See the bullets complete path!

[candlejackstraw]

So I loaded some 44 magnum to 44 special specs. 200 grn copper plated over 5.1 grain titegroup. Me and my buddy shot some today, and I swear we saw the complete path of every single projectile, from muzzle to target. Anyone else experience this? What velocity must a round be traveling at to observe this beautiful scenario?

[4runnerman]

What you saw would probebly be the Vapor trail. I doubt you could see the bullet. I see it often when I am at the matches and shooting 600 yards. It is at that point I see very easy how much of an arch is in the bullet path. It is real neat to watch.

[Fullthrottle]

I cant say if there is a velocity factor to this or not.

But I have experienced the same thing when the sun was just right.

I have seen it with .22lr, .357 mag, 40s&w, 9mm and a few other pistol rounds.

The sun was coming down in the evening and shining through the trees just so.

[Sharkbite]

With a copper jacketed bullet and the light behind you, its possible to see the bullet in flight.

[Sevens]

When we use Xtreme plated 230gr round nose in .45 Auto and when I am observing my buddy shoot them on our favorite indoor range -- where down range is fairly dark and dingy, but there is a high-intensity light immediately above the bench in each shooting bay (like the light they use in jewelry stores to make the stones sparkle), I can absolutely and easily see every single shot he sends down range.

That light bulb, at that angle, on the otherwise indoor range and the extremely flat and shiny base of those fat .452" slugs... it is extremely easy to see. And they are going a very typical 820 fps or so.

Much more difficult to see them yourself when you are shooting. Between blast, your eyes blinking, the pistol popping upward, etc... it's definitely a lot easier to see when you observe the other guy shooting.

But for sure, 100% for sure, I can see them. And yep, it is pretty neat.

[TXAZ]

If you're pretty close to the dew point, it's pretty common. Same reason that jets leave contrails, a little pressure, humidity or temperature change near the dew point and you get a mini-cloud. With bullets, their persistent is pretty short.

[candlejackstraw]

That makes sense. Down in lousiana we are always close to the deep into

[candlejackstraw]

*dew point

[Mobuck]

"What you saw would probebly be the Vapor trail."
Not likely at 44 Sp velocities.
I posted on another forum about seeing 22 long rifle bullets in flight and had numerous responses of similar occurrences. What I saw was the actual bullet as a silver streak leading to the target. Sunlight and angle happened to be perfect.

[FrankenMauser]

Yep.

It's always fun when the conditions are just right, so that you can see the bullet from your favorite load flying downrange.

...Or when you intentionally work up ridiculously light loads that almost always allow you to see the bullet on longer shots. --Such as a .32 S&W Long load that I have, that launches the bullets at a sizzling 480 fps. ...And that's after I bumped the load by 10%, because I had a few bullets barely leave the barrel.


From what I have experienced, I'd say it's easiest to pick up with bullets running 900 fps or less. Beyond that (still just my experience), you need to be sub-sonic and have a very shiny bullet base - preferably slightly concave.

[candlejackstraw]

Well, the color I saw was copper, and the bullets were copper plated

[chris in va]

I saw 9mm today running 1100fps on the chrono. The sun was low right and it was quite easy to see the glint of metal heading downrange. I've also watched 22lr out of my lever action and moreso the LRN from my 45. It looks like a football with that big flat base.

[LE-28]

Yes, it's possible with the correct light conditions.

[F. Guffey]

It is much easier to see when tracers are used. Then there was the 105 MM Howitzer, we would stand behind the 105 MM self propelled Howitzer and watch the projectiles disappear.

F. Guffey

[briandg]

Try setting a very powerful spotlight that has a very tight beam on it parallel to the bore. Not sure how far you will see it.

[jimbob86]

It is much easier to see when tracers are used. Then there was the 105 MM Howitzer, we would stand behind the 105 MM self propelled Howitzer and watch the projectiles disappear.

With lower end charges on our 8" M110a2 howitzers, you could see the outgoing rounds in just about any lighting conditions..... with the higher charges, the muzzle blast obscured the view, and the round was gone before the smoke cleared.......

[F. Guffey]

We have a family member that was part of the crew that shot the 11 1/32" gun at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Seems someone thought it would be a good ideal to back the gun up on one side of Fort Sill and hit the other side. The round landed in a school yard in Lawton, Oklahoma.

F. Guffey

[jimbob86]

We often shot from the far west edge or nw corner of the wild life management area northwest of Ft. Sill, into the impact area ON Ft. Sill ...... over the state highway that separated Ft Sill from the WMA ......


There were several "out of impact area" firing incidents in the early-mid 80's both at Ft. Sill and in Grafenoehr training area in Germany, before and right after I enlisted ..... the size of the Artillery nearly doubled in the early 80's ..... I think there was a correlation there .......

[AzShooter]

When I would shoot my 625 .45 at very slow speeds for competitive shooting I could watch the bullet as it went to the target. It's fun to watch. Especially by the spectators that are not aware of it.

Great on Steel loads. This was with lead, not jacketed bullets.

[buck460XVR]

If you sit beside a shooter and watch thru a spotting scope, you can see 'em easier. Experienced this phenomenon years ago while helping my son sight in a new .45 Colt revolver. Could watch every shot virtually from the barrel to the target. It works well if you are shooting at reactive targets and want to know where you are missing.

[leadcounsel]

At my range at night with the overhead flood lights i can see 9mm and .40 fmjs out to past 100 yards.

[F. Guffey]

Artillery nearly doubled in the early 80's ..... I think there was a correlation there .......

Doubled? They were shooting the 280MM in the early fifties. It could be said they shot it twice, meaning they shot it for the first time and the last time. Big guns like airplanes had names, the one at Ft. Sill was confused with one in Germany. Seems the one in Germany had an accident and was rebuilt? It could have gone down a hill without enough brakes.

F. Guffey

[rclark]

Yep. Every once in awhile I'll see my (or someone else's) bullet in flight. Doesn't have to be jacketed. Lead shows up just as well. Doesn't matter if .45 Colt, .44 Spec, .357, .32 ... My recollection is usually at 50 to 75 yards.... not the sub 25 yard flight path.

[FlyFish]

If you sit beside a shooter and watch thru a spotting scope, you can see 'em easier. Experienced this phenomenon years ago while helping my son sight in a new .45 Colt revolver. Could watch every shot virtually from the barrel to the target. It works well if you are shooting at reactive targets and want to know where you are missing.

This has been my experience as well. We usually spot for each other when we're metallic silhouette shooting, and when the light is right you can see just about every shot.

[Unclenick]

If you fire a supersonic bullet when conditions are near the dew point, you get the flash vapor a jet breaking the sound barrier does. It forms and vanishes rapidly. However, momentarily condensed water vapor is not copper-colored, and many is the time I've seen the copper base of a bullet putting in a flash appearance through a sight, or watched a copper streak from a .45 Auto move from gun to target when the light conditions were right. People who blink or shut their eyes as they fire, miss out on this experience.

Jelly Bryce claimed the secret of his ability to point shoot onto bullseye targets and win local police matches shooting from the hip was entirely due to his having been born with fast sight perception. He said he could see every handgun bullet he shot under normal light conditions, and feedback from that is how he corrected his point shooting and made it consistent. Lack of that "speed sight" is how he explained being unable to teach others to point shoot nearly as well as he did. His favorite chambering was .44 Special.