field of view and the re-enter the picture as it nears the target. With the pig and the chicken, you can typically see the bullet throughout its flight.

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:27 pm

Yep, see regular. Especially when lamping for a friend with the lamp held close to the gun, I know it's gonna hit but can't say it quick enough

I've noticed shot columns too.
A friend once commented how he saw the strong wind take his shot way off a high bird! Something not considered much, wind and shot.

Nath.

jnyork · Post by **jnyork** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:00 pm

If the light is right and you have a good scope you can watch .22 rimfires all the way to target. Pretty common sight at our silhouette matches.

1886 · Post by **1886** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:32 pm

I have seen .22 R.F. bullets in flight with the naked eye. I have also witnessed Hornet rounds in flight through a 24x scope in the bright sun of the early morning. 1886.

Tycer · Post by **Tycer** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:35 pm

BlaineG wrote:Yes....especially cool, is on a damp humid day seeing a vapor trail behind the bullet all the way down.....

+1

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:37 pm

45 ACP in flight--- if the light is right. The first couple of times I thought I was seeing things

Hill

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:00 pm

In addition to seeing them in flight, with the sun to your back, I sometimes load big rounds (45-70) with 2 grains of bulllsye. (silent loads) These are very easy to see, especially when shooting them straight up!

------------Sixgun

Borregos · Post by **Borregos** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:13 pm

All the time silhouette shooting

The big heavy ones are the most interesting I think.

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:24 pm

Yep, an old shooting mentor used to lob .45ACP loads outta his 1911A1 at a manhole cover set about 500 yards downrange. Seein' the reflection off their base many times, I came to realize that it was neither uncommon or difficult once you know what to look for.

Bullet Bob · Post by **Bullet Bob** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:37 pm

As others have said, really easy, especially with .22's. Set up the gun on a benchrest in the evening, with the sun behind you. A big scope works best. Once you see one, you can't stop! You forget all about the target for a while.

It's easier with .22's because of the relatively low bullet speed, and lack of recoil.

Don McDowell · Post by **Don McDowell** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:39 pm

Yup the bpcr bullets are a hoot to watch when the sun and all is right, and you can pick them up. Watching those big ol shiny sparrows floating out to the target sort of make a fella rethink some of the stuff we've read in the ballistics tables.

Idahoser · Post by **Idahoser** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:03 pm

somebody had a video posted on this subject recently, but I can't find it. Musta been a different forum.

I've got Uteoob blocked but here's the stuff I gooooooooooogled

pharmseller · Post by **pharmseller** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 4:56 pm

BlaineG wrote:Yes....especially cool, is on a damp humid day seeing a vapor trail behind the bullet all the way down.....

I saw a video of a hunter shooting across a canyon at a big 6 point bull. Very misty, but not raining. The camera shot was "over the shoulder" and that bullet made a hole in the mist all the way to the bull's shoulder. Very cool (but not for the bull).

P

TedH · Post by **TedH** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:06 pm

I've done it with a 45 acp cast bullet load. I even had some that you could see on a video I took.

marlinman93 · Post by **marlinman93** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:08 pm

Since I shoot mostly old, slow cartridges, it's pretty common to see the bullet in flight when standing behind a shooter. I've tried it with the gun I'm shooting, but can't seem to recover from recoil, and still see through the smoke.

adirondakjack · Post by **adirondakjack** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:14 pm

When working as range safety officer/timer operator for CAS, standing behind and to the side of the shooter, I see bullets go all the time. I've also seen one or two make the return trip when they hit a target stand and head back toward the line. Managed to duck one once, turning my head just in time to get grazed alongside the head instead of catching the round right in the face.

bogus bill · Post by **bogus bill** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:29 pm

I done a lot of aerial shooting as a youth with both handguns and rifles. (.22 lr.). When there were clouds it was easy and common to watch the bullets make a small ark. Thats once you see it the first time you know how to look for it. My eyes were far sharper than, and I havent tried it in years.

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 8:36 pm

What is really fun is watching the trail left by a .50BMG threw a pair of binos as it screams its way to a target. Watching trails is how I call the shots for my Marines on the rifle range @ the 500 yard line you can watch those 5.56 fly all the way to the target on a sunny day.

Aussie Chris · Post by **Aussie Chris** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:11 pm

Saw one the other day when I went to break in the .38-55. It was just like 66GTO said. I was shooting subsonic .22's (Winchester Z's) and I could see them through the scope on the way to the target.

Chris

Post by **Chuck 100 yd** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:12 pm

When I was range officer at small bore matches I have seen it many times. When looking through a spotting scope with a shooters target centered in the view, you can see the bullet come into view and track it all the way to the target.
It is cool to watch a master put one after another through the same hole from prone,irons @ 100mtr.

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:22 pm

All the time - when I shoot the .22 Colibri from my office window!

mescalero1 · Post by **mescalero1** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:28 am

Home office?

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 12:50 am

Back when I was shooting my M27 a couple of hundred rounds a week and the county was paying for it our .38 SWCs could be seen if we were shooting in the evening as the sun was going down behind us.

El Chivo · Post by **El Chivo** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:05 am

when spotting for someone else in silhouette, I could see the bullet right before it hit, and then the splash when it did. I'll have to try looking harder.

Would it work to pain the bullet base a bright color, or would that burn off?

Post by **Ysabel Kid** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:37 am

mescalero1 wrote:Home office?

Yep! I'm pretty sure work would have frowned on that when I worked at their offices!

Then again, I've never been known for following too many rules!

O.S.O.K. · Post by **O.S.O.K.** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 10:19 am

If you've ever shot cas on a regular basis - you've seen it. I've seen it hundereds of times. Many of the cas shooters use loads lobbing the bullets downrange at 600 fps, and those were particularly easy to see.

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 1:42 pm

A slight slant on this thread but when I was younger we would lob arrows up at passing gulls but you had to make sure you didn't take your eye off the arrow.
One day I did and the arrow landed three feet away

We err stopped doing it

Nath

KWK · Post by **KWK** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:04 pm

I've seen .38 Spl's go down range. They were low speed (even for a .38) handloads. The cast bullets are kind of a gray, smeared arc. Really nice is shooting flat base, copper jacketed .38 bullets; I recall the sun was behind and to the side some, and one got an effect similar to a tracer.

Post by **Chuck 100 yd** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 9:24 pm

El Chivo , Yes , A friend painted the bases of some pistol bullets with
Day Glo Orange paint. They were .45ACP IIRC. You could see them easily.

"I cary a .45 because there aint no .46 !!!"

Travis Morgan · Post by **Travis Morgan** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 10:52 pm

JReed wrote:What is really fun is watching the trail left by a .50BMG threw a pair of binos as it screams its way to a target. Watching trails is how I call the shots for my Marines on the rifle range @ the 500 yard line you can watch those 5.56 fly all the way to the target on a sunny day.

What kinda binos are you using? When I'm RSO'ing, I hate trying to spot 5.56's. When my binos went south, I told my wife I needed a .50 BMG, so I could spot for myself!

When RSO'ing at the local indoor range, I've even seen a few rifle bullets in flight.( I think it's a function of the light above and behind the firing line, and the darkness of the tunnel.(.30-06 class cartridges)

KCSO · Post by **KCSO** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:33 am

I had an old Webly Revolver once and with the old Weblyy round at 6000 fps it was not unusual to see the bullets in flight. You had to get at just the right angle and you could see them arc in to the 100 yard line.

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:38 pm

Travis Morgan wrote:
JReed wrote:What is really fun is watching the trail left by a .50BMG threw a pair of binos as it screams its way to a target. Watching trails is how I call the shots for my Marines on the rifle range @ the 500 yard line you can watch those 5.56 fly all the way to the target on a sunny day.
What kinda binos are you using? When I'm RSO'ing, I hate trying to spot 5.56's. When my binos went south, I told my wife I needed a .50 BMG, so I could spot for myself!

When RSO'ing at the local indoor range, I've even seen a few rifle bullets in flight.( I think it's a function of the light above and behind the firing line, and the darkness of the tunnel.(.30-06 class cartridges)

I have a pair of Simmons Redline 10X50 Binos inexspensive but they have nice clear glass. The trick is to not look for them and all of a sudden there they are its weird but I dont know how to explain it better.

Travis Morgan · Post by **Travis Morgan** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:28 pm

KCSO wrote:I had an old Webly Revolver once and with the old Weblyy round at 6000 fps......

I think that was one too many zeros.

Travis Morgan · Post by **Travis Morgan** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:32 pm

JReed wrote:
Travis Morgan wrote:
JReed wrote:What is really fun is watching the trail left by a .50BMG threw a pair of binos as it screams its way to a target. Watching trails is how I call the shots for my Marines on the rifle range @ the 500 yard line you can watch those 5.56 fly all the way to the target on a sunny day.
What kinda binos are you using? When I'm RSO'ing, I hate trying to spot 5.56's. When my binos went south, I told my wife I needed a .50 BMG, so I could spot for myself!

When RSO'ing at the local indoor range, I've even seen a few rifle bullets in flight.( I think it's a function of the light above and behind the firing line, and the darkness of the tunnel.(.30-06 class cartridges)
I have a pair of Simmons Redline 10X50 Binos inexspensive but they have nice clear glass. The trick is to not look for them and all of a sudden there they are its weird but I dont know how to explain it better.

I catch more when I look past the bullet's path, or watch w/my peripheral vision.

txpete · Post by **txpete** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 5:32 pm

yup 20 mm no problem

.
pete

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 6:49 pm

[quote="Travis Morgan]I have a pair of Simmons Redline 10X50 Binos inexspensive but they have nice clear glass. The trick is to not look for them and all of a sudden there they are its weird but I dont know how to explain it better.[/quote]

I catch more when I look past the bullet's path, or watch w/my peripheral vision.[/quote]

Yes that is what I do I just look at the top of the target and alow my eyes to lose focus. After a second of relaxing your eyes they can be see regularly even on a cloudy day.

Travis Morgan · Post by **Travis Morgan** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 6:57 pm

Yeah, it's kinda hard to convinvce people they're see them once they STOP looking. I guess those folks have never lost their car keys!

mran1126 · Post by **mran1126** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:13 pm

Yes, I've seen them too. Both .22 pistol rounds and .38 specials. Same kind of situation, dark background and sun reflecting. And they do look a little like tracer rounds.

DBW · Post by **DBW** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 6:04 pm

Yup. Several hundred at a time to be exact while going through M60 training at Camp Bullis outside of San Antonia back in '83. With ten or so M60s firing at once we somehow managed to set the wet grass on fire a few thousand feet down the range. Guess it was all those tracers.