water

[Russ M]

how dose the ballistics of a bullet change when shooting over water if at all?
by shooting over water i mean shooting from shore to shore.

 

[Michael Eichele]

My theory is that any winds are more concistent versus winds over broken terrain therfore making shots in wind more predictable. Other than that, no adverse effects that I am aware of.

 

[Kevin Cram]

I've shot over a large lake before at around 800 yards, 600 yards of that was water and we were only a couple hundred vertical feet above the water and shooting at about a 30 degree angle uphill. The shots seem to repeatably be high too. I watched the vapor trail of the bullet look like it almost rose upwards when it went over the body of water. I'm not sure if it was due to the angle we were shooting or the moisture condensing directly above the body of water having an effect on the bullet. This was years ago before ACI's. Good question, I'm curious if anyone has any theoretical knowledge on shooting over water.

 

[MagMan]

Russ, I shot 1000+ yards in Quebec across a lake from shore to shore. Wind doping is much easier because at any distance you'll always have ripples to look at. As far as my drop it wasn't any different. I had a first round hit at 983 yards on a 14" wide rock sticking 12" out of the water before I moved further out.

I'm curious if anyone has any theoretical knowledge on shooting over water.

Kevin, I'm not sure there is much theory behind it as gravity still pulls over water although I could be wrong.

 

[winmagman]

I'm curious as to what time of year you guys were shooting over water.

The reason I ask is because in the spring it will take the water longer to warm than the surrounding land so in effect you would be shooting through a cooler mass of air that is directly over the water, exactly the opposite in the fall.

Now weather or not that would have any measurable effect on point of impact is beyond me, but since were talking theory I thought I'd pitch it out there.

Chris

 

[Russ M]

very good point winmagman that is a very imported part of the question

thanks

 

[xdeano]

Colder air is a little more dense then warm air. This would slow the bullet caused by drag. Just a thought.
Xdeano

 

[WildRose]

I'm curious as to what time of year you guys were shooting over water.

The reason I ask is because in the spring it will take the water longer to warm than the surrounding land so in effect you would be shooting through a cooler mass of air that is directly over the water, exactly the opposite in the fall.

Now weather or not that would have any measurable effect on point of impact is beyond me, but since were talking theory I thought I'd pitch it out there.

Chris

Not that it's going to add up to a whole lot correction wise but in the winter an open body of water is warmer than the land and you will have rising air above it.

In the summer you'll have the opposite effect at least to some degree.

The other thing shooting over water will change is the humidity. In warm weather the humidity is going to be higher over the water particularly if you are in an arid or semi arid region.