Shot gun ballistics are actually pretty complicated it is amazing that they behave as predictable as they do. Your question is not a dumb one. A number or things happen when the shot leaves the barrel, 1)Higher pressure exists in the barrel then in the ambient air. This gas expands rapidly leaving the barrel pushing the shot as it goes. The shot tends to be carried by the outwardly expanding gas. 2)The shot on the outside of the load has more of an horizontal force on it then the shot in the center. 3) Some of the shot will be deformed and posses a different trajectory then the un deformed shot.4) Some of the shot will be spinning causing it to curve more.5)The fast moving shot will experience wind resistance which also causes scatter
The fact that it expands at a predictable rate is due the consistency of the quality of the shot, the powder and of the wad
Last edited by pooch; 03/19/17 03:56 PM.
