Influence of air rifle pellet geometry on aerodynamic drag - Nicos Ladommatos- Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part P: Journal of Sports Engineering and Technology ~Well, I do not fully agree with you when you say pellets are "not drag stabilized". Yes, drag is not the only form of stabilization on a pellets but a large percentage of the stability, and the ability to "self correct//stabilize", on a pellet comes from the fact that the center of gravity (GoC) of a pellet in flight is in front of the center of drag (CoD), change that by giving a pellet less drag at the back by giving it more of a boat tail and you will see the stability disappearing VERY quickly.
The research for this paper established that free shear layer separation and reattachment determined the distribution of drag forces along the pellets length.
The net drag along the pellets waist and side slopes being nearly zero.
Pellet head geometry NOT tail geometry determined when the shear layer re-attached and thus influenced drag at the base of the pellet.
Pellet designs with the best geometry (and lowest drag coefficient) had 65% of the total drag at the face of the pellet and only 35% at the base.
@Rudix which research data are you quoting from?
Please advise!
Troy
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