Coriolis Effect - What Distance Does It Start At?

[Crash]

I've read many times of the Coriolis Effect having an effect (pun intended) at 1000 yards or more, but at what distance does it start to affect the bullet's path? 300 yards? 500 yards? 750 yards?

All input appreciated,

Crash

[philip964]

Here is the formula:

The Coriolis force has a very simple mathematical form, ∝ 2Ω × V , where Ω is the rotation vector and V is the velocity observed from the rotating frame.

0 at equator.

You made me look it up.

[The Annoyed Man]

It starts right at the muzzle, but it’s not really measurable until you’re out past at least 1,000 yards or more…probably even 1,500 yards or more.

[Crash]

Do you measure the rotation vector with a framis facilitator or a widget inhibitor--I understand it makes a difference ...(LOL)

Here is the formula:

The Coriolis force has a very simple mathematical form, ∝ 2Ω × V , where Ω is the rotation vector and V is the velocity observed from the rotating frame.

0 at equator.

You made me look it up.

[Crash]

Thank you, sir, appreciate it. So it's not really gonna make a difference to me, since I'll never shoot that far. I've never shot a modern centerfire rifle past about 200 yards, but I did take one shot at a metallic bison silhouette at 400 yards with the 40-65 Winchester cartridge at a black powder cartridge shooting match. Don't remember if I hit it, but it was interesting that, from behind, you could actually see the bullet in the air.

Crash

It starts right at the muzzle, but it’s not really measurable until you’re out past at least 1,000 yards or more…probably even 1,500 yards or more.

[Paladin]

In this day and age having a good ballistic calculator is the way to go.

There are a number of good ones, but Applied Ballistics tends to get top billing. JBM Ballistics and Hornady are ones I also use.

Both of these effects are what is commonly thought of as the "Coriolis Effect":

• Coriolis Effect (Horizontal Component): Due to inertia and centrifugal force. related exclusively to latitude. Bullets with fly to the right in the Northern Hemisphere. The higher the latitude, the more the effect. Direction of fire does not matter.
• Vertical Component (Eotvos Effect): Due to angular velocity and centrifugal force. Greater effect near equator. Effect changes with the direction you are shooting. Does not affect direct North or South shooting. Firing to the East results in a high impact, to the West results in a low impact.

They are issues with long range shooting that most people will never experience... although with the excellent cartridges/rifles available today, anybody can get hits at 1200 yards with a little training.

Spin drift can start having a noticeable effect at 600 meters.

The easy button is to put all your info into your ballistic calculator (temperature, pressure, humidity, barrel twist direction, latitude, direction, etc)

There is a pretty significant error in G1 ballistic coefficients. Far better to use G7, but sadly I still see a lot of old school G1 BC's around.

[Paladin]

I do teach beginner Precision Rifle courses. We use scaled targets to simulate distances beyond 400 yards.

After 4 days training one of my students went out to North East Texas Tactical's 1 mile range and went the full distance with his 6.5 Creedmore. Solid fundamentals of marksmanship, a solid zero, and solid ballistics data will take you a long way.

Accuracy 1st (also located in Texas) trains the best snipers in the world: In 2017, a sniper neutralized an ISIS target in Iraq at a distance of over 3,540 meters.