Henry Rifle Forums

At risk of asking a silly question...here goes. Because I live in the mountains, is there any difference in drop,.. shooting uphill as apposed to downhill. Should I sight in on level ground or is there no measurable difference? Hope my question isn't ridiculous... just wondering .

not a silly question; Grand-dad always said, shootin uphill aim high, downhill aim low; mind ya, i was a peewee when he said that, and it has popped in my head on several occasions, we hunt in the mountains too; but so far i just put it where i want it to hit (deer) and they get hit; i kinda think that was told to me then because i had a single shot 22 with shorts and was sent on a squirrel mission; perhaps if there was REAL steep terrain it may come into play, perhaps,, but so far i have not noticed any misses due to elevation, and we have some steep-deep hollows, mind you this is hunting and not shooting at a target for groups, generally offhand and sometimes quickly. i think if your zeroed at 100 and the game is within that range, put it where you want to hit. but thats my 2 cents, so far its worked for me.

Thanks wvhills. Makes sense, especially considering the effective range of my BBS 357.

Bullet drop is calculated using the horizontal distance of the target not the vertical distance the bullet travels.
If you shoot a bullet straight down there would be no balistic curve it would fly straight down.
If you shoot a bullet straight up, again there would be no curve straight up till it stopped then straight down.
Using that thought experiment and extrapolating shooting uphill or down hill point of impact will be higher than point of aim.

As above, the shooting uphill/downhill thing isn't going to be much of an issue with a short range cartridge like the 357. Becomes an issue when shooting at 300 yards and so on, but that's not 357 territory. Do sight in on level ground, though.

North Country Gal wrote:As above, the shooting uphill/downhill thing isn't going to be much of an issue with a short range cartridge like the 357. Becomes an issue when shooting at 300 yards and so on, but that's not 357 territory. Do sight in on level ground, though.

If you think about it picking the right poa at an animal that is at an angel below or above would be the trick, in stead of the ole broad side, forward or guartering away.
We are taking about a three dementonal target.

Same principle when bowhunting deer from a tree stand.

Thank you for your input NCG!

I have to laugh at myself after watching Mars for the first time on Nat Geo. If there was no gravity would bullet drop and all ballistics of any load be out the window? Would a .22 vs 45/70 etc. be equal, and how far would they travel if ya miss the target? SORRY it's late. Just a going to bed thought. I don't think I'm crazy? just food for thought.

markiver54 wrote:I have to laugh at myself after watching Mars for the first time on Nat Geo. If there was no gravity would bullet drop and all ballistics of any load be out the window? Would a .22 vs 45/70 etc. be equal, and how far would they travel if ya miss the target? SORRY it's late. Just a going to bed thought. I don't think I'm crazy? just food for thought.

Thanks to Dr. L. Nelson of Bishop’s University and L.P. Brezny of Metro Gun Systems, the answer can be found here:
https://slate.com/culture/2012/08/would ... ecall.html

One way to look at it, in addition to air friction, the sine of the angle is the coefficient of gravity that is working to either accelerate or de-accelerate the bullet.

I think.......

.
Close. sine of the angle [times] coefficient of gravity.....

Henry88 wrote:One way to look at it, in addition to air friction, the sine of the angle is the coefficient of gravity that is working to either accelerate or de-accelerate the bullet.

I think.......