Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1911-12-28
SPEED OF A SHOT
Finding the Velocity of a Missile
a Simple Matter.
MEASURED BY A PAPER DRUM.
The Whiriins Cylinder Registers thu
Projeesile's Flight With Minute Ae
euracy at Any Desired Distanes
Wing Shots and Shot Charges.

euraey at Any Desired Distance
Wing Shots and Shot Charges.
Persons at all interested in gun firing
OF any kind, whether OF the revolver
or rife or of heavy ordnance of any
kind, occasionally come upon the term
'muzzle velocity" and velocities Of the
missile at stated distances
How can anybody tell how fast a
bullet Is travelling when II leaves the
muzzle OF a weaponr' IS likely com
ment on the part OF the layman.
AS a matter of fact this approximate
velocity OF the missile may be one OF
the easiest Of determinations TO make.
In the fiust place. drnmlike cylinder
is made of fixed diameter and OF suf-
fciently stir paper to allow Of its re
volying rapidly on a spindle. Using
cylinder Of small circumference. IT Is
necessary that the speed approach
1000 revelations minute. These rev
olutions are produced by electric pow
er, and the count Is made by an exact
mechanical register.
The gun is placed securely at the re
quired distar zee from the drum and u
sighted direc fly al the center OF the
cylinder, which is spinning at so
many rods, even miles, a minute. as
its circumfer ence determines. With
the drums Sd eed adjusted an electric
current disch argos the weapon. the
bullet striking the center OF the drum
as measured firom top to bottom
The reader III tderstands that with the
drum stationar. the bullet would pass
directly tifroug II on the line Of its
diameter, comir z out ON the other side
with scarcely a. shad~ OF impeachment.
With the drums periphery whirling at
the rate of 1000 revolutions minute
and its diameter only a fraction more
than n foot this would mean a rate OF
2.Oe0 y,lrds in sixty seconds. Thus in
the fragment of a second necessary for
the bullet to enter one side OF the pa
per Dir um, cross It and out at the other
side the opposite side OF the drum
wouhl show considerable deviation
from an exact diameter of line OF pas
sa &c.
1t is this space of DETECTION shown
inside the further rim of the drum that
Is. used for the computation Of velocity
Of the missile. The speed Of the cylin-
de- may be computed TO the ten thou
sandth part Of second IL necessary
an the lineal distance run in that time
be charted in perpendicular lines on
the inner side of the paper. At what
ev er line the bullet penetrates outward
IL registers its time in crossing the
diameter Of the cylinder. II II has re-
CURED the ten-thousandth part Of a
second for the bullet TO ily one foot Its
muzzle velocity to the mile may be
computed by any schoolboy. BY the
same process, too. the bullets velocity
at 100 yards or 500 yards may be de
termined
Years ago before wing shooting had
become an art the farmer with his
muzzle loading shotgun and charge OF
! black powder would shoot directly at a
wild roose or duck in full flight He
| evolved a theory of his own as TO the
oncoming bird. holding that the heavy
breast feathers turned" the shot He
waited until the bird had passed him
when. firing directly at il, he could
bring down his quarry.
But Il was not because the bird was
| not vulnerable. coming. breast on.
The fact was that it efw over his
charge Of shot. Before be could pull
the trigger and the hammer fell on
the percussion cap and the compare
lively slow black powder could be ig-
nited and exploded, sending the shot
twenty-five or thirty yards, the bird
had flown yards perhaps beyond its
position when the fowler first touched
/ the trigger. But firing directly at the
bird after Il had passed the shot
charge had a strong tendency TO drop
as 1t flew, and the bird flying on
. level line "got in the way OF the
charge.
Today the modern nitro powders are
Immensely quicker than was the old
black cunpowder, yet II has been an
engineering problem to determine just
how fast and I'm what line a charge OF
shot win travel. In this determine
4 non the TthNHf INK VII 1Nf-~N
shown several important facts which
have been taken in connection with
the speed OF individual game birds
and the effects of windage on a ssoi
charge
That most important fact as to the
fight OF shot from modern shotgun
Is that Mt forty yards the fhot are
"strung out" for approximately fifteen
feet. While the leading pellets in the
string have greatest velocity and XII
ing power, at this distance even the
/ trailing pellets are OF sufficient force
o kill
All this has led 70 the modern prac-
tice of the fowler 20 reckon with the
speed OF his shot. the speed of the
bird. the influence Of the wind in
drifting the charge. and out OF
these established facts to lead the
bird sufficiently to XII it rather than