I thought the readership here might appreciate a recent article in Target Shooter Online:
April 13 Issue
Abstract: This paper describes the effects on aerodynamic drag of rifle bullets as the gyroscopic stability is lowered from 1.3 to 1.0. It is well known that a bullet can tumble for stability less than 1.0. The Sierra Loading Manuals (4th and 5th Editions) have previously reported that ballistic coefficient decreases significantly as gyroscopic stability, Sg, is lowered below 1.3. These observations are further confirmed by the experiments reported here. Measured ballistic coefficients were compared with gyroscopic stabilities computed using the Miller Twist Rule for nearly solid metal bullets with uniform density and computed using the Courtney-Miller formula for plastic-tipped bullets. The experiments reported here also demonstrate a decrease in aerodynamic drag near Sg = 1.23 ± 0.02. It is hypothesized that this decrease in drag over a narrow band of Sg values is due to a rapid damping of coning motions (precession and nutation). Observation of this drag decrease at a consistent value of Sg demonstrates the relative accuracy of the twist formulas used to compute Sg. The relationship between Sg and drag may be used to test the applicability of existing twist formulas to given bullet designs and to evaluate the accuracy of alternate formulas in cases where the existing twist formulas are not as accurate.
Keywords: bullet stability, Miller Twist Rule, plastic-tipped bullets, ballistic coefficient
April 13 Issue
Abstract: This paper describes the effects on aerodynamic drag of rifle bullets as the gyroscopic stability is lowered from 1.3 to 1.0. It is well known that a bullet can tumble for stability less than 1.0. The Sierra Loading Manuals (4th and 5th Editions) have previously reported that ballistic coefficient decreases significantly as gyroscopic stability, Sg, is lowered below 1.3. These observations are further confirmed by the experiments reported here. Measured ballistic coefficients were compared with gyroscopic stabilities computed using the Miller Twist Rule for nearly solid metal bullets with uniform density and computed using the Courtney-Miller formula for plastic-tipped bullets. The experiments reported here also demonstrate a decrease in aerodynamic drag near Sg = 1.23 ± 0.02. It is hypothesized that this decrease in drag over a narrow band of Sg values is due to a rapid damping of coning motions (precession and nutation). Observation of this drag decrease at a consistent value of Sg demonstrates the relative accuracy of the twist formulas used to compute Sg. The relationship between Sg and drag may be used to test the applicability of existing twist formulas to given bullet designs and to evaluate the accuracy of alternate formulas in cases where the existing twist formulas are not as accurate.
Keywords: bullet stability, Miller Twist Rule, plastic-tipped bullets, ballistic coefficient
