This is particularly true at longer ranges, where bullets begin to drop faster and it becomes harder and harder to predict where they will land. The best way to understand bullet drop is to visualize it, which is easy if you use a ballistics calculator. To create this kind of chart, you need a few pieces of information:. The topic of ballistics coefficients BC will get an article of its own, but the short story is that BC is a measure of how effectively a bullet is able to slip through the air and maintain its velocity after being fired.
All else being equal, a bullet with a lower BC will slow down faster, whereas a bullet with a higher BC will maintain its velocity for longer. With that basic understanding out of the way, here are the numbers I used to create the first graph:. The bullet drops about 3 inches at yards, 8 inches at yards, 2 feet at yards, 4.
Although more difficult, you can even adjust for the 2 feet of drop at yards. At yards, though, the bullet has dropped almost 5 feet. At yards, the bullet has dropped almost 9 feet, making it more or less impossible to hit your target. For all intents and purposes, a good maximum range for supersonic Blackout ammo is probably around yards. Predicting the trajectory of subsonic Blackout bullets is difficult, as the ballistics coefficient can vary from 0. The bullet drops about 4 inches at yards, 2.
Heavy, slow moving subsonic bullets experience more bullet drop than fast, more aerodynamic bullets. The bullet drops about 2 inches at yards, 4 inches at yards, 1 foot at yards, 2.
In other words, the drop of 5. Yet when you compare the numbers in absolute terms, the differences in bullet drop between 5. Most people rarely shoot at targets more than yards away with either 5.
At that distance, the Blackout has 2 feet of bullet drop versus 1 foot for the 5. The more a bullet slows down, the more energy it loses and the more it will drop. As a general rule, then, you want bullets to maintain as much of their velocity as possible. Summary: You can easily make accurate shots with supersonic Blackout ammo up to yards away and yards away with subsonic ammo.
When a bullet hits a target, the energy from the bullet is imparted to the material it hits, causing it to break apart. The more energy a bullet imparts to a target, the more damage it causes, and the likely it is to kill someone or destroy something. All else being equal, you want your bullet to retain as much energy as possible by the time it hits your target. In general, the best way to increase the muzzle energy of a bullet is to fire it through a longer barrel.
Some bullets are designed to be fired through longer barrels, and some are designed to be fired through shorter barrels. The Blackout, on the other hand, is designed to reach maximum muzzle energy when fired through a 9-inch barrel. Longer barrels will produce more muzzle energy, of course, but not substantially so. In other words, if you were to shoot a 5. Although these cartridges are slightly different, their stats are fairly representative of average Blackout and 5.
If you plug these stats into a ballistics calculator, like this one , then you can estimate how much energy each bullet will have at different distances:. This graph shows the muzzle energy for a grain Blackout and a grain 5. While different brands, weights, and loads of ammo will have slightly more or less muzzle energy than this chart shows, it gives you a good ballpark estimate for most off-the-shelf 5. In other words, the Blackout beats the 5. Summary: The Blackout has significantly more muzzle energy than the 5.
There are five main reasons people use Blackout ammo over 5. As you learned a moment ago, the Blackout has significantly more muzzle energy when fired through short barrels than the 5. Summary: When it comes to rifles with barrels less than inches long, though, the Blackout is more lethal than 5. When objects move faster than the speed of sound—around 1, fps—they produce what sounds like a small explosion, known as a sonic boom.
To eliminate this sonic boom, you need to use bullets that travel below the speed of sound, or less than 1, fps. For example, a grain 5. The Blackout, though, is much wider and longer than the 5. For example, a grain Blackout bullet moving at 1, fps has ft. Another common problem with subsonic 5. Summary: Subsonic Blackout is significantly more powerful than subsonic 5.
You might think that a bullet approved by the military for killing people—the 5. Others states like Maryland, Hawaii, and Nebraska require you to use ammo that produces a certain amount of muzzle energy regardless of the caliber. The Blackout provides an elegant solution. Some people question whether or not the Blackout is effective for killing deer, and the simple answer is, yes—absolutely. With the right shot, a Blackout will kill just about any wild animal in North America.
Summary: Unlike 5. All else being equal, bigger, heavier bullets are usually more effective at penetrating targets than lighter, smaller ones. Its light weight and high speed also causes it to fragment, which is great for tearing up soft targets—like people—but not so great when trying to penetrate hard targets like wood. The same properties that make 5. Since the cartridges are so similar, not much surgery is required to convert a standard AR firearm chambered in 5.
In fact, all you have to do is change the barrel. Once you remove the barrel nut, it just pops out for an easy swap. Since the cartridge base is identical, the bolt and bolt carrier are unchanged. For the same reason, the magazines are interchangeable too. One notable difference between 5.
The most common supersonic BLK loads use or gr. The subsonic version normally packs gr. This creates a tradeoff. The lighter bullets used by 5. The cost is more bullet drop. So, the right choice for you depends on what you care about more. I ran the numbers with all four options to explore how velocity and bullet drop carried with both the 5.
Both pistols were set up with a yard zero. I only included the subsonic BLK data at and yards for consistency. Note that the use of 5. There are differences between the 5. While the classic kinetic energy measurement of ft-lbs. On average, and gr. Ammo cost is also something to consider. The 5. The more people shoot it, the more companies invest in serving billions and billions of rounds to the market.
That drives down the cost per round for you and me. Did the. I think so. The BLK ballistics are similar to those of the 7.
They both have pros and cons for their respective applications. Which one is right for you depends on exactly how you intend to use it. In the case of Blackout vs 5. In the AR hunting world , 5.
For larger game where penetration is more important, the BLK presents a better overall solution. The bottom line is this: light and fast versus slower and heavier. Sounds kind of like the 9mm vs. Go to forum thread. These articles are considered to be suggestions and not recommendations from Springfield Armory. The views and opinions expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Springfield Armory.
Tom is a perpetual student of all things gun and shooting related. He's particularly passionate about self and home defense and the rights of all to protect themselves and their loved ones. As part of his ongoing learning, Tom has completed dozens of training programs and is a certified National Rifle Association instructor for pistol and shotgun. Tom is a professional writer by trade these days and has published seven books on guns, shooting, reloading, concealed carry, and holsters.
In between book projects, Tom has published somewhere in the neighborhood of 1, articles for about a dozen gun and shooting publications. If he's not writing, you can probably find him on the range. The latest content straight to your inbox plus an automatic entry to each of our monthly giveaways!
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