Max safe bullet speed

[colt_saa]

The speed does control if the bullet disintegrates, shoot a thin jacketed bullet at lower velocities and it gets to the target. RPM is based on velocity/speed and again this is mentioned many times by competitive shooters talking about bullets disintegrating at given velocities.

And the Sierra and Hornady manuals give you muzzle velocity range of its bullets.

Examples:
Hornady .224 #2229 1500-3100 fps
Hornady .224 #2240 SP SX 2000-3400 fps
Hornady .224 #22261 V-Max 2000-3400 fps

So your wrong again! And the bullet manufactures set the speed limits by design. RTFM

Calculating Bullet RPM ? Spin Rates and Stability « Daily Bulletin

Shoot a thin jacket projectile at a slower rotational velocity and it gets to target. It is not the forward speed that caused the projectile to break apart, it is the centrifugal force.

There are no bullet manufacturers that set maximum speeds based on caliber or cartridge. Manufactures set maximum speed based on a specific projectile design.

 

[RichardDBeck]

Most disintegration in flight has nothing to do with forward speed of the projectile. It is centrifugal force that causes the projectile to come apart in flight.

I would have to disagree. As an engineer who has spent lots of time making projectiles go supersonic and hyper-sonic. Frictional drag in the air can cause disintegration of and object.

I've shot a ping-pong ball through a piece of .250" thick plywood. I would post the high speed footage but the last time I posted a video I got in trouble.

We continued to increasing the speed of the ping pong ball until the friction in the air disintegrated the ball in flight. We did not use a rifle barrel and the ball was not spinning.

I've spent weeks on this project and captured lots of high speed footage. It was a lot of fun.

 

[colt_saa]

I would have to disagree. As an engineer who has spent lots of time making projectiles go supersonic and hyper-sonic. Frictional drag in the air can cause disintegration of and object.

I've shot a ping-pong ball through a piece of .250" thick plywood. I would post the high speed footage but the last time I posted a video I got in trouble.

We continued to increasing the speed of the ping pong ball until the friction in the air disintegrated the ball in flight. We did not use a rifle barrel and the ball was not spinning.

I've spent weeks on this project and captured lots of high speed footage. It was a lot of fun.

I stand corrected. Allow me to rephrase

Most in flight disintegration of traditional sporting firearms metallic cartridge projectiles that are fired through rifled barrels has nothing to do with the forward speed of the projectile. It is centrifugal force that causes the projectile to come apart in flight.

This statement by no means rules out the ability of an individual to intentionally cause a projectile to disintegrate solely from forward motion

 

[DR505]

FYI - Nosler Reloading Guide #7 gives loading data for .22-250 Slow twist (1 in 14) and Fast twist (1 in 8) barrels.

 

[fredj338]

Well you are not really going to get much more than 4000fps & that will be with a super light 35gr bullet. There are bullet construction limits, but most bullets made will stay together up to 3800fps+ IME. Back in the day I had a 220swift, easily pushed 45gr bullets to 4100fps & occasionally one would come apart in flight, but no harm to the gun or shooter.
Mono metal & bonded bullets can be driven at insane speeds, but accuracy should be your goal, not pure vel.

 

[scooter123]

The 22-250 was originally developed with the intent of producing muzzle velocities as high as 4000 fps and history has shown that it was a success at meeting this goal. History has also shown that 4000 fps muzzle velocities are hard on the chamber and bore with barrels needing replacement after as few as 2000 rounds fired. Since I don't like throwing dollar bills downrange I would load this cartridge towards the lower end of the range and look for a bullet that provides the required accuracy between 3000 and 3200 fps.

PS; Something about that title just wakes up the Nonsense Answer urge in my. So, in response to what is "safe", I do believe that if you fire a bullet at 1/4 the Speed of Light or more you may produce enough Kinetic energy that the result could look rather Nuclear. So, to be really safe try and keep the velocities under 1/20 C.

 

[RichardDBeck]

This statement by no means rules out the ability of an individual to intentionally cause a projectile to disintegrate solely from forward motion

I would also agree that a spinning bullet would reach disintegration velocity faster then one that is not spinning because of compounding of motion which should increase frictional drag. Another big factor is drag while inside the barrel. No two barrels are exactly the same. All in all I think it's impossible to find a one size fits all to the "How fast is too fast" question. The answer will be specific to each gun and projectile.

Side note. most people believe the spinning of the bullet cuts down on frictional drag and helps the bullet go farther. Not true. It gyroscopically stabilizes the bullet and keeps it from tumbling. In the case of a ball it keep it from developing a rotation that's not axially parallel to the bore of the gun allowing the bullet to fly straight.

If you want to go waaaaay beyond 4000 FPS you'll need an upgraded barrel. Then you'll need a tungsten projectile. You'll then need to seal up the barrel (clear packing tape works) and pull a vacuum on the barrel of the gun, and fire your new tungsten projectile through the vacuum.