Seeing your bullets

[SLG]

I won't go into the details (not relevant to anyone but me), but I altered how I look at the sites today, and for the first time ever, I was able to watch all of my bullets fly down range. .40 and .45, both were clearly visible, and when I missed the target (steel plate today), I could see exactly how much I missed by. I was shooting at 25 yards or so, at about a sec. a shot. Before anyone says I shouldn't be looking down range, I only missed a couple of times out of the 100 or so rounds I fired, so I do understand how to make hits on steel. Anyway, it was a pretty interesting experience, though I'm not sure how it really matters.

[JDM]

I've seen a couple .45 bullets in flight before. It's very cool.

I always assumed it was how the sun was lighting up the range, and not where my eyes were. Interesting.

[Jay Cunningham]

I once shot 147 gr 9mm from a suppressed carbine during a low light evo and I could clearly see the bullets traveling in the beam of the WML. It was weirdly mesmerizing, and I had to sort of snap myself out of it.

[TCinVA]

...and that was the last thing we heard from SLG before he mysteriously disappeared during a car chase/gunfight in the company of a tattooed brunette driving a Viper.

I've only ever been able to see the bullets when the sun was at the right angle on an outdoor range.

[jetfire]

...and that was the last thing we heard from SLG before he mysteriously disappeared during a car chase/gunfight in the company of a tattooed brunette driving a Viper.

I've only ever been able to see the bullets when the sun was at the right angle on an outdoor range.

Oddly enough, that movie is on FX right now.

I have never seen them in person, but I've got some video from the Pro-Am where you can clearly see bullets from a number of shooters. It's neat looking.

[SLG]

When I mentioned the change in how I look at the sites, I may have mislead you. I do think that the lighting/atmospheric conditions had something to do with it, not just my visual change. I'll see what happens tomorrow, earlier in the day, with different lighting and on different targets. It was weirdly mesmerizing. Good way to put it. I almost felt like I could steer the bullets, now that I was seeing them. Definitely weird, and I was a little giddy afterwards.

[TheRoland]

At my local 200/300 yard range, you can see everyone's rounds an hour or two before sunset most days. It's just at exactly the right angle.

It makes sighting-in easier, and is very cool.

[JodyH]

I see bullets all the time while RO'ing matches.
The most common are the shiny new lead .45 bunny fart loads some competitors use.

[Prdator]

Ive been told that Jelly Brice could see every bullet he ever fired. I can only imagine how good you could shoot if every round was like a tracer. I have seen a few rounds but not with any consistency, its way cool every time it happens.

A bit about Jelly.

A Fast Draw…

FBI Agent Delf "Jelly" Bryce is virtually unknown to the Public when compared to the various criminals of his time. Even among Lawmen, the name of "Bryce" is not often heard. He remains one of the most Deadly Gunfighters of his time. I’m sure he is much better known in the Oklahoma and Texas Areas where he operated way back then…

At the same time Bonnie and Clyde were robbing banks and murdering people, FBI Agent Delf Bryce was tracking down notorious criminals as a Police Detective in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In fact, he did not become an FBI Agent until the year Bonnie and Clyde were killed, 1934. As an Oklahoma City Police Detective, he actually shot a friend of Clyde Barrow’s in a hotel room in Oklahoma City. Bryce entered the hotel room intending on questioning the man, J. R. O’Donnell, and as Bryce forced his way into the room, O’Donnell held two handguns. Before he could fire, Bryce shot him once in the face and fired five more times, striking him with each shot.

I first read about Delf Bryce in the "Handguns Annual" Edition of Guns & Ammo Magazine in 1994. The Article, "’Jelly’ Bryce-Fast Gun of The FBI" by K.B. Chaffin immediately caught my attention.

In that Article, Mr. Chaffin referenced a Life Magazine Pictorial:

"On November 12, 1945, Life Magazine ran an unusual story. It was a photographic study of an FBI Agent named Jelly Bryce drawing and firing his .357 Magnum in two-fifths of a second, faster than the human eye can follow…"

By one of life’s rather odd coincidences, I happened to have a friend who had hundreds of old issues of Life Magazine in their attic. They would have simply rotted up there forever. I asked if they could possibly find me the issue I was looking for and they simply told me to go up there and find it myself! Which I did after about two hours of going through stacks of Magazines.

The Magazine was in almost perfect condition and remains one of the most interesting things I have in my collection. The Magazine is too large to scan or I would scan the cover for you. However, I did scan the main picture of the Article. And here it is, a stroboscopic series of shots from a high-speed camera showing Bryce’s fast draw in stages.



This is an interesting picture. Delf Bryce could drop a silver dollar, as shown in the picture, and he could draw and fire before the coin passed the gun which was at waist level. Bryce was one of those incredibly and naturally skilled men who could point shoot and hit everything they aimed at.

[MEH]

Pretty cool watching bullets fly down range at a high power match. You can actually see the distortion pattern in the air if you're looking through a scope.

[John Ralston]

I won't go into the details (not relevant to anyone but me), but I altered how I look at the sites today, and for the first time ever, I was able to watch all of my bullets fly down range. .40 and .45, both were clearly visible, and when I missed the target (steel plate today), I could see exactly how much I missed by. I was shooting at 25 yards or so, at about a sec. a shot. Before anyone says I shouldn't be looking down range, I only missed a couple of times out of the 100 or so rounds I fired, so I do understand how to make hits on steel. Anyway, it was a pretty interesting experience, though I'm not sure how it really matters.

Funny how you can see a tiny projectile traveling downrange at 850+ FPS and you don't have the ability to see a 200 lb man sitting at a table directly in front of you...:p

[SLG]

Funny how you can see a tiny projectile traveling downrange at 850+ FPS and you don't have the ability to see a 200 lb man sitting at a table directly in front of you...:p


Well, to be fair, I saw the 200# man, he didn't look like he was going to try and eat my food, so I ignored him;-) He wouldn't stop interrupting though, so I finally had to pay more attention:-)

[Chuck Haggard]

With a good light and using neck index I can see every single bullet I launch from my G17 when we do night shoots or I am doing a demo for a class at my other pseudo job.

We shoot the Lawman for practice, CCI FMJ bullets are the Unicore type, they have a very shiny copper base unlike many other FMJ bullets, they really shine with a light behind them.

[ACP230]

I have seen bullets from .45s, .38s and a .30 Carbine.

Most were late in the afternoon with the sun low and behind me. The first I noticed were Blazer .45s that were loaded with very shiny 230 grain bullet that was copper colored and shiny.
The .38s were handloads that were too lightly loaded. They looked like a round blur in the air and keyholed in the target.
The .30 Carbine loads were lead bullet reloads. Probably the fastest of all the loads shot but still visible in low light.

I picked up the .45s about three feet from the muzzle and could follow them all the way to the target, a large steel bowling pin at 25 yards.

Shot highpower matches but never could see the trace other shooters talked about.

[JB326]

I had the pleasure of attending the advanced sniper course at Blackwater a few years ago, and one of the many highlights of the trip was the 1,200 yard range. It is incredibly fun watching .308's fly an insane arc for all of that distance and then collide with a 12x18 gong. Then a few seconds later you get to hear it.

I've only ever seen a very few pistol rounds though.

[Mr_White]

Agree with all that's been said.

Like others, I see bullets in flight regularly, but not every time, both as the shooter behind the gun and as an observer from the side when someone else is shooting, and I tend to see them either in nice bright sunlight, bright indoor range lights, or when using a flashlight, and the slower the bullet or longer the distance, the easier it seems to be to see it.

Definitely one of the coolest things to see, and not just imagine, the exact real trajectory of the bullet.

[orionz06]

The only time I ever saw bullets in flight was during an IDPA classifier I was running on my own or during an IDPA match, both times it screwed me up a bit. Derp, shiny, yeaaahh. Anyway, the angle of the sun was just right, etc.

[jkm]

Was ROing a night shoot a week ago. Just off the shooter's right shoulder. Watched a 45 go down range, hit a Pepper Popper at 40', and come directly back and hit me in the throat. Another observer at a completely different angle watched it too.
Thinking/Observing: Good hit, thatbullet'scomingrightbac........crap that hurt! Left a mark.....

[SLG]

Just put 230 rounds of .45 downrange. Sun was high, noon to 1pm or so. I could see some of the rounds, not others, and not for the whole flight, just towards the end (25 yard shooting). It is very dry out here, I wonder if that helps at all.

[TGS]

Just put 230 rounds of .45 downrange.

Quite symbolic!