distance travelled

[flanman]

Now that the snow is gone I am finding bullets in my backyard( big enough area that we set up a range). Point is how far will a .45 ACP bullet travel when fired out of a Colt Defender. Two bullets have been found at about 125-150yards. Seems really short to me. flanman

[Kid Sopris]

It's all about Windage and Elevation; Ballistic coefficiency and the rest of the external ballistics. Since 22lr can travel up to 1 1/2 to 2 miles, I would think that given the right conditions bigger bullets traveling at higher speeds could find their drop zone way beyond the point you are finding them.

A bullet fired at 10,000 ft. at 10 degrees Fahrenheit will travel a lot farther then the same bullet fired at sea level at 60 degrees.

[Gatofeo]

In a vacuum, the optimum angle for maximum bullet distance would be around 45 degrees.
In the real world, which contains atmosphere, the optimum angle is around 35 degrees.
As for how far the .45 ACP bullet will travel, I know from experience that I've fired at rocks in the desert out to 400 and perhaps 500 yards. I'm not saying I hit them, but I saw the bullet kick up a load of dust.
I'd consider anything within two miles to be endangered.
The movies and TV give that impression that bullets only go a couple blocks or so. Usually, on city streets, they hit a variety of objects and slow to a stop. Those objects can include living things.
Rifle bullets can travel up to three miles, perhaps farther.
If you found bullets on the ground at 125 yards, they were ricochets that lost their momentum or they buried in the soft earth and came out again with reduced velocity.
Bullets do strange things, especially when they ricochet. I recall firing the M60 machine gun years ago at a range, and being amazed at what courses the tracer bullets would take. Some even landed just 30 feet in front of us, after knocking around trees 100 meters away.