Applied Ballistics — Rimfire Video, Fill Ratios, and 25% Off Sale

The Applied Ballistics Facebook Page features great, interesting new content posted multiple times each week. This resource features videos, test results, accuracy tips, and samples from Bryan Litz’s excellent books on ballistics and the three volume series on Modern Advancements in Long Range Shooting. Here are some highlights from Applied Ballistics’ Facebook posts from the past two weeks. Plus there’s a discount code, READ2024, that can save you 25% on Applied Ballistics books purchased in the month of March.

.22 LR Super Slow Motion Video — Watch the Bullet!

Watch .22 LR Rimfire Projectile Exiting Rifle Muzzle
This video, filmed with an ultra-high-speed camera, shows the milliseconds in time as a .22-caliber bullet travels the first 11 inches after leaving a .22 LR rifle barrel. Applied Ballistics states: “Notice that the bullet is fully obturated to the internal bore dimension — the step/rebate that exists on the unfired bullet where it meets the case gets expanded (obturated) and doesn’t exist on the fired bullet.”

How Important is Case Fill Ratio — You May Be Surprised

Conventional reloading practice is to select a powder that gives you a good case fill, meaning 90%-100% fill ratio for the cartridge and bullet you’re using. But why?

Some say that a higher fill ratio is good because it prevents the powder from settling differently in the case (which could lead to inconsistent ignition and greater MV SD). This explanation sounds good, and went unchallenged for a long time. However, Applied Ballistics has done some interesting testing that sheds new light on the density issue.

Modern Advancements in Long Range Shooting – Vol. 2 contains the results of Applied Ballistics tests of five different cartridge types — .223 Rem to .338 Lapua — loaded with different powders to produce fill ratios of 80%, 90%, and 100%. The testers wanted to see if 100% fill ratios actually gave better results (lower MV SDs) than the lower fill ratios.

Results of testing 3 different loads in 5 different cartridges — The highest MV SD was in fact measured in an 80% fill ratio load. However, the lowest MV SD was also measured for a different 80% load! Seems like the more we learn, the more questions we have. An informative Applied Ballistics podcast covers the Fill Ratio test. Visit Thescienceofaccuracy.com to access this and interesting podcasts.

EDITOR’s NOTE: There were multiple comments from Facebook readers stating that fill ratios 90% and above worked more consistently for them. And the reloading manuals warn against very low fill ratios.

Get 25% Off Applied Ballistics Books in March 2024

Applied Ballistics, through its Science of Accuracy webstore, is currently offering big savings on its popular books — considered to be the best print resources about rifle accuracy/ballistics ever published. This month you can save 25% on all six Applied Ballistics book titles by respected expert (and past national champion) Bryan Litz. Use Code READ2024 to get 25% of one or more of these books.