I recently got a copy of Applied Ballistics for Long Range Shooting by Bryan Litz.
It's a substantial work with lots of data that was gathered experimentally by firing bullets over an instrumented range all the way to 600 yards. Fortunately for us, the treatment of the material is as a user of the information and not as a scientist. There are formulas, but he doesn't focus on them too much. What he does is explain in everyday language why the information is important and how to apply it to a typical long range shooting solution. It's comparable to the chapters on exterior ballistics in the back of the Sierra 4th & 5th edition manual but probably a little more readable.
The most important part of the book in my opinion, is the substantial number of experimentally derived G7 ballistic coefficients. These BCs are not just for target shooting bullets. He has a fair number of Nosler, Sierra, Berger & Hornady hunting bullets as well as the typical paper punching match grade projectiles.
As some of us are aware, the BCs that we are use to getting from companies like Sierra Berger and others are G1 ballistic coefficients. They are referenced to a projectile that is flat based and has a blunt tangential ojive. As such, those G1 BCs do a poor job of modeling bullet behaviors at very long ranges. At short ranges out to a few hundred yards they are reasonably accurate for most shooters needs, but they tend to break down at longer ranges or for very precise shooting. If you are familiar with Sierra's BCs, you know that they are velocity banded to better predict trajectories, but this is simply a way to fudge the numbers to provide a predictive model that more closely approximates the true path of the bullet. Other companies don't even bother to generate velocity banded BCs. They simply give a single BC number.
Fortunately for us, the G7 drag model very closely approximates the way typical long range bullets (heavy for caliber, secant ojive and boat tailed) behave, and it provides a very close fit with the true trajectory of the bullet. Bryan claims that the error is within 1~2% I believe. The book also includes a simple no frills ballistics program that can utilize the G7 BCs in the book to create drop tables.
Other sections of the book include how to use the more precise trajectory models the G7 BC provides. There is a excellent section on rifle sights and scopes and their proper mounting and calibration as well as a very good section on using the program to allow you to zero for long ranges on short range targets. There are also chapters on bullet lethality on game animals and hit probabilities for hunting. While none of this is substantially new information, the treatment of it as readable and applied to shooting situations is.
I don't typically do book reviews, but this is a really great book. In this case I'm appreciative of the quality and presentation of the information contained in the book. I see it as a substantial resource in my library and would hope that the author continues to produce more information of this quality. If you want to get a taste for the type of information in the book, you can look at Bryan's webpage Applied Ballistics and read some of his free articles. The book is just like the articles. There is also a nice Youtube video where the author introduces the book and tells you a little more about it. The only thing I wish the book included is an index as well as a bibliography & works cited section. I hope he corrects this in his second edition.
If you have ever used a ballistics program to come up with drop tables for ranges beyond a couple of hundred yards, this is the book to have as it will help you model significantly more accurate drop tables. I have not had a chance to verify any of the G7 BCs by shooting, but when I get around to it I'll post some more information.
B
It's a substantial work with lots of data that was gathered experimentally by firing bullets over an instrumented range all the way to 600 yards. Fortunately for us, the treatment of the material is as a user of the information and not as a scientist. There are formulas, but he doesn't focus on them too much. What he does is explain in everyday language why the information is important and how to apply it to a typical long range shooting solution. It's comparable to the chapters on exterior ballistics in the back of the Sierra 4th & 5th edition manual but probably a little more readable.
The most important part of the book in my opinion, is the substantial number of experimentally derived G7 ballistic coefficients. These BCs are not just for target shooting bullets. He has a fair number of Nosler, Sierra, Berger & Hornady hunting bullets as well as the typical paper punching match grade projectiles.
As some of us are aware, the BCs that we are use to getting from companies like Sierra Berger and others are G1 ballistic coefficients. They are referenced to a projectile that is flat based and has a blunt tangential ojive. As such, those G1 BCs do a poor job of modeling bullet behaviors at very long ranges. At short ranges out to a few hundred yards they are reasonably accurate for most shooters needs, but they tend to break down at longer ranges or for very precise shooting. If you are familiar with Sierra's BCs, you know that they are velocity banded to better predict trajectories, but this is simply a way to fudge the numbers to provide a predictive model that more closely approximates the true path of the bullet. Other companies don't even bother to generate velocity banded BCs. They simply give a single BC number.
Fortunately for us, the G7 drag model very closely approximates the way typical long range bullets (heavy for caliber, secant ojive and boat tailed) behave, and it provides a very close fit with the true trajectory of the bullet. Bryan claims that the error is within 1~2% I believe. The book also includes a simple no frills ballistics program that can utilize the G7 BCs in the book to create drop tables.
Other sections of the book include how to use the more precise trajectory models the G7 BC provides. There is a excellent section on rifle sights and scopes and their proper mounting and calibration as well as a very good section on using the program to allow you to zero for long ranges on short range targets. There are also chapters on bullet lethality on game animals and hit probabilities for hunting. While none of this is substantially new information, the treatment of it as readable and applied to shooting situations is.
I don't typically do book reviews, but this is a really great book. In this case I'm appreciative of the quality and presentation of the information contained in the book. I see it as a substantial resource in my library and would hope that the author continues to produce more information of this quality. If you want to get a taste for the type of information in the book, you can look at Bryan's webpage Applied Ballistics and read some of his free articles. The book is just like the articles. There is also a nice Youtube video where the author introduces the book and tells you a little more about it. The only thing I wish the book included is an index as well as a bibliography & works cited section. I hope he corrects this in his second edition.
If you have ever used a ballistics program to come up with drop tables for ranges beyond a couple of hundred yards, this is the book to have as it will help you model significantly more accurate drop tables. I have not had a chance to verify any of the G7 BCs by shooting, but when I get around to it I'll post some more information.
B
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by this time next year.![[smile]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/001.gif "Smile [smile]")
