The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1916-02-11
BULLETS IN FLIGHT
Even the Best Aimed Ones Never
Follow Their Noses.
STRIKE A WEE BIT SIDEWAYS.

! me SroJectiie travels on Curve, oi
Course, and 1t Keeps Its Axis Always
In the Direction the Axis Had When
the Ball Left the Gun.
| 1t is a well known fact that bullet
never goes straight to a mark, but flies
in curve on the order of the parabola
| But most people think that the bullet
| itself follows its nose and that at first
| (when the nose is pointed up the bull
| let follows it and that when the bullet
[ is coming down on the other leg of the
| curve the nose is pointed down.
| This is mistake, for the nose of a
bullet always maintains its own direc-
| ton, no matter what the bullet as a
whole tries to do. That is, if gun be
pointed slightly up, the bullet, when it
strikes the target, will not enter 1t per
pendicularly by the nose, and the hole
made will be larger than the bullet is
round, for the bullet OF necessity must
hit in a certain degree fatwise. OF
course the reason the bullet does this
is because it has very rapid rotation
given 1t by the rifles in the barrel,
which keeps it also from turning over
and over In the air.
Another thing that will seem peculiar
to most people is the action OF gravity
on a bullet If gun be fired exactly
horizontally the bullet will have to be
pulled down by gravity exactly sixteen
feet during the first second So If there
were no sights on a gun and it was
leveled by means Of a hand level and
fired the bullet would hit something
exactly sixteen feet below the gun at
distance away equal to the velocity of
the bullet per second.
No matter what the bullets velocity.
gravity will pull it down sixteen feet
during the first second, or If the bullet
be fired upward gravity will take from
its upward velocity thirty two feet dur
ing the first second.
The bullet itself keeps it's axis al
ways In the direction the axis had
when the bullet issued from the gun.
This is the well known gyroscopic prin-
ciple made use of In the gyroscopic
compass and the monorail car-that a
rotating body will maintain its axis of
rotation in the same direction unless a
moment of force be applied to it.
But what actually happens with the
modern high powered rife? Does 1t
shoot bullet that goes In sideways?
To slight extent 1t may be stated
that the modern army bullet does do
that very thing. It's velocity, however,
is so enormous that the gun barrel does
not have to be elevated through so
large an angle, and consequently the
bullet enters fairly on its nose, though
not squarely so, at all ordinary ranges.
The same may be said of the bigger
guns. They have rifling In them and |
so give rotation and gyroscopic action |
to the projectiles. But a mortar does |
not A mortar shoots something al |
most straight up in the air and let's 1t |
fall down. AS the mortar is too short |
barreled to be rified the top of the pro- |
jectile would hit a target a long dis
tance away, but for shot almost |
up In the air to fall right down |
of course the bottom of the projectile |
would strike first. The mortar projec- |
tiles are generally round, so that it will
not matter how they strike
The reason a bullet cannot be made
so that it viii always enter a target |
on its nose is that for every |
range differently shaped bullet would
have to be manufactured; also the bull
let should be symmetrical, so that the
air will exert no disturbing influence
on its distorted parts.
bullet has a distinct curve like that
of a baseball, due to its rotation, and
this curve is independent Of the parab-
ola given by gravity. The smoother
and more polished a bullet is the less
is this curve. But the action of the
rifing in a gun barrel puts little
grooves in the bullet as it goes through
the barrel. These catch the air as the
bullet rotates and causes the curve
spoken Of
If the bullet be rotated in the direc-
tion Of the hands of clock the curve
viii make the bullet go to the left of
the exact point aimed at The effect is
so small, however, that it does not
have to be taken into account in the
of rifles and ammunition.
New York American.