Talk-Polywell.org

Thoughts anyone...
Spinning .40 cal bullet on ice

Interesting.

I'm assuming works because the ice gives/deforms just enough to bounce the bullet if hit at the correct angle. The spinning itself is obviously just the rotational inertia from the rifling.

That's funny. I wondered what the RPMs were.

I watched a mythbusters episode about diving into water to avoid getting shot. Very different effect with water than ice.

I'd sure like to see a slow motion shot. Maybe the Mythbusters guys will try this out.

TallDave wrote:I'd sure like to see a slow motion shot. Maybe the Mythbusters guys will try this out.

That or the guys from Time Warp.

Looks more like a .38 than a .40 caliber.

That being said, it looks like a small percentage of his shots bounced off the ice rather than penetrating. Given the low angle, that's not so very surprising.

These ricochets come to rest as objects spinning very fast, but not translating very fast, on the ice. The rapid spin causes a very localized and small amount of friction heating, for a thin film of water between bullet and ice.

Wet ice has a lot less friction than dry (try driving on wet glare ice sometime). So, the spinning bullet does not slow down very fast.

There is some chance you will have a spinning ricochet come down close enough to see before it quits spinning. I suspect the chance of being directly struck by the ricochet is at least crudely similar.

All in all, not an experiment I'd recommend. But interesting, nonetheless.

They're not poster boys for firearms safety, that's for sure.

choff wrote:They're not poster boys for firearms safety, that's for sure.

Agreed. I do like the fact the person that posted it to YouTube included a "We recommend you don't do it this way, as its dangerous" message at the beginning of the video.