The bullet needs to turn its nose into the air so that it continues to fly point first. This is often referred to as the bullet “going to sleep”. The aerodynamic shape will cause this unless it's over stabilized.
If a bullet leaves the muzzle with a tiny bit of yaw (and they almost all do) and it's spinning too fast to aerodynamically correct its flight, you will lose accuracy and lower the ballistic coefficient as it's not presenting the most effecient frontal shape to the oncoming air.
At longer ranges, generally past 300 yards, the bullet needs to turn nose down as the flight path begins to curve down so that it continues to fly point first. An over spun bullet will resist turning into the flight path and the nose will remain turned upward relative to the ballistic curve. Once again, the less efficient shape presented to the oncoming air will lower the ballistic coefficient making the bullet lose velocity faster and more prone to drift.
You probably won’t notice an over stabilized bullet unless you’re shooting competitive benchrest or shooting out past 300 yards.
It's not just length but also aerodynamic profile that determines how much spin a bullet needs to properly stabilize.
If a bullet leaves the muzzle with a tiny bit of yaw (and they almost all do) and it's spinning too fast to aerodynamically correct its flight, you will lose accuracy and lower the ballistic coefficient as it's not presenting the most effecient frontal shape to the oncoming air.
At longer ranges, generally past 300 yards, the bullet needs to turn nose down as the flight path begins to curve down so that it continues to fly point first. An over spun bullet will resist turning into the flight path and the nose will remain turned upward relative to the ballistic curve. Once again, the less efficient shape presented to the oncoming air will lower the ballistic coefficient making the bullet lose velocity faster and more prone to drift.
You probably won’t notice an over stabilized bullet unless you’re shooting competitive benchrest or shooting out past 300 yards.
It's not just length but also aerodynamic profile that determines how much spin a bullet needs to properly stabilize.
