Seeing Lead Flight

[spark22]

My disco shoots a .22cal 14.3 pellet @ 830fps and I have good eyes and can see the pellet in flight with no problem and when shooting towards a dark area or when shooting at night with a light I can see the pellet leave the muzzle and follow it all the way to it's target! I like to shoot at night using a maglight to highlight the target to check new pellets to make sure they fly true I can see if they wobble or tumble for that split second that it's in the air.Don't belive me just try it out,for best results have the light as close to the barrel as possable!

[tjk]

Sure you can! I've seen it alot once passed around 25 to 30 yards when the pellet is flying slower. Once last summer I was at a friends place shooting for some distance shots with the .22 B-28. It was in the middle of summer (HOT!!!!!) and had an afternoon shower. After the rain passed, steam and humidity prevailed as is usually does in SC. When I started shooting again, it was like you could see the pellet slice through the air to the target and you could also see a trail of the wind turbulance for a brief moment . It was way way cool to look at, and I guess the light conditions were just right. tjk

[airiscool]

Shooting in the rain will sometimes show a "vapor trail" of broken rain drops turned into a fine mist by the pellets passing.

If you don't mind getting your gun wet, Trap shooting in the rain is good way to practice.  It's easy for someone standing next to you to see where your missing, by how much, and roughly how big the shot pattern is at the distance, because the shot swarm leaves  a momentary, but very noticable vapor trail as all the pellets break up the rain drops in their path.

Paul.

[gamo2hammerli]

Only saw the pellet(s) in flight when I shoot my .22 Air Arms S410SL on low power (560fps), and the .177 Gamo Big Cat with a broken spring (About 510fps).  Distances were in the 30 to 40 yards range and in right light conditions.  Saw the pellets arc towards the target the last 8 to 10 yards.

[bodiej]

Hmm, never thought of that!  Pullin' a contrail with a pellet!    That'd be some great high speed camera footage

[Progun]

Well Greg, like the above posters said, seeing the bullet in flight really depends on the light more than any other factor. I have seen .22 rimfire bullets streaking toward the target when the sunlight caught 'em just right. Now they were copper coated and shiney which I'm sure made it easier to see but they were zipping along @ 1200fps  or so. I used to shoot at a target board that was 500 ft down range and have witnessed many air rifle pellets  arcing to the target even at that distance. Of course a good scope helps make that possible. Is your gun sick? You're gonna' have to chrony it  to know for sure.When you do get one eventually you'll wonder how you ever got along without  it.

[TCups]

The relative motion of a bullet heading straight toward your eye or straight away from your eye is, absent gravity, zero.  The bullet would appear to get smaller or larger over time, depending on whether it is going away from you, or coming toward you, respectively.  But, it would not otherwise appear to move in any direction.  Add the effects of gravity or wind, or precession of the bullet and some motion would be perceived -- ie, the arc of the dropping bullet.  But human visual perception is complex and the brain "fills in" a lot of information that, physiologically, the eye is not capable of detecting.  This is particularly true for the visual detection of motion.  What you "see" and what you think you see are sometimes quite different.

[crazyhorse]

I shoot air rifle 50 yard benchrest monthly...in certain lighting conditions,you can see 'vapor' trail...looks like a pellet...and you always see it near the apogee in the trajectory just before it reaches target..

850 HPA .177...960 FPS/20 FPE...

[DMikeM]

Not only do I see my pellets but sometimes I hear them for that second or so before they hit the target. Just sounds like air from a tire or a swisssshhh sound, then thunk!

[Gene_SC]

Boy Mike you have really good eyes and ears... I do good to hear them hit the tagets.. Let alone try and see them...