How far can a bullet fired from a standard military rifle travel if it hits no target?
If it hits nothing, it will keep going, and going, and going… But if you fire it on Earth, inside the atmosphere it will hit something. Usually the ground. The distance it travels between leaving the muzzle and hitting the ground (or water or…) depends on where you are when you shoot it and which direction you aim it. (If you point straight down, it goes about a foot. If you point straight up and there is no wind, it may land a foot from the starting point again.) For maximum distance, start at the highest altitude possible with the steepest drop-off. A 1000m high cliff would be good. Out the open door of an airplane at 10,000m would be even better. Fire the gun at about 45 degrees up from horizontal and your bullet will travel many miles. Even further if you fire in the same direction the airplane is travelling. Without providing additional constraints, the answer is between one foot and many miles. Actually, forever if fired in intergalactic space in a direction unlikely to bring
