Determining the ballistic characteristics of hunting cartridges
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15587/1729-4061.2025.336049Keywords:
hunting ammunition, powder charge, shot, area of damage, probability of damageAbstract
The object of this study is hunting cartridges. The task addressed is to determine the ballistic indicators of hunting cartridges.
The standard deviation of shot distribution on the target has been determined, as well as the area of damage by hunting cartridges and the probability of penetrating a duralumin plate.
The result of experimental studies has established that the maximum value of the standard deviation of shot distribution at the level of 8–12 cm occurs with a minimum shot weight of 32 g and a minimum shot diameter of 3.75 mm. In this case, the powder charge was an average value of 1.65 g. The area of damage was simulated by using an original software by increasing the penetration point on the target to the size of the total equivalent diameter of the most vulnerable elements of UAV with FPV piloting.
On a target with an equivalent diameter of 8 cm, the area of damage has a maximum value of 0.45–0.5 m2 when using a minimum shot diameter of 3.75 mm. In this case, the shot weight had a maximum value of 42 g, and the weight of the powder charge was at an average level of 1.65 g. Therefore, a decrease in the diameter of the shot and an increase in the weight of the shot lead to an increase in the number of elements that hit the target, which, accordingly, leads to an increase in the area of damage.
The probability of penetrating a duralumin plate 1 mm thick was determined as the ratio of the number of shots that pierced the duralumin plate to the total number of hits in it. This value has a maximum value of 0.6–0.8 rel. units at maximum values of the shot diameter of 4.75 mm, the shot weight of 42 g, and the weight of the powder charge of 1.71 g.
The practical significance of the research results relates to the fact that they could be used to improve ammunition and means of defeat for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are controlled using FPV piloting under combat conditions
References
- Cai, H., Zhang, K., Chen, Z., Jiang, C., Chen, Z. (2024). Video saliency prediction for First-Person View UAV videos: Dataset and benchmark. Neurocomputing, 594, 127876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neucom.2024.127876
- Hambling, D. (2024). What does Ukraine’s million-drone army mean for the future of war? New Scientist, 261 (3475), 12. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0262-4079(24)00150-7
- Dafrallah, S., Akhloufi, M. (2024). Malicious UAV detection using various modalities. Drone Systems and Applications, 12, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1139/dsa-2023-0049
- Cai, H., Song, Z., Xu, J., Xiong, Z., Xie, Y. (2022). CUDM: A Combined UAV Detection Model Based on Video Abnormal Behavior. Sensors, 22 (23), 9469. https://doi.org/10.3390/s22239469
- Hambling, D. (2024). Drone vs drone is the new warfare. New Scientist, 264 (3512), 16. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0262-4079(24)01806-2
- Kunz, S. N., Kirchhoff, S., Eggersmann, R., Stiefel, D., Gessinger, M., Manthei, A. et al. (2014). Ricocheted Rifle and Shotgun Projectiles: A Ballistic Evaluation. Journal of Testing and Evaluation, 42 (2), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1520/jte20130010
- Karapirli, M., Uysal, C., Akcan, R., Aksoy, M. E. (2014). The effect of intermediate targets on the spread of pellets from shotguns. Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 47 (3), 355–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/00450618.2014.982181
- Kostorrizos, A., Spiliopoulou, C., Moraitis, Κ., Papadodima, S. (2023). Determination of Firing Distance based on Pellet Dispersion. Austin Journal of Forensic Science and Criminology, 10 (1). https://doi.org/10.26420/austinjforensicscicriminol.2023.1094
- Arslan, M. M., Kar, H., Üner, B., Çetin, G. (2011). Firing Distance Estimates with Pellet Dispersion from Shotgun with Various Chokes: An Experimental, Comparative Study. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 56 (4), 988–992. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2011.01761.x
- Maitre, M., Chiaravalle, A., Horder, M., Chadwick, S., Beavis, A. (2021). Evaluating the effect of barrel length on pellet distribution patterns of sawn-off shotguns. Forensic Science International, 320, 110685. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2021.110685
- Rios, F. G., Thornton, J. I., Guarino, K. S. (1986). Multivariate statistical analysis of shotgun pellet dispersion. Forensic Science International, 32 (1), 21–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/0379-0738(86)90154-4
- Kerkhoff, W., Maitimu, K., Pater, K. D. H., de Jong, M. A. (2023). The relationship between pellet size and shotgun dispersion patterns. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 69 (2), 461–468. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.15427
- Szmelter, J., Leeming, D. (2006). Factors Affecting the Dispersion of Shotgun Pellets in Short-range Combat. Journal of Battlefield Technology, 9 (1), 9–13. Available at: https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.111277085967991
- Mattoo, B. N., Nabar, B. S. (1969). Evaluation of effective shot dispersion in buckshot patterns. Journal of Forensic Science, 14 (2), 263–269.
- Lee, J. S., Cleaver, G. B. (2017). Exclusion of the Magnus Effect as a Mechanism for Shotgun Pellet Dispersion. SCIREA Journal of Physics, 2 (3), 9–20. Available at: https://www.scirea.org/journal/PaperInformation?PaperID=446
- Çakir, I., Çetin, G., Uner, H. B., Albek, E. (2003). Shot range estimation based on pellet distribution in shots with a pump-action shotgun. Forensic Science International, 132 (3), 211–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0379-0738(03)00022-7
- Lowry, E., Garner, K. (1996). Shotshell Ballistics for Windows.
- Compton, D. J. (1996). An Experimantal and Theoretical Investigation of Short Cloud Ballistics. London. Available at: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1382490/1/396689.pdf
- Russell, K. (2003). On Dynamic Non-linear Finite Element Analysis of Bullet and Barrel Interface. 2003 NDIA Small Arms Symposium. Available at: https://www.slideserve.com/ham/on-dynamic-non-linear-finite-element-analysis-of-bullet-and-barrel-interface
- Deng, S., Sun, H. K., Chiu, C.-J., Chen, K.-C. (2014). Transient finite element for in-bore analysis of 9 mm pistols. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 38 (9-10), 2673–2688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apm.2013.10.071
- Deng, S., Ken, T.-C., Wang, J., Wu, T.-C., Lin, C.-C. (2022). Interior ballistics analysis of shotgun using discrete element method. Finite Elements in Analysis and Design, 201, 103698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.finel.2021.103698
- Qian, L., Chen, G. (2017). The uncertainty propagation analysis of the projectile-barrel coupling problem. Defence Technology, 13 (4), 229–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dt.2017.06.005
- Huang, C., Dhainaut, J.-M., Talley, J., Du, P. (2024). Incline Firing Analysis Using ANSYS to Determine Directional Barrel Deformations. ASME 2024 Aerospace Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference. https://doi.org/10.1115/ssdm2024-121581
- Burrard, G. T. (1950). The Modern Shotgun. Volume III: The Gun and the Cartridge. London: Herbert Jenkins, 320.
- Golub, G. A., Kukharets, S. M., Tsyvenkova, N. M., Golubenko, A. A., Kalenichenko, P. S. (2018). Research on a boiler furnace module effectiveness working on small fracture wastes. INMATEH-Agricultural Engineering, 55 (2), 9–18. Available at: https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.5555/20183391971
- Baker, S., Epstein, J. (2025). The Ukrainian Soldier’s Best Chance against Russia’s Advanced Unjammable Drones is as Low-Tech as it gets. Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-soldiers-best-chance-russia-fiber-optic-drones-shotguns-2025-6
- Pugliese, D. (2024). Shotguns Versus Drones – New Methods to Deal with Small UAVs. Available at: https://www.espritdecorps.ca/feature/shotguns-versus-drones-new-methods-to-deal-with-small-uavs?utm_source=chatgpt.com
- Giorgio, O. (2025). An Old School Solution to a Very Modern Threat: Shotguns vs Drones. TFB The Firearm Blog. Available at: https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/an-old-school-solution-to-a-very-modern-threat-shotguns-vs-drones-44817970
- Golub, V., Kurban, V., Sedov, S., Golub, G. (2022). Classification of Combat Wheeled Vehicles Using Cluster Analysis Methods. Advances in Military Technology, 17 (1), 5–16. https://doi.org/10.3849/aimt.01499
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Victor Golub, Serhii Bisyk, Gennadii Golub, Nataliya Tsyvenkova, Ivan Dubok, Oleksandr Shkvarskyi, Valerii Pimanov, Oleh Marus

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The consolidation and conditions for the transfer of copyright (identification of authorship) is carried out in the License Agreement. In particular, the authors reserve the right to the authorship of their manuscript and transfer the first publication of this work to the journal under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license. At the same time, they have the right to conclude on their own additional agreements concerning the non-exclusive distribution of the work in the form in which it was published by this journal, but provided that the link to the first publication of the article in this journal is preserved.
A license agreement is a document in which the author warrants that he/she owns all copyright for the work (manuscript, article, etc.).
The authors, signing the License Agreement with TECHNOLOGY CENTER PC, have all rights to the further use of their work, provided that they link to our edition in which the work was published.
According to the terms of the License Agreement, the Publisher TECHNOLOGY CENTER PC does not take away your copyrights and receives permission from the authors to use and dissemination of the publication through the world's scientific resources (own electronic resources, scientometric databases, repositories, libraries, etc.).
In the absence of a signed License Agreement or in the absence of this agreement of identifiers allowing to identify the identity of the author, the editors have no right to work with the manuscript.
It is important to remember that there is another type of agreement between authors and publishers – when copyright is transferred from the authors to the publisher. In this case, the authors lose ownership of their work and may not use it in any way.





