WB
Interesting article on shooting up or downhill
Thursday, December 01, 2022, 09:28

I think it was online at Shooting Times. Personally I never thought much of it as in our area that is typically short distance. But for the concept it is good to understand the ballistic considerations.

Basically, my simplified take is the bullet drops LESS both shooting up and down hill. The basic idea is the trajectory is the distance and drop is based on the horizontal plane, distance from point A to B. Not the actual over distance ground distance. Now shooting a 6.5mm Lighting-bolt the difference between a true horizontal distance of 225 yds. compared to an over ground distance of 300 yds., at a particular grade, is not truly a notable difference, maybe an inch or two. But for a .45-70 Sharps it would be monumental! Ditto for some handgun hunting applications. Even cutting the distance in half it could make a difference to consider.

As close range hunters it's not likely we'd use the info much but it's good to have the understanding. I did shoot downhill at HHC once pegging a hog (the wrong one, but that's another story) at 80 yds. with a .429 GNR wheelgun. The 310 gr. bullet at 1600 fps was sighted at 50 yds. and the angle was not all that steep. I was maybe 20 ft. above the animals at that distance, I'd need a spreadsheet to figure the actual angle. But the bullet hit close enough to my mark to get it done. Actually it was the 4th bullet! I was busy blowing bark into my face from cylinder flash.

But remember, a bullet will not drop as much shooting at either up or down hill. The steepness of the angle aggravates the influence. You may hit higher than you expect.