When you shoot a bullet, does is shoot straight or does it curve?

Question

if you aim a gun directly straight at an apple, wont it curve when it shoots out? it wont shoot where i aimed, it would curve a bit right?

Answer 1

The only curvature is down when it loses it's forward momentum and succumbs to gravity

Some lighter faster moving bullets can be effected by wind but it is not a curve

Answer 2

bullets do "curve" but only at extremely long distances (several hundred yards).  They curve due to the rifling which makes the bullet spin.  It's more of a drift than a "curve".

And were only taking about an inch or two at about a thousand yards.

Answer 3

a right curve would be due to external influences like wind and small inperfections in the bullet(less likely) among other things.



the bullet does arc upward when it leaves the muzzle and then begins to fall due to the force of gravity.

Answer 4

Everything on earth is drawn to the earth at the same speed, that of gravity (9.8 meters per second squared).  If you fire a bullet from a gun held parallel with the ground and drop one at the same exact time from the same height as the barrel, they will both hit the ground at the same time.

If you are talking about wind drift, then yes, the bullet will "curve," but it is hardly noticeable for the average shooter (it only becomes significant when shooting long range).  Otherwise, the bullet will curve downward in a parabolic motion, following the pull of gravity.

Here's a graph showing the wind drift for four different rifle rounds.

http://www.65grendel.com/gallery/65G_Dri...

Answer 5

After a bullet leaves the barrel of a gun, it is acted on by many things that can affect its path.  First, it is acted on by gravity which causes it to curve down toward the earth in a parabolic curve.  It can also be acted on by winds which will cause it to move sideways in a very slightly curved path.  Those are the only things that can affect a bullet to cause it to curve.  Shooting from a curved or bent barrel will not cause the bullet to curve sideways in its path.  These things happen only in Hollywood.

If your gun is not putting the bullet where you are aiming, it may be the fault of the gun or you.  Check to see if the sights are attached firmly and do not move.  then check to see that the sights are correctly aligned with the bore.  To do this, you will need a few sand bags to rest your gun on.  Fire a few shots to see where the bullets are going and then adjust your sights so that the bullet is going where you are aiming.  The other thing that you must check is to see if you are gently squeezing the trigger or jerking it or if you are flinching.  To test this out, have a friend go with you to the range and have them load a few rounds into the chambers of the cylinder in a random manner so you do not know which chambers have a round in them and which don't.  Aim and fire the gun as always.  When you come to an unloaded chamber, if the muzzle of teh gun does not move, you are holding and squeezing properly.  If the muzzle suddenly jerks down when you try to fire the empty chamber, you are flinching or jerking the trigger.  Continue to practice this procedure until when you come to an empty chamber, the muzzle does not move when you pull the trigger.  When that happens, you have beaten your jerking and flinching problem and will be shooting some very nice groups.  At that point, all you have to do is to fine tune the sights to put you right in the middle of the bullseye.

Answer 6

The only curving there should be is down from gravity or up to compensate for the former. A bullet will centrifugally spin to keep straight though.

Answer 7

a bullet will always have a trajectory, but a bullet can actually curve. it is called whip when it curves; this is mostly happens is a barrel is to hot so when the gun is shot the rifling on the inside of the barrel will "throw'  the bullet slightly to the left/right and up/down depending on which way the rifling is turning.

rifling is a series of grooves along the inside of a barrel that make the bullet spin so it does not wobble. when the rifle is shot continuously the barrel will heat up.

Answer 8

no were the gun is pionted thats were the bullet will go

Answer 9

A bullet doesn't Curve it arcs, and slowly drops to the ground.*

Answer 10

if you shoot the gun with the barrel parallel to the ground the bullet's trajectory will curve towards the ground due to gravitational force just like when you throw something.

Answer 11

it supposed to be straight.

Answer 12

All firearm cartridges have a curved trajectory. For example, the .22 long rifle will raise one inch from the muzzle and eventually drop 3.4inches at 100yards. The distance at which the bullet is exactly level with where you aim is called "point of aim" or "point-blank" range. These terms are grossly mis-used in the media.

Answer 13

depends on wind

Answer 14

Bullets when fired will take the path of least resistance and will tend to curve downward due to gravity.  On an extremely long shot a breeze will also affect the trajectory of the bullet in flight.  Don't believe what you see in the movies, though.

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Answer 15

The answer is a firm maybe....

Like anything else on earth, bullets are subject to external forces.  There are numerous forces that can be considered, but there are 3 main ones, gravity, air resistance, and wind.

Gravity causes the bullet to be pulled toward the earth.  If you shoot a bullet straight in the air, gravity will be responsible for bringing it down.  If you shoot a bullet "straight" and drop a bullet out of your hand at the same time, both bullets will hit the ground at the same time.  As most firearms are sighted in for a certain distance (distance depends on the firearm), bullets tend to travel in a parabolic motion, much like throwing a football downfield.  So there is usually curvature in this axis.

Air resistance doesn't cause the bullet to curve directly, but it does cause the bullet to slow down, which "exagerates" the effects of other forces such as gravity.  

Wind can cause a bullet to move left or right.  Typically, wind  is not a big consideration at shorter distances (lets say under 100 m), but it can become a huge factor at longer distances (say 300 m +).  The effect wind has on a bullet depends on the direction of the wind.  If the bullet has a tail wind, there will be no shift in the fight path of the bullet from left to right.  If the wind is porpendicular to the bullet, then the wind will cause the bullet to move to the right or to the left.

So, if you aimed "straight" at the apple, will you hit it?

These external forces become a bigger factor at longer distances.  If you are shooting the apple from a distance of 5 feet, then yes, you will hit it.

If you are shooting at the same apple with the same firearm at a distance of 500 meters, if the barrel is pointed straight at the apple, you will miss due to the force of gravity.

Again, if you shoot at the apple 500 meters away, the firearm is sighted in for that distance (that is to say the force of gravity is taken into account) and there is a 30 MPH crosswind, you will miss the apple as the bullet will drift left or right unless the wind is taken into consideration.

Answer 16

It depends on they bullet. Some shoot flatter than others but all bullets have a "lob" effect. The bullet rises when it leaves the barrel (although barely) and loses trajectory after the initial rise has worn off. The longer a bullet stays sub-sonic the longer and straighter it goes. These effects can be seen at any range but long range is the best example when the bullet falls 5 or 6 inchs every 100 yards.

Answer 17

John Dewitt is correct in as much as called the ballistic curve.By acceleration the bullet will tend to rise then fall back down with gravity Depending on the cartridge and the weight of the bullet they very quit a bit! This is actually a science of its own!

Answer 18

BANG BANG BANG (that's the sound of my head hitting my desk!)

If this is another "wanted" question I'm gonna be pissed off yet again.

All bullet curve down, it's called a drop rate.

Answer 19

"If you fire a bullet from a gun held parallel with the ground and drop one at the same exact time from the same height as the barrel, they will both hit the ground at the same time."

This is true. The bullet starts falling from the line of the bore as son as it leaves the muzzle.

"The only curvature is down when it loses it's forward momentum and succumbs to gravity"

This is not true. The drop starts as soon as the bullet leaves the barrel, however, the downward arc does become more pronounced as the bullet slows down due to wind drag.

All guns are "sighted in" for a specific range (distance). Assuming that the line of sight (from your eye, through the sights, and to the target) is parallel to the ground (your eye and the target are the same height above the ground), the bullet will cross the line of sight twice.

To counter the effect of gravity, the bullet leaves the barrel at a slight upward angle. (When the sights are level, the barrel will be pointed slightly upward. This is a tiny angle and is not visible to the eye.)

For a .22 caliber rifle sighted in at 100 yards, the bullet will cross the line of sight on its way up at about 25 yards, and it will cross the line of sight on its way down at 100 yards.

The bullet will not CURVE left or right unless there is some defect in the gun or the bullet itself is deformed or if it is pushed by a crosswind but if the sights are not aligned properly (with the barrel or with the target) the bullet could end up to the right or left of the target even though it actually flew perfectly straight.

Answer 20

Hey guys? Only AK so far has the right answer. Aside from the parabolic trajectory, and any effects of wind, the bullet will curve due to the centrifical force imparted on it from the rifling. If you look at the sights on a trapdoor springfield or a 1903 Springfield rifle, you will see the sight slider on the sight mast does not go up in a straight line. It goes up at an angle to compensate for this centrifical force. This happens with ALL bullets, to a lesser or greater degree. A big heavy lead slug from a blackpowder cartridge rifle will move a foot or more at 800 yards. High power rifles with high velocities minimize this effect, but it is still there.

Answer 21

Your bullet should not curve left or right.   It will curve downward as gravity acts on it.   A bullet fired from a gun and one dropped from your hand will both fall toward earth at the same rate.

Some BB and airsoft projectiles curve in flight because the projectiles are spherical and the barrels have no rifling.    The projectiles can curve like a baseball.

Answer 22

There's a curve, part of a parabola, that comes from gravity. The sights compensate a bit, but the farther the bullet goes, the more it drops.

Answer 23

Im not sure.... but it is supossed to go str8 to the apple

Answer 24

if it shoots to the right, either the sights are off or you are not aligning them correctly. if the sights are crooked they can be straightened. if you are aligning them wrong, you will have to work on your aiming. have some one else shoot the gun. if it shoots the same way for them, the sights are out of line.

bullets do not curve right or left, unless you have a very strong side wind. bullets start to drop the minute they leave the gunbarrel, but this is barely noticible at short distances.

a bullet will rise above the line of sight, but not above the line of bore

Answer 25

Are you shooting a BB gun or a rifle??.  BB's can curve in flight becasue they are not coming from a rifled barrel, but rather most are just pushed out by either a sping or air without spinning.  A rifled bullet should go straight.

Answer 26

it's got to be one of the two, either your sites are off and need reset, or your eyes are going bad and you need glasses.