Caliber discussions are commonplace where people have to do with guns, in real life and in virtual life. Especially in TheHunter: Call of the Wild (COTW) the right caliber is a matter of discussion, as for a given animal class, there are several guns that can be used. Terminal ballistics in COTW have barely anything to do with real life, but what about the bullet’s trajectory? Do those follow a parabolic flight path?
In this study, external ballistics for a range of rifles the authors use or have used, were tested and their flight path depending on the respective zeroing recorded and analyzed. Similar guides exists that focus on holding points for scopes (AfterCrow, 2021; stuart, 2020), whereas this one only studies bullet trajectories according to the game's own shooting range.
Please note that this is more of an academic discussion than an actual hands-on guide.

All ballistic tests were carried out at the Hirschfelden shooting range, at lane 8 from a kneeling position about 1 m behind the edge where ammunition becomes infinite. For every gun, the scope with the highest possible magnification was used. The target was always center 10. Every distance was shot at with each zeroing. Bullet types (SP, PSG, etc.) were not considered, as they have, to the author’s knowledge, no influence on the trajectory. An exception here was the percussion rifle.

For analyzing flight path, the deviation from the 10 was recorded, but no actual heights, as the exact dimension of the targets are unknown to the authors. Here, the center 10 was assumed as deviation „0“, with rings having a deviation of (10 - ring value), either with a positive (higher point of impact) or negative (lower point of impact) sign. Fractions of rings were not counted (e.g. 10.9 for absolute center). Standard deviations were calculated, but are not shown here. Due to the low resolution of the shooting target ranges (50 m steps), the curves show unusual kinks. A deviation of at least -10 (i.e. not hitting any target ring anymore) was considered „full drop“. Distances were shot at up until 450 m because shooting beyond the rendering limit seems unnecessary.

The data for the 9.3x74R, .300 and .303 was generated using the current game version (Te Awaroa patch), all other data was kept as is; however, there seems to have been no changes made to the ballistics model, since the .270 is confirmed to still hit center 10 at 250 m instead of 300 m with the long zeroing. Data for .300 and .303 was kindly provided by @Bunny.

Guns were separated in the groups „300 m“, „150 m“ and „Other“.
The rifles used were:

Stock:

• 300 m group: .223, .243, .270, 7 mm, .338
  
• 150 m group: .30-30, .45-70

DLC:

• 300 m group: Mosin, Eckers, M1, 6.5 mm, .303, .300
  
• 150 m group: .22, 9.3x74R, .470
  
• Other: .50 Roundball, .50 Minié

Raw data can be found here.[docs.google.com]

In the 300 m group, nine guns in total were tested for their respective bullet’s behavior at different ranges with different zeroings.

A) 75 m zero

For the 75 m zero all calibers show a uniform behavior up until 100 m (Fig. 1) where every single one of them hit center 10, however, the .223 and .300 managed to stil hit 10 even at 150 m, where the other bullets had already dropped to the 9 ring. After that, trajectories behave very similarly with full drop at 350 m except .270 and 7 mm that only show a drop of around 9 and the .223 and .300 with the flattest trajectories here with a drop of less than 8. In total, the 75 m zero is viable up to 100 m, with the exception of the .223 and .300 that shoot straight up to 150 m.


Figure 1: Deviation in score over distance for the 75 m zero in the 300 m gun group. A score of -10 indicates full drop.

B) 150 m zero

For the 150 m zero (Fig. 2), all cartridges except the .300 show an extremely uniform behavior up until 300 m. The 10 could be hit at all distances up to 150 m. At 200 m the .30-06 in both guns and the 7 mm were still only slightly shooting low and the .300 was still on the 10. Full drop was achieved between 350 m and 400 m, except fort he .300 at 400 m to 450 m. The .300, 7 mm and .223 have the flattest trajectory with the .300 having no substantial drop until almost 300 m. The .338 has the steepest trajectory, the other bullets are dispersed betwen the former. Furthermore, the .338 and .300 shoot slightly high at 100 m. In any case, the 150 m zeroing is viable for all distances up to 150 m, rendering the 75 m zeroing practically useless. For the .300, it is even viable for up to 250 m.


Figure 2: Deviation in score over distance for the 150 m zero in the 300 m gun group. A score of -10 indicates full drop.

C) 300 m zero

For the 300 m zero, the cartridges showed a significant difference for the first time (Fig. 3). The most striking one is that the .223, the .243 and the .270 behave extremely different from all other bullets as in their trajectory up until 250 m is much flatter and, surprisingly, the 300 m zero for those guns is not at 300 m, but at 250 m with the .223 exhibiting substantial drop of almost 2 at 300 m and all of them showing the steepest trajectory and highets bullet drop beyond 300 m.
The other bullets exhibit „actual“ parabolic trajectories, with the .338 having the steepest and the 7 mm and .300 having the flattest trajectories. At 450 m the bullet drop of the 7 mm and .300 are still the lowest with about 7, followed by the M1 and 6.5 mm with about 8. All other bullets achieve full drop at or before 450 m.
The 300 m zero is certainly more viable for long-range shots beyond 300 m than the other zeroings, but completely unviable for shorter distances, as there is substantial deviation upward of up to almost 3 except for the .223, .243 and .270 that have a much flatter trajectory and can be of limited use between 200 m and 250 m, but are only zeroed for 250 m and drop extremely fast after that distance.


Figure 3: Deviation in score over distance for the 300 m zero in the 300 m gun group. A score of -10 indicates full drop.

In the 150 m group, four guns in total were tested for their respective bullet’s behavior at different ranges with different zeroings.

A) 50 m zero

For the 50 m zero (Fig. 4), the bullets showed highly variable behavior. They all hit center 10 at 50 m, but dropped quickly afterwards, with the exception of the .30-30 that hit 10 even at 100 m, as well as the 9.3x74R that only dropped very slightly. The .470 dropped fastest with reaching full drop between 150 m and 200 m. The .22 also showed full drop at that distance. The .30-30 was still detectable at 250 m with a deviation of about 9 and the 9.3x74R had an even smaller deviation of about -7. Generally, as with the 300 m group, the short zeroing is not very viable beyond its denomination.


Figure 4: Deviation in score over distance for the 50 m zero in the 150 m gun group. A score of -10 indicates full drop.

B) 100 m zero

For the 100 m zero (Fig. 5), it became obvious that the .22 is travelling on a highly parabolic trajectory with reaching full drop at around 200 m and that the .470 drops very quickly despite the chosen zero. The 9.3x74R showed the flattest trajectory and the .30-30, up to 100 m, exhibited virtually no difference to the 50 m setting.


Figure 5: Deviation in score over distance for the 100 m zero in the 150 m gun group. A score of -10 indicates full drop.

C) 150 m zero

For the 150 m zero (Fig. 6), four observations can be made. The .470 shows a flatter trajectory than with the other settings, the .30-30 and .45-70 show very similar behavior up to 150 m, the 9.3x74R has the flattest trajectory overall and the .22 has an extremely steep parabolic trajectory with the apex at around 75 m with a deviation of presumably over 2.5. This means that for the .22 it is extremely useful to have the ability to zero, but also that one must stay as close as possible to the chosen setting’s distance in order to achieve a proper hit – or have practiced a lot with it. Beyond 150 m aiming the .22 becomes extremely difficult.


Figure 6: Deviation in score over distance for the 150 m zero in the 150 m gun group. A score of -10 indicates full drop.

Overall, for the 150 m gun group, the zeroing perk is most useful for the .22 and unnecessary for the .470. It should be noted, however, that due to the .470’s lack of a scope and the experimentator’s bad eyes, the standard deviations for that caliber were much higher than for all other guns, so these results should be carefully examined and compared to one’s own experience.

This group only contains the Hudzik percussion rifle. However, it can be loaded with two different types of bullets with vastly different ballistic behavior, unlike the other rifle bullets, most of which are spitzer bullets with or without polymer tip.

A) .50 Roundball

The .50 roundball shows uniform behavior up to 100 m independently from any zero setting (Fig. 7); however, after this point it exhibits substantial drop for the 50 m setting with 3 at 150 m and less than 1 for the 100 m setting. The author can confirm that with the 100 m setting the roundball drops approximately half the height of a roe torso for each 50 m, i.e. at 150 m aiming for a roe back‘s ridge will hit center lungs.


Figure 7: Deviation in score over distance for the .50 Roundball. A score of -10 indicates full drop.

B) .50 Minié

The .50 Minié ball exhibits a parabolic flight path with a severe drop after 100 m for the 100 m setting; up to a distance of 100 m this setting is recommended for the Minié ball as it shows no deviation (Fig. 8). Beyond 100 m, distance has to be diligently monitored, as with the .22, the Minié exhibits a very steep trajectory with the 150 m and 200 m settings being unsuited for distances under the respective setting. Beyond that, they also drop very sharply, reaching full drop around 250 m to 300 m.


Figure 8: Deviation in score over distance for the .50 Minié. A score of -10 indicates full drop.

Overall, the muzzleloader ammunition behaves very differently. For animals of class 4-7 at up to 100 m it is, from a ballistic point of view, irrelevant which bullet is used, as the .50 Roundball and the .50 Minié are both unconditionally usable to that distance, provided one keeps the short zero for the Minié. For distances beyond that, the roundball is inadequate and for the Minié, distance determination becomes extremly important.

This study was carried out analyzing the external ballistic of seventeen rifles in the game „TheHunter: Call of the Wild“ with the Te Awaroa update. Terminal ballistics, energy retention of projectiles, etc. were not subject of this study.

Here, it was shown that for guns in the 300 m group, the 75 m zero is virtually useless, as the 150 m zero covers all short distances as well. The 300 m zero makes proper distance estimation important, as bullets will enter a pronounced parabolic trajectory.
A surprising observation was made for the .223, .243 and .270, as their 300 m zero is not at 300 m, but at 250 m. This has, as of March 2021, NOT been fixed yet.
All other guns differed only slightly, with the 7 mm and .300 showing the flattest trajectories of all tested bullets in the 300 m group.

For the guns in the 150 m group, both lever-action guns‘ projectiles showed an extremely flat trajectory for their respective 150 m setting and the .22 had a pronounced parabolic trajectory which makes range estimation for this gun extremely important. However, the 9.3x74R had the flattest trajectory of all cartridges in the 150 m group.

For the muzzleloader, it became apparent that all zero settings for the roundball showed no difference below 100 m and that the Minié ball had a distinct parabolic trajectory, making range estimation extremely important, as with the .22.

It could be shown that for most guns, the short zero is useless and that the mid zero is the best all-around setting for close to mid range shots in the 300 m group. Here, the long setting really only proves its usefulness at ranges beyond 250 m. In the 150 m group, with the exception of the .22, it is safe to keep the long zero, as it has no drawbacks at shorter ranges.