Just a few quotes and sites for those of us that are actually interested in how ballistics affect this game...as opposed to those of us that just want to complain that this or that doesn't fit their personal expectations.
http://www.riflebarrels.com/density.htm has a great article on how air density affects drop. Here's just one illustrative quote that should raise a few eyebrows in any air combat game:
> From this formula we can see that with all of the air density elements taken into consideration, the ballistic coefficient of a bullet will have a higher value for air of less density than standard, and a lesser value for air of greater density than standard....
As an example of the difference in drop from an elevation change of 4500' to 5920', let's take an 85 grain Sierra HP BT bullet with a ballistic coefficient of .279, from a 240 Weatherby cartridge at a muzzle velocity of 3500 fps. The difference in drop figures is not significant until the range is out to 1000 yards or so - about 17 inches difference. At that range and beyond however the difference becomes greater. With a bullet of higher ballistic coefficient, the effect would be less. <
A 1500' change in altitude equates to 17" of drop in this example; wonder what happens at 20K? !
Here's another interesting article:
http://www.riflebarrels.com/longrange.htm >There is a group of shooters that fire the 50 caliber Browning machine gun cartridge from rifles for extreme long-range shooting. The 50's are truly big, slinging 650-800 grain bullets at roughly 30-06 velocities, no other small arm can compare with them. Some would argue that the 50 is not a small arm but technically speaking they are classified that way.
I shot a 50 BMG with some friends at a shot out tank hull at 2000 meters. With it we could easily spot our hits. With some of the smaller cartridges we have mentioned, shooting something at that range would be out of the question.
Historically the 50 caliber (actually .510") has suffered from a lack of match quality bullets. In the last several years experimenters have been playing with various lathe turned solids. They have used materials such as brass, bronze and even steel for these bullets. Their results have been worthwhile, as accuracy has reached new levels in the fifty. Hornady has made a match type bullet for this caliber called the A-Max. This Hornady offering and the custom lead core bullets made by Lynn McMurdo of Wyoming are the best hunting bullets for the big fifty.
A few years ago a friend told me about shooting a cow elk at about a mile with his fifty and the McMurdo bullet. He got zeroed in on the elk and hit her in the lungs. She died instantly.
I've used my fifty to shoot rock chucks out to a mile or so. Truly a lot of fun when you can hit a target that small at distances like that. <
These guys are shooting from a bench, with scopes and custom bullets, but the point is the basic cartridge is highly accurate at long range. Loooong range.
This site gives some actually ballistic info for military ball ammo using a 1000 yard zero:
http://gunnery.net/warwagon/50bmg.htm Caliber .50 BMG Ammo
Project .50/.50 -/- The War Wagon
The following data is for Military Surplus "Standard Hard Ball" .50 BMG FMJ Ammo. This is not Match ammo and is not the most accurate ammo available, but it will do just fine against hard targets out past a mile (1600 meters).
Caliber .50 BMG [ Browning Machine Gun ]
Bullet Weight - 709gr FMJ-BT [ Full Metal Jacket - Boat Tail ]
Muzzle Velocity - 2850 - 3028 fps
Bullet Drop Chart (in Inches)
100y 200y 300y 400y 500y 600y 700y
+28.2 +51.9 +70.5 +83.6 +92.9 +89.3 +81.4
800y 900y 1000y 1100y 1200y 1300y 1400y 1500y
+65.0 +18.2 Zero -49.8 -112 -191 -288 -404
Here's one that shows that a WW2 era .50 AP round will pierce 19mm of steel plate at 500 meters.
http://www.biggerhammer.net/barrett/fas/ So, before you accept all the supposition about how the guns are modeled too well or not well enough, realize that there is some FACTUAL data out there.
Enjoy.
[This message has been edited by Toad (edited 07-10-2000).]
