Hornady has announced the launch of the new Hornady 4DOF (Four Degrees of Freedom) Ballistic Calculator.
The Hornady 4DOF calculator provides trajectory solutions based on projectile Drag Coefficient (not ballistic coefficient) along with the exact physical modelling of the projectile and its mass and aerodynamic properties. Additionally, it is 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.
According to the company, the use of drag coefficients, correct projectile dynamics, aerodynamic jump and spin drift enable the Hornady 4DOF ballistic calculator to be the most accurate commercially available trajectory program available, even at extreme ranges.
The Hornady 4DOF Ballistic Calculator is available free at: https://www.hornady.com/team-hornady/ballistic-calculators/#!/4dof
“Current ballistic calculators provide 3 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 4th degree of freedom.”
Using Doppler radar, Hornady engineers have calculated exact drag versus velocity curves for each bullet in the 4DOF calculator library. Combined with the physical attributes of the projectiles, the 4DOF calculator is simply more accurate for long-range hits than using BC based systems or custom drag curves based off of limited data collection points.
“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?”
