.38/200 ammo

[Krogen]

I'm told that you can sometimes see the bullet in flight.

^^^ This. Other folks in this thread have also mentioned seeing bullets in flight. Seeing them from the side would require a slowwww... bullet! But from a position directly behind the shooter, one can see faster bullets.

It's common to see the glint off the base of a .308 Win flying out to 500 yds. Sure, the velocity in the direction of travel is high, but the vertical component is slow as the bullet goes above the line of sight and then falls. Easy to see in a spotting scope if the light is right and you get the "glint." I also commonly see 22 LR slugs in my rifle scope or in a spotting scope behind the shooter in our 200 meter matches. Sure helps in spotting for a shooter.

 

[Nevada Ed]

In the summer time shooting my 22-250 my spotter, looking through a
10-40 power scope on a tri-pod can watch my 52-55 gr, bullets out to 400 yards
by following the "Air waves" , as the bullet is on it's way to the target.

Being set up close to my left or right side, helps in seeing this fun part of shooting
and the spotter can sometimes call out a "Hit", even before the bullet gets to the target.

With my old 1903 bolt action and a big, slow, 200 gr bullet at 900 to1,00 yards
with good lighting or under a roof in the shade, I can roll to the side and
sometimes catch the bullets path, as it is on it's way.

I am sure that many of my 38 or 9mm loads could have been seen, if I
tried to look but I was too busy with target accuracy or chrony work, to notice.

 

[raljr1]

^^^ This. Other folks in this thread have also mentioned seeing bullets in flight. Seeing them from the side would require a slowwww... bullet! But from a position directly behind the shooter, one can see faster bullets.

It's common to see the glint off the base of a .308 Win flying out to 500 yds. Sure, the velocity in the direction of travel is high, but the vertical component is slow as the bullet goes above the line of sight and then falls. Easy to see in a spotting scope if the light is right and you get the "glint." I also commonly see 22 LR slugs in my rifle scope or in a spotting scope behind the shooter in our 200 meter matches. Sure helps in spotting for a shooter.

I remember back in the day when we were shooting at water jugs on the 100 yard range and watching thru the spotting scope. You could see the 44 magnum slugs by glint of the sunlight as they hit , or missed, the jugs.