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External ballistics are the forces which effect a non powered projectile after it leaves the tube or barrel of the gun that it is fired from.
We normally associate this with pistol or rifle fire but it is applied to naval gunfire as you Navy ring customers are well aware of, and mortars and field artillery pieces as you Army military ring customers well know.
When short distances are involved such as with pistols and rifles, there are three main considerations which effect the bullets trajectory as it travels to the target. Those are gravity, wind, and drag. Have you ever watched the sniper movies and noticed how the sniper has to figure out a lot of details before he shoots at the target. He has to account for those effects.
When we deal with weapons which fire a projectile a larger distance such as artillery, mortars and naval guns there are other factors which come into play. Some of these are the rotation of the earth, air density, air temperature, etc. The computer age makes this study much easier and more mistake free than it used to be.
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