If one were to shoot a gun up in the air how far would the bullet go?

Question

I'm watching a movie and a guy shot randomly in the air, and I got to thinking, how far would it go up and and how long would it take for it to come back down? Thanks✌

Answer 1

depends on what type of gun is being shot into the air.  All things that go up must come down

Answer 2

depends on the gun and atmospheric conditions

Answer 3

it would depend on the caliber of bullett and the amount in grain that was in the cartridge for both how far up and how long it would take to come back down . the only constant in your question is that the projectile would fall at the terminal velocity rated for it . not much help i know but i did try!!!!

Answer 4

Myth Busters did that awhile back. As I recall, the bullets took about a minute or so to hit the ground. Figure an average speed of 2000 fps, that'd be 120,000ft or 22miles??? No way. I'd believe 5-7 miles, not suborbital!

Answer 5

it would depend on the muzzle velocity of the gun, the angle of inclination and youd also have to take into account wind effects and humidity.

Answer 6

Depends on the muzzle velocity of the gun, the form (drag) of the bullet, etc.

Answer 7

How high it would go would be a product of it's foot-pounds (The amount of energy in it) as well as other things such as air temperature and drag coefficient, mass, and velocity.

How long it would take to come down would be the same as going up, except that air resistance is going to come into major play as it builds up speed, so it will take longer to come down then it did to go up, and the exact time will again depend on air temperature/density, projectile mass, and drag coefficient and probably lots of things I'm forgetting.

Answer 8

It would depend on the type of gun, the caliber, what grain bullet, how much gunpowder.......all the balistics. Plus, the exact angle of trajectory that it was fired. If you're asuming that it was fired exactly straight up, it still depends on the balistics. It's different for every gun.

Answer 9

As all the other responders said, there are many factors which play into how high the bullet will go.  But realistically, a mile or two.

Here are some numbers:

A 300 Winchester Magnum cartridge with the 180 grain SBT GameKing bullet at 2800 fps muzzle velocity fired with standard atmospheric conditions will reach a maximum height of 12,493 feet (2.36 miles) above the firing point at sea level.

A 30-30 loaded with the 150 grain FN Pro-Hunter bullet at 2200 fps fired from the same location will reach a maximum height of 7732 feet (1.46 miles).

A 45 ACP loaded with the 230 grain FMJ Match bullet at 850 fps fired from the same location will reach a maximum height of 4698 feet (0.9 mile).