Hornady has announced the launch of its new, patent pending Hornady 4DOF (Four Degrees of Freedom) Ballistic Calculator.
The 4DOF calculator provides trajectory solutions based on projectile drag coefficient (rather than ballistic coefficient) along with the exact physical modeling of the projectile and its mass and aerodynamic properties. It will be the first publicly available program that will correctly calculate the vertical shift a bullet experiences as it encounters a crosswind, referred to as aerodynamic jump.
"Current ballistic calculators provide three degrees of freedom in their approach; windage, elevation and range, but treat the projectile as an inanimate lump flying through the air," said Dave Emary, Hornady Chief Ballistician. "This program incorporates the projectile's movement in the standard 3 degrees but also adds its movement about its center of gravity and subsequent angle relative to its line of flight, which is the fourth degree of freedom."
Using Doppler radar, Hornady engineers have calculated exact drag versus velocity curves for each bullet in the 4DOF calculator library.
"This calculator doesn't utilize BC's (Ballistic Coefficients) like other calculators," added Jayden Quinlan, Hornady Ballistics Engineer. "Why compare the flight of your bullet to a standard G1 or G7 projectile when you can use your own projectile as the standard?"
The 4DOF Ballistic Calculator is available for free. It can be found here.
For more information, go to Hornady.com.
