Calculating Ballistic Coefficients

Ballistic coefficients can be found in reloading manuals, but they can also be calculated from two velocities and the range between them. Before calculating a bullet's ballistic coefficient, enter the altitude, temperature, pressure, humidity, wind direction, and wind speed that existed when the velocity data was acquired. This allows Ballistic Explorer to correct the ballistic coefficient to standard sea level conditions. If you don't know what the conditions were, use the standard values.

Click the Options button and then click Calc Ballistic Coef to open the Calculate Ballistic Coefficient dialog box.

Enter the two velocity values and the distance between them into the corresponding edit boxes. Note that the distance can be in feet, yards, or meters by clicking on the desired unit of measurement. Click the Calculate button to calculate and display the BC without returning to the trace window. Click the Apply button to calculate BC and return to the trace window with the calculated value in the BC parameter. The calculated BC corresponds to the selected drag table, which should usually be G1.