Shape Up And Fly Right

By James Rummel

In a previous post, there was a question about how bullet shape increases stability.

It all started when Steven first mentioned the ideal bullet shape for stability as it cuts through the air …

“Aerodynamically, the ideal shape is blunt in the front and strongly tapered in the rear. (I know that’s counterintuitive, but it’s true.)“

This prompted long time reader Fruitbat44 to ask a question …

“So that’s why you get target shooters loading wadcutters?”

Okay, let us sort out the issues at hand. What are these “wadcutters” of which Fruitbat44 speaks?

The answer is that they are bullets that are very flat at the front.

What is the hollow you see in some of them? Wadcutters may have a little cup shape scooped out of the back so the expanding gas from the propellent will cause the sides to swell out in order to engage the rifling in the barrel, but the front is kind of like a physical map of Kansas.

Cartridges loaded with wadcutters have a very distinct look about them.

Okay, so we have handgun bullets that are flat flat flat. So what? Why use …read more

Source:: Hell In a Handbasket