Expanded Bullet Cross-Sectional Area List Compiled By Chuck Hawks Bullet cross-sectional area is an important element in the killing power of bullets. Other factors being equal, the bigger the diameter of the bullet, the bigger the diameter of the bullet hole. What follows is a list of common handgun and rifle bullet diameters showing their cross-sectional area to four decimal places, in square inches. Under each bullet diameter are listed some of the cartridges using that bullet diameter. These cross-sectional areas were collected from various sources (including the A-Square handloading manual Any Shot You Want) or computed by the simple formula: area = pi (3.1416) times the radius (1/2 the bullet diameter) squared. Note: Frontal area is the same as cross-sectional area with a cylindrical bullet, as listed below.
.172" diameter bullets = .0232 frontal area. .224" (5.56mm) diameter bullets = .0394 frontal area .243" (6mm) diameter bullets = .0464 frontal area .257" diameter bullets = .0519 frontal area .264" (6.5mm) diameter bullsts = .0547 frontal area .277" diameter bullsts = .0603 frontal area .284" (7mm) diameter bullets = .0633 frontal area .308" (7.62mm) diameter bullets = .0745 frontal area .311-.312" diameter (.303 caliber) bullets = .0760 .32" (8mm) diameter bullets = .0819 frontal area .338" diameter bullets = .0897 frontal area .355" diameter bullets = .0989 frontal area .357-358" diameter bullets = .1007 frontal area .366" (9.3mm) diameter bullets = .1052 frontal area .375" diameter bullets = .1104 frontal area .377" diameter bullets = .1116 frontal area .400" (10mm) diameter bullets = .1256 frontal area .409" diameter bullets = .1314 frontal area .410" diameter bullets = .1320 frontal area .416" diameter bullets = .1359 frontal area .423" diameter bullets = .1405 frontal area .429-.430" diameter bullets = .1445 frontal area .451-.452" diameter bullets = .1604 frontal area .458" diameter bullets = .1647 frontal area .468" diameter bullets = .1720 frontal area .475" diameter bullets = .1772 frontal area
.500" diameter bullets = .1963 frontal area .510" diameter Bullets = .2043 frontal area .585" diameter bullets = .2688 frontal area .620" diameter bullets = .3019 frontal area |
Copyright 2003, 2016 by Chuck Hawks. All rights reserved.
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