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Originally Posted by eternalfire1244
using rifling for a round projectile is more or less useless, as the ball spins through the air it makes a larger and larger spiral. The concept only seems to work on cylindrical objects. At the distances we will be engaging at I doubt that it will be a huge problem. The only spin that I am concerned about is through the horizontal axis.
my $0.02
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Yep,
Rifling is used for cyclindrical object because the area is smaller one way. pi*R^2 is less than Diameter*Length. For a sphere it is pi*R^2 regardless of orientation.
Basically rifling keeps the object oriented the right way to reduce drag.
In simpler thinking, It's the reason why you wouldn't want to drive a 18-wheeler sideways. Or why it is more fun to drive a car through the Flint Hills than my extended Aerostar van.