Description
Your target is moving about 800 mph. So are you. 🌎
On a 1,000-yard shot, a 215-gr Berger at 2,850 fps is in the air about 1.4 seconds, and the Earth keeps turning the whole time. At 40°N that's about 2.1" right at 1,000 yards and 5.3" right at 1,500.
The part that trips people up (it tripped us up making this): most people picture Coriolis as a north-south thing. Shoot north and the target is farther from the equator, moving east a little slower than you, so the bullet lands right. That's true, but it leaves you thinking east-west shots don't drift sideways. They do.
What made it click for us: forget north and south and think about how the Earth's axis sits under your feet.
• At the equator the axis lies flat along the ground. No sideways drift, and east-west shots only go high or low.
• At the North Pole the axis points straight up. Every shot goes right, and there's no high or low.
• At 40°N the axis is tilted in between, so you get some of each. Every shot drifts right whichever way you face, and east-west adds elevation on top: shoot east and you hit high, shoot west and you hit low (6.3" at 1,500 yards).
Small numbers, but at long range a small number is a miss. That's why good ballistic apps ask for your latitude and direction of fire.
Has Coriolis ever shown up in your long-range dope? 👇
#longrangeshooting #ballistics #precisionrifle #extremelongrange #longrangeonly