Ryan Cleckner introduces the first episode in his new podcast!  In this episode, Ryan explains how gravity is a constant, how it is an accelerative force, and how objects react to gravity.  These topics are applied to understand how the bullet fall the moment it leaves the barrel - even though it travels in an arc on the way to the target - and how bullet speed can affect how much a bullet drops.  But, don't confuse how much a bullet drops with how fast it drops.  Confused?  You shouldn't be!  Ryan breaks down this seemingly complex concept into plain language that anyone can understand.   Links: Sua Sponte Foundation Special Operations Warrior Foundation Long Range Shooting Handbook Transcript: When a bullet leaves your barrel it doesn’t travel in a straight line - no matter how fast it is.  There are external forces which immediately start to bring the bullet off of its original path.  The study of how a bullet behaves while in flight is called external ballistics.  Internal ballistics refers to what happens inside the firearm and terminal ballistics refers to what happens at the target.  External Ballistics is covered in chapter 10 of the Long Range Shooting Handbook. The biggest effect on your bullets path, except for hitting something in flight, is gravity.  Thankfully, it is also the easiest to account for.  This is because gravity is mostly constant no matter where you are on Earth. I say “mostly” because technically the force of gravity is different depending on where you are.  However the difference is so slight that we aren’t going to worry about it.  You see, the force of gravity depends on the mass of an object and how far away you are from that mass.  So, the further we are away from the center of the Earth, the less of an effect gravity has.  This is why there is less gravity on astronauts in orbit - they aren’t weightless and there is really no such thing as a location where there’s no gravity.  But because they are further away from Earth, the Earth’s gravity has less of an effect but it is still about 90% as strong as it is on the ground - they appear to be floating because they are orbiting. So, technically, there is a difference in the force of gravity between the highest and the lowest points on Earth.  So at the lowest point of land on Earth, around the Dead Sea, is a little over 1,300 feet below sea level.  And the highest point on Earth is a little over 20,000 feet above sea level.  Now, those of you that know your geography may be saying that Mt Everest is actually a little over 29,000 feet above sea level.  Well, you’re correct, but Mt Everest isn’t the highest point on Earth - at least it’s not if you're measuring from the center of the Earth.  For bonus points that have absolutely no value, does anyone know that the higher point on Earth actually is?  . . . . . .  It’s Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador.  If you made a globe with accurate terrain features, Mt. Chimborazo would stick out further than Mt. Everest.  The reason Mt. Everest has a higher “above sea level” number is because the Earth isn;t a perfect circle and is wider around the equator (which is where Ecuador is) and the sea’s level is actually higher around the middle.  Therefore, if you’re measuring from the sea’s level, there’s more of a difference at Mt. Everest because the sea’s level is lower there.  Now, who would’ve thought we’d be covering geography on the Going Ballistic podcast? At these two extreme locations, there’s only a 0.4% difference in the force of gravity.  And, when other variables are considered, there might even be less of a difference.  The short of it is, it’s not going to make a difference for you - at least not as much of a difference as the other external factors.  If the change in gravity at different elevations makes a difference in your ability to hit a target, then you probably should be learning from me.  If you’re that good, contact me so I can schedule lessons from you. So, the force of gravity for our purposes