I am trying to explain to my wife why the line of sight of a gun and the line of travel of the bullet are not the same thing. I have searched for a diagram on the internet but haven\u2019t found anything. Do you have something? To her, a picture would be worth a thousand words.<\/em><\/p>\n Dennis<\/em><\/p>\n Dennis, nobody ever explained it better than that great old rifleman Jack O\u2019Connor. The pictures below are from his classic \u201cComplete Book of Rifles and Shotguns,\u201d published by Outdoor Life <\/em>and Harper & Row 50 years ago.\u00a0 The principle hasn\u2019t changed in the last half century.<\/p>\n Basically, the bullet leaves the muzzle trying to go in a straight line, but gravity acts upon it and pulls it down in a slow curve. The shooter compensates for that by adjusting the sights to send the bullet out going slightly upward. Thus, its path describes a gentle curve in which \u2013 in effect, from the shooter\u2019s perspective \u2013 it goes upward and then downward, crossing the exact point of aim once on the way up and then again going down as the now apparently curving trajectory crosses the straight line of sight.<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor explained it better, and illustrated it, below.\u00a0 Thanks for caring about giving your wife solid explanations, and for giving me a chance to pay homage to a great gun writer on the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of one of his best works.<\/p>\n O’Connor’s classic.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n O’Connor explains line of sight vis-a-vis line of bore.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n O’Connor elaborates on bullet drop.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/7_1_11_01.jpg\" "\\"7_1_11_01\\"")
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