Gun Glossary
Yaw:
A normal situation where a bullet tips on its axis at a small angle to the line of flight just after leaving the barrel. In yaw, a bullet's tip is normally on the axis of the path but the base is spiraling around that axis. The spin of the bullet causes it to settle into stable flight with both tip and base on the same path axis, usually within 40 to 100 yards for a rifle. If the bullet is fired too slowly, or in a barrel with insufficient twist rate, the bullet never stabilizes and the yaw grows into a full tumbling motion.
