From the BULLETS FROM THE SKY chapter of Hatcher's Notebook: "From calculations and experiments, the British concluded that their Mark VII bullet" (174-grain spitzer boattail @ a MV of 2440 FPS) "when fired vertically rises to about 9,000 FEET, taking 19 seconds to go up, and 36 to come down, total time of flight up and back 55 seconds. The Germans give similar figures for 7.92mm, their 153-grain flat-base spitzer bullet having a muzzle velocity of 2882 FPS. It is supposed to rise 9000 feet, taking 19 seconds to go up and 38 seconds to come down."


I submit that the 9000 feet max altitude Hatcher gives is much closer to what a 7.62mm NATO bullet would attain, (probably somewhat less for the 147-grain flatbased .308" NATO bullet), rather than the figures given above that show such outlandish predictions as 32,653 METERS!! It might, on the MOON! But you CANNOT IGNORE air resistance if you are shooting on a planet which has an atmosphere! Hell, even the 120mm antiaircraft gun has a vertical range of only 12 miles (63,360 FEET) with charge 8!!