How far does a bullet travel in a straight line?

A bullet fired straight up, with no wind, might reach a height of 10,000 feet (about three kilometers), but will come back down at only around 150 miles per hour: just 10\% of the speed and with only 1\% of the energy as the originally fired bullet.

Do bullets travel horizontally?

Note that bullets don’t travel in a horizontal, flat line… but rather in an arc. So, for long distances, you’re actually pointing the barrel slightly upward.

Why does a bullet fall straight when it hits the ground?

Simple — your barrel is angled upward even though your scope is looking straight at the target. Therefore, the original path of your bullet is a straight line at an upward angle. The bullet, because of gravity, immediately starts to fall from its original path.

How far can a bullet travel with a bullet?

Bullets at nominally 800 fps to perhaps 1600 fps, such as 22 LR, most pistols, and older rifle cartridges, must follow a rather high arc in order to reach a target 100 yards away. In fact, most of these slower cartridges are only useful to about 50 yards, perhaps 75 yards for some in the upper end of this range.

What happens to a bullet when it leaves the barrel?

When a bullet leaves your barrel it doesn’t travel in a straight line – no matter how fast it is. There are external forces which immediately start to bring the bullet off of its original path. The study of how a bullet behaves while in flight is called external ballistics.

What is the effect of gravity on a bullet’s trajectory?

Still, the effects of gravity and air resistance are the same as far as the bullet is concerned, it is just that the trajectory at such a steep angle is more divergent from the line of sight. Secondary Ballistics Phenomena. In general, bullets follow a parabolic arc.