If you saw someone shooting into the air...

[Mark77]

This goes on every night in several areas of Los Angeles, sans clay pigeons.

Not just LA. Any hood, period.

[squeeze]

Those .223s can travel miles. Idjit to shoot centerfire or even rimfire in air if you do not know what is downrange.

Serious question: What is the farthest distance a 223 can travel when shot at an angle?

this kind of behavior is what got United Sportsman in Concord, CA closed for a loooooooog time.

[DentonandSasquatchShow]

Should've punched him in the nuts!

[Bill Carson]

This goes on every night in several areas of Los Angeles, sans clay pigeons.

They are mostly not shooting up in the air.

[Preston-CLB]

Serious question: What is the farthest distance a 223 can travel when shot at an angle?

It took a little digging in my physics text, but, here you go:

The maximum range depends upon muzzle velocity and the angle of the barrel wrt to the horizontal. The equation below neglects any effect due to wind or air resistance.

R = v^2/g sin2theta, where g is the acceleration due to gravity, and theta is the angle of the barrel.

The maximum range occurs when sin2theta = 1. This corresponds to an angle of 45 degrees.

A calculation is up to the reader. You will use g = 32 f/s^2 when muzzle velocity is feet/second. Your result will be in feet.

Have fun!
-P

[newbutold]

Good of the OP to educate but bottom line, really stupid people are bad for our sport.

[gpark09]

Serious question: What is the farthest distance a 223 can travel when shot at an angle?

this kind of behavior is what got United Sportsman in Concord, CA closed for a loooooooog time.

The rule of thumb is, it will be different from caliber to caliber, it could go out to 4 miles.

At some point projectiles will be tumbling and loose much of the energy. But, the point is that a bullet can travel far enough to hurt or damage beyond our sights.

[tabascoz28]

My tactic was to educate in a curtious and respectful way so they will want to be safe without causing a scene or making people feel like they don't belong. They will one day think back on this day and say, this guy warned us about safety then let us use his own shotgun so we can keep having fun. He could have been a dick up to and including calling the police but he decided to have a conversation and treat us like we're reasonable adults. If they ever see something like this happening to someone else they might also be curious and respectful, especially in the presence of their kids.

I was packing up my steel/guns/ammo/range bag and keeping an eye on them for sure.

[bruss01]

2 guys with family in tow were having a 12g competition. Throwing clay into the air. The other dude had an AR and they all thought he was hitting the clay. I raised my hand for a cease-fire, asked them if they knew what was behind the hill and gave them my 12g pump to play with. In the last 3 months I've seen this happen 3 times now with people using handguns and rifles to shoot flying clay.

Behind the hill are farms, ranches and hunting areas and a road that leads to the shooting area. He said he wasn't even thinking and thanked me for reminding him...

Even experienced people forget - including "professionals" and trainers.

If you turn on a hose and point it at your friend, he'll get wet. If you squirt the hose over a fence or shed, you don't know if someone is on the other side, who might get wet.

Bullets are like water... what goes up, must come down.

Rules of firearms safety -
"Know your target and what lies beyond".
"Never point a gun at anything you don't want destroyed"

You have to take into account the arc. If you are using ammo that plausibly has a range beyond the point/trajectory you can see... then you broke Rule 4 by not "knowing the target" (what the BULLET thinks is the target, not what YOU think is the target). And you potentially risk ventilating someone.

It's a simple concept but it's just unreal how many people don't know or forget.

[buttfish]

If you have doubts, watch the movie "Support Your Local Sheriff". James Garners shoots thru washers; the mayor doubts it, until he puts tape on the washers.

[HighWildFree]

Works better with a 22lr, use to do it all the time, but only with a secure backstop and the ability to let a target go if it is thrown off line or high.