The Missing Shotshell Ballistics Program

Blessed as we are with a wide variety of computer-generated ballistics programs for rifles and handgun cartridges, we've been sorely missing a Windows-driven software package for shotshell ballistics. No more. It's here and it's a dilly.

Its creator, E.D. Lowry, was formerly the Director of Fundamental Research for Winchester-Western. Lowry is not only a renowned research scientist and ballistician, but he is graced with the ability to communicate and to explain ballistic principles in terms that laymen can understand. His most popular book, Interior Ballistics, unfortunately now out-of-print, is the most easy-to-read explanation of this very complex subject ever published.

Lowry has distilled his immense knowledge of shotshell ballistics and performance in a very user-friendly software package entitled "Shotshell Ballistics for Windows."

The program consists of nine separate but interrelated programs that are activated by double clicking on an icon. They are: Downrange Ballistics, Buckshot Ballistics, Shotstring Ballistics, Shotshell Patterns, Pellet Penetration, Recoil, Target Hits, Safety Limits and Miscellaneous Topics. Program outputs are instantly convertible into metric units.

The various programs accommodate any possible type of input data that would apply to shotshells -- shot sizes from #12-to-FF, shot types including lead (buffered), lead (unbuffered), steel, bismuth, tungsten-iron, tungsten-matrix and TTB13 (a tin, tungsten, bismuth blend). Moreover, if none of these apply, you can create your own shot type by entering its density.

Any velocity can be input -- chokes from skeet to full, shot charges from 1/2 oz. to 2 1/4 oz., shells from 10 gauge 3 1/2" to 2 1/2" .410 gauge, or create your own gauge and shell length. Anything!

The "Shotstring Ballistics" program adds motion to the calculations and shows a crossing target of a specific size and speed, impacting and passing through the shot cloud. This moving graphic calculation indicates how many total pellets are in the shot cloud and how many pellets will actually cross the flight path of the target. It's a revealing program for hunters and target shooters alike.

At the heart of the overall are two sub-programs that are identical in their calculations except for the shot sizes: Downrange Ballistics and Buckshot Ballistics. After inputting the gauge, shot size, shot type, shot charge and muzzle velocity, these programs will calculate pellet velocity, pellet energy and flight time at any range plus calculate maximum range, performance, drift and drop. I use this program a lot for comparing the performance levels of various shot types and pellet sizes.

Then there are those fun programs to calculate values like recoil velocity and energy or the safety limits of various loads. For example, under "Safety Limits," I entered a typical 3 dram equivalent 12 gauge dove load consisting of 1 1/8 oz. of #7 1/2S at a velocity of 1,200 fps fired through an I/C choke.

The program told me that a single pellet from that load could still pierce the skin at 134 yards. Dove hunters will know exactly why I was curious about this calculation.

The "Pellet Penetration" program is useful in conjunction with programs like "Downrange Ballistics." Based on the use of ballistic gelatin as a medium, the program allows for comparisons of the penetration of various shot types and sizes at various ranges and velocities.

"Shotshell Patterns and Target Hits" are sophisticated, graphic, ballistic programs that are difficult to describe without having the program on the screen. However, under the heading "Miscellaneous Topics" are some gems including, "Atmospheric Effect on Ballistic Performance," "Ballistic Coefficient and Sectional Density," "Flying Speed of Game," "Measurement of Patterns" and "Shotstring Effects."

The exterior ballistics of a shotshell are among the most complex in ballistic science. Rifle and handgun ammunition pale in comparison. If you would like to expand your knowledge of shotshell ballistics exponentially and would like to compare and analyze the loads you're shooting or should be shooting, try this excellent program.

Priced at $90, system requirements are: 386 processor or higher, Windows 3.1, 95, 98 or NT, 4 MB RAM, and 3 to 5 MB of free disk space.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Publishers' Development Corporation
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group