Ballistic Coefficient Calculator

The following calculator built around a web form will give you a good estimation as to what your bullets ballistic coefficient is. It takes the diameter of the bullet, the grains, and the standard shape, and spits out the BC. What is the Ballistic Coefficient some may ask? The Ballistic Coefficient is the ability of a bullet to overcome or beat air resistance as it is flying through time and space, and this is basically the exact opposite of the negative acceleration.

Important: Since there are thousands of bullet shapes the Ballistic Coefficient calculations made below are not 100% accurate, if you are shooting out past 400-500+ yards your going to need to get the exact BC from the bullet's manufacturer. We are working on a massive list, but this list won't be ready for a few weeks or months.

Spitzer

The Spitzer is a very popular and aerodynamic bullet shape. This bullet is also called a spire point bullet by some people. The Spitzer has a BC modifier of 1.642 making it the 2nd best of the 5 in terms of it's ability to travel through time and space. There are also spitzer boattails...which gets a bit confusing in terms of generic BC values. If your bullet look like a sptizer but has a boattail (slanted end) then choose the Boattail from the form above.

Boattail

The boattail is a modification to the rear end of a bullet making the projectile much more air resistent. It has a BC modifier of 1.965 and this number is for a Boattail Spitzer and not a Boattail hollow point. The Boattail hollow point has a much lower BC modifier of somewhere around 1.6

Boattail Hollow Point

The boattail hollow point combines the airodynamics of the boattail with the expansion of the hollow point. It therefore has a lower BC modifier than the spitzer boattail, but a much higher modifier than the standard Hollow Point somewhere around 1.6

Hollow Point

The hollow point has a small hollow cavity that expands to increase the surface area of the projectile on impact. It's hard to see from the picture above, but easier to see in pistol rounds. It has a BC modifier of .875 making it the least aerodynamic.

RoundNose

The roundnose is a bullet that looks like it sounds...it has a round nose. It has a BC modifier of 1 and is the standard for our calculations. It is slightly more aerodynamic than the hollow point but worse than the spitzer and boattails. People often get caught up in new fads and forget about the roundnose. It is a classic round that has no frills attached, and is reliable and stable.