Angle of Projection...U miss at 45 degrees

[ihab]

I own 2 of the best know spearguns in accuracy & power, RA & Riffe.

At first, I thought the RA had an over-hit when aiming downwards on a fish….as the spear will almost always travel right above the intended spot…just nipping the fish most of the time.
This happens when I’m firing at fish from a distance of 3-4 meters, with a projectile angle of 45 degrees.

To better explain it….imagine swimming on the surface and your target is about 3 or 4 meters below you….at an angle of 45 degrees.
In this position, I’ve always noticed, unless you fire at point, BELOW the intended target area, the spear will always travel a bit higher, i.e., over the target area…..which I call an Over-Hit.

I’m not in to physics but it does make sense to me…….a spear travelling downwards, at a 45 degree angle, will be meeting resistance (from the water) along the whole side of the shaft …..thus the tendency of the spear to travel upward during it’s downwards projection.

Whereas, a spear travelling parallel to the water surface; will face water resistance at it’s tip…thus the tendency of the spear to travel in a straight line……which makes the shot more accurate.

I say this since when I tried firing the Riffe (known to be one of the best in accuracy), at an angle of 45 degrees, the same thing happened as with the RA…..so the issue was not the gun…..it’s the angle of projection.

If someone cares to elaborate on this point….that would be great!

Thanks
Ihab

[Shadowkiller]

Actually water surrounds the shaft completely, so there is equal force on all sides, regardless of shooting angle.

What does happen is that gravity has less effect on shaft trajectory when shooting down at 45deg than if you shoot horizontal. As most land hunters would know, if you shoot downhill with a gun, you tend to shoot high.

[Marwan]

try shooting bigger fish, youre less likely to miss

[ihab]

Thanks..... I never thought about that

Originally Posted by Marwan

try shooting bigger fish, youre less likely to miss