In my novel there's a section where the MC is firing a pistol from a distance, I understand that the Coriolis Effect would come into play. Or should I just make my MC run to an armoury and get something with a bit more firepower.
If the distance is so great that you need to worry about the Coriolis Effect, you need a rifle. You're not going to hit the target with a pistol.
I think we need more information here. How far is the target? What caliber is the bullet? What is the pistol and what length is the barrel? Why is he using the pistol rather than a rifle?
Gravity is the enemy of a bullet. Gravity effects the bullet as soon as it leaves the end of the barrel. 30 yrds with a .45 pistol is doable, not an easy shot though.
Yeah, you're not going to get the Coriolis Effect at 90 feet--you aren't even shooting across half a football field at that distance. Gravity and wind will effect the shot but it's doable with a match-grade 1911 (I don't know that a stock one would be quite accurate enough, at least if you were firing more than one shot). Personally, though, if I want to shoot something further out than 20 yards I'm probably using a rifle anyway.
90 feet is a distance a good pistol shot will feel comfortable with, but a bad shot will probably miss at that distance. The Coriolis force... will not come into play.
I worked in law enforcement and when we would qualify with our duty weapon our longest shot would be from 25 yards--that's a long shot with a pistol, but very doable provided you take your time and use good shooting habits. 5 more yards out is still doable, but pushing it for anyone other than an expert. As has been said, coriolis effect is not an issue here.
Hi, The Coriolis effect is insignificant for hand weapons. I have heard that there are some adjustments for the longest range sniper rifles where the bullet may be travelling for up to a mile and a second or more in flight. There are definately adjustments for artillery firing shells many miles and ballistic missiles. Cheers.
It depends on the conditions. That's like shooting from home plate to first base. In good light, shooting at a fully exposed stationary adult human, if the shooter has a moment to pause and aim, that's a pretty easy shot. In poor light, shooting at a target behind cover, or moving across the shooter's field of vision, or if the shooter is winded from sprinting (or trying to shoot while moving quickly), then it can be a pretty difficult shot. What is easy on a well-lit shooting range, shooting at a paper target, is not always so easy on a two-way range, when the target has opinions and options of its own. It certainly can be done, though. There's an anecdote from WWII. A Marine officer is fired on by a Japanese sniper, about 100 yards away. The Marine draws his M1911 and kills the sniper with one shot.
To back-up what others have said, I can hit a target much farther out with my Ruger .22 that has been machined for target shooting than my .40 Glock. (FBI Note: Um, that's if I owned any weapons . . . yah.)
Back when I was active duty, I could consistently get my shots in the "kill zone" of a paper target with the M1911A1 Government Model .45 ACP at 100 feet. At 21 feet (the statistical "standard range" of most handgun encounters), I could draw a smiley face with bullet holes on a target. I tried that at 50 feet and my aim was not so good. The smiley face still sort of looked like a smiley face, but it was more of a connect the dots when you're drunk kind of smiley face. I tried that at 100 feet and all of my shots still hit the head of the target, but the clear, precision lines of my smiley face were off target so much that it just looked like a shot grouping and not like a smiley face at all. In summary, yes, in the hands of a skilled user, hitting your target is no problem, but the "fancy stuff" fades quickly at greater distances.
I take it that you simply "rent" whatever firearms are available at the shooting range...yeah...that sounds good...that's your story and you're sticking with it
Standard .22 rounds? Seems like a long distance for that small a bullet. Do you have to adjust much for bullet drop? (haven't shot .22 much) I can neither confirm nor deny that I own or can come in contact with said firearms, nor can I confirm nor deny that I know of anyone that has or can obtain firearms.
Surely it all depends on whether it's the hero or villain doing the shooting? Stormtrooper aim, and all that.
This is a little off topic, but why does this topic belong in General Writing? I would think something like this should be in Research or something... just a little curious
Wow, sure are a lot riflemen here Man, the most experience I've ever had with firearms is a water pistol. I filled mine up with washing liquid to make it extra deadly
