Originally Posted By: Dark moon 63Thats why I switched from 18 inch barrels to 24 inch. I would estimate yardages and sail over the top of coyotes at closer ranges. Now I don’t need to deal with the arc. Darkmoon, what I believe you are saying is by using a longer barrel, you are gaining speed, making it a flatter shooting gun. There is validity in saying faster is flatter. From everything I have read, a person can get around a 160 fps increase by going with a 6" longer barrel. This isn't always the case as shown by this article..
If I plug in a 160fps increase in the same load data, it actually made the load shown above increase in height through the standard coyote kill zone when zeroed at 40-50 yards. Due to the extra speed, the bullet's highest point of the arc was reached further down range making it even higher through the sweet spot. It just reaffirms not to use a really close zero with a thermal because of the height most thermals are away from the bore.
A bullet doesn't actually rise. It is a perceived rise because a person is pointing the barrel at a higher angle. Gravity is always pulling at your bullet and it is always falling. It just happens further downrange, the faster your bullet is and the higher you aim.
