Am I seeing things?

[olderthaniam]

My buddy and I went shooting a few weeks ago at Cow Mountain (yes we packed out what we packed in (and a bit more)). I brought my new (to me) USP Compact .40 and he took his Sig P220, the eurostyle one with the mag release down by the baseplate. We were shooting with the afternoon sun at our 3:00 and I think I saw his bullets streaking toward the target as I stood at his 7:00. It didn't happen every time but it was a surprise to see that. It looked like a grey streak 10-20 feet long. Kind of awesome.

I couldn't see the same effect when he shot the .40 cal USP. Do you think the extra velocity of the .40 made the difference?

(and yes, I know I am a compulsive parenthetical annotater)

[CalNRA]

the 45 is slow enough that you could see a slow moving round.

legend is soft load 45s are easy to spot.

[JUNGALIST]

Could have been the reflection of the sun or a wannabe "tracer" we'll never know.

Or maybe the type of round he fired with the barrel, etc.

[aplinker]

It's called bullet trace.

A google search will get you going.

[edwardm]

You were probably seeing the 'wake' of the bullet as it went downrange. Mid-flight projectiles have to displace air during travel, and do so rather quickly as you'd imagine. Military sniper-spotters use this effect (generally visible through a spotting scope) to help the shooter dial in the target as-needed.

I've only seen this with rifle rounds, but in the right conditions (moderate temperature, medium humidity levels), it's painfully obvious when looking downrange through a spotting scope. I guess a handgun bullet wake could be visible in a similar fashion, as it also has to displace air (possibly more due to larger cross-sectional width of the projectile). Never witnessed with my naked eye though. Neat!

My buddy and I went shooting a few weeks ago at Cow Mountain (yes we packed out what we packed in (and a bit more)). I brought my new (to me) USP Compact .40 and he took his Sig P220, the eurostyle one with the mag release down by the baseplate. We were shooting with the afternoon sun at our 3:00 and I think I saw his bullets streaking toward the target as I stood at his 7:00. It didn't happen every time but it was a surprise to see that. It looked like a grey streak 10-20 feet long. Kind of awesome.

I couldn't see the same effect when he shot the .40 cal USP. Do you think the extra velocity of the .40 made the difference?

(and yes, I know I am a compulsive parenthetical annotater)

[Jonathan Doe]

45 Auto round is slow and with the right angle of the sun, you can see it. I have. Also, if you shoot in the rain, sometimes you can see the trajectory of the bullets go through the rain.

[halifax]

45 Auto round is slow and with the right angle of the sun, you can see it. I have...

Experienced the very same thing many years ago with a 1911. Early AM sun.

[Noxx]

I have seen this on two occasions while shooting outdoors. Now, I don't know if I'm seeing the projectile or the wake, but as I've only experienced it with .45ACP I would lean towards the former. I imagine that rounds dropping below 800fps could be visible in the right conditions.

[Voo]

Bullet streaks from pistols and wake from rifle rounds look nothing like each other. When it comes to streaking, you're actually seeing the light reflect off the bullet. With wakes, you're seeing the turbulence caused by the bullet compressing the air as it travels, not the bullet itself.

Bullet streaking from a pistol isn't that uncommon with the right angle, light, and bullet velocity. I've stood behind lots of pistols shooters during matches and every so often you can see the projectile streak down towards the target. You tend to see this with certain competitors as they tend to reload their ammo to the lowest minimum velocity allowed by the sport. Combine this with a FMJ bullet, the right lighting, and the lower velocities, it happens every now and that you get a nifty visual.

When it comes to rifles, I've never seen the actual projectile (unless it was a tracer round) but what you can spot is the "wake" the bullet causes. It looks nothing like streaks and resembles, imho, a distortion or mirage. I didnt wiki it but i guessing it has to do with the air being hyper compressed since the bullet is moving at such high velocities. Since the air is more dense immediately surrounding the traveling bullet, light refracts differently through it, hence the "matrix" type visual.

[cineski]

You just saw the actual bullet. Wake is usually seen in much higher velocity rounds, not with .45's. I've even seen .45's at the indoor range when looking over the shoulders of other shooters. Pretty cool!

[gunhohulk]

Yeah you saw the bullet with the sun kinda reflecting off of it. I have seen them often when i shoot at night with my .45 acp because i illuminate the target with my headlights. It looks like a really fast long copper streak.

[thempopresense]

I was shooting at target masters in milpitas. The lighting in the bays isn't the greatest. The guy on the lane next to me had a mag light shining down range on his target, I could see the rounds going down range, it was really cool.

[SJgunguy24]

45 Auto round is slow and with the right angle of the sun, you can see it. I have. Also, if you shoot in the rain, sometimes you can see the trajectory of the bullets go through the rain.

Yep.
To the OP, you ever play baseball. When your dialed in and zoning the ball slows down.
A couple of times when I was shooting pistol competitions I could see the round leaving the muzzle and follow them right to the target.
It looked like I could reach out and grab them. I wasn't shooting weak loads either. All I shot was factory 124 hydra shocks

[RAMCHARGER]

I saw this a few times with .44 specials. I could visualy follow them to the target.

[Turo]

Every once in a while this happens to me watching others shooting trap. If the light is just right you can see the shot for just a split second before it hits the clay.