Bullet Drop Calculator

How the bullet drop calculator works

A bullet begins falling the instant it leaves the muzzle, and the drop depends only on how long it is in flight. Over indoor distances the drop is usually smaller than the perforation itself, which is why straight-line trajectory reconstruction works at those ranges.

Because drop grows with the square of time, doubling the range roughly quadruples it. That is where a straight-line reconstruction starts to break down.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a bullet drop over 50 metres?

At 360 m/s the flight takes about 0.139 seconds, giving roughly 9.5 cm of drop in a vacuum. Air resistance slows the bullet, so real drop is somewhat greater.

Does bullet drop matter for crime scene reconstruction?

Rarely indoors, where distances are short and the drop is within the size of the defect. It matters for longer outdoor shots, where a ballistic solver with a measured drag coefficient should be used instead.

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